HOTEL OCHO

The perfect wedding venue! We had a truly incredible experience with Hotel Ocho. I honestly can't say enough about them just in this post, and I'm shocked that I hadn't heard much of them before our first appointment to check out the venue. First and foremost, the staff is incredible. Rish and Sela felt like having 2 friends plan your wedding with you. They were true partners in the process and provided personalized support and we are extremely lucky to have had. The venue itself is perfect for the flow of a wedding day. Use of both the downstairs and upstairs spaces was awesome and allowed us lots of flexibility in making the space our own. The food was also phenomenal. We did cocktail style but still had plenty of food with wide-ranging options of really high-quality dishes. The reasonable cost, personalized service, and overall flexibility is unmatched for wedding venues in Toronto!

I wouldn’t recommend that anyone stay at Hotel Ocho. The showers are moldy, the air conditioning is loud and hardly works, and the wifi doesn’t work at all. In my particular case, the door to my room didn’t lock properly. When this was brought up with the employee working the front desk, it was clear it was a known issue with the room. I was told to lock my door from the inside instead of locking as one would normally lock a door, from the outside. While this technically worked, the lock on the door as well as its knob was rickety. Not the best for making you feel secure and safe, especially as a young woman. The employee also openly complained to me about the event happening at the hotel, expressing irritation at having to attend to the event’s guests. Later on in the evening when I expressed my overall discomfort with the fact that my door wouldn’t lock properly, it was abundantly clear that the employees found this irritating and stupid. Luckily, I was able to get a full refund. I knew Hotel Ocho wouldn’t be a five star experience, but I’ve never been made to feel more uncomfortable at an accommodation in my life. It was an ordeal to find alternative accommodation. My recommendation to Hotel Ocho would be to repair the lock/knob on room 25 and check in on the morale of your employees so that they’re not complaining to guests about other guests. Good luck!

Two of my wedding party had their own ceremonies here. My fiancee and I did our due diligence, and we understood why those two picked Ocho. The staff were excellent and accommodating, the events department are great to work with, and the venue itself matched our preferences for the day down to the T. Being able to retreat upstairs to a suite instead of heading elsewhere was exactly what we wanted. Don't second-guess, don't wait, just book this place for your wedding.

Couldn’t have had a more wonderful wedding day at Hotel Ocho! From our initial meeting with Sela and Rish, we knew this was place was special. In the months leading up to our wedding, Sela was always available to answer all of our questions. She often gave us practical advice and solutions, and we always felt more at ease after talking to her. The other Hotel Ocho staff were also amazing. They were attentive to us and our guests, and were kind and fun. The food was also tasty and in matched what we sampled during our tasting. This venue was perfect for us - amazing rustic and cozy vibes, in the heart of downtown. We had around 100 guests and the transition from ceremony to reception worked perfectly with both floors. Thank you for making our day so enjoyable!

*THEY DO NOT PAY NEW HIRES TO WORK THE EVENTS* - Just looking for free help, but won't advertise it. I had an interview which I passed with Hotel Ocho. I was told I get to work two trial shifts where I get paid, because they needed help with a wedding event from May 31st 2024 (set-up) and June (The wedding). 6 hours for 20$ an hour (120$). I worked both shifts and they told me they'd call me within in a week. Two weeks later still no call, so I decided to email and call. The managers completely ignore my calls/texts and emails so I had to reach out to the event manager, I was told my paycheque was ready, however I could not pick it up. They told me on June 18th 2024, that my cheque was mailed. I live like 10-15 minutes away, and it's now July 19th 2024 the cheque never came (It doesn't take a month to mail a cheque). I sent several follow up emails, and texts over the last few weeks trying to get my payment and they refuse to answer. I do have a claim open with ESA against them now, so I wanted to make you folks aware of this business! If they can't afford to pay someone 120$ to help with an event, then they shouldn't be profiting a bunch of money from your guys's weddings and cooperate events. I also sent a very nice final notice email, asking one last time to pay me, before I had decided to post this and gave them 3 business days to make it right. It won't let me attach the proof, but I am making a Facebook post and TikTok video with all the proof (since I can't fit it here), which I will link once it's finished.

My partner and I stayed here March 2024 and here is everything you need to know. The room: we got the queen size bed room, and the bed seemed to be more of a double, quite small. The other odd thing is the bed is smack dab in the middle of the room, not against a wall or anything. You cannot open a window in the room and the ventilation is poor, so frankly if you plan to poop in the bathroom the whole place will reek for a while. The bathroom was large and spacious but there was weird grime built up in the shower and it’s a sliding door not a regular door to the bathroom. The shower head was a waterfall one though so that’s cool. The room was not that large. The hallways had a slightly odd smell but nothing too potent. The lighting in the room is subpar, if you want a good place to do your makeup you gotta move the main room lamp to the bathroom. The customer service: we interacted with two staff members. The woman will curly hair was beyond kind and helpful and so friendly, even let me borrow a pair of scissors. The other woman was not rude by any means but not as friendly. Also check out is at 11 and they will call you 5 min before to make sure you’re leaving, but that might be normal. Location: downtown Toronto, center of China town, very convenient. There’s a public parking lot about a 4 min walk away and we stayed from 4pm- 3pm the next day in that lot for only $30, which I think is quite good in Toronto but I may be mistaken. Overall thoughts: if you need a cheap place for one night and somewhere to crash after the bar, and you’re not too picky about quality, then this is a great choice. It’s hard to find a better location or a cheaper hotel. If your stay is more than one night and you’re looking for a more standard hotel experience (and can afford to drop a little more $) than I’d keep looking.

I really like the rooms but the neighbourhood is quite sketchy, so much so that they lock you out at midnight and you have knock and wait for the night shift person to let you in, which is very annoying as I had to wait outside at 2 am and felt like I was bothering the employee. The crazy part is that I had lost my key at a music festival earlier that day and they decided to keep 200$ of my 250$ damage deposit for the key replacement, which is completely insane as a regular key copy costs 5$ at any hardware store. Lastly there are often weddings and birthday parties in the hotel which makes it very awkward when you want to leave your room to go out and have to walk though some reception where someone is giving a speech. I have been staying here for years but this was my last time.

I love Hotel Ocho! By far one of the best venues if you are looking to celebrate your intimate wedding in the heart of downtown Toronto. The staff is always so friendly and helpful and the food is delicious.