Hart House

Beautiful place where my husband’s cousin got married. It has a cathedral feeling to it and the court yard is beautiful to have a wedding ceremony.
The reception was held indoors and it was rather old and outdated, but it gave the wedding a rustic, whimsical feel to it. The restrooms are atrocious though, they need to fix that.

This review is more focused on the Hart House gym and fitness classes. I really love Hart House. As a student, I used to go to the gym at Hart House because people were not as hardcore as they were at the Athletic Centre. Fast forward to 2015, I’m still going to Hart House for exercise.
I primarily take a ballet class there with a wonderful instructor named Portia Wade. She teaches all the ballet classes there. She is great and the ballet classes are great! I take various ballet classes around the city and this is the only one where my teacher actually offers corrections. She gives one on one advice to each student. She inspired me to go further with my new hobby and I am better for it.
I find that some of those relaxing parts of my day are spent in my ballet class or in the shower afterwards. There is always shower availability — even during peak times (read — January New Year’s Resolution people). There are also always full length lockers available and the charge rooms are nice and warm in the winter so you don’t freeze tottering back to get dressed.
Definite must-​try if you live in the area, are faculty/​staff or student/​alumni.

Only reviewing the gym.
Being an old building, Hart House gym doesn’t have air conditioning in the main exercise area (they do in the change-​rooms). Now, this isn’t a huge problem in the winter as they do have heaters, but the gym can get awfully hot in the middle of summer. They attempt to counteract this with a huge ass ceiling fan on top of the lower gym.
I wouldn’t come here for serious weight lifting (the weight room is small, dark, crowded and only has 1 squat rack — 1!!!), but HH does the trick for cardio, drop-​in and registered classes. They offer a wide variety of classes, ranging from boot-​camp classes, yoga, stretching, core classes, hip hop, ballet, street jazz, naginata, archery, tae kwon doe… I could go on forever.
Having just graduated from UofT and no longer having unlimited access to the 3 athletic facilities on campus (HH, the Athletic Centre, Goldring Centre), I would choose to buy membership for HH over the other two because:
1) drop-​in classes are the bomb (special shout out to the bootcamp classes that kick my ass every time)
2) free hip-​hop classes (with the general membership)
3) cheaper than the AC and goldring per month
If i wanted to do weights more seriously, I would probably come early in the morning, late at night or on the weekends to skip the crowd.

Such an amazing place for the students.

The gym smells, especially at peak hours. It has a nice ball court, the upstairs has a decent track that inclines at the corners. It’s small, but its nice place to work out in between classes. Grab a wrap downstairs at Sammy’s afterwards, and you’re set for a decent post-​gym workout. There are also pool tables on the main floor as well as upstairs (which most people don’t know about).

I love old buildings! I’ve lost track of how many events I’ve been to here. I’ve attended a wedding in the chapel, been to a reception and a few beer events in the courtyard, and have seen performances at the theatre. It’s a great event space!

Out of the hundreds of places at the DT campus of UofT, Hart House is second on my list of favourite places to study at.
I love that it was an old manor turned into a facility that students can use. Gym, study areas and Sammy’s this place is very versatile. It is very quiet and the best part is the ambience here. It is Hogwarts at UofT. (From time to time you see the Quidditch club running around which makes you feel like you’re living in the wizarding world!) Only reason I give it 4 out of 5 stars is that it is quite old and the ventilation, especially in the washroom, is horrible!
Overall, I definitely recommend any UofT student to come and enjoy this beautiful and magnificent place.
— CL
PS. Hart House is used for weddings, funerals, dinners and concerts. There is always an event at HH.

This review is more for the archery club than the building itself.
The building is yes very fancy and old and reminds me of my first school with the long corridors of brick and big wooden doors. One can easily get lost at first trying to figure out where to go but that is always a fun thing if time is not an issue.
Previously I had checked out the gym and fitness facilities but they’re kind of depressing with lack of light and equipment and in summer the place can stink with the smell of sweat.
Anyway on to Hart House Archery Club. If you are a student then you pay next to nothing for a year membership, if like me you are not a student then $ 200+ for a year.
The club is open to members on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and personally I think it should be available on more days for the people who actually pay full membership. Screw the students, they come in droves and make it not worth me going there on some evenings as it is just too busy.
The archery room itself is just a very very long basement level room consisting of one end with three targets to choose from and the entrance end being where they keep all the equipment. They provide you with bow, arrows and the other tit bits.
Safety is key here and they drill it in from the start and the thing I do like about this place are the girls/​guys who supervise the evenings who are always helpful and full of good advice.
If you are looking to take up archery for fun or for preparation for the zombie apocalypse then this is a great place to start.

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!

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.

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. :)

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!

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 über 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.

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.

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 über-​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.