We went to a bit of Doors Open this year even though there wasn’t anything particularly interesting. We just went to some odd and ends that we haven’t visited before. We started off at the Drake Hotel. Can you believe I’ve never been here before? but I’ve never gone to a concert or hang out on West Queen West so I have just never been here before.
It’s a pretty cool place, designed with retro in mind. They have a few interesting art pieces that are consistent with the overall design of the hotel. The designers sure put a lot of thought into making an immersive environment but once all the hipsters are hanging around the rooftop patio or any of the other facilities, it loses a bit of its glamour.
Afterwards, we headed over to the Gladstone Hotel, but I did not like this hipster hangout as much because instead of being polished, it actually did look like a restored building. We saw rooms in both hotels, but I am actually not a big fan of the artist-designed rooms of the Gladstone. The modern feel of the Drake are more to my liking.
The next place we visited is Kasian which is an architectural firm located in Liberty Village. Liberty Village is another area of the city where I’ve never been to either! They have a open concept working area and were promoting that, but I don’t know if that appeals to me.
The final place we went to was the Roundhouse where Steam Whistle is brewed. We unfortunately got there too late to get a spot on the tour, but we still got our free beer ticket! I don’t know if they give away free beer tickets all the time or whether it was a Doors Open thing, but touring a brewery doesn’t really seem like a cultural education type of thing. The place was pretty busy though, and had a patio; so it’s a pretty good place to go after the ball game.
Afterwards, we had dinner at the Bistro on Avenue which was not giving out free wings because it was not part of Doors Open, but it supposedly had excellent wings. Its claim to fame is that it was opened by Louis Nemes who also opened the St Louis Bar and Grill. The wings are not so good.
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