Toronto police have identified the three people found dead Monday in a "bloody mess" at the Delta Chelsea Hotel as two Swiss tourists and a man from Germany.

The man and woman found stabbed to death in a 19th-floor room at the downtown hotel were from Switzerland, said Const. Victor Kwong.

The three bodies were discovered early Monday on the 19th floor of the Delta Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto.
(CBC)

A second man found dying in the hallway, apparently from knife wounds, was German.

"We do know that somehow they are acquainted," said Kwong. "We just don't know the level of intimacy between the three."

All three flew over to Canada from Switzerland, although the German man was not registered to the tour, organized by Toronto-based Jonview Canada, on which the Swiss couple were travelling. 

Robert Housez, general manager of the Delta Chelsea Hotel, is wrestling with whether to install security cameras in his hotel.
(CBC)

The German man formally joined the tour group in Toronto, police said.

Police have identified the victims, but are not releasing the names until next-of-kin are notified.

No cameras at hotel

The Delta Chelsea Hotel is considering beefing up security in the wake of the killings.

Police have been forced to piece together what happened to the trio without the help of surveillance tape because, like most hotels, the Delta Chelsea does not have cameras on its property in order to protect the privacy of its guests.

The hotel's general manager said he has wrestled with the idea of security cameras, but stresses that the hotel protects guests in other ways.

"I do have a very competent security team that are here 24 hours a day and they try to be as proactive as possible stopping short of infringing on people's sense of privacy," Robert Housez told CBC.

Hospitality experts say hotel security can often be a delicate balance between protecting some guests and infringing on the privacy of others.

In light of the deaths, Housez said he is once again considering the installation of a video surveillance system.

However, he insists the hotel is safe and that Monday's killings were an isolated incident.

The stabbings are the second high-profile violent crime to occur in a downtown hotel this summer.

In early July, a man was found alive after being shot three times in the Westin Harbour Castle hotel on Toronto's waterfront.

Autopsy performed

Meanwhile, Toronto police are still trying to figure out what led to the deaths of the three people found at the Delta Chelsea, which is on Gerrard Street just off Yonge Street.

"The scene is horrific. It is a bloody mess. There's blood on the walls, blood on the door, blood on the carpet," said homicide squad Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan.

Investigators hope results from autopsies performed Tuesday morning will provide some answers.

Police said the German man was found by hotel security in the hallway of the 19th floor around 4:30 a.m. He was taken to hospital suffering from knife wounds and later pronounced dead.

When police arrived at the crime scene, they followed a bloody trail to a nearby hotel room where they found the Swiss man's body on the bed and the Swiss woman's body on the floor.

The Swiss couple were fully clothed and appeared to have been stabbed to death.

Police said all three are Caucasian and in their 30s.

They said there is a "real possibility" the incident was a murder-suicide, but have not ruled out a fourth person being involved.

However, police also said they are not looking for suspects at this time.