Pearson's On-Airport Hotels: Sheraton Gateway & Alt Hotel

Do I need a chauffeur to reach the Sheraton Gateway or the Alt Hotel?

We would rather say this plainly than sell a nine-minute transfer nobody needs. Pearson's on-airport hotels are the best-connected in the region, and the honest first advice for a guest at either is: walk, or take the train. What follows is the second advice — the trips that begin at the hotel door rather than end there — and the Pearson complete guide covers the airport itself.

The Sheraton Gateway: inside Terminal 3

The Sheraton Gateway Hotel is the Marriott Bonvoy property built into Terminal 3's structure: the skywalk from the arrivals level leads to the lobby, the rooms look over the apron, and a guest landing at Terminal 3 on WestJet, Air Transat, Sunwing or most non-Star-Alliance international carriers can be in the room fifteen minutes after clearing customs without going outdoors. Guests landing at Terminal 1 — Air Canada and the Star Alliance — take the Terminal Link train one stop, four minutes, then the skywalk. The hotel's own restaurants and the terminal's are the evening; the chauffeur is for the guest who wants downtown.

The Alt Hotel: at Viscount station

The Alt Hotel Toronto Pearson stands beside the Viscount station of the Terminal Link on the airport's east side — a modern, design-led hotel at a lower rate than the Sheraton, reached from either terminal by the train in four to eight minutes. Its guests are the early departures, the airline crews on layover, the one-night connections and the value-conscious business travellers; from the Alt, a chauffeur is booked for the downtown evening, the Mississauga meeting, or the hourly day in the city before an evening flight.

The trips that do need a chauffeur

The downtown day or evening. A Sheraton Gateway or Alt guest with a free afternoon before a night flight — or a dinner downtown — books the hourly chauffeur from the hotel door: the waterfront, the Distillery District, Yorkville, a King West dinner, and back to the hotel with the bags never leaving the car. The UP Express from Terminal 1 is the honest alternative for a solo traveller with no luggage.

The meeting in the suburbs. The reason many guests choose an airport hotel is a meeting in Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville or Markham the next morning. A chauffeur from the hotel door to the office and back — or a day of three site visits — is an hourly booking on the corporate account, fifteen to forty-five minutes each way on the 401, the 427 or the 407.

The family with luggage. Six bags, a stroller and two children make the skywalk and the Terminal Link a longer trip than they look; the chauffeur from the terminal curb to the hotel door and back — ten minutes — is booked by families who have done the alternative once. The accessible and family page covers the seats and the vehicles.

The two-airport connection. A guest at either hotel with a Porter flight from Billy Bishop the next morning is a thirty-minute transfer to the island's mainland pavilion, timed to Porter's check-in; the Pearson–Billy Bishop page explains the connection nobody organises for you.

Stations, attractions and the other airports

Union Station is thirty minutes by car from either hotel for VIA and GO; the UP Express leaves from Terminal 1 every fifteen minutes and is the right answer for a guest going to Union with a carry-on. The nearest attractions are Woodbine racetrack and the Woodbine Centre, ten minutes; Canada's Wonderland twenty-five minutes north; the CN Tower and the waterfront thirty. Hamilton airport is fifty minutes west and Buffalo two hours south — both reached from the hotel door as fixed fares for a guest connecting to a low-cost or US carrier.

The airport-strip hotels beyond the fence

The hotels along Dixon Road and Carlingview — the Marriott, the Hiltons, the Holiday Inns, the Best Westerns and a dozen others — are not on the airport but ten minutes from it, with shuttles to the terminal stops; the airport-strip hotels route explains them and the hotel-chain pages cover each brand. The on-airport pair are the only two you can reach without a wheel turning.

Booking

For the trips that do need a car, enter the hotel as the pickup or drop-off with the date, the time and the vehicle class; the fare is fixed and shown before you pay. Meet and greet inside the terminal is a paid add-on; curbside pickup at the GTAA pre-arranged area is included when a transfer does start at the terminal.

The early Terminal 1 flight from the Sheraton Gateway

The Sheraton Gateway's one awkward trip is the one it was not built for: a 6 am departure from Terminal 1. The Terminal Link runs all night and the ride is four minutes, but the walk from the Terminal 1 station to the check-in hall with a family's luggage at 4 am is longer than it looks, and the guest who has done it once with a stroller books the car the second time — the chauffeur at the hotel's skywalk-level drive at 4.05, ten minutes around the airport's ring road, and the drop at the Terminal 1 departures door for the airline. The departures page explains the check-in cut-offs, and the terminal finder confirms Terminal 1 for Air Canada and the Star Alliance carriers.

Layovers: the twelve hours between flights

The most common reason to stay at an on-airport hotel is a long connection: landed from Delhi or Frankfurt at 3 pm, departing for Vancouver or Halifax at 7 am. The twelve hours between are a room and, for guests who want more, a chauffeured evening: the hourly booking from the hotel door to the CN Tower and the waterfront, a dinner on King West, and back to the Sheraton or the Alt by ten — the bags never leaving the hotel. A layover on a Saturday in summer can be the Niagara evening: the Falls illuminated, dinner above them, and back to the airport hotel before midnight, ninety minutes each way as a fixed fare.

Crews, contractors and the standing booking

Airline crews on layover at the Alt and the Sheraton Gateway travel to and from the terminals on the Terminal Link, but crews positioned to Billy Bishop, to Hamilton or to a downtown hotel are a standing contract timed to the duty period; the corporate account invoices the airline or the crew-transport contractor monthly. Contractors working on the airport's own construction projects and staying at the Alt for weeks book the weekly car to a site in Mississauga or Vaughan the same way. The private-aviation page covers flight crews positioned to the FBOs on the airport's north and west sides, ten minutes from either hotel by road.

What the fare includes

A chauffeured trip from either hotel is fixed by vehicle class for the destination address and includes the chauffeur, the vehicle, fuel, tolls, taxes and — for a trip that starts at a terminal rather than the hotel — curbside pickup at the pre-arranged area with the included waiting. Gratuity is never added. The Terminal Link and the skywalk are free, and we say so first.

Book a chauffeur from your airport hotel