|
Colony Hotel
89 Chestnut St.
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5G 1R1
| #
of Rooms: 721 |
| HOTEL
DESCRIPTION: |
| Room
Information: Refurbished, guest
rooms include standard, deluxe, executive, wheelchair accessible
rooms, 18 one and two bedroom suites and four new ADA-approved wheel
chair accessible guest rooms. All rooms come with a long list of
amenities including: individual temperature control, iron and
ironing board, hair dryer, remote controlled television, in-room
movies, AM/FM radio, telephone with voice mail and conference
calling, tea and coffee maker. All guest rooms feature electronic
locks. In suite data ports that permit in-room fax/modem use,
spacious work desks and include ergonomic chair.
NEWS
STORY:
|
The University of Toronto is expected to
buy the Colony Hotel today to transform the three-star executive inn into
the school's first permanent off-campus residence.
The university has been eying the
721-room property, on Chestnut Street adjacent to Nathan Phillips Square, in
preparation for September, when the school will accept a massive first-year
class made up of double cohort students, swollen by the province's
elimination of Grade 13.
About 400 students were temporarily
housed at the Primrose Hotel, at Jarvis and Carlton, because of overcrowding
during this school year. Another 24 students from St. Michael's College
lived at the opulent Sutton Place Hotel for a month last fall while their
residence was repaired.
This year, nearly 65,000 applicants
applied for 9,124 freshmen spots at U of T, up from 33,926 applicants for
7,294 spaces in 2001. The ratio of applicants to spaces jumped from 4.7 per
spot to 7.
The university's governing council is
expected to approve the transaction at a closed meeting this afternoon.
The Colony, purchased for $73-million in
1989 by Hong Kong tycoon Sally Aw, is considered to be a three-star
business hotel. About 250 hotel workers who fear they will lose their jobs
will protest today outside the meeting at the school's downtown campus.
- 2004 February 14
by Heather Sokoloff National
Post
|
