What to know
- Hotel X Toronto lead concierge Steven Hantziantoniou has more than 20 years of experience in luxury hospitality.
- His “Resort in the City” approach is about balancing a getaway with everything Toronto has to offer.
- Nearby ‘getaway-like’ picks include Trillium Park, the Toronto Islands, the Martin Goodman Trail and High Park.
- His ultimate Hotel X escape includes tennis, a spa treatment, rooftop pool time and dinner at Valerie.
What if your next getaway didn’t actually require a getaway?
At Hotel X Toronto, you can wake up overlooking Lake Ontario, spend the morning by the rooftop pool, book a treatment at the award-winning Guerlain Spa and still make it to a concert, dinner or gallery later that day.
It’s the kind of stay that makes “Resort in the City” more than this latest Concierge Diaries’ theme — and Hotel X Toronto’s Lead Concierge, Steven Hantziantoniou, knows exactly how to make the most of it.
With over 20 years in the game, his job goes beyond pointing visitors toward Toronto’s biggest attractions. It’s about understanding what someone is actually looking for; a hard-to-get dinner reservation, a quiet walk along the waterfront or an experience that makes a familiar city feel completely new.
Hantziantoniou has been part of the Hotel X Toronto team since 2018, and after a fulfilling two decades in luxury hospitality, he says one thing keeps the job interesting: the way that Toronto is always evolving.
“Turning a visit into something personal” is his favourite part of the role, he says.
“Anyone can provide a list of attractions,” he explains. “The rewarding part is understanding what a guest truly wants and creating an experience they might never have discovered on their own.”
A resort without leaving Toronto
Hantziantoniou says Hotel X Toronto wholly encapsulates the idea of a “Resort in the City.”
Inside the 30-story centre of Exhibition Place, guests can wake up to an array of activities. From relaxing in the year-round rooftop pool, to catching a film in the screening room, to browsing contemporary art in Gallery X, to playing tennis or working out at private athletic club 10XTO, visitors can enjoy all the amenities while still having Toronto right outside the door.
“It means not having to choose between an escape and the city,” he says.
With the Lake Ontario waterfront, green spaces and panoramic views just steps away, Hantziantoniou says the property can feel removed from the bustling pace of downtown while still keeping guests close to everything happening in the city.
“You can spend an entire day here and genuinely feel away, while remaining connected to Toronto,” he says.
That balance is also how Hantziantoniou approaches planning a stay. Rather than immediately building out an itinerary, he starts with questions.
“What have you already heard about or seen online that caught your attention, especially anything in the area around the hotel?” he asks guests.
Then comes the more important question: “How do you want to feel when you leave?”
“Once I understand that, I can build the stay around the feeling rather than simply filling an itinerary,” he says.
Leave room to do nothing
For visitors looking to slow down, Hantziantoniou recommends resisting the temptation to pack every hour with plans.
“I deliberately leave space in the itinerary,” he shared.
That could mean in-house breakfast at ROSES Social, a Guerlain Spa treatment, time at the pool and an unhurried walk by the water.
“Luxury sometimes means having somewhere wonderful to be; other times, it means having nowhere you need to be,” he said. “Relaxing does not mean missing Toronto, and exploring Toronto does not mean giving up the getaway.”
For a true staycation, Hantziantoniou suggests booking a lake-view room and resisting the urge to rush downtown on the first afternoon.
“It quickly feels like you have travelled without actually leaving Toronto.”
See Toronto from a different perspective
Some of Hantziantoniou’s favourite nearby experiences don’t require long-winded mapping out.
At sunset, he recommends Trillium Park and the William G. Davis Trail. In the summer, a Bike Share ride along the Martin Goodman Trail with an ice-cream stop on the waterfront offers another way to explore. And for a different perspective altogether, there’s the Toronto Islands.
“The waterfront is underrated for this,” he says.
He also points to the Toronto Music Garden and High Park, particularly during cherry blossom season in the spring and when the leaves change in the fall.
For visitors, one of the biggest surprises can be how quickly Toronto’s urban landscape gives way to something that feels much farther away.
“One moment you are looking at the skyline; the next you are beside the lake, on an island or surrounded by green space,” he says. “At Hotel X Toronto, that contrast begins before you even leave the property.”
The art of doing less
If there’s one thing Hantziantoniou says guests increasingly want when they’re trying to unwind, it’s fewer decisions.
Guests still want memorable experiences, but they increasingly appreciate having the details handled — the spa appointment, the dinner reservation and a beautiful place to walk — with enough time in between to actually enjoy them.
And if the goal is to really make the stay feel like a getaway, Hantziantoniou has some experience creating that feeling from scratch.
One of his most memorable requests came from a guest celebrating their 50th birthday.
The team transformed the Penthouse Suite into a little piece of Santorini, decorating the space with real white flowers and a Mediterranean-inspired look. Guests arrived dressed in white, and by the time everything was ready, the suite looked completely different.
“It was one of those moments where you walk in and immediately feel transported,” Hantziantoniou says.
The best part, he says, was seeing the guest’s reaction.
After all, for a concierge, creating that feeling of escape — whether it lasts an afternoon, a weekend or just the moment someone walks through a hotel door — is the point.
To unlock more Toronto, read our Concierge Diaries series, powered by Destination Toronto.
