noplasticshowers

Room 205 Has This Little Guy

The Drake Hotel is in the up and coming part of Toronto that keeps surprising people by being so cool. It’s slightly ahead of its time, but its time is coming on fast. If you like quirky artist type stuff, the Drake is for you.

We were assigned room 205, which has a style all its own, featuring ridiculous furniture, interesting colors, and, well, a really big train luggage rack?!

The Drake 205

This couch is made for looking at mostly

Apparently there are no plastic showers at the Drake. For obvious reasons, No Plastic Showers affirms this with a stamp of approval.

Bathroom space set off by a thin curtain

Not a plastic shower to be found at the Drake

Rumor has it among the cocktail people of the planet that the bar here is very good indeed. We will have to find out later. We do appreciate the prefab cocktail capability found in the room. Ha.

Mixers in the brown bags

Checkin involved a friendly aussie. The net is fast and free. The sun is out on the patio in the cafe. Just nailing it today.

Oh and there was a pre-computed fill-in-the-blank note and a caramel popcorn amenity. That’s nice, though we are SO VERY SPOILED by the Kimpton people that we forget there is not a handwritten note, a gorgeous snack plate, a craft cocktail, and sparkling water in every hotel room. Alas.

Dear ____hotel_manager____ thanks for the note!

Five shower heads and a wink and a nod to the Drake hotel. Fun.

Too bad about the corporate dinner at the steakhouse thing (Hy’s). Would rather eat here.

Actually Hy’s turned out to have incredibly great service and a perfect atmosphere for our event.

Real cocktail @thedrakehotel thanks gordon pic.twitter.com/ysfMHjJenK

— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 1, 2015

The bar at the Drake was a raucous and fun place for a late night drink or two. Excellent bourbon selection and very nicely crafted cocktails made by Gordon Hannah. Gordon was kind enough to provide cocktail recipes for two drinks, but morning came so early that they were somehow left behind at airport security or the global entry kiosk or something. Alas.

But there is hope. Savannah Morin, who mans the front desk email pile at the Drake, very kindly contacted Gordon and got the recipes. Here they are:

Rust and bone
1.5 oz cedar infused bourbon (apparently needs friends to be good)
.5 oz benedictine
.5 oz amaro nonino
stir, strain over a big cube, luxardo

Deliverance
1oz cedar infused bourbon
1 oz calvados
.5 oz fernet branca
.5 oz maple syrup
stir, serve over ice in a collins, apple slice garnish

World class mixology at the Drake peppered by disinterested beer drinkers and 20 somethings. Nice scene.

Oh, and never make promises after 4 cocktails at the Drake! Defaced books on their way.

Eight defaced titles (official)