Your birthday is coming up, and you want to do something a little more exciting in Toronto this year than stay at home and blow out candles on a frosted cake. If you really want to go all out this year, celebrate your birthday in style at Queen West’s The Drake Hotel.
Book a Room at The Drake Hotel
Start by booking a room at one of the best luxury boutique hotels in Toronto on your birthday. That way, you can spend your birthday where all of the action is — the food, the art, music and dancing — without having to worry about take a long journey back home. You can party and go back to your private suite.
The Drake Hotel is a gorgeous venue. The suites have high ceilings, charcoal hardwood flooring, custom furniture and unique décor. Although the rooms are stunning, you’ll also want to roam throughout the halls where you’ll see art pieces and installations made by rising talent throughout the building.
Party It up During the Day
Get a head start with your celebration in the afternoon with a boozy tea party planned by The Drake’s special events team. This isn’t your standard high tea with cups of Earl Gray and Chamomile. The Drake Hotel’s boozy tea party package serves spiked teas alongside onion tarts and delicate macarons. So, you and your friends can pretend that you’re in the middle of Downton Abbey while nibbling on English cucumber sandwiches and sipping cocktails.
Be sure to order a Muskoka Iced Tea made with Pike Creek Canadian Whiskey, lemon and PLUCK Muskoka chai tea. Or get the classic Drake G + Tea made with Hendricks Gin, cucumber, lemon, juniper, Carroll + Co. tonic syrup, seltzer water and CTL, ALT, DLT brewed tea.
Have a Feast in the Evening
If you’re not too full after your tea party, you can enjoy dinner at one of the Drake Hotel’s three dining locations: the Lounge, the Drake Café and the Sky Yard. The Sky Yard is the rooftop patio that overlooks the bustling West Queen West neighbourhood. Share conversation and delicious appetizers under the stars over four seasons.
Chef Zach Albertsen’s menu is designed to feature the best of regional and seasonal ingredients. Order the Drake + Bake, a basket of artisanal bread and butter made fresh at the Drake Commissary in The Junction. Follow it with an entrée such as steak frites, an Ontario striploin topped with brown butter béarnaise. Be sure to leave enough room for dessert.
Close down the Bar at Night
There is a reason why the Drake Underground is called the basement that never sleeps. The venue hosts the hottest local and international performers that are guaranteed to get crowds jumping. They’ve had everyone from Kid Cudi to Peaches to Chromeo grace the stage and get fans riled up. If you want to listen to amazing music and party until the wee hours of the morning, this is the place to be.
A few hours after you’ve hit midnight and your birthday is officially over, you can walk from the Underground to the hotel lobby and go up to your room. You can slip off your shoes, dive into the soft bed and fall asleep knowing that this is a party you’ll never forget.
You might be interested in reading about the Poetry Slam at The Drake.
