← Gurjeet Singh Media
Personal project · in progress

Around King West

What if every hotel guest had a local friend in their pocket?

I work on the floor of a downtown Toronto hotel, and guests ask the same questions every day. Where should we eat? What's on tonight? How far is the CN Tower? This is my side project to answer all of them in one scan. The prototype below works, so tap around.

My roleIdea, research, content, design direction
StatusPrototype v0.3
StartedOctober 2026
Covers36 events · 27 places · the 504

An independent idea. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any hotel brand.

01 · The problem

Same questions, every day

Guests ask front-line staff where to eat and what's on. The answers live in people's heads, and printed lists go stale the week they're printed.

02 · The idea

A guide that keeps itself fresh

Guests open it from a QR code. Picks change with the time of day, events disappear once they're over, and every place shows a walking time.

03 · Working now

Built so far

  • Picks based on the time in Toronto
  • Mood filters and saved places
  • Events that hide when they end
  • Walking times and directions
  • 504 streetcar stop map
  • Booking flow (demo)
04 · Next

What I'm adding

  • Real bookings through partner programs
  • Edit events from a Google Sheet
  • Hindi and Punjabi versions
  • See which picks guests tap most
The prototype

Try it live

Everything in the phone works: the clock, the picks, the filters and the booking flow. Times and "Today" tags follow Toronto time.

gurjeetsinghmedia.com/around.html

Scan to open it on your own phone, the way a guest would from a room card.

gurjeetsinghmedia.com/around.html
Build log
  1. First versionPlaces near King West with walking times and directions.
  2. v0.2 · Live eventsGames, shows and festivals that hide once they're over. The 504 stop map.
  3. v0.3 · Booking demoA booking flow and a model for how the guide could pay for itself.

Around King West

8:00 PM

Good evening. Three ideas for tonight.

What's on

Past events disappear on their own.

Nearby

Approximate walking times from the hotel door.

Ride the 504

The King streetcar stops outside. Tap a stop.

Prototype by Gurjeet Singh · Dates gathered Oct 2026 from Mirvish, NBA, NHL, the Distillery District and City of Toronto listings. Check with the organizer before you go.
The business side

How it could pay for itself

Guests never pay extra. The guide earns when partners pay a referral commission, or when someone books an experience I offer myself. Play with the numbers.

Earnings model · example numbers
60bookings a month
$4,800booked through the guide
$240commission a month

These are example inputs to show the model, not real traffic. Commission rates differ by partner, and partners pay after the guest's booking date.

Model 1 · Referral commission

Partners pay, guests don't

Each "Book" button becomes a tracked partner link. The guest pays the normal price on the partner's site, and the partner pays a commission to my business account.

  • GetYourGuide: 8% per sale, 31-day cookie
  • Viator (Canada, on Awin): around 4%, paid after the experience date
  • Ticketmaster via Travelpayouts: up to 4.15%, varies by country
  • OpenTable: runs its program on Partnerize, rates shared after approval
Model 2 · My own experiences

Bookable from Zeet4dx

Some things I can sell directly, like a Toronto photo walk or a portrait session at the waterfront, with a Stripe payment link. Stripe charges 2.9% + C$0.30 per domestic card, so a $100 booking costs $3.20 in fees.

Model 3 · Hotel partnership

Revenue for the hotel

The same links could earn for a hotel instead. Put the guide on every room card, track bookings by property, and share the commission. A small new revenue line from content guests already want.

Rules I'm building with: no card details are ever typed into this site, no ticket reselling, no hidden fees, and every partner link is labelled.