I personally love luxury hotels that offer exceptional experiences (Who doesn’t?), especially when one of those experiences includes a relaxing afternoon tea. This spring, Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto, is making tea time even more exceptional, by partnering with Levenswater – an award winning Canadian small-batch premium craft gin distiller in Niagara Falls – to bring guests an amazing Botanical Afternoon Tea.

The Botanical Afternoon Tea incorporates Spring 34 ingredients, including lavender, chamomile, blood orange, and more, and is served alongside with In-Harmony – a Levenswater based cocktail created exclusively for Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto, by its Head Barman, Chris Rail.

Of course, afternoon tea isn’t complete without pastries, and Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto’s Head Pastry Chest, Jolan Thiry, has created the perfect selection for the season, which includes a coriander crumble and poached apple, a zephyr rosemary panacotta with apple celery gel, a “French 75” tart with lemon and Spring 34 curd, prosecco and lavender meringue, and more.

Tea is held in the lobby lounge of the hotel which is designed to be an “urban living room”, complete with comfortable sofas, tons of natural light, a beautiful fireplace and an Italian handcrafted Fazioli piano. We were seated by the fireplace where we were first greeted with a glass of champagne before the host showed us our tea options. I picked Ginger Sencha – with warming and soothing qualities of ginger blended with exceptional premium Japanese Sencha. Teraj had the White Rose – a “seductive fragrance of roses and honey accompany this light infusion an uplifting tea to unwind with”. We each had our own pot of tea followed by a plate of cute sandwiches and then a 3 tiered platter of pastries! It was so elegant and super photoworthy!

The In-Harmony cocktail was the perfect summer cocktail – with gin, elderflower, citrus, hibiscus, and bitters!

If you are a local, or just visiting Toronto, you will definitely want to stop by for a relaxing afternoon. The Botanical Afternoon Tea is available through May 31, 2019, and is served daily from 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Tip: If you go after 2:30pm, you can also enjoy live music!

Priced at CAD75 (about USD57), this popular experience requires advanced booking. For online reservations please visit www.shangri-la.com/toronto/shangrila/dining/bars-lounges/lobby-lounges/.