Bordered by the lakeshore and built on a grid, Toronto is easy to cross-match on a city map when you’re perched high above it, making this a top spot in which to quaff a beer, get your bearings and plot out the next day’s sightseeing itinerary.

123 Queen Street West, www.starwood.webcanada.com, tel +1416 361-1000

The Hazelton

Remarkably, until last year Toronto didn’t have a 5-star luxury hotel. The Hazleton was conjured up to fill that gap and opened its doors in the nick of time, just as the starriest of celebrity clientele descended on the city for the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

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It’s now an established port of call for visiting celebrities, (and indeed some resident ones, anonymous occupants of apartments on the top four floors), and a sleek, discreet and pretty darn sexy place it is too. This is partly as a result of it being dark which always helps, and partly down to its liberal use of jaw-droppingly extravagant, sensual stuff from mohair-lined walls in the opulent 25-seater private cinema to the glowing etched bronze lifts.

Hide panels decorate the bar and restaurant, and the large and lofty private dining room has, I kid you not, scarlet suede walls which demand a quick sneaky feel. Some circa 1940s Hollywood glitz and glamour is craftily combined with hot mod cons. Large bedrooms have the massive plasma screens and remote control gadgetry men like, along with bathrooms destined to appear on lists of the world’s best, many strides across with dark green sparkling granite slabs on the walls, trough-like baths you need a hoist to get in and out of, rainfall showers and TVs built into the mirrors.

Naturally it has an expensive-smelling spa with lap pool, and a signature restaurant (ONE by Mark McEwan), serving sophisticated fare (stuffed quail, Alaskan black cod, prosciutto-wrapped grouper) with lots of tapenades, mousseline and seared foie gras trimmings. The Hazleton’s unassuming brick exterior gives no hint of the treats inside. First time visitors might be similarly surprised to discover that the vaguely suburban looking street it sits on is mere paces from Toronto’s most upmarket shopping strip, Bloor Street West, dubbed the Mink Mile for its density of designer shops, Gucci, Prada and Chanel among them.

118 Yorkville Ave, www.thehazeltonhotel.com, tel +1416 963 6300, Rooms from $475 (£255), to largest suite $1170 (£629)

The Cosmopolitan

Whether or not it’s really down to the crystals on the pillows, the application of Feng Shui principles, and the natural gemstone fountain at the energy-centre of each suite, or simply the floor to ceiling windows, sense of space and blonde wood floors, this delightful hotel does indeed exude a Zen-like air of calm. Ideal for a longer stay, each suite comes with a full-equipped kitchen and, excitement of excitements, a washer-drier. If you happen to have super-friendly staff and views of a futuristic city lit like a Christmas tree from the bedroom window of your own house you will find this a veritable home from home.

Located close to the lake at the heart of the action, the setting is truly spectacular. The best vantage point is the Designer Penthouse, with loungers on a balcony suspended over the city, and 28ft tall windows looking out towards shimmering water one way and the CN Tower the other (as well as a row of people pedalling exercise bikes against a wall of glass in an opposite block). White leather settees, orchids, spa tubs and general vastness give the penthouse jet set oomph, but all rooms are cool and contemporary and come with a cityscape thrown in for free.

There’s a good hubbub and mood of bonhomie in the popular ground floor bar Low tables, eat at the bar, 60 seat restaurant glowing with bonhomie dark, warm, super-friendly staff. Bird’s Eye maple table a cross-section rippling with honeyed colours. Tip: swipe your card in the lift or you ain’t going nowhere.

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