The hotel itself is definitely not 4.5 stars. My family (Wife and 2 elementary schoolers) and I stayed for one night. Valet Parking is U$32 for 24 hours (this allows you take the car out without additional charge). The staff is used to business travellers and is not very friendly. The hotel rooms are a step above the Comfort Inn with finer linens and draperies (the furniture is a bit old). The bathroom only has one light so taking a shower is a bit dark. I'm sure this hotel fits the bill for people attending a convention. But, this is not a family friendly hotel. The only positive thing about this hotel is it's location right next to the CN tower.

Intercontinental Toronto Centre has a great location near Union Station and the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. I booked this room using a discount hotel website, and paid approx. $140/night. For that price, I believe I got good value for my money. However, had I paid the regular rate of nearly $400/night for this room, I would have been greatly disappointed.

Due to road construction, finding the hotel's parking entrance was tricky, but once we got inside, the amount of parking was rather plentiful (but tight for SUVs and expensive: about C$18/day). Front desk check-in was quick, but I felt that I did not receive the attention a customer paying full price would have received; I believe the front desk clerk thought I was a low-class person because I refused help with my luggage and asked the hotel to remove me from the C$1.50/day newspaper delivery service. While this may seem cheap to some, the fact is that I am a doctoral student who can't afford to be nickeled-and-dimed to death. (Fortunately, the check-out clerk was much more friendly, nearly flirtatious!)

The room was quite large with very comfortable mattresses and new-appearing carpeting. Our excellent views of the CN Tower and Lake Ontario were facilitated by enormous windows. However, the furnishings appeared worn and second-rate, considering the hotel's normal price-point. Likewise, a cheap, mid-1990s-era, small RCA color TV occupied an enormous entertainment unit. The bathroom was all marble tile and quite spacious but poorly-lit. The decor of the room, and of the hotel in general, was about 10 years out-of-date.

My companions and I did not use room service, nor did we use the in-room mini bar (the charges were outrageous: a candy bar or bag of M&Ms for C$4.50, a liter of bottled water for C$6, and so on). The meals at the in-hotel restaurant looked wonderful, but were greatly over our budget; the breakfast bar alone was C$21 per person.

Intercontinental Toronto Centre is a great deal provided you can book online for $125-175/night. It has great views, a convenient location, and comfortable accommodations. However, it is certainly not worth the $375-400/night "regular" rate.

We were expecting luxury accommodations comparable to a previous Intercontinental stay in Montreal. However, when we checked into our room, we noticed that this was the same hotel in Toronto that we stayed in 6 years ago. Back then, it was the Crowne Plraza and has since been converted to an Intercontinental. We were a little disappointed and were glad we did not pay too much for the room, which was booked through Hotwire. It was not 4.5 stars. We would rate it 3 stars at the most, and that's being generous. Rooms were not the cleanest (dusty) and the furnishings need replacement. Mattresses were very small, old TV, lamp knobs fell off, torn duvet cover. Leaky faucets and terrible dark lighting in the bathroom. Hallways smelled musty. The lobby area was attractive but we noticed that the ceiling needed epair. Internet was $9.95 for 24 hrs.

The good:
- Close to Union Station
- Really big room, very nicely furnished
- Decent workout space.
The not-so-good:
- Not an area with night-time eating options, as the area seemed deserted at night.
- The lights were not working - turns out they were unplugged. Also, one of the lights had the bulb and socket hanging out of the fixture. I would expect the quality of the lights to be better. I had asked someone to come up to take a look at it, but it took so long I canceled the request.
- I got a visit from housekeeping for extra sheets, which I did not request.