Where to stay in Toronto: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

If you only have a few days, base yourself here. The CN Tower looms over everything, the Rogers Centre hosts baseball and big concerts, and King Street West is lined with theatres, including the Princess of Wales, and restaurant after restaurant. Every September it becomes the red-carpet heart of the Toronto International Film Festival. Further west, King West Village swaps the big venues for converted warehouses, design shops and buzzy bars.

Hotels lean stylish. Pick a bold luxury hotel with a floor of rooms designed by Lenny Kravitz, a sleek five-star in King West with floor-to-ceiling windows, an elegant boutique hotel a few blocks from the financial core, or a big Hilton within easy reach of the theatres and the waterfront.

Toronto's banking district is a canyon of glass and steel by day, but it's superbly placed for visitors. Union Station, where trains run to the airport and across Canada, is at its foot, the CN Tower and the Scotiabank Arena are steps away, and the underground PATH network of walkways and shops means you can cross downtown in winter without a coat.

This is where to find some of the city's grandest hotels: the Fairmont Royal York, a 1929 railway palace that has hosted royalty and film crews for nearly a century; the Shangri-La, soaring 66 floors above the streets; and an InterContinental with an indoor saltwater pool and a spa. Evenings are quieter than in the Entertainment District, a few blocks west.

Yorkville was the city's hippie quarter in the 1960s; now it's where Toronto comes to spend money. Its Victorian houses hold galleries, cafés and smart restaurants, and the stretch of Bloor Street known as the Mink Mile is lined with designer flagships. The Royal Ontario Museum is on the corner, the University of Toronto just beyond, and the bohemian Annex begins a few blocks west.

The hotels match the postcode: a newly redesigned Four Seasons with a French restaurant, a Park Hyatt that offers guests a complimentary car service, a boutique Royal Sonesta right on the Mink Mile, and a design-led Kimpton on Bloor Street with an irreverent streak. It's calm, safe and a quick subway ride to downtown.

The oldest part of Toronto is where it gets its appetite. St Lawrence Market, a vast brick hall of butchers, bakers and peameal bacon sandwiches, has been feeding the city for generations, and the Distillery District to the east is a car-free warren of cobbled lanes and Victorian industrial buildings filled with galleries, cafés and bars. A short walk north, Yonge-Dundas Square and the Eaton Centre are the city's shopping heart, with City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square close by.

Stay in the King Edward, a gracious hotel dating from 1903, or a contemporary Novotel in the St Lawrence neighbourhood. Nearer the shops, there's a Marriott with direct access to the Eaton Centre and a big DoubleTree within reach of City Hall, the subway and the PATH.

Toronto's lakefront has been transformed in recent years, with boardwalks, parks and cycle paths stretching along Queens Quay. The big draw is the ferry to the Toronto Islands, a car-free chain of beaches, picnic lawns and cycle trails with the best skyline view in the city. Billy Bishop airport, for short hops, is just offshore.

Choose the Westin Harbour Castle, a waterfront landmark with tennis courts and an indoor pool, close to the island ferry; a Radisson Blu a 10-minute walk from the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre; or the striking Hotel X, a glass-and-steel resort further west with panoramic lake views and a lobby wall of living plants. Families love the space to roam.

For the city's creative side, head out along Queen Street. West Queen West is a strip of indie shops, galleries, bars and late-night restaurants, with leafy Trinity Bellwoods Park and the bar-lined Ossington strip nearby. The Drake Hotel is its living room, a boutique hotel with a rooftop terrace and a busy calendar of music and events, a short drive from the Art Gallery of Ontario.

At the other end of Queen Street, across the Don Valley, The Broadview Hotel brings the same spirit to Riverside and Leslieville, with three places to eat and drink under one roof. Neither is in the centre, but the Queen streetcar runs straight downtown, and this is where Torontonians actually go out.

Toronto Pearson, where flights from the UK land, is in Mississauga, west of the city, and it's ringed with hotels that make early departures painless. Several run free 24-hour shuttles to the terminals, and most have indoor pools and park-and-fly deals.

Pick a renovated Hilton directly across from the airport, a Sheraton that's part of the airport itself, a Marriott near the Toronto Congress Centre or a Crowne Plaza with a free shuttle. For sightseeing, the UP Express train from Pearson reaches Union Station downtown in about 25 minutes.

North of the city, Vaughan is suburban, practical and a big hit with families. Canada's Wonderland, Ontario's biggest theme park, is close by, and Vaughan Mills shopping centre has a LEGOLAND Discovery Centre attached. Hotels here are good value, with free parking and indoor pools to burn off any leftover energy.

A family-friendly Novotel next to Vaughan Mills is one of the nearest hotels to Wonderland, and all-suite hotels with kitchens are handy for longer stays. The Vaughan Metropolitan Centre subway station puts downtown within reach without the car, so you can mix roller coasters with a day at the CN Tower.