Toronto, shiny happy people?

On the face of it, Toronto is a clean, vibrant city with lots of nice shiny buildings, a scenic waterfront and bags of culture.

However, this seems to come with a price.

You can't seem to walk 100 metres without being approached by a homeless person wanting money. The problem is worse at night. On the steps of the hotel I'm staying in, not more than five minutes ago there was a drunk homeless person just outside the doors hassling the other people and I was approached by another wanting money.

I have no idea what the city's policies are to tackle this problem, but I have a fleeing that whatever plans they have in place, it doesn't look like it's enough.

Anyway, on to the next city ... how I love business travel ...

Sitting in a hotel room, staring at my laptop

Yep, here I am in a very sunny Toronto and I'm cooped up in my room tippety-tapping on the keyboard (albeit a nice shiny keyboard now that I've cleaned it).

The main problem with business travel is not the meetings and the endless taxi rides to and from airports and hotels. For me, it's the bits in between. The hours that seem to stretch on and on when you've done all your prep work for the next day and the post-meeting notes and all you have to look forward to is the mind-numbing banality of the hotel television channels and the overwhelming feeling of loneliness.

So, munching on the free turn-down service chocolates and the coffee from the in-room machine, I sit here effectively talking to myself in an attempt to keep sane until the next fleeting human contact.

Anyone know any good restaurants?

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Quebec, a city of the new old

Having conducted my business in Quebec, I took some time out to walk around the city and soak in the sights.

My impression of Quebec is that it is deeply proud of its history and heritage (2008 is the city's 400th anniversary) and much of the architecture reflects this. However, because it is such a clean city (in the old area at least, which is the area I'm concentrating on) it looks to be a strange mix of the true old and new old.

Beautiful nonetheless.

The best thing about this hotel in Quebec

is that it has free WiFi, so I can access the Internet whenever I like!

I don't know if this is the norm with hotels in Canada (I've only stayed in a few), but it is a real selling point for me, especially if I'm looking for a hotel to stage a business event in. It makes such a difference if there are no access rates (which seem to be standard in the UK and in Europe as far as I can tell).

Perhaps if more hotels stopped seeing WiFi or even normal wired Net connection as a source of income and simply an essential customer service (imagine if hotels were to charge you for putting the lights on or having a shower!), I think they would encourage more business.

Just my two pence ...