Pembroke Inn — Hotel in Toronto

The staff were ok. One of them was very nice and helpful. The building itself was very old and didn't look clean. The room I got was terrible. Inside the room I felt the wood floor was not clean, I felt sticky when walked on it. The air-con was old and super loud with water dripping on the cable. The TV was ok when turned on but after just a few minutes the screen lost the brightness and couldn't be watched. The bed was ok. There were two head lamps beside the bed and one is not working. The bathroom wasn't practical, no hanging rail or hooks for you to hang anything. So I had to keep the bathroom door open and hung the towel over the door. No bath mat and when taking shower, water could come out of the shower area, so the bathroom floor was wet. No soap dish or anywhere in the tiny shower area to put soap and shampoo, so they were put on the floor. There was a noise of slamming door outside the room every 5-10 minutes at night, very annoying. Looked like they had tried to do some cosmetic update to the room but half way done without practical thoughts for guests. If the management want to do some cheap cosmetic update, add hooks or hanging rail and soap dish. I know I did not pay the best rate as after booking I checked back and saw the cheaper rates posted on the booking website just a few days before my check-in. I literally paid over a hundred higher for a single room. The breakfast was terrible too. Just bagels and breads and jam and margarine, not even butter. So I didn't care for it on the second morning. More important than that there were some weird people in and around the building. A woman with weird outfit and character in the eating area when I was there. Looked like someone using drugs. They didn't give you even a bottle of water, when asked, the staff said he could give me tap water. There was a vending machine in the building but it wouldn't take cards or bank notes, just coins. I didn't have coins with me, so I ended up drinking tap water on my first night. The area around was horrible, surrounded with run down houses and weird people. Don't be fooled by the nice pictures posted on the hotel website as some places on the pictures are actually far away and not in the neighborhood. Do not believe in booking websites' comments as well. When I booked this hotel, I knew it was an old and budget hotel and expected a simple, practical clean room to sleep and watch myself. With what I got, I give them one star for the staff (the second one though, not the first one who checked me in), and the maid who made my room. What I can say is terrible management and I wouldn't recommend anyone to stay...

Had a lovely 6 night stay in Toronto.

I had to go to a bussiness thing outside of Toronto, in one of the northern suburban towns. I figured if I stayed up there the whole week, I wouldn't be able to get to know the city, so I looked for a budget place near downtown and decided to do the commuting every day (this was summer, so I figured I had about three solid hours of light every evening to do tourism after getting back from the office). The reason I looked for budget is that I needed to match the price of the Hotel i would have stayed in in the suburb. Pembroke was the right choice. It worked as I needed it. This is a budget Hotel, mind you. You can tell that they cut some corners to be able to offer a good price, but the corners seem well thought of not to diminish your experience. It also has some quirks typical of old houses turned into hotels that built-for-purpose buildings don't have. You can't be mad at that. The room was clean and comfortable. Service was not dedicated, but cordial, efficient and responsive. I bathed well, slept well, was at ease in my room and could have even done some socializing with other guests if I had wanted to, as it has really nice common spaces. Toronto has a great public transportation system so it's easy to move about from practically everywhere, but Pembroke is very short, nice walk to TTC's line 1 and at a walkable distance from many great places in the city. It was a great location to be for the kind of diminished tourism opportunities that the nature of my trip entailed.

The area is safe and really cute. There's is a lot of homeless people at night, but that seems to be a Toronto-wide situation. Allan's Garden, the beautiful park right next to Pembroke, is sleeping ground for homeless people at night. I arrived late at night my first day and walked through the park in my way to the hotel and was a little shocked, but after a week there I realized that, unlike other cities, people tolerate and respect the homeless and this goes both ways. So no trouble or fear. The park is beautiful and lively during the day and, as I said, the homeless situation is a Toronto wide reality.

There's a great place to buy food at a short distance (Loblaws supermarket) and many small delicious restaurants in Dundas, Gerrard and Carlton streets.

Toronto is neither a cheap nor an expensive city, there's a lot to do and food is great, so every dollar you can save can be of great value for a tourist. I would definitely go back to Pembroke if I visit...

PATRONS BEWARE

You pay for what you get.

I stayed here for a weekend for vacation. Instead it felt like a nightmare. This 100 year old hotel should consider closing down or repair and renovate.

The website and their photos make the hotel seem like a nice quaint hotel. In reality it is far from a 1-star hotel.

The staff were very nice.

The room was very dark and dingey, regardless of the weak sources of light provided. You could fully hear conversations from outside the hallway and from other rooms. If you enjoy your sleep, stay away from this hotel because sound travels through paper walls.

There were many indications that the unit has not been fully services upon our arrival. The washroom had pink limescale in the sink and toilet. The shower had grime between the tile floor. Luckily, I brought flip flops to wear in the shower. There was a "fire alarm" device in the washroom, which I suspect is a spy cam. Even the toilet dispenser fell off the wall.

The whole hotel is infested with critters. I was delighted with the presence of a mighty house termite crawling above me. The mighty house termite is a clear sign there is a big bug infestation. They eat common bugs found within the household and let me tell you, this multi-legged bug been eating good. It was huge! (check photo for reference). I had a surprise visit from the resident super fly aswell. It was the largest fly I've ever seen in my life. I lived on a farm and spend a fair amount of time in the bush. This thing was the fattest fly I've ever witness buzzing without a care in the world. It acted is if I was intruding in it's home. It flew in from underneath the two inch gap beneath the unit door. This roided fly was buzzing louder than a helicopter. It was as big as my thumb. (see photo for reference). I was fortunate enough to not have a bed bug infested mattress as I checked before hand. Other units may not be so fortunate.

The location extremely bad part of town. Mirror image of the heart of East Downtown Vancouver. Right next to the hotel is a shanty town park. Junkies crawling from one block to the next. Terrible location.

I felt completely disgusted and unsanitary from that stay. I got home and immediately washed all my clothing on the highest heat setting. Never again will I be frugal when it comes to...