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Hart House
Categories: Event Planning & Services Venues & Event Spaces Active Life Recreation Centres Venues & Event Spaces, Recreation Centres [Edit]
7 Hart House CircleToronto, ON M5S 3H3
Neighbourhoods: University of Toronto, Downtown Core
(416) 978-2452
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
8 reviews for Hart House
8 reviews in English
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Review from Amelia B.
Toronto, ON
3/23/2011
The Hart House Athletic Centre rocks! And here's why:
1. Great service - I can ask for an extra towel and nobody loses their crap on me.
2. The atmosphere is fun and I love how I am working in an old house with so much history.
3. The locker room is HUGE. I never have to worry about getting a locker or shower.
4. Relative cheap option for a person who has just graduated and needs a cheap place to go to the gym!
My only issue is as follows:
The machines are old and they need an update plus you can only work out on one for 25 minutes but yet some of broken and allow more than that!
Anyways, great place for UofT alumni!Listed in: Health & Fitness
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Review from Susan G.
2/1/2012
There are so many interesting things within Hart House to explore!
Not only is it a fabulous building with lots of history, there are so many components and a variety of things to do, such as:
- Venue spaces (meetings, weddings, etc)
- Athletics facilities (cheap for grads / staff, free for students)
- Lounge spaces (read a book, relax, etc)
- Sammy's Student Exchange (cheat and fast eats)
- Gallery Grill (a slightly more classy lunch)
- Hart House Theatre (campus productions)
... and so many more interesting spots to explore.
If I was just rating the Hart House gym, I would definitely do a 5 star - there is always cardio equipment available, they have a great range of drop-in classes with professional instructors, a pool, a smaller private cardio room, and the staff are super friendly! They also have a large change room which always has available lockers.
While sometimes the other staff can be a bit short, Hart House is still a beautiful campus building and is definitely worth a visit!Listed in: Throw Yo' Party HERE
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Review from Fareeda S.
St Catharines, ON
8/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
Very classy and nice venue for a private function or wedding (especially a wedding). The patio outside is beautiful and the reception hall gives a 'Royale' feeling.
The one and only major issue with the venue is that there is "NO AIR CONDITIONING' If you are planning on having your wedding during a hot summer day then this place may not be the best. However, if you can tolerate the heat then there is no other place in Toronto to match this venue...
This venue will get 5 Start from me if their is air conditioning. :) -
Review from Andrea S.
Toronto, ON
1/26/2011
So this review may seem a bit off topic since it doesn't focus on the gym facilities (which a perfectly great in their own right)...
I just finished hosting a graduate student event at Hart House coordinated through the event services on site.
As this was for a student organization, the rates were more reasonable than about just about anywhere in the area. The service was great - Devon in the event office was flexible and supportive of me as I put together my first major event.
On the day of, the staff were helpful and the room was set-up on time :)
The food was great - although we ordered the most basic full-day meal offering, everything was tasty and well planned since it easily accommodated vegans and vegetarians without any hassle. As it is the middle of winter, the staff was also nice enough to keep a fire going in the fireplace throughout the day (not that we needed it for heat or anything).
My only complaint would be that there was significant hallway noise, not from students, but from the regular staff moving tables/chairs/maintenance equipment around since it was the middle of the day. Just be forewarned, and when it is recommended that you rent a microphone and speaker for use in the East Common Room (for a nominal cost), I recommend you take the advise.
In the end, I would consider hosting any mid-size to large event here in the future. -
Review from Dishan W.
12/19/2010 1 Check-in Here
My second favourite building on campus! It's got so many things going on and so many facilities that I've even heard a rumour that it's got an underground golf facility! What I do know for a fact is that it's got a 25m pool, a full theatre, a separate box office for other UofT run shows, a sort of fancy grill restaurant upstairs, a student friendly eatery on the ground floor that transforms itself in to a favourite spot to catch big games such as during the World Cup, a basketball court, indoor track, gym (women friendly one too), a salon, a library, a great hall, numerous meeting rooms, a chapel, an art gallery, a beautiful quad, a game room, there used to be an spot for the UofT guns club before that got disbandeda and a very long list of activites offered from dance classes, yoga, getting fit and martial arts as well. The clock tower attached to it (Soldier's Tower) doubles as a war memorial with a very secret-ish tiny museum inside the tower that is definitely worth a visit through the long narrow stair case!
Staff are always on hand and very friendly, the building itself is so beautiful to walk around in, during warmer weather Hart House provides a near perfect backdrop for weddings.
The gym facilities seem to be a bigger hit amongst people when compared with the Athletic Center's but it's almost always busy and the lack of air conditioning on the main gym floor is a huge factor for many. But Rachel McAdamas and Ryan Reynolds have been seen to work out here! So clearly HH has the word out that it's gym is OK.
The costs for lessons are cheaper than the "outside world" but you do need to be a member to enrol. Alumni have a great membership deal considering what you would end up paying for just a work out facility in some more corporate locations.
But if you are around this area and looking for a place to sit down by a REAL fireplace on comfy seats for a book, game internet time Hart House is a must visit for that and so many other reasons! -
Review from Monica K.
North York, ON
2/23/2011
Love Hart House. I love that the running track is not hard, and has a bit of a bounce. I like that the fans blow cool air on your face, I like that the service is way friendlier than at The AC, and I love the fact that I can ask for 2 towels instead of 1 without being glared at. I also like that I can sign out basketballs, skipping ropes, soccer balls, and many other things at no extra cost. Most of all, I like that I don't have to feel uber intimidated by all the pro-athletes-to-be training at the AC. They also offer plenty of free drop in classes if you're a U of T student, including rumored Kpop Dance Classes hahaha, for serious.
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Review from Zina J.
Brampton, ON
12/1/2011
I had my wedding reception there this past August and it is a very beautiful venue - Great Hall and courtyard.
However there are some problems, No Air Conditioning. They provide large industrial fans but those were not enough. There were 140 of us and definately very warm... Also, we had a curtain back drop for the head table and when the fans were pointed towards us, the curtains didn't stay down. Another thing is they are huge and unsightly in photos. A bunch of our cutting cake photos were not "perfect" because there is a huge fan right behind us... July is pretty bad too I heard a couple had to move the dance floor outside (unplanned ahead of time) because the great hall was too hot. The fans are loud too, we had to turn off the stage one during speeches because we could not hear the speaker. The thing you have to remember during cooler times (September) school is on, there are a lot of students around and it is quite busy around. Hart house is a Student life building primarily...
Also if you do book with them make sure you keep them on the ball - our coordinator was horrible (Devon). She promised us things that were not followed through on, minor things from tealights on the tables to major things like late night dessert table (we pre-paid for it too) and it was not served at the wedding!
It is a very nice venue though... another thing is they have purple lighting -we didn't even know it was there until the wedding reception, not good if your wedding colours don't go with the purple. It would have been nice for them to tell us before the wedding and not having us find out after our walk in during Our Grand entrance.Listed in: Nuptial Bliss
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Review from Tamar F.
11/1/2009
Hart House is arguably the best thing about UofT. It's the student center but is also available to join if you're an alum, over 60, or a visiting student. The facility includes places for banquets/events (like the Great Hall), eating and haircutting locales, and a theatre. But I'm going to review the gym/fitness facilities.
UofT has an athletics center at Harbord/Spadina, but it doesn't seem all that attractive for the following two reasons: (1) it's located far from most of the residence halls - with the exception of Grad House and New College and (2) it's where the varsity athletes practice. Okay, it's not like UofT has the same caliber athletics program as Texas or Florida State, but hanging around with all those toned-ass people can be rather intimidating. Still, the distance (especially in brutal Toronto winters) was a pretty huge deterrent from going to the AC. I'd rather be breathing in the asbestos in the basement of Sid Smith than walk there. But I'd have to pass Hart House en route between the dungeon of SS and home (Vic), so there were no excuses NOT to go there. I think the same holds true for people who live at Trin, UC (well, sorta), St. Mike's, and Massey. The location is just hella convenient.
Anyways, the facilities are pretty nice. The machines upstairs can get busy at times, but weren't overwhelmingly so. The pool is really great - never too busy, clean, and a decent temperature. In addition to having lap swimming, they offer Master Swim classes (for a fee) and Aquafit (free). Really fun, I might add.
Hart House also offers free drop-in group fitness classes... I never took part in those but it seemed like many of my floormates did and enjoyed them. I did enroll in some of the dance classes, which were really reasonably priced (~$60/semester) and a lot of fun. I HIGHLY recommend Musical Theatre Jazz which is uber-dorky but fun. They also started offering spinning classes (~$10/class) a couple of years ago, which is great.
The locker room and showers are fine. They have a mix of stall and open showers available. You can pay for towel and locker service if you choose.
Overall, facilities are pretty darn good, the atmosphere is low key and more welcoming than most facilities at UofT, and the location is top-notch. The only regret I have is not realizing how awesome Hart House was until my second year at UofT.
