Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

I made the HUGE mistake and used a third party to book the room. When we arrived there was no reservation. But the desk clerk was super helpful, found us a room at the last minute, and couldn't have been more gracious. She even summoned the manager to see if he could assist us with the scam that we'd been subjected to. (NEVER USE HOTELVALUE.COM, huge scam) I wanted to hug her!

At first it looked great, nice pillows, nice bathroom, but when we got back from dinner, it was really hot inside, and the air conditioning would not work. We got in the bed and I could not fall asleep and when I finally did I woke up multiple times in the night because of all the noise. You could hear everything through the walls and it was 600 dollars!

Great location and impressive but room was disappointing, very dusty and bath had seen better days. Needed to be resurfaced and felt grubby. Water pressure wasnt great. Staff very nice

This was our 3rd Fairmont in 2 weeks in Canada and our 2nd 'Gold' experience. The building is magnificent from the outside, giving meaning to its nickname, 'Castle in the Sky.' We were now versed in the Gold check in service and were pleased we missed the long line at the main reception on Ground Floor. We arrived on the day the AA International Convention began and the hotel was clearly filling up with attendees. The Gold Lounge on Lvl 9 is good. The reception area feels very squashed, leading to a lounge that covers 4 smallish rooms. Due to the busyness of the hotel it was no surprise the Lounge was almost always busy, at times difficult to get a seat. However, I would suggest the Lounge is worth saving extra for simply because the food offerings were very good. Having come from Calgary Palliser, we were able to compare the food. Calgary's breakfast was stronger, but the Castle's afternoon snacks, dinner and dessert were definitely superior. The dinner is in fact that, dinner, not just canapés. Our suite was lovely and roomy, the living area being almost the same size as the bedroom. However, our bathroom was tiny (think a large cupboard). Clearly, it's from yesterday and it seems a bit obtuse when the bedroom and living rooms were so roomy. We do like a bathroom but this one definitely ranked very low in our experience. Our one in the Palliser was a much better size. The service levels weren't as warm as we expected. Everyone seemed very busy (remember the AA Convention) and this showed in the way the staff moved (quickly), not making eye contact so they could get on with their job. However, there were some shining lights. Veronika in the Lounge was tremendous. We so appreciated her willingness to serve us and share ideas plus provide maps, etc. In addition, Kristina, in Notch8 was a real character that made our dinner fun. We also appreciated Alex arranging my wife to have a massage at Pacific Rim which she absolutely loved. The hotel is brilliantly positioned, ten minute walk downhill to the harbour, another fifteen minutes to Gastown and minutes away from quality shopping in Robson street and good eateries. When we return to Vancouver, we'll happily return to the Castle in the City.

Discourteous check in - quite embarrassing in fact. Room dated and dull, overlooking a gravel roof. Broken shower, sink plug and toilet roll holder, Long dark hair on the wall of the shower - revolting. Not given a welcome letter so had no idea what facilities the hotel had to offer, no milk in the room only coffee mate (I know I'm English but really?) Not allowed into breakfast when we went down, there were many, many tables free but we were told to wait outside the restaurant. Wifi not secure, so couldn't log on to my work account. Spoke to them about this and was promised an internet cable. Was still waiting for it when I checked out 30 hours later. Made a complaint, was promised the manager would call me back. He did, but not for 14 hours. He was apologetic, said he'd make sure it never happened to another customer and sent up people to mend the broken things in the bathroom and to provide us with supplies that had not been replenished. Some of the things in the bathroom were fixed, others are "just how they are". He offered us a free breakfast which we were pleased to accept. Went down for breakfast on day 2. There were loads of tables free. We were told to wait. I protested mildly and said could we not sit at one of the free tables and I was told that there were families waiting to be sat ahead of us. This was a barefaced lie as there was no one waiting to be seated. I complained and said I had complained about this very practice yesterday - they said they would seat us as soon as possible which they then did. So much for it never happening to another customer! We really disliked this hotel. Customer service is not at the centre of their operation and some of the staff appear to be running it for their own convenience. The gate keepers at the front desk and at the entrance to the restaurant were just extraordinary. They seemed to have totally lost sight of providing a service and we were repeatedly irritated by the way we were treated. Why 2 stars rather than 1? Some members of staff were really nice to deal with - the man delivering luggage to another room who told us it was raining out and we might like to take the brolly in our closet - we didn't know about it, but then we hadn't had a welcome letter... Our waitress on day 2 at breakfast was very nice and the chambermaids we met in the corridors were cheerful and polite. We had 2 x breakfasts, 1 x lunch and 1 x dinner at the hotel. They were all nicely cooked, fresh food. This pulled it up to 2 stars. Oh and the pool was nice although a little bit warm for my taste. My advice? There are lots of nice hotels in Vancouver, go somewhere else where you will be treated with courtesy and care - the Fairmont has lost it's way.