I stayed three nights at the Radisson Toronto East in North York from September 7-10, 2007. My winning bid was $53 on Priceline. The hotel is conveniently located just off the 401 highway and close to the Don Valley Parkway. Without traffic (rare in Toronto), one can get to downtown within fifteen minutes. The hotel is close to a Chinese supermarket, Wendy's and Subway in a nearby strip mall. Parking was free and ample. My flight arrived in the evening and it was a thirty-minute drive to the hotel on the crowded 401. Upon check-in, I was told that I booked through Priceline. I asked for a king non-smoking and was told that the hotel was completely sold out and that none were available. I was assigned room 225, a non-smoking room with two queen beds, which was one of the worst rooms I have ever stayed in. The carpets were stained and there was lots of mold growing everywhere in the bathroom. The entire room seemed very unclean. The bed, which was not a Sleep Number bed, had rough sheets and nasty old blankets. The fixtures in the bathroom were old and the hot water barely came on in the shower. There was neither a fridge nor microwave as I had read in other reviews. There was no mini-safe. The bypass mirror closet doors were broken (one half was actually inside the closet, not on the tracks). The ceiling panel had water stains as clearly the air conditioning system (which didn't really cool very well) had previously sprung a leak. I called down to the Front Desk and asked for a different room with a Sleep Number bed, but was told that the same "fully booked; no other rooms available tonight." I was informed that most of the rooms on the second floor did not have Sleep Number beds. The next morning I went down to the Front Desk and asked for a different room. There was a line-up at the Front Desk because there is no Concierge Desk, and guests checking in/out and those asking for directions all waited to talk to the same people. I asked for a king, non-smoking room with a Sleep Number bed on a higher floor. I was told that there were no rooms cleaned yet, but to come back later to put my luggage in storage, and that later in the day I would be assigned to a new room. I gathered my belongings and went back to the front desk. The person to whom I had spoken about the room change was not at the desk any longer. I spoke to another Front Desk staffer who told me that another room was not available because the hotel was fully booked for the night. When I mentioned that I had already confirmed the change in room not ten minutes ago, then suddenly she offered to store my bags and find me another room later in the day. While I was at the Front Desk, a couple (who had booked through Expedia) were very unhappy with something and demanded to speak to the General Manager. That evening, I was assigned room 618 which was leaps and bounds better inside, even though it was across the hall from the ice machine and facing the noisy Hwy 401. At least the carpet and bathroom were clean and unstained, the closet door worked, the bed was a Sleep Number Bed with soft linens and down comforter, the hair dryer was newer, and the furniture was in much better shape. There was neither a fridge nor a microwave. Both rooms did have one bottle of free Naya water, which was nice. I didn't get a chance to use many of the facilities at the hotel except I did use one of the two desktop computers in the lobby to check-in for my flight. There is free in-room wired Internet but it is slow and at times non-existent. Apparently, there is also WiFi in the lobby and public areas. I saw a poster in the elevator stating that on Wednesday evenings, there are free hors d'oeuvres and wine courtesy of the manager - all one needs to do is to present a business card. The hotel also offers a courtesy limousine service to nearby offices for business people. In summary, the Radisson Toronto East is an aging hotel with a convenient location near Hwy 401 and the Don Valley Parkway. Nice features include Sleep Number Bed (if you can get one), and free parking and Internet. Negative aspects of my stay: "Priceline attitude," terrible rooms on the 2nd floor (leave or complain if you get one of these), inconsistent staff, and no Concierge. I would not recommend staying at this hotel and would hope that the Radisson chain reviews this hotel to see if those rooms on the second floor meet their minimum standards. The first room was worse than many 2.5* hotels I have stayed at and Radisson should be embarrassed to house any guests - Priceline or otherwise - in such decrepit accommodations.
