Fairmont Royal York Hotel Desk Lighter

This vintage smoking center contains compartments for holding cigarettes, a lighter and a tray that could be used for ashes or pins. The piece measures 6” wide by 4 1/2” deep by 6 1/2” tall to the top of the cover which comes off to reveal the lighter. One sold recently for $449 after 12 bids on eBay while a few months ago, one also garnered 12 bids and sold for $622. The real Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway across the street from Union Station. With 28 floors, the Chateau-style building was the tallest building in Toronto at that time. When built, It boasted 1,048 rooms - each with radios, private showers and bathtubs. The 1.5 acres of public rooms included a 12-bed hospital, 12,000-book library and ten ornate passenger elevators. The Concert Hall featured a full stage and mammoth pipe organ weighing 50 tons, which surpassed anything else in Canada with 300 miles of copper wire. There was a glass-enclosed roof garden, the largest hotel kitchen in Canada with a bakery that could produce over 15,000 French rolls a day, a 66-foot-long switchboard manned by 35 telephone operators, its own bank and golf course (now known as St. George Golf & Country). A $100 million renovation from 1988 to 1993 restored the original elegance with refurbished guestrooms, public spaces, a health club, lap pool and the first-ever American Express Travel Service Centre. In July 2008, the Royal York installed three beehives on its 13th-floor rooftop terrace to serve its in-house garden, which already provides its nine restaurants with fresh herbs, vegetables and flowers. Three queens and their 40,000 workers provide the chefs with up to 700 pounds of honey. The hotel named the hives the Honey Moon Suite, the Royal Sweet and the V.I. Bee Suite.