Elevate Rooms at Spadina & Bloor

I had to track down supplies myself, including toilet paper, and the rubbish in my room was left there. The towels weren't changed daily, and the same sheets stayed on the bed for all five days I was there.

The walls are so thin that conversations and other noise carry straight into the room. Parking was another hassle: the street is restricted to people without a license, so I had to use a rather sad-looking public lot. There was no receptionist when I arrived or at any point during the stay, so you're on your own if you need help. The place has about ten rooms over two floors, and it's really just a room with a tiny shower and toilet, not a hotel. It may work for a one-night stopover, since it's clean and cheap for the location, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise. The room is dated but clean. You only get two bath towels for the whole stay, and there's no housekeeping. The bed creaks, and the mattress is so thin it gave me back pain. The kitchen was no use to me. There weren't any utensils, plates, glasses, or cutlery, nothing to cover food in the only microwave, and no shelves in the huge fridge, so everything had to go on the bottom. I'd rather pay a little more for somewhere better.

The place is clean and cheap, and the location worked really well for us. But the bed makes a huge racket, probably from the wood underneath. There are no chairs, and nowhere to hang clothes except a little pole near the ceiling. I also wish the room could be darker. No hairdryer or mirror in there, either.

It's a very basic place, but impeccably clean, and the neighborhood is nice. Restaurants, museums, and the University of Toronto are about half a block away. Upstairs there's a kitchen and washing machine. In the room, expect just a bed, a chair, and two towels. Getting through the front door was a real problem. The entry code didn't work, there was no nightlight, and nobody around to ask for help or directions. It was a little cheaper than a hotel.