The hotel will be Shangri-La's second property in Canada following the debut in Vancouver, scheduled for September 2008. Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts signed an agreement with Vancouver's Westbank and Peterson Group to manage the 220-room five-star Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto opening 2011.

The Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto will be located on University Avenue at Adelaide Street within walking distance of central downtown office buildings, theatres, performance venues plus the vibrant Bloor Yorkville shopping and dining area.

The hotel will occupy the first 17 floors of the C$430 million 65-storey tower.  Its guestrooms will be among the most spacious in the city and decorated in a contemporary style with Asian highlights. Luxury condominium residences will be located on the upper levels of the tower. 

Guests entering the hotel through an elegant vaulted forecourt will be welcomed into a spacious three-storey glass atrium lobby offering streetscape views.  The heart of the hotel will be its lobby lounge – an "urban living room" with a sidewalk cafe nestled in the shadow of the boulevard trees overlooking University Avenue.  Breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea service will be followed by tapas and evening entertainment in the relaxed yet refined lounge.

The street-level club-style bar will lead to a mezzanine level feature restaurant overlooking University Avenue, the new Opera House and Queen's Park. It will be open for lunch and dinner, pre- and post-theatre.         

CHI, The Spa – Shangri-La's signature spa brand – will offer treatments to in-house guests, condominium owners and local residents.  Inspired by the origins of the Shangri-La legend, the CHI concept is based on Chinese and Himalayan healing therapies.  Each of the 10 private CHI treatment rooms and one double treatment suite will provide a "spa within a spa" atmosphere, offering guests the luxury of time and space.  

The hotel's function rooms, on the third floor, will open onto a landscaped terrace as well as overlook the historic Bishop's Block to the southwest. The ballroom will seat 150 and three smaller rooms will seat 12 to 50 persons.  All function rooms will offer floor-to-ceiling windows and an elegant pre-function foyer.  A screening room/theatre seating 50 guests will provide a venue for screenings or executive presentations that require dramatic special effects.

"We are delighted to announce our second project in Canada with Westbank and Peterson," said Giovanni Angelini, Shangri-La's chief executive officer and managing director.  "Our Canadian properties will offer travelers Shangri-La's renowned Asian-style hospitality complemented by luxurious guestrooms, fine dining, and state-of-the-art facilities."

Ian Gillespie, president of Westbank, added, "The Shangri-La in Vancouver and in Toronto both have ideal locations, and each property will undoubtedly become one of their respective city's leading deluxe hotels under Shangri-La's award-winning management."