The epic Girls night away. This was what I wanted to plan for a friend and me. Two moms away for the night for relaxation, good food, and a great experience. We had bought each other tickets to see Journey originally for March 2022 as a Christmas present. Due to Covid and its never-ending plan killing the concert was postponed to May 2022.
Toronto in May is a way better experience than in March. I was very happy with the change of date. Ready to plan a jammed-packed day I quickly figured out the hotel. As a fortysomething mom keeping up with what is cool and trendy in the big city has not been my priority. I started reading blogs and doing Google searches of where to stay and what to do.
Shangri-La Hotel https://www.shangri-la.com/ came up several times as a place to indulge and enjoy. I found a deal on Hotwire and got us our room. Best decision ever! Looking at the website I saw it had everything. I booked us afternoon Tea and body treatments at the spa.
Right from the valet, you could tell we had just entered a club that not many get to join. We pulled up in my 10-year-old Ford Escape and parked between a Porsche in front of us and a Lamborghini behind us. Handing the keys to the valet I knew we were in for something special today!
The room didn't disappoint! With an amazing view of the CN Tower and bath products, you normally splurge on when feeling extra generous. The mini bar was stocked with top-shelf spirits and we were ready for some day drinking!
To start off the day I bought tickets for us at Van Gogh Immersive art https://www.vangoghexhibit.ca/ Unfortunately Van Gogh was taking a break so we saw Frida Immersive Dream. This wasn't for us. It was a forty-one-minute loop of what I can only call images to music. If you are a fan of Frida this might be great for you but 10 minutes in we were questioning how we could leave discreetly. We found entertainment in it together. We felt we got our dose of culture in for the day.
I had booked afternoon Tea at the hotel Lobby. We have done afternoon tea before at other places so we thought we knew what we were in for. Thinking little sandwiches and scones and perfectly steeped tea. We had no idea what was waiting for us! Afternoon tea had been inspired by Cirque du Soleil Kurios production now playing in Toronto. I had been to the show a week before and thought how is this going to translate into Tea! Well, they dreamed up something awe-inspiring.
Afternoon tea starts with Champagne, the good stuff! Let the day drinking commence!
The menu made us question if we were going to need another lunch after we ate! Surprisingly we couldn't finish it all and had to take a doggy bag up to the room. The most magical was the smoking cigars.
Talking to our two servers they told us that hotel guests could reserve seating for the nighttime entertainment. Days before we left for our trip we were notified that Journey came down with Covid and would have to postpone the show once again. We decided live music would be a nice end to the night.
The spa in the hotel was just as you would think, beautiful, peaceful, and serene. We each had a body treatment that made our skin feel soft and lush. I fell in love with the shower in my treatment room so much so that I sent a photo to my contractor to see if we could duplicate it in our home renovations. After the treatment in the lounge, we were served tea and sweet treats. Decadent!
With dinner approaching, we were able to get a little rest time in. I went to the pool/hot tub while my friend went up to the room for a quick nap. The pool area is out of a tropical resort. Cabana area and fruit-infused water.
I cracked open a bottle and started getting ready for a night out on the town. I had brought four changes of clothes for this day! I was pretending I was living the high life! It was five o'clock somewhere!
We had dinner reservations at Stratus https://www.stratusrestaurant.com/ 36 floors up in the TD South Tower. The view was amazing and the food was very reasonably priced for how our day had been going! Dinner with a view is exactly what we needed.
A friend of ours told us about a speakeasy-style bar she had heard of and thought we would like. With the name of the bar and the code words as the key, we set out to find this secretive spot in the city. Luckily it was within walking distance from our restaurant and hotel. I must admit at this point I really had a hard time deciding how much to divulge about this place. I want it to be as much fun for anyone going as it was for my friend and I. Part of the fun was the secretive nature of it.
I've decided to tell you everything!!! The front bar is Coffee Oyster Champagne https://sipshucksip.com/ We get there and I say my secret phrase to the hostess. I would love to say I was suave and mature about it but I absolutely was not!! "Can I see the champagne room?" That's it, that's what get's you in. Well for us that's what got an hour and a half wait on the patio where we continued to drink!
After several tastings, the hostess comes to us and says she was now ready to show us the "Champagne Room" well let the fun begin! We slip behind a wall of champagne to be told a great historical story with a big reveal! We were told the rules of the speakeasy. No cameras or video unless you see a horse then anything goes and you never return the way you came. Once the velvet curtain is pulled back you really are transported to the 1920s. We had a drink at the bar that the bartender suggested and enjoyed the setting. We couldn't get over the look and feel of the place. It was worth the wait.
The time was getting close to our reservation back at the hotel lounge so we tried to find the exit. That's when things got weird in the best sort of ways! We followed two other girls out of a different velvet curtain. We were quickly stopped and told this wasn't for us and the wall with an old-time painting slid in front of my face! That only challenged me to figure out what the secret word, knock handshake with money is! We continued on our search for the exit. We found the horse and it all started to make sense.
We headed back to our hotel to sit and people watch while drinking top-shelf drinks! We decided the rich might not appreciate how amazing a day like this could be as this was their normal day-to-day. To us, this was an experience we will talk about for years. I think we all need to indulge if we can. If that means using a whole bottle of high-end bath bubbles or buying that top-shelf Champagne. Every once in a while we need to remind ourselves why we work hard. If this can be done with a close friend then even better. Experiences need to be shared.