Trick or Treating Safety Tips Halloween

October 23, 2023

Halloween is one of the most exciting nights of the year for your little ones. They get to dress up in costumes and spend the evening knocking on doors and getting heaps of candy. It’s a quintessential childhood experience – but as the responsible adult, you play an important role in making sure trick or treating is done safely. Here are some trick-or-treating safety tips to keep in mind so that you can make sure your kids have a safe and happy Halloween.

Make Sure Their Costumes Are Visible

Wearing a black Batman cape at dusk means that drivers will have a very hard time seeing your child as they try to cross the road. Instead, go for bright and colourful costumes or attach reflective tape to the costume. Also, your child can carry glow sticks, a flashlight or any other type of flashing device to make them more visible in the dark.

Can They Move and See Clearly?

Sometimes the trouble with masks and hooded costumes is that they restrict vision. Your child may struggle to see out of the small eye holes in the mask, which could cause them to walk into traffic or take a nasty fall. It is better to wear face paint rather than masks so that your child’s vision is not obstructed. Also, make sure that their costume doesn’t restrict their movement and make them more likely to trip and fall over such as a long skirt dragging on the ground.

Be Smart Around Strangers

Some other trick or treating safety tips are to trick or treat in a familiar neighbourhood where you know most of the people who live there. Make sure that your child knows that they should never go inside someone’s house unless they know them. Only trick or treat at well-lit houses and do not approach someone’s property if the lights are not on.

Check Out the Candy Before Eating

When your child arrives home with a bag filled with sweets, make sure that you give it an inspection before you let them dig in. Watch out for any items that they are allergic to, or any sweets that look like they have been tampered with or are not in their original wrapping. You might want to place the Halloween candy somewhere on a high shelf so that you can dole out a reasonable amount and avoid a candy binge sugar rush and subsequent crash.

Alone or With Adults?

Children that are quite young should always trick or treat with an adult, or at least with a responsible teenage sibling or family friend. However, your older pre-teen children may be able to trick or treat in a group without an adult. You know your own child and how responsible they are – so use your judgement. When they go out you should know what neighbourhood they will be trick or treating in, they should be contactable via mobile phone and they should agree to be back by a specific time.

Another thing to add is if your child is also showcasing some symptoms of a cold or flu, it might be best for them to stay home.

If you are looking for fun things to do or wondering where to buy a costume, check out this guide to find out the latest on what’s going on in Toronto!

Keep these trick-or-treating safety tips in mind for a fun and safe Halloween!

Fitness and Health, Lifestyle talk

2023 Resolutions: Toronto Active Things

January 9, 2023

Resolutions, new year resolutions, Toronto, fitness activities

If your New Year’s goal is to live a more active lifestyle, there are many fun ways to stick to your new habit with Toronto’s active things to do.

Regular physical activity will bring you huge benefits. Not only will it help you to burn calories and maintain a healthy weight, but it will also reduce your blood pressure, build muscle, improve your metabolism and help you to sleep better. Exercise has also been found to release positive chemicals in the brain and help to reduce anxiety and depression.

If your goal is to make a habit of being more active, there are many ways that you can do this. You can go for a run or a walk, join a gym, go for a swim, take dance classes, join a sports team or go hiking – it’s up to you. You might even want to vary your activities so that you exercise different muscle groups and keep yourself from getting bored. Even if you feel like staying indoors, our furnished apartments offer fitness facilities in every building and are always included in the rate!

Here are just a few ways to help get you started with Toronto’s active things to do.

Take Aim at the Archery District

Imagine burning calories and having a blast at the same time while playing an archery tag game involving foam-tipped arrows and paintballs. Players rush to center field to retrieve the arrows, then attempt to knock out all of the five targets on the opposing side. This thrilling game can be played with your family, friends or colleagues and it is a great way to get your heart pumping.

Perfect Your Axe Throwing

Work on your upper body strength and dexterity and unleash your inner lumberjack by learning how to throw an axe. The Backyard Axe Throwing League offers casual walk-in axe-throwing lessons with experienced coaches. (Listen to the coach before attempting your first throw, otherwise, things could get dangerous!) If you find that you have a natural talent for hurling axes, you could join the league and compete.

Spin Around the Pole

Pole dancing is a highly acrobatic and challenging performance art that requires a high level of strength, control and flexibility. It’s also a ton of fun and a great way to feel confident and sexy. Brass Vixens is the largest pole dance studio in Toronto and there you can take classes on how to achieve impressive acrobatic stunts. After your first lesson, you’ll be tired and sore but you’ll want to come back again just to learn how to pull off the amazing moves.

Overcome Obstacles

At Pursuit OCR you can climb, jump, run and clamber your way through a fantastic 10,000-square-foot obstacle course – then leap into Toronto’s only adult-sized ball pit. This thrilling indoor playground will ensure that you are having so much fun that you forget about how many calories you are burning.

These are just a few of the unusual, exciting Toronto active things to do to achieve your goal of being more active this year. Now get out there and go for it!

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Business Travel, Corporate Housing

How to Make Your Relocation Run Smoothly

October 17, 2022

Whether you are relocating for professional opportunities, being prepared for the move can make the transition much less stressful.

Here are some tips to keep in mind that will make your relocation go more smoothly.

Consider a Relocation Package

If you are moving for work, your company may have a relocation package which can be a big help. These packages may include temporary housing, a city orientation, education, government registration, health care, moving services and other services to help you get settled in. These services can even help you to set up things such as car insurance, banking, cable and television providers and more. It really helps to have support on your side when you are undergoing a relocation.

Orient Yourself With The City

One of the first steps will be to get yourself oriented in your new home. Many relocation packages will include a city orientation which will give you an overview of the city and help you to get your bearings. You’ll learn about how the city is laid out, how public transport works and where important amenities are located. This will also help you to determine where in the city you want to base yourself. You can figure out the best location that is close to schools, shopping malls and your place of work, while still within your price range.

Fill Out The Required Government Registration and Immigration Forms

If you are relocating to another country you will need to go through the immigration process. This will require a lot of official documents, such as birth certificates, work permits and other legal paperwork. If documents need to be authenticated, it is easier to arrange this before moving. A relocation service can also assist with organizing this documentation and making sure every box is ticked.

Explore A Temporary Housing Solution

Finding the right place to live before you move to a new country can be difficult. You may need to base yourself somewhere for the short term while you do your research and shop around for a home. Temporary housing for relocations, such as the apartments offered by DelSuites, is very convenient and much more economical than a hotel. Look for a short-stay property near your place of work to save time.

Consider Your Proximity To Healthcare

It’s also very important to think about healthcare and how you will access it in your new location. Will you be covered by the health insurance provided by your employer? You should also register with a dentist and a doctor near where you live – before you fall ill.

Find School/Education Services

If you are travelling with children you’ll also want to consider where they will be going to school. Do some research into the schools in the area to determine which one will be the best fit for their educational needs.

Here are a few great tips for finding the best schools for your kids when you move.

The most important tip when relocating?

Take a deep breath and stay calm. It’s a big task but if you approach it one step at a time you will get it done.

Markham, Mississauga, North York, Relocation, Toronto Condos

Plan a Better Home Reno with DelSuites

February 8, 2022

Better home reno photo by Nolan Issac on Unsplash

The numbers are in: this year, Canadian homeowners took all that cash we used to spend on dream vacations and put it into our homes. According to a new report from Statistics Canada, renovation spending jumped 66% this past spring.

And we’re not done yet.

The HomeStars 2021 reno report—a state-of-the industry snapshot on home renovations—predicts 2022 will be even busier. Their survey of homeowners showed that 77% plan to do interior renovations this coming year, and with lumber prices finally coming down from last year’s highs, a whole lot more is possible on a smaller budget.

If you’re planning a renovation—whether it’s a much-needed update to that old kitchen or something to make your space feel new—it always pays to renovate smart. Here’s how DelSuites can help you get your bigger, brighter home on time and on budget, without losing sleep.

Should I stay or should I go now?

With contractors and tradespeople increasingly booked in the coming months, compressing your renovation project into fewer days of work can make it more affordable—but also more likely to fit a reputable contractor’s schedule.

For smaller projects like painting and tile repairs, it might just mean some ducking and dodging around your contractors. But for major projects like a full bathroom update, kitchens, or home additions the math changes. The average bathroom remodel runs at four and a half weeks and kitchens average six to twelve. It can be easier on your budget to let the work run uninterrupted—and move your family elsewhere for the month.

Daily cleanup and site protection costs. Most renovation crews take time at the end of each shift to clean up and make the space habitable again; an average of half an hour per day. This comes out of time they could spend on the primary work—and also adds up on your bill.
Electricity and plumbing planning. Anything that involves wiring or plumbing has to be organized around the basics of daily life: school lunches, morning showers, and for many of us, working from home. Letting your contractors work without having to carefully plan those outages moves your project forward faster—and saves you costs.
Save on dust mitigation. Renovations kick up dust: drywall dust, materials dust, and just the regular kind you haven’t gotten around to while living in your home. The measures you need to take to keep it out of living areas, like hanging plastic curtains, also cost money—and that’s money you can save.
Save on takeout. Kitchen renovations mean you’re down to microwaves or takeout for most of the construction period—and that can rack up huge expenses on meals.

Build a reno budget that works

Renovations have a reputation for running over budget—and that’s sometimes because we haven’t thought about these smaller expenses. You know, the ones that add up.

It’s worthwhile to add up the potential costs of living in your home through the reno—a little here, a little there—and stack them up against the fixed cost of a fully-furnished, ready-to-go rental.

If the incremental bill is bigger than you’d like, building a DelSuites stay into your project plan can be the low-fuss, smart financial decision. It lets your contractors finish major renovations faster, keeps your grocery budget manageable, and reduces the time you lose at work through noise, dust, power shutoffs, or fatigue from early morning carpentry.

We take the hardest part out of the renovations moving dilemma: finding the right temporary home for the right cost. With locations in all of Toronto’s major neighbourhoods, fully furnished units, fully equipped kitchens, ensuite laundry, and phone, cable, and wifi ready to go, all you have to do is show up at the door.

All our units have transparent rates, with discounts available for extended stays. And if your project does run longer than you expected, our Guest Services team can work with you to extend your stay or arrange flexible checkout without trouble.

Solve the stay-or-go equation with a better home reno plan

Ultimately, every renovation is different; it pays to ask careful questions, do your research, and weigh the options with a trusted contractor.

But if you’re leaning toward a temporary home while your dream home comes together, contact us by phone at (416) 370-3504, email at info@delsuites.com, or use our live chat to find out how DelSuites furnished short-term rentals can help you keep your reno within budget.

Business Travel, Energy Conservation, Toronto Family Travel, Vacation Travel

Your Big Fat Green Vacation: Travel Sustainably with DelSuites

January 25, 2022

Travel sustainably photo by Scott Evans on Unsplash.

After a year of fires, floods, and hurricanes, how to travel sustainably in our networked world is a bigger question than ever.

But as travel restrictions lift and all those trips COVID put off become possible, the question is: how? Without spending cash on carbon offsets, how do we balance the travel we love—or have to make to keep business running—with doing what’s right for our climate?

At DelSuites, we’ve already taken care of the big things: situating our fully-furnished rentals in sustainably-designed, LEED-certified Tridel buildings which are pushing the limits on how eco-friendly a high-rise can be. And our fully paperless booking service also lets you book, bill, and plan your trip while keeping a few trees in the ground.

But if you want to max out your sustainability while you travel, here are a few easy ways you can make that Toronto trip a little greener—and have fun while you do it.

Ditch the plastic toiletries, and get some planet-friendly ones

Everyone always forgets the toothbrush—but it might not be a bad idea, this time. For no more than a few extra dollars, you can forget the toothbrush and pick up a biodegradable, planet-friendly bamboo brush for your stay.

Kensington Market health food store Essence of Life Organics has a whole selection of biodegradable, zero-waste kitchen, laundry, and bathroom products to sample for only a few dollars each—and they offer reliable next-day delivery. Schedule an order before you leave, and you’ll be happily picking up your zero-waste, plastic-free lemon-flavoured dental floss from the concierge on your way through your door.

If you’d like to give that bamboo toothbrush a longer shelf life—and use it for your next five trips, too!—Quebec-based OLA Bamboo also offers a case to take it home in.

Sustainabilify the souvenirs

It’s not a trip without a few treats for the people back home. But it’s easy to make those treats more sustainable, eco-friendly, and longer-lasting.

“Eco-conscious general store” Logan & Finley offers a wide selection of sustainable treats for friends and family back home, from clothes to sustainably sourced specialty chocolate and decadent bath soaks.

In the west end, the laid-back Roncesvalles neighbourhood’s Ecotique puts an emphasis on looking chic, with green accessories, Toronto-themed tea towels, and elegant lounging robes made from upcycled saris. They’re gifts so elegant the environmental impact is just gravy.

Clean up your caffeine

When we’re on the road, all those morning coffees add up. But there are a few cafés that’ll let you get your fix greener while you’re on the go in Toronto.

Low-waste café Poured Coffee is taking the indie coffeeshop entirely package-free: their beans are dropped off by roaster La Marzocco in reusable food-safe bins, their milk in glass bottles, and every cup served goes into a reusable mug or thermos—yours or theirs. Complete with locally sourced baked goods and neighbourhood art, it’s a low-waste haven for east end travelers.

On the west side of the city, regional coffee roaster Reunion Island Coffee Roasters is a certified B-corp focusing on sustainable coffee “from seed to cup”. Powered by renewable energy provider Bullfrog Power, they’ve made every part of their supply chain more sustainable, from compostable wood-pulp coffee bags to fair-trade beans. And if you have to get a few bags delivered, don’t worry; the packaging’s biodegradable too. Drink up!

Send it with pedal power

Have an important package to get across town by end of day? Need a prescription refilled, stat?

Send It Courier is one of Toronto’s all-cargo bicycle courier companies—this one worker-owned and operated, with an A-list client portfolio and reasonable rates (including the highly descriptive “Panic”).

Instead of a cab or a rideshare, hand your parcels—heavy or light!—off to one of those professional cyclists, and do business with no carbon footprint at all.

Love your new green bin

The city of Toronto’s Green Bin program is a citywide way to keep your organics out of landfill. And because DelSuites furnished rentals are residential spaces, your stay lets you access the program.

The rules for Green Bin use may look complicated at first glance, but they’re worth spending five minutes to get to know. The program takes in food waste, coffee and tea grounds, paper plates, tissues, and paper towels—and much, much more.

Instead of piling up garbage, your waste will be turned into compost for the city’s parks and gardens, and biogas to power renewable natural gas programs—a win-win for everyone.

Our smallest gestures count when we travel sustainably

No, your travel toothbrush isn’t going to save the world. But the small choices we make add up, and a few better habits can be enough to make a much-needed trip more sustainable in the long run.

For more sustainable travel planning, contact us at DelSuites by phone at (647) 370-3504 or email info@delsuites.com. We’ll help you make your next visit to Toronto green, clean, and easy.

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