Where to stay in Toronto
Toronto is a massive metropolitan area that sees a large number of tourists every year. Accordingly, there are a plethora of hotels in the city itself, many of which are within walking distance of the Rogers Centre. The main factors you will have to consider other than distance to the stadium are price and the options for food and nightlife in the area around the hotel. Toronto has a few distinct areas or boroughs that offer different perks and different price points.
In this chapter, we’ll look at several lodging options and areas to help you make the best decision.
Where the Rogers Centre is located
The Rogers Centre is located in the heart of downtown Toronto, in what is commonly referred to as the “Entertainment District.” It gets the name from the bevy of entertainment options located within a small radius, such as the Rogers Centre, Scotiabank Arena (home of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors), the C.N. Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, and more. It also contains Union Station, which is the main hub for public transportation in the city. You could spend an entire weekend in Toronto and not leave this five-block radius and still have a great time.
Deciding where to stay for a Rogers Centre visit
Let’s delve deeper into some of the options you have available to you for your visit to the Rogers Centre. There is an array of choices, so we have broken them down into a few key areas you should consider, along with some tips regarding bang for your buck. Below is a map of the areas we’d suggest, with details and hotel suggestions to follow.
The best choice: Entertainment District
- Location: Downtown Toronto
- Walking time to Rogers Center: <15 minutes
- Walking distance to Union Station (subway to airport): <10 minutes
- What’s there: Rogers Centre, CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, Scotiabank Arena
As mentioned above, the Entertainment District is the epicenter of tourist action in the city. If you choose to stay here, the Rogers Centre would be right in your backyard, likely less than a 15-minute walk depending on the hotel you choose. You’ll have quick and easy access to other attractions like the C.N. Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, Scotiabank Arena, Steamwhistle Brewery, and more. There are also some great food options, so you definitely will not go hungry. There are some solid hotels in the area, many of which have international brand recognition such as the Hyatt, the Intercontinental, the Ritz-Carlton, and two Marriotts, one of which is located right inside the Rogers Centre itself (more on that below).
With everything you could possibly want to do on a baseball trip to Toronto right at your fingertips, these hotels are understandably more expensive. A room at the Residence Inn by Marriott, for example, will usually cost between $350 and $400 CAD per night. Now the Canadian Dollar isn’t what it once was, but that will still put a dent in most people’s wallets. These hotels are great, and the area has everything, but these options can definitely run on the pricier side.
PROS: in the center of everything, no transit hassles to get to the ballpark, close to Union Station for airport transit
CONS: pricey hotels
The second-best choice: Financial District
- Location: Entertainment District adjacent, still central downtown
- Walking time to Rogers Centre: 15-30 minutes
- Walking distance to Union Station (subway to airport): <10 minutes
- What’s there: Union Station, Hockey Hall of Fame, Eaton Centre Mall
Directly to the east of the Entertainment District is an area known as the “Financial District.” This area offers a large selection of hotels, and still has easy access to the Rogers Centre as well as Union Station (the Fairmont Royal York hotel is right across the street). This area is always bustling, full of bars and restaurants, and is also home to the Hockey Hall of Fame, in case you are interested in making your trip about more than one sport.
The Financial District has a few expensive hotels such as the St. Regis, the Omni King Edward, and the world-famous Shangri-La Toronto, if you’re looking to be pampered. However, it also has some semi-budget-friendly hotel options such as the Hilton, the Sheraton, the Novotel, and One King West, all of which are fine hotels and may not totally break the bank. They are not exactly inexpensive, but if you want to be within walking distance of the Rogers Centre, this is about as cheap as it may get.
PROS: walking distance to Rogers Centre, Union Station and Entertainment District. Some less expensive hotels.
CONS: hotels will probably still be on the pricey side.
The absolute closest hotel to the Rogers Centre: Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel
It’s inside the stadium. Seriously.
It literally cannot possibly get closer than this. The distance from your hotel to the stadium would be zero metres (which, believe it or not, translates to exactly zero feet for my American friends). Your walk? Zero minutes (well, I suppose there might be a bit of a walk if you want to actually get from your room to a seat in the bowl, but you get the point). You’re already in the stadium.
The big draw of the Marriott is that some of the rooms actually have a view of the field, so if you are so inclined, you could watch the game from the comfort of your Marriott suite without even buying a game ticket (though mini bar charges might end up being more expensive than a ticket when all is said and done).
But let’s be serious: you didn’t fly to Toronto so you could watch a baseball game from a hotel room hovering high above the outfield. This place is way too much fun to spend the game hiding out in your hotel room, no matter how rare that experience might be.
And then there’s the price tag. Are you ready? For a room overlooking the field, gameday rates tend to run anywhere from $800-1600CAD (that’s about $500-1200US, depending on the exchange rate).
So… is it worth it? We say… not really. Not because the hotel isn’t perfectly nice, and not because it wouldn’t be cool to throw open your window curtains and be staring at a really cool stadium. It’s just the astronomical price. Given how much the room costs, you could instead buy tickets inside one of the Blue Jays’ all-inclusive premium clubs and still have money left over for a week’s worth of filet mignon-topped poutine. Plus, the view is fine for staring at the stadium in awe, but not for actually watching the game. In our opinion, the place to watch a Blue Jays game is from the seating bowl of the Rogers Centre.
But … if you’re still thinking that this is the way to go, here’s the facts you’ll need:
- Of the 348 rooms in this hotel, only 68 have a view of the field.
- Those rooms do book quickly, so you’ll want to reserve one early (perhaps as early as when the schedule comes out during the previous season).
- Make sure to use any available discount code, whether you’re a member of AAA/CAA, or if you work for a company with a negotiated rate.
Oh, and be careful to pick the right room type! Only rooms that specifically say “Stadium View” will have a view of the ballpark’s interior. Here’s what the room type looks like:
TSI TIP: we can’t say with 100% certainty, but we checked multiple dates on both Marriott.com and third party booking sites, and it appears that stadium-view rooms are only available if you book directly through Marriott. If you book through Expedia, Hotels.com, or any other site, don’t expect that you will be able to find a stadium-view room.
ANOTHER TSI TIP: don’t expect to get upgraded to these rooms if you have elite Marriott status. The demand for these rooms is usually too high, so unless you are an Ambassador Elite, don’t bank on a free upgrade as your booking strategy.
Beyond downtown: Where else to stay for a visit to the Rogers Centre
Staying in the heart of the downtown core is great for the amenities, entertainment, and ease of access to the stadium and transit lines, but it is not your only option by any means. Toronto is a big city, and there are several other areas that are worth looking into that can provide excellent food and nightlife options as well as some other advantages you may not get when staying downtown.
Queen’s Park/University of Toronto Campus
- Location: Just north of the Financial District, the upper edge of true downtown
- Distance to Rogers Centre: 35 minutes walking, 15-20 minutes by subway
- Distance to Union Station (for train to airport): 30 minute walk / 10 minute subway
- What’s there: Queen’s Park, University of Toronto campus, Art Gallery of Ontario
The key to staying somewhere outside of downtown is being on or near a major subway line. The Toronto subway is usually very efficient and can get you to Union Station and back quicker than you may think. Queen’s Park is a beautiful public park about 35 minutes walking north of the Rogers Centre, or about 10 minutes away by subway, and happens to be right on top of two stations of the major subway lines. This is also where the University of Toronto campus is located, so expect a lively pub scene and a younger crowd.
TSI PICK: The Courtyard by Marriott Toronto is a two-minute walk away from the College Station subway stop and rooms can be booked for less than $300 CAD per night. It may not seem all that cheap, but this definitely on the reasonably-priced side for Toronto.
PROS: less expensive hotels, beautiful area, very reasonable commute to Rogers Centre and Union Station on the subway
CONS: it’s still a commute, and will definitely make getting to the airport following an afternoon game more difficult
Mink Mile
- Location: North of Queen’s Park, at intersection of Line 1 and Line 2 subways
- Distance to Rogers Centre: 50 minutes walking, 20 minutes by subway
- Distance to Union Station (for subway to airport): 45 minute walk / 15 minute subway
- What’s there: Royal Ontario Museum, prestigious shopping district
If you are interested in doing some shopping, the area known as “Mink Mile” has a cluster of hotels a little bit north of Queen’s Park. Mink Mile is also right on a major north/south subway station which can get you to the Rogers Centre in about 15 minutes, and also has the advantage of being on a major east/west subway line if you are interested in seeing more of the city.
It is arguably the most prestigious shopping district in the city, and is also home to the Royal Ontario Museum, which is the largest museum in Canada, attracting more than a million visitors per year. The hotels here are rather expensive and quite posh, including the Four Seasons, the Park Hyatt, and the W Toronto.
TSI PICK: The Anndore House is owned by Hyatt and is certainly a nice spot. Though the true beauty of this place is that a room will cost only about half of what the other hotels in the area cost per night.
PROS: nice area, great for shopping, and on a direct subway line to the ballpark.
CONS: it’s probably a little farther than you need to be unless you have a specific reason for being up there.
Where to look for rental properties
There are some areas of Toronto which aren’t particularly well-serviced by the hotel industry, so short-term rentals are the only way to stay there. The best areas for this would be the areas known as King West and Queen West, which are the sections of King Street and Queen Street directly west of the University Avenue subway line.
King West has excellent night life, restaurants, and shopping, and is home to Toronto’s Fashion District. Queen West has arguably the best bar scene in the city, has excellent local cuisine open late, and is a little less expensive than King West.
The center of King West is about a 15-minute walk from the Rogers Centre, and the center of Queen West is about a 20-minute walk from the Rogers Centre. Neither area is directly on the subway line, however, so you will have to do some walking or get friendly with the streetcar system, which is discussed in greater detail in our Local Transit chapter.
You may also be able to find cheaper rental properties in Liberty Village, which is a wonderful neighborhood and home to a generally younger crowd. It is very safe, but is quite a bit away from downtown core and not on a subway line. If you plan on staying here, you will likely want to use the GO Train to get you to and from the Rogers Centre. You’ll grab an eastbound GO Train on the Lakeshore West line and take it one stop over to Union Station. The one-way adult fare for this trip is $4.40 CAD and takes about 9 minutes.
While there are plenty of rental properties available in the Entertainment District and Financial District, they tend to run on the expensive side and generally eclipse the prices of even the nicer hotels in those areas. They are perfectly fine for rentals, and will keep you in a good area in terms of getting to and from the stadium, but be prepared to pay a premium for the location.
If you are doing your own independent research into some of the other smaller neighborhoods around the city, you will notice that there are dozens we haven’t mentioned in this chapter. This is because they are either not very well serviced by the hotel industry, are baked into one of the areas we have discussed, or are generally not ideal for visitors.
For example, the Fashion District and Alexandra Park are fine places to stay, but they are more or less extensions of the Entertainment District, just a little further from the Rogers Centre. Just north of Alexandra Park is the famous Kensington Market, which can certainly be a fun place to spend an afternoon, but it is not the most confidence-inspiring area of the city when the sun goes down. This isn’t to say that it is particularly dangerous, but there are certainly cleaner and nicer areas you can stay in that are closer to the stadium.
These are just a few examples of some of the other neighborhoods you may come across when looking for a place to stay. Unfortunately, we don’t have the space here to go into detail on each neighborhood in the city, so we had to pick a few that are the safest, most convenient for travelers, and easiest for those attending games at the Rogers Centre.
Bottom Line
Our lodging advice to those visiting the Rogers Centre is:
- For the most convenient experience, we recommend staying in the Entertainment District. This is the way to go if your main priority is seeing baseball at the Rogers Centre and doing some other touristy things. The area is safe, convenient, and offers plenty to do. It can be pricey, but if you find an acceptable deal, we say take it.
- The Financial District is also within easy walking distance to the Rogers Centre and offers a wide range of hotel options. You won’t have to worry about public transit to get to and from the Rogers Centre, you will have plenty of food and beverage options at your fingertips, and your hotel bill may not give you heart palpitations.
- If downtown isn’t for you, stay at a hotel along the subway line. Both the Queen’s Park area and the Mink Mile area are accessible along the Yonge Street and University Street subway lines and offer different atmospheres than downtown with plenty to do and see.
- For rental properties, focus on King West and Queen West, or the Entertainment District if you can find a good deal.
