Mr & Mrs Smith

Thanks to Mr and Mrs Smith our trip started in true style as we were able to get a suite at the Drake for the same price as the smallest cheapest room (The Crash Pad). The room and the Drake itself were tongue-in-cheek hip and a bit raw and edgy but put into perspective with fantastic friendly service.

We had a problem on our first morning when we were rudely awoken, jet-lagged, at 6am, with loud music coming a mystery location. Reception tried unsuccessfully to locate the noise and as an apology, gave us the breakfast in bed we had arranged as a birthday treat, free of charge which was very thoughtful and made up for the early morning wake up call! We later worked out that the source of the music was the Corner Cafe (above which the suite was directly located) and might be worth bearing in mind if you book this room. The speakers in the cafe are right up by the ceiling and the building is old and a little unforgiving when it comes to noise.

There is plenty to do in the Queens Street West area and you could easily not make it into the centre of town at all; browsing in the quirky shops, stopping for refreshments (loved loved loved the Knit Café and Squirly's Bar (+1 416 703 0574) – great Quesadillas and beers from Toronto's many micro-breweries – and getting a culture fix from the tiny galleries which litter the street. We mainly got around on foot and by taxi but if you're headed for the town centre (Eaton Centre, St Lawrence Market, etc) there's a tram which will take you all the way from opposite the hotel all the way for the bargain price of $2.75.

Our one and only meal out was at Kultura, a cool Asian fusion restaurant serving tapas-style dishes. We were a very indecisive party of four and the waiter put a tasting menu together for us which was fantastic. I can highly recommend the scallops with braised beef cheeks – delicious. We were in Toronto visiting friends and it's not a destination that I would otherwise have chosen but it's stolen my heart and thanks to Mr and Mrs Smith we stayed in a very cool, interesting, arty area which quite honestly made our trip. If being a tourist isn't your thing and you want to do as the locals do, stay at the Drake. I'm hooked! Top tip - if you want to visit Niagara Falls but can't stand the thought of being there with thousands of others, go in February, it might be cold (minus 20 the day we went!) but it was deserted, I counted only 15 other people there! You'll miss out on the Maid of the Mist and other attractions but the icy falls will more than make up for it – magical.