Anndore House is an 11-story boutique hotel that fuses retro and modern classic aesthetics, with 113 bedrooms in four styles and powerhouse restaurant Constantine on the ground floor.

The name pays homage to the building’s original incarnation as The Anndore Hotel & Apartments, a 1950s brick residence designed for shorter to longer term stays. Apparently it used to be home to the darkest jazz bar in the city.

As such, the rooms have an urban loft/condo feel, the look of the rooms taken on by local designer Cecconi Simone.

This residential “house party” vibe begins the moment you step through the hotel’s front double set of black doors. Through a grotto-like enclave lies the lobby, a skylight shining down on the check-in desk which takes its cues from Apple’s Genius Bar. Rather than lining up, guests commiserate with staff around an island.

A corner king studio is the most standard type of room at 325 square feet with a king-size bed.

Every room comes with a record player, bringing in the retro feels, and provides vinyl to go with it like Bob Seger or the Everly Brothers. Apparently some guests even leave LPs for the next person to stay in the room.

Every room has a rainforest shower outfitted with brass fixtures, the whole bathroom tiled in gleaming black and white.

All the rooms also have little Instagrammable touches that avoid being gimmicky. For example, a bathroom stool stencilled with the phrase “YOU LOOK GREAT” comes in extremely useful for sitting in front of the mirror during lengthy grooming sessions.

I’m also impressed by the full foyer/dressing area with a closet you can actually fit all your luggage and coats into, the cherry on top a full-length mirror Insta-tunity. 

Other rooms available are the Loft King Room, Loft 2x Queen Room and 550-square-foot Master Suite.

The goal of the hotel is to be completely paperless, which is part of why much of your interaction with the hotel is integrated into their very own app.

It’s not absolutely necessary to have to stay in the hotel, but with the ability to open doors, control lights and heating, and virtually explore the local neighbourhood and amenities, it allows those who want to digitally streamline everything to do so.

Not only Constantine takes up residence on the ground floor, but also a Crow’s Nest Barber Shop and cafe Scarlet Door.

The latter features baked goods made by Constantine’s pastry chef and design by Studio Munge.

With more space and breeziness than your usual boutique hotel, Anndore House is a breath of fresh air in the middle of the city.