Stepping off the plane on New Yearโs Day 1987, Joy Dandal looked out at a snow-dusted Toronto. This was her new home: cold, grey and flurrying. โIt was the complete opposite of where I came from,โ she says.
Growing up in sunny Iloilo, a Philippine province dotted with Spanish Colonial Era churches, Dandal dreamed of one day visiting not just Spain, but all of Europe and the Americas. (And more of Asia, too.)
โI wanted to be a flight attendant because I love people and I wanted to travel,โ she says. โBut, at five-foot-two they wouldnโt have me because Iโm two inches too short,โ she says.ย
Dandalโs parents couldnโt have given their daughter Joy a more apt name if they tried โ sheโs one of those perennially positive types that bubbles with joie de vivre. Sheโs the embodiment of a people person, which is what a Canadian career counsellor saw in Dandal when they met 33 years ago.
โShe directed me towards hotel and restaurant management โ it was totally out of the blue for me โ Iโd never considered that as a path before,โ says Dandal, whoโs now spent three decades welcoming guests at the Royal York Hotel.
Dandal has greeted European royals, sports legends, world leaders and A-listers aplenty, but when I beg her to namedrop a few she politely declines.
โWe have to make sure their privacy is respected,โ she says with an empathetic lilt to her voice. I can tell sheโd relish sating my curiosity, but the hotel comes first.ย
She speaks about the 1,300-room heritage property with reverence.
โThe Royal York is part of the history of the city,โ she says. Itโs not just the prestige of the hotel that has romanced Dandal, but the hotelโs management has earned her unfettered loyalty.
The hotel runs friendly competitions among the front desk agents, which Dandal often wins. Her prizes have included VIP trips to Paris, Florence, Rome, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C.
โIโm finally travelling the world. It took a while, but slowly Iโm getting there and staying in nice hotels along the way,โ she says before adding that Spainโs her next destination once travel recommences.
As one of the Royal York Hotelโs most senior front desk agents, Dandal has been around for a third of the hotelโs 91-year existence. During her tenure, sheโs changed jobs three times (she was the executive chefโs executive assistant and then a lobby ambassador prior to her current role). Since her first day on July 3, 1990, sheโs seen the ownership change twice, and sheโs seen the hotel weather SARS and host the G20, as well as countless galas, conventions, weddings and epic fรชtes.
Her to-do-day is non-stop. Most mornings Dandalโs checked out 200 guests before lunch, which is when the deluge of new arrivals begins their descent upon the hotel. The week before the city went into lockdown,ย the hotel was even more chaotic than usual: PDACโthe countryโs biggest mining convention (known for its raucous parties) โ was swarming the hotelโs conference rooms, bars and restaurants.
โIt was mayhem, people were waiting an hour just to order a drink at the bar,โ she says. โWhen we came back on Monday I was shocked โ it was surreal.โ
By late March, the hotel dropped down to five per cent occupancy. โEverything was just so quiet,โ says Dandal. It was the first time she had ever seen the hotel this still: The restaurants, bars and even most of the entrances were closed.
โIn a way, that time during the pandemic was beautiful,โ says Dandal. Before the pandemic, she had never had a chance to soak in the Royal Yorkโs architecture. โWhen I looked at the murals, ceilings and chandeliers: It brought me to a different place,โ she says. โWhen the hotel is busy, you donโt have time to appreciate things like wood panelled ceilings and murals from 1929.โ
After a few weeks, the novelty of a peaceful Royal York waned โ Dandal missed the energy guest-filled hotel. Then, the Royal York began its frontline workerโs initiative, gifting 100,000 room nights to the healthcare professionals.
โThey would come in early in the morning, after they finished their shift. You can see how tired they are and the marks on their faces from the masks,โ she says. โYou just want to be quick and give them their keys because you can tell theyโre exhausted.โ
With the pandemic in check right now, everyoneโs spirits have lifted. โEven though weโre sanitizing everything, things feel normal again: The restaurants are open and thereโs a lot of positive energy โ people are cheerful again,โ says Dandal, who has spent the last few weeks inside one of Torontoโs two NHL bubbles. Although 600 hockey players, coaches and staff occupying one hotel sounds like fodder for a zany Netflix special, Dandal says the Royal York still only feels โhalf full,โ but sheโll happily take a cheerful half full during these grim times.