June
22, 2006
Presenting: Christina Zeidler: Hotelier,
Social Entrepreneur, Artist and Urban Visionary
For me a city becomes vibrant and exciting when its institutions
and facilities become accessible to a diverse audience that cuts
across ethnic groups and social classes. Things get even more interesting
when foreign travelers become part of this mindset and set out to
discover the city through the eyes of a local. When this kind of
fruitful cross-pollination occurs, you have achieved a perfect setting
for “immersion tourism”, for those travelers who really
want to get to know a city from the inside out.
The Gladstone
Hotel is a perfect example of this spirit. It is a historic
hotel located in Toronto’s Parkdale community and dates back
to 1889 when female entrepreneur Susanna Robinson built and managed
the property together with her 13 children. The Gladstone Hotel,
constructed in the solid Richardsonian Romanesque style, has since
been a landmark on Toronto’s West side, originally serving
travelers that would come into town on one of the three different
railway lines located just steps from the Gladstone. The old train
stations are long since gone, and after 40 years of disrepair the
Gladstone Hotel has been restored to its deserved role as one of
Toronto’s foremost tourism and cultural attractions.
The key person behind this undertaking is Christina Zeidler, daughter
of celebrated Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler, creator of Toronto’s
Eaton Centre, Toronto’s Ontario Place and Vancouver’s
famous Canada Place. Christina’s older sister Margie turned
an old factory building at 401
Richmond Street into a beautifully revitalized space for artists,
multi-media companies and non-profit organizations. A concern for
urban planning and innovative social entrepreneurship runs in the
Zeidler family. The Zeidler partnership restored the hotel along
historically accurate lines and turned it into a masterpiece of
urban revitalization. Christina refers to her hotel not as an “arts
hotel” or a “boutique hotel”, but rather as a
“unique hotel”. And unique it is.
The Gladstone
Hotel has 37 artist-designed rooms, all uniquely themed and
different. I had a chance to see a few of them and not one of the
design elements repeats in any of the rooms. The designs range from
Victorian revival to stark minimalism that focuses on the basics.
I also had a peek at the luxurious third floor Corner Suite, also
called “The Best Room”. This suite features a kitchenette,
an upscale bath and a gorgeous view. One floor up is the two-level
Tower Suite, also referred to as the Rock Star Suite, also with
a kitchenette and a sitting area on the lower level and a stunning
bedroom located inside a turret on the top level of the hotel, offering
a phenomenal 360 degree view of Toronto.
The second floor of the hotel offers multi-use spaces that provide
a unique backdrop for receptions, exhibitions and conferences. A
beautiful Victorian balcony adds to the uniqueness of this location.
Ten rooms are available as meeting spaces with reasonable rental
rates and nine of these rooms are available as affordable short-term
studio work spaces for artists.
The main floor of the Gladstone houses the Melody Bar which features
a late 1940s Deco design and provides nightly entertainment including
live music, open mic nights and karaoke. The Gladstone Hotel is
also one of the venues for the Toronto Jazz Festival, one of the
many music and arts events that are being held at this historic
hotel. The Ballroom Café on the west side of the building
is a great spot to enjoy coffee or a light lunch sitting at a table
in front of the tall picture windows where you can see the world
pass by on Queen Street. Weekends also feature a tasty brunch menu.
The Ballroom itself is the Gladstone’s largest event space
and can be rented for special events. One of the most unique architectural
features at the Gladstone Hotel is the hand-operated elevator, one
of the last such devices operating in Toronto, which adds a crowning
touch to the historic feel of this unique property.
But Christina hasn’t always been involved in the hotel management
business. She is actually an artist and film-maker by profession.
Christina gave me a DVD with samples of some of her short films
and Christina’s off-beat creativity comes to light quickly
in the flickering, gritty, often hand-coloured images of her short
films. Her film clips reveal a playful, irreverent yet sensitive
personality that is underscored by some of her soulful narration
in these pieces. A eulogy about her dog Mica reveals a touching
sense of vulnerability and affection. As an artist, Christina believes
in a hands-on philosophy of “do it yourself” and her
love of the arts manifests itself in the heavy focus on artistic
offerings at the Gladstone.
Scene in front of the Parkdale Recreation Centre: "A Living
Room for 1000s"
The surrounding Parkdale neighbourhood is a key ingredient in the
success of the Gladstone
Hotel. Traditionally one of Toronto’s poorer neighbourhoods,
it has historically faced a variety of problems including drug dealing
and prostitution. Today Parkdale is a neighbourhood in transition
that is undergoing gentrification and an increasing influx of artists
and creative entrepreneurs. At the same time some of the historic
problems are still being dealt with. At the Gladstone Hotel this
environment is not whitewashed, hidden or swept under the rug. Christina
says “Let’s bring in the people. The Gladstone is authentic,
we are not trying to be someplace else”.
Christina celebrates this neighbourhood and the Gladstone Hotel
today is not only a hip accommodation option for international travelers
looking for something different, it is also a hangout for some of
the grittier local characters who just like to come by and enjoy
an afternoon beer. The Gladstone has managed to integrate artsy
types, an upscale clientele interested in the Gladstone’s
vibrant cultural offerings, foreign tourists with a penchant for
a unique ambience, and residents from the neighbourhood, looking
for a comfortable, welcoming place to relax and connect. The concept
of community figures large in Christina’s vision and this
social experiment of opening your doors to everyone is evident the
minute you set foot into the Gladstone.
Although the hotel has been beautifully renovated, I was struck
by how relaxed and casual it was. Hoping she wouldn’t take
this the wrong way, I told Christina that this easy-going atmosphere
reminded me of one of my favourite hostels in Chicago, which is
located in a beautiful old building in the historic Lincoln Park
neighbourhood and welcomes open-minded travelers from all over the
world. These are places where everyone can feel welcome, regardless
of where they come from or what they look like. To me the Gladstone
Hotel conveys this feeling of inclusiveness and the fact that Christina
has successfully integrated regulars from the local Parkdale neighbourhood
emphasizes this open-door policy.
Community involvement and activism are familiar concepts to Christina
Zeidler. One of her many day jobs prior to being the Gladstone’s
Development Manager was to teach film-making at an urban day camp
called “Playground” where young at-risk youth could
learn to create their own music, make CDs, documentaries, or take
still images. The participants in the program were extremely enthusiastic
since it is every urban teenage boy’s dream to make his own
hip-hop album.
Christina Zeidler’s sensitivities were sharpened by her friendship
with Jane Jacobs, an American-born Canadian writer, activist and
urban pioneer, who passed away earlier this year. Jane Jacob’s
seminal work “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”
(published in 1961), criticizes the urban renewal policies of the
1950s in the United States. Jane was a friend of the Zeidler family
and obviously left a big impact on Christina whose eyes light up
when she talks of her. Christina informs me that Jane was a key
participant in saving Greenwich Village in New York City from the
wrecking ball when authorities had planned to demolish vast parts
of this historic neighbourhood to make way for a new expressway.
Christina also knows a thing or two about travel, having visited
places in Africa and South America. She fondly recalls her time
in Nairobi when she stayed in a family-owned hotel and got to know
many of the locals. She struck up a friendship with a local nurse
and through their interactions learned a lot about daily life in
Kenya. She explored many of international places on a shoestring
and is no stranger to riding on local transportation, one sure way
of connecting with the locals. Christina also talked to me about
the European concept of the “pension”, small privately-owned
accommodation establishments that are informal and welcoming. She
has definitely brought this element of coziness and welcoming openness
to the Gladstone
Hotel.
Christina shares another favourite travel memory with me: she remembers
a movie theatre in Oregon where for you can get a movie for $1,
a pizza and a beer. The term she uses is for this establishment
is “public business”, a business that is connected to
street life and brings the community together. In this context she
also talks about Queen Street West which is rapidly revitalizing
and an example of organically growing positive urban development
and revitalization. The Gladstone Hotel is right in the middle,
and in many ways at the forefront, of this urban revival.
Strangely enough, my conversation with Christina Zeidler was less
an interview than a true meeting of the minds. Many times we kept
bantering back and forth about Toronto and the fact that we both
love this city. Christina’s eyes light up when she talks about
topics dear to her heart. A genuine enthusiasm for her work with
the Gladstone
Hotel is palpable. She has a variety of unconventional tourism
ideas to bring Toronto closer to her guests. For one she is working
with the Toronto Transit Commission to sell public transit day passes
to her hotel visitors. She is also looking into linking up with
a local bicycle rental place to allow Gladstone hotel guests to
explore the city on two wheels. It goes without saying that Christina
herself is an avid biker. And another innovative idea is to invite
local artists for hands-on crafts workshops that hotel guests can
participate in.
What a wonderful idea to get tourists involved in the city’s
creative culture…
Useful books about Toronto:
Related articles:
Toronto - A pretty
hip place
Toronto - Sights,
Culture, Shopping
Toronto - Festival,
parks, sports and recreation
Check out why I love Toronto
An interview with Doors Open
- Toronto's architecture festival
My visit to Doors
Open 2005
My visit to Toronto's 2005
Celebrate Toronto Festival
My visit to Doors Open 2006
My visit to the Taste of
Little Italy 2006
A tour through Toronto's historic
Saint Lawrence Market
An interview with Caribana,
Toronto's Caribbean festival
An interview with Pride
Toronto
An interview with the Toronto
Wintercity Festival
Images of Toronto during the winter
of 2006
Looking forward to my brother's
visit to Toronto
Hello from Toronto (2) - Exploring
the waterfront by bicycle and the CN Tower
Hello from Toronto (3) - Exploring
Niagara Wine Country and Niagara Falls
Hello from Toronto (4) - Exploring
Toronto's west end neighbourhoods
Hello from Toronto (5) - Novice golf,
exploring the Kawarthas, & a final bike ride
Here are my
reflections after my European visitors left
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