Hotel Isabella

The Hotel Isabella is a small hotel in downtown Toronto, built in the Queen Anne style.

According to The Globe and Mail, in 1890, when the area was home to mansions for Toronto's wealthy, a large house was built on the northwest corner of Sherbourne and Isabella, by Jeremiah Bedford. It stood vacant until 1896, when a "respectable widow" rented it from its first owner George Sears. In 1914 a seven story tower was added to the north facade of the original house, and it was converted to a hotel.

In the late 20th century it was known, for decades, as a venue where patrons could listen to live music. It hosted two venues, known as "Under the Izzy", in the basement, and the "Cameo Lounge", on the main floor. They specialized in Jazz and Blues, and frequent acts included Molly Johnson, Jeff Healey, the Cameo Blues Band, named after the venue, and Big Sugar. According to The Globe and Mail " a young actor named Dan Aykroyd hanging around the hotel found the material for what would become his Blues Brothers homage."

However, The Globe and Mail reported, by the 1990s the hotel portion of the building had become a low rent "flophouse", and both hotel and music venues closed in 1996, and the building was boarded up, until 2002, when it was bought by husband and wife Jyoti Kalia and Paul Kalia, who performed extensive renovations. The Globe and Mail reported that, during the years it was boarded up, the venue housed homeless squatters.