RIU expands urban portfolio with strategic downtown Toronto launch
November 18, 2025
Brand-name hotels stand out in major urban centers because they combine trust, efficiency and global consistency in spaces where travellers seek reliability and convenience.
In 2010, RIU launched its urban hotel line under the RIU Plaza brand with the first city hotel in Panama.
The aim was to move beyond RIU’s traditional resort/holiday-hotel business into major global cities, targeting business travellers and urban leisure visitors.
With the launch of the RIU Plaza Toronto last September, the global chain now operates 12 city hotels in major metropolitan areas around the world.
Located in the heart of the city, the new hotel has 352 rooms on the first 23 floors of one of two twin skyscrapers in the development. The floors above the hotel to the 49th are private residential apartments.
On floors four to 14 are 116 Deluxe King standard rooms that can accommodate two adults or an adult and child with clearance under the beds for suitcases.
There are 107 Deluxe double rooms with two beds for adults, 20 Deluxe accessible rooms that are mobility friendly, 43 family rooms for two adults and two children and three senior suites on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd floors.
A senior suite in the hotel (Photo contributed)
Many rooms on the upper level offer scenic views of Toronto’s skyline, including the CN Tower.
Most new hotels intentionally limit occupancy in the opening phase as part of a revenue strategy. RIU Toronto offered between 70 and 75 percent and sold 218 rooms in the first two days.
“I think this has do with our brand which is great,” said Giulliana Candanedo who is the sales director. “Clients are familiar with the brand and waited a long time for the opening. Also, our location is ideal. When a hotel opens in a prime area near attractions, the business district or major transit, it becomes much easier to sell rooms right away. We are walking distance from the Rogers Centre, CN Tower and the entertainment district.”
Miguel Perez Lopez, the hotel’s general manager, agreed.
“This is a prime location in the financial district surrounded by fabulous restaurants and bars and lively nightlife,” he said. “It’s a good value for money.”
The RIU Plaza Toronto opened during the Toronto Blue Jays’ playoff run, which fell short in the World Series.
“We had a lot of out-of-town guests stay at our hotel,” said Candanedo, underscoring its immediate popularity.
With its prime location near Rogers Centre, Scotiabank Arena and BMO Field, the new hotel is an excellent choice for visiting professional sports teams and their staff.
In addition, downtown Toronto is a major hub for conventions, conferences and business meetings. Clients seeking convenient, modern and comfortable accommodation in the city’s core will find the RIU Plaza well suited to their needs, offering both easy accesses to key venues and business-friendly amenities.
Guests can enjoy a buffet breakfast each morning, included in the room rate, in addition to the hotel’s modern amenities and comfortable, contemporary rooms. There is also a gym on the third floor that is open 24 hours.
The third floor gym is 24 hours daily (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“For a customer who already appreciates us as a holiday destination, we can’t let them down,” said Luis Riu, the Chief Executive Officer of RIU Hotels & Resorts. “We may not have the sea, swimming pools and variety of restaurants, but we do have our friendly nature, our professionalism and a great breakfast buffet.”
The lobby bar (Photo contributed)
Construction began in early 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Work slowed down significantly during this period,” said Riu. “With the global standstill, we understood this perfectly at the start. We even believed it would not be detrimental to us because the level of investment needed for construction is directly related to speed. But the moment of recovery came and, had it been in our hands, we would have picked up the pace.”
In city hotel development, location is paramount, and RIU Toronto exemplifies this perfectly.
“It is ideal because of its two-way streets away from theatres, the area’s energy and attractions, the proximity to Lake Ontario and the fact that it is 25 minutes from the main airport and about 90 minutes from Niagara Falls,” Riu added. “The location was the thing I liked the most.”
During the development of a new hotel, the sales director is essential in building the property’s business strategy, establishing client relationships and driving early revenue.
Candanedo’s experience makes her an excellent fit for the role, having spent six years as Director of Sales at RIU in Panama where she developed extensive expertise in driving revenue and building client relationships.
“This is a new challenge that I am excited about,” she said. “Toronto is very diverse and a beautiful and relatively safe city.”
Giulliana Candanedo & Miguel Perez Lopez (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Starting at the front desk in Panama’s hotel industry, Candanedo rose to sales manager in 2010 before becoming sales director eight years later.
Founded in 1953 by Juan Riu and Maria Bertran when they purchased the San Francisco Hotel in Mallorca, Spain, RIU specialized in holiday resorts before expanding into urban hotels.
