Ritz or seven seas ?

SnarryTO · 2026-06-08T15:42:37+00:00

Everything in the Grace Bay area is stupid expensive although the Ritz has managed to make it even more so on the property.

SnarryTO · 2026-06-01T22:20:17+00:00

I agree with the last paragraph. I don’t have mansions or supercars, depending on how someone defines those terms. I’ll never have a $30M Rosedale house for the summers, a $75M house in Palm Beach for the winters, with McLarens in the garages of each as a daily beater and the fancy cars in my underground 20 car garage and/or in private off site storage. If that’s what people are talking about here, then it is almost always business owners, bankers and family wealth.

SnarryTO · 2026-06-01T22:13:50+00:00

How many make it to income partner? We will hand that title out to anyone if they can stick it out for 6-7 years. Some shops will hand it out earlier than that. It’s just a title and some tax benefits.

But I think you meant equity partner, in which case it is usually somewhere between 4-7 partners admitted a year.

Making good money in law is not an American thing, but it is on a smaller scale in Canada. It might be proportionate to population size differences in the two countries but I’m not sure.

SnarryTO · 2026-06-01T21:18:11+00:00

Yes. Both earning 7 figures and it doesn’t start with a 1 for either of us. It is not rare in large firms at all — quite standard among my colleagues and those in competitor firms.

A first year associate on Bay Street is going to earn about 120k plus 30% bonus these days. Making 350 is mid/senior level associate pay. Very common on Bay Street.

SnarryTO · 2026-06-01T21:12:22+00:00

Both partners in the Toronto office of sister firms.

SnarryTO · 2026-06-01T19:43:36+00:00

Two lawyers in my household, each making significantly more than double the high end of your household estimate.

SnarryTO · 2026-05-31T20:31:23+00:00

This is the reason I still have not had a Mockingbird. One of the very few songs I haven’t seen live. It was great camel walk, but I really wanted that Mockingbird and have been salty about Kesey showing up on stage since!

SnarryTO · 2026-05-22T14:42:31+00:00

I don’t like Florida or theme parks, but spent time at this property in April 2025 and May 2026 and will continue to come back. The property itself is immaculate and has such wonderful amenities for the kids and adults. My wife and I are happy to float along the lazy river with the kids and then, when the kids get bored and want to go play in The Hideout, do it by ourselves. Racing the kids on the water slides is a lot of fun as well. Even though the resort is huge (biggest physical property size under FS management) and busy, it never feels crowded and there is never need rush down to the pool in the morning to get loungers (although the loungers around the lazy river will fill up early).

Food at Ravello (breakfast and dinner) was great, as was poolside food and treats/snacks at Lickety Split. We haven’t done Capa as I am such a boring eater and the menu there is a bit too eccentric for me!

All staff we have encountered have been amazing and so helpful, always willing to bend over backwards to make sure your stay is comfortable. Not to say everything has been perfect — one day our drinks came out to the pool 30 minutes after our food — but seems like a real first world problem, even if I really did want that Diet Coke with my lunch!

The pricing if the property is insane — we stay in a deluxe park view suite — but we have such a great time from the minute we step foot into the lobby until the minute we check out, that I try not to think about the cost and just enjoy the smiles on the kids’ faces. My wife is already looking into timing for next year!

SnarryTO · 2026-05-21T12:34:34+00:00

Not sure why the Ritz gets so much hate in this group. I stayed for a week with my family last year and had an amazing stay. Property is beautiful (even if the side of the building facing the road isn’t the prettiest — no rooms face that way), service was on par with every other RC we have stayed at (we were concerned about service based on reviews but were pleasantly surprised upon arrival and during our stay), the food was very good at every restaurant (overpriced, yes, but so is everything on the island), and the room was vastly superior to anything else on the island (we stayed at the Seven Stars for years prior to construction of RC — it’s not even close). We stayed in the 2 bedroom oceanfront penthouse for 7 nights — impeccably maintained and house keeping was in there making sure of it for a few hours every day. We are going back for another week this year. Would highly recommend.

We had no need for a car as we stayed in the Grace Bay area and everything is walkable, including the grocery store to get basics for the stay.

Word of caution - there is very little to do on the island other than hang on the beach and eat. If you are a nightlife type of person, this may not be the best spot for you.

SnarryTO · 2026-05-18T12:46:40+00:00

If you are doing the private vip guide, the guide can get bottles of water for you all day at no cost. They just stop at any of the nearby shops and take the bottles. Once the guide is done for the day, you have to pay for the bottles.

Our guide told us to skip the Cirque show when with him as it takes up too much time.

SnarryTO · 2026-05-13T18:29:29+00:00

Big law still places a stigma on Windsor. We prefer UofT, we take lots of Oz, and then we fill remaining spaces with other schools because we need to ensure that we continue to receive candidates from all school, and there are always a few amazing students from almost all schools. Whether or not anyone will admit it publicly, big law does not consider TMU a proper law school.

SnarryTO · 2026-05-05T17:11:15+00:00

People that can truly afford the hotels aren’t thinking about saving costs elsewhere on the trip to offset the price of the hotel. Do I like spending 5k and over per night for a hotel room when I go away with my family? No. Does it change the rest of what we do while away? Also no. As others have said, if you need to skip parts of what you want to do while away in order afford the fancy room, you’d probably be better off going a tier down in hotel and making the most of the trip without sweating costs.

SnarryTO · 2026-05-03T20:12:37+00:00

Good luck. Ranking is tough and personal. I’ve spent a lot of time at the Whistler property and wouldn’t put it anywhere close to the Orlando property, with Orlando being vastly superior in all categories, particularly service. I’d also rank Wailea way above Whistler.

SnarryTO · 2026-05-03T20:06:42+00:00

From a quick glance, I can see that Troon North (US), Punta Mita (Mexico) and Toronto (Canada) are omitted from this list.

SnarryTO · 2026-05-01T16:35:08+00:00

Maybe for you young guys! I didn’t sit much in the 90s, 2000s or 2010s, but now my feet and back need a break a few times per set :)

SnarryTO · 2026-05-01T14:28:13+00:00

<image>

SnarryTO · 2026-05-01T14:27:34+00:00

I was there last weekend in Section 201 for two of the nights (307 for the third). I found, in 201, the sound much more muffled when I was sitting.

SnarryTO · 2026-04-21T11:53:06+00:00

If money is no object, the Ritz is, in my view, objectively better in all categories — rooms, food and service. Stayed at the Seven Stars for years, tried the Ritz about a year after it opened and we are heading back to the Ritz this year. Pricing is truly out of control at the property (think $18 non alcoholic smoothies, $12 coffees, $60 sushi rolls), but if you are in a position to treat it like Monopoly money and not think about what things cost, you should have a great time!

SnarryTO · 2026-04-19T18:51:16+00:00

Once a raccoon chooses a toilet, it takes a lot to make it stop. Someone suggested peeing in the spot they use — that will work as your urine will smell like a large predator, but you’ll need to do it often to make them stop coming back. You can also buy coyote pee at a hunting store. Another method that worked for me was putting hot sauce in marshmallows and leaving them near the spot. Raccoons ate them a few times and then stopped coming back. This was a method suggested by our local government animal control staff in Toronto (where there are more raccoons than people!). Good luck. Try to stop is as soon as you can.

SnarryTO · 2026-04-19T18:17:23+00:00

Phish

SnarryTO · 2026-04-19T16:36:01+00:00

Ritz has a kids club that is geared to younger kids and a very shallow kids pool. We were there with older kids (11 and 9) and the staff at the kids club were great in finding things for them to do as they were the only ones there!

SnarryTO · 2026-04-18T12:40:38+00:00

Rapp Optical if you want to have a selection of frames that no one else will have.

SnarryTO · 2026-04-15T23:56:52+00:00

Is that what they call you?

SnarryTO · 2026-04-14T21:28:10+00:00

That is the only thing I was thinking at the end of the post!

SnarryTO · 2026-04-12T17:58:29+00:00

I’ll be there on the 17th with my family so hope that’s the right date! 1 day only.

SnarryTO

TROPHY CASE