Maybe I am too familiar with what a real ghetto is having worked Chinese carryouts in the hood of Philadelphia, PA and Baltimore, MD but this area was far from sketch. The "sketchiest" thing about it was that there was a block of buildings that were boarded up so ... *DRUMROLL* they can gentrify with condos! This is right down the street from popular downtown areas very suitable for naive tourists.
I booked the hotel just thinking it was cheap and unique (I somehow end up in beautiful retrofitted mansions when I visit Canada!) but was amazed with how nice my hotel was. It was very beautiful and luxurious. The lobby and halls mesh antique and modern well. Stained glass, plaster molding, and and carved wood staircases paired with steely damask wallpaper and modern dark hardwood floors. The furniture selection was questionable (sofas ok, but the red coffee tables were a bit gaudy. ) The elevator in this building is also old school with the manually opening and closing folding gate style door.
The room itself was updated and gorgeous to boot! I chose a basic double room which was small but typical of big cities (my hotel in chelsea (NY, NY) where I paid 4x the price was easily 1/2 the size). The bathroom had stone floors and walls and a glass walk-in shower. The bed was luxuriously comfortable and the room received adequate light yet had double blinds to shut out all light if you wanted to. The only down side was that the window unit (duo heating and cooling) made a loud hum when it initially turns on which woke me up. The view was not that great (I was towards the back of the hotel facing the parking lot) but that is not important to me (I only rent hotels to sleep in, not to admire a view!) The artwork was tasteful black and white shots of historic Toronto which is a million times better than generic hotel artwork.
PS: they do have parking spots, but they are by availability and $20 as of Winter 2014.
If I visit Toronto anytime soon, I know where I'm staying!