Trump Hotel Toronto was a disaster


Canadians are not exactly fans of President Trump and their disdain has reportedly left the Trump Hotel Toronto at a mere 15 to 45 percent occupancy since the project opened in 2012. The hotel, which held the bragging rights of being the first five-star establishment in the city, will now be converted into a St. Regis following the Trump Hotel's announcement of bankruptcy late last year, travel blog One Mile at a Time reports.
"[Trump Hotel Toronto] looked great at the time because it was such a novelty for the city. Trump was a big, big name, it looked like it would be a huge success," former Toronto Star real estate reporter Susan Pigg told NPR. "But the whole thing was doomed to failure." One Mile at a Time added: "It'll be interesting to see how taking the 'Trump' name out of the hotel impacts occupancy."
The Toronto hotel fell under scrutiny this spring when it was revealed that a partner of President Trump's financed the hotel using hundreds of millions of dollars received from the Russian bank Vnesheconombank, or VEB. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin sat on VEB's supervisory board.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year