V8 HOTEL lobby – image courtesy of the hotel. Photographer: Frank Hoppe In Canada and beyond, hotels and tour operators are feeding our need for speed.There are more opportunities than ever these days to get on a local track, test-drive a new luxury car, or stay up close and personal with some of the worlds most impressive automotive collections all booked as packages from the convenience of your hotel.And car-focused tourists whod rather go road-tripping in a supercar than a beater can book plenty of longer trips from tour operators pairing dream rides with fabulous suites each night.Here are a few great options for this summers driving season.Hotel X TorontoHotel X Toronto debuted last summer sporting trendy amenities free Wi-Fi, a rooftop swimming pool, a 250-seat movie theatre, and a fitness club equipped with multiple indoor tennis and squash courts. In the end, though, its all about location.The hotel is inside The Canadian National Exhibition fairgrounds. During Honda Indy Toronto, its fully encircled by a temporary racetrack, and thus a popular stay for IndyCar drivers and their families. You wake up to the motor sounds of competitors screaming down the straightaway during practices. And from the hotel, youre less than an eight-minute walk through a series of underground tunnels to the pit and paddock.IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, the only Toronto-born driver in the series, didnt stay at Hotel X last year but attended events there. I know many people who stayed at Hotel X last year and had nothing but good things to say, he says. Its a beautiful new building with all the amenities, and you cant get more convenient if youre coming to Toronto to check out the race.Germany’s ‘Motorworld’(s)Like vast automotive-themed shopping centres, Motorworlds are a one-stop pit strategy for all things automotive. New supercar and sports car dealerships, parts dealers, classic car and collectibles dealers, vehicle insurers, service garages specialized in luxury models, automaker-themed fashion, conference and event spaces, and automotive-themed hotels, restaurants and bars are all co-located in renovated historic buildings.Last year, around 500,000 visitors explored Motorworld Region Stuttgart within the refurbished hangars of an old airfield in Bblingen, on the outskirts of the motor city where Mercedes-Benz and Porsche (and their major heritage museums) are based. Within the same complex: a motorsport- and car-culture-themed V8 Hotel. The newest Motorworld will open next May 2020 in Munich. Itll feature 35,000 square metres of showroom space inside a renovated antique train depot, plus a 153-room AMERON München Motorworld hotel that potentially may offer certain rooms with in-suite vehicle parking.The Peninsula Beverley Hills, Los AngelesVarious hotels offer stay-and-drive package deals for the racy BMW i8. The Peninsula Beverly Hills “Suite Ride” package, for instance, gives you a stay in a Beverley Hills Suite plus your pick of BMWs to use free of charge among them, a BMW i8 two-door coupe. The corner suites for this package have separate living and sleeping rooms and views over Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard.Fairmont Le Château MontebelloFairmont Le Château Montebello is the worlds largest log cabin, built along the Quebec bank of the Rideau River on the drive from Montreal to Ottawa. The resort, a National Historic Site, began as a private club in the early 1920s for business and political titans. Land Rover Experiences take place on an off-road course within the 26,305-hectare Kenauk Nature Reserve by the resort. And after Land Rover fans have their thrills, the whole family can visit nearby Parc Omega, an outdoor zoo-style driving attraction that places you amidst Canadian species of animals roaming free within a privately-owned nature park.Whistler’s Fairmont and Four Seasons hotelsIn Whistler, British Columbia, two luxury hotels offer sportscar- and supercar-themed experiences.Since last year, a package offered by Vancouver supercar tour operator Scenic Rush lets guests of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler drive their favourite Lamborghini, Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche or Audi right from the hotels front doors.Meanwhile, a Porsche Offroad Experience lets you take a Porsche Cayenne S out for a spin on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, and on to Vernon and Osoyoos in the southern Okanagan region, stopping for the night at Four Seasons Resort Whistler, Sparkling Hill Resort and Spirit Ridge Resort.DoubleTree by Hilton Suites, VictoriaThis ones not exactly a supercar, yet still a cool experience for those looking to dip their toes into the EV market without having to buy. Guests of DoubleTree by Hilton Suites Victoria on Vancouver Island can now get a SOLO single-passenger electric car, designed by Vancouver-based Electra Meccanica, for a whole day. The rental costs an extra $20 tacked onto the room fee and the car is conveniently delivered right to the hotel.The Broadmoor, Colorado RockiesThe
Origin: How to test-drive your dream car while on vacation