Rooftop drinks next to the ‘No Vacancy’ sign, where guests will find a private rooftop dining space

TORONTO — It took three years to transform a beautiful but down-at-the-heels Romanesque Revival building in Toronto’s east side – once the highest tower east of the Don River – from Jilly’s strip club into The Broadview Hotel.

From its original days in 1891 as a social club, bicycle club, even a curling club – and finally, in its last incarnation, Jilly’s strip club (with a rooming house on the floors above), the building has seen a lot of changes, and changing clientele, at the corner of Queen St. East and Broadview Ave. in Toronto’s Riverside neighbourhood, just west of Leslieville and south of Riverdale.

Jilly’s always said they would never sell, but they finally did, and then Streetcar Developments, best known as a condo developer here in Toronto, took on the formidable task of restoring the grand old building to its former glory. Now with 58 rooms, 4 dining and drink venues ranging from the bright and airy Lobby Café to the spectacular rooftop bar and private dining space (there’s also a private event venue), The Broadview Hotel is open for business.

With its Queen and Broadview location, the hotel is less than 2 kilometres from Yonge St., a quick hop (at least when it’s not rush hour) on the Queen or King streetcars. Boutique hotels in Toronto’s west end, like the Drake Hotel and the Gladstone Hotel, have seen great success in recent years despite the fact that they’re much further from the downtown core (although they’re right in the centre of the trendy West Queen West scene).

“People don’t always want to stay in the urban core,” says The Broadview Hotel’s General Manager, Murray Henderson. “They want to stay local. They want to stay in a neighbourhood.”

Henderson comes to the Broadview from his most recent post at Le Germain Hotel Toronto Maple Leaf Square. The hotel also boasts John Sinopoli as its Executive Chef, and Erik Joyal, well-known in Toronto’s dining scene for venues including Table 17 and Izakaya.

The Broadview Hotel is beautiful, passing on the so-hip-it-hurts décor that works so well for the Drake and the Gladstone, and going instead for a retro 1920s and 1930s vibe, channeling an elegant ambience of grand hotels.

And are there remnants of Jilly’s? This hotel is all about history, from the retro rotary telephones in the hallways to the brass fittings to the wallpaper in the Lobby Café, which Henderson says is a replica of the original paper on the building’s walls. “I can’t even tell you how many layers of wallpaper we peeled back,” he said. A pink neon sculpture adorns the ceiling in the Lobby Café, a nod to Jilly’s. And is that a stripper pole in one of the rooms? Check out the hotel yourself to find out.

In-room bar selection

John Sinopoli, Executive Chef, The Broadview Hotel

Murray Henderson, General Manager, The Broadview Hotel