Pearson Airport to the Shangri-La Toronto

How do I get from Pearson to the Shangri-La Toronto?

The Shangri-La's guests are the financial district's visitors and the entertainment district's — a fund manager for a week of meetings on Bay Street, a touring musician playing Roy Thomson Hall, a family from Hong Kong for whom the brand is home. The hotel's University Avenue address puts all of them within a ten-minute walk of what they came for, and the downtown route page explains the drive in; this page is about the hotel and the days that follow.

The door on University Avenue

The hotel's entrance is on University Avenue, a broad boulevard with a centre median, which means the chauffeur approaches northbound from Front Street or York and stops in the hotel's drop-off lane on the east side; there is no U-turn across the median, so a southbound arrival is routed around the block. The Bosk restaurant and the lobby lounge share the entrance; the residences above have their own. The financial towers are two blocks east along Adelaide, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is two blocks north, and Osgoode Hall's gardens are across the avenue.

From the hotel: the financial district, the theatres and the day

Attractions. The theatre district is on the doorstep — the Four Seasons Centre (the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet) two blocks north, Roy Thomson Hall and the Princess of Wales three blocks west, the TIFF Lightbox on King. The CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium and the Rogers Centre are a ten-minute walk south; the Art Gallery of Ontario and Chinatown ten minutes north-west; the Eaton Centre ten minutes east; the Hockey Hall of Fame and the St. Lawrence Market ten minutes south-east. The Distillery District is a five-minute drive, the ROM and Yorkville ten, Casa Loma fifteen. Scotiabank Arena for the Leafs and Raptors is eight minutes on foot and the event page explains the game-night pickup at the hotel door.

Stations and the other airports. Union Station is a ten-minute walk south or a five-minute drive to the Front Street doors — VIA Rail to Ottawa, Montréal, Kingston and Windsor, GO to the suburbs, the UP Express to Pearson; the chauffeur takes guests with luggage rather than sending them down University Avenue on foot. Billy Bishop is ten minutes along Front and Bathurst for Porter flights, with the pickup at the mainland pavilion. Hamilton airport is an hour west for the low-cost carriers.

City tours. A chauffeured half-day from the Shangri-La runs the waterfront, the Distillery District, Cabbagetown and the Brick Works, then Casa Loma and Yorkville; a full day adds the Beaches, the Islands ferry or a Kensington Market lunch. The Niagara day starts at the University Avenue door and is back for dinner.

Company meetings. The Bay Street towers are two blocks east, the law firms on King and Adelaide a block away, and the King West agencies ten minutes west — most of a Shangri-La guest's meetings are walkable. The chauffeur's day is the addresses that are not: a plant in Oakville, a head office in Mississauga, a campus in Markham, a dinner in Yorkville. The hourly chauffeur covers it and the corporate account invoices it.

Touring musicians, film crews and the entertainment district

The Shangri-La's proximity to Roy Thomson Hall, the theatres and the film studios makes it the hotel for touring productions. A company of twenty landing on two flights books the group shuttle — Sprinters and a mini coach on one manifest — and an hourly Sprinter for the week between the hotel, the venue and the studios. The private-aviation page covers the artists who arrive at the Pearson FBOs, with the discretion that involves.

Booking the transfer

Enter "Shangri-La Toronto" or the University Avenue address as the drop-off with the flight number, the date and the vehicle class; the fare is fixed for that door and shown before you pay. Add the return — hotel to the correct Pearson terminal, timed to check-in — on the same booking through the departures page. The executive sedan is the standard car at this door; the luxury SUV for luggage and families; the Sprinter for a touring company. The fleet page has each class.

Booking through the hotel or booking direct

The Shangri-La concierge arranges airport cars, and the hotel's own service is polished. Booking direct before you fly adds the fixed fare on your confirmation, the flight-tracked pickup that moves with a delayed Cathay or Air Canada arrival at no charge, curbside collection at the GTAA pre-arranged area included in the price, and one booking that carries the return and the week's moves — the University Avenue door on Monday, a client in Mississauga on Wednesday, the departures level on Friday. For the hotel's guests from Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, it also means the same team that meets them in those cities through the LimousineWorldwide.Directory network meets them here. The UP Express is the honest alternative for a solo traveller with a carry-on: twenty-five minutes to Union and a ten-minute walk up University Avenue.

The Shangri-La in September and June

Two weeks define this hotel's year. The Toronto International Film Festival in September fills the entertainment district; the King Street closures the City publishes each year reshape the block west of the hotel, and the galas at Roy Thomson Hall — three blocks away — bring a queue of black cars to Simcoe Street. Our chauffeurs know the festival's drop-off rules and the event page explains the gala pickup. June brings the Luminato festival, the Pride weekend closures on Yonge and Church, and the Toronto Jazz Festival — all within a few blocks — and the same rule applies: the chauffeur reads the closures in the morning and plans the approach.

Arriving from Billy Bishop, Buffalo or the FBO

Not every Shangri-La guest lands at Pearson. Porter passengers from New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington land at Billy Bishop on the island, ten minutes from the hotel along Bathurst and Front; guests who found a cheaper fare into Buffalo are collected there through the cross-border service with passports at the Peace Bridge; and the artists and executives arriving by private jet are met at the Pearson FBOs through the private-aviation page. All three deliver to the same University Avenue lane, and the fare for each is fixed by its own address.

The departure: University Avenue to the right terminal

From the Shangri-La the departure is quick to plan and easy to get wrong: York Street to the Gardiner is five minutes at 6 am and twenty at 5 pm, and the 427 north to the terminals adds fifteen. The chauffeur is in the University Avenue lane five minutes early, takes the luggage from the doormen, and drops at the departures door for your airline — Terminal 1 for Air Canada and the Star Alliance, Terminal 3 for WestJet, Porter's Pearson flights, Air Transat and most other international carriers; the terminal finder settles which. The pickup is timed backwards from the check-in cut-off explained on the departures page, and sixty minutes of buffer is the honest planning figure for an international flight in the evening rush.

Which vehicle at this door

The executive sedan is what the Shangri-La's doormen see most; the luxury SUV suits a couple with a week's luggage or a family; a second vehicle carries staff; the Executive Sprinter takes a delegation or a touring company. The fleet page has each class with its seat and bag counts.

Book a transfer to the Shangri-La