Downtown lunchtime nap in Toronto

November 17, 2006 8:38 AM

I work a desk job in downtown Toronto, and I'm a zombie today. Where can I go at lunchtime to take a quick nap?

I work near College and Bay street. It can be a hotel with a nap special, or just a secluded spot where one can lie down. Thanks!

posted by pcameron to health & fitness (14 comments total)

If your car is parked underground in a parking lot. Ideal place, dark and quiet.
posted by sandrapbrady at 8:51 AM on November 17, 2006

Quickly drink a coffee before you nap. The caffeine will hit about twenty minutes later, waking you.
posted by orthogonality at 8:52 AM on November 17, 2006

If I drank a coffee before I went to sleep, that would guarantee that I didn't wake up for quite a while. Caffine has a reverse affect on some people.

Car is the only place I can think of, unless you can sleep at your office desk...if you have an office with a door, then the floor?
posted by Sonic_Molson at 8:58 AM on November 17, 2006

...the coffee before nap idea is quite interesting.

If you're one of those people who can sleep anywhere, you could try public transit. Pick a bus/subway line that's got a significant change somewhere on the route (eg: goes through a tunnel, or comes up out of the tunnel for a brief bit before returning). You can use that environmental change as a wakeup cue.

It's worked for me before. Now I just use modafinil to fix the occasional zombie-day.
posted by aramaic at 8:59 AM on November 17, 2006

I don't know the area, but is there a library with a reading room with comfortable chairs nearby, if you don't have to lie down? I used to find a chair in secluded spot at the university library when I was a student and tired sometimes (my favorite one was one facing a corner with huge windows on each side.) You might have to bring a newspaper or magazine to make it less obvious.
posted by rpn at 9:10 AM on November 17, 2006

Second rpn's suggestion. Hotel foyers are great for this -- find a big, comfy armchair and doze off for half an hour. My favourite is the balcony above the lobby in the Royal York, but that's a bit far from where you are.
posted by randomstriker at 9:48 AM on November 17, 2006

aren't there a bunch of hospitals just west of bay on college? i bet you could find a cozy, quiet hospital waiting room. kind of a weird place to nap, but i always find them snooze-inducing for whatever reason.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 9:54 AM on November 17, 2006

You could go to that 'Great American Backrub' place in the Eaton Centre. (It's near the food court and the Sport Check, on the 'Bay' end of the mall.) You could get a massage and snooze. But you'd have to pay!

Otherwise I'd suggest the library; at minimum you could put your head on a desk and doze, at best they might have comfy armchairs to read/sleep in.
posted by Kololo at 10:51 AM on November 17, 2006

The Reference Library at Yonge And Bloor. Find a corner or bench near the window on the upper quiet levels. Slept there all the time as a student. Once with a sign that said, "Please wake me at 2pm. Exam today". Someone gently woke me after 2 hours of blissful sleep. There were a few other people watching me too, making sure I made my exam!
posted by typewriter at 10:53 AM on November 17, 2006

UofT libraries or the Delta Chelsea lobby? Both should be within walking distance, but being able to lie down might be challenging. The trick is to learn to nap while sitting. It's one of the best skills you can ever have. Just remember to nod your head forward before you doze off to avoid nap-induced whiplash.
posted by reformedjerk at 12:40 PM on November 17, 2006

Hart House on the UofT campus. People sleep on the couches there all the time. Literally - all the time.
posted by easternblot at 1:00 PM on November 17, 2006

If you dose off on the TTC train or street-car for fifteen minutes no one would be on your case. Take the other fifteen minutes back catching up on reading or intensive work--keep in mind when you wake from your nap that's when you are most alert and it's great to use that time to your advantage.

Just bring a health card, keycard, ID along, and $20 to fend off a mugger--you Bay-street finance guys will need that ;-)
posted by iheartcanada at 3:20 PM on July 6, 2007

Silicon earplugs at the drug-store will keep out the noise. During the day there's a lot of noise that's simply unavoidable, even if you are in a car.

And you'll need some good reliable vibrating alarm to wake you up. If you power sleep for longer than 25 minutes the benefits diminishes and the nap will actually turn on you. People will miss you for being away so long and it will actually make you more groggy because your body start to think you are going for a long sleep so it starts to turn on sleep-mode for your entire body.
posted by iheartcanada at 3:23 PM on July 6, 2007

AND join a power nap club.
posted by iheartcanada at 3:23 PM on July 6, 2007