Fairmont Pacific Rim

Very nice stay with fantastic water view in Vancouver.

The room we ended up in was fantastic, facing north (over water) on the 17th floor. Fantastic water and mountain view, spacious room, nice bathroom with amenities, appreciated the free daily glass water bottle. The gym was surprisingly well equipped. Really nice lobby bar had great live music every night we were there (Thurs-Sun), but it was really hard to have a conversation (because of the loud crowd/acoustics, not because of the music).

Cons We booked a harbor and Mountain View room, but the first night they put us in a buildings + partial harbor view. After requesting a change, the 2-4 nights were in the room that we'd thought we'd booked. We should have said something the first night, but I wonder why, when I mentioned in my notes that we wanted a full water view and that it was my birthday, they didn't accommodate that request from the start. Bed was a bit soft but still comfortable, pool and hot tub smaller than expected.

Great staff, location, beautiful all around

Cons The bathtub was leaking and the water came into the room as you can see in the photo

Great

Clean. Very friendly staff all round from the entrance to the cleaners

Cons Not sure

A world-class hotel experience at the beating heart of Canada's most world-class city.

The room was shiny and elegant, the cleaning staff did an incredibly thorough job (they even lovingly curled up my charging cables), they made me excellent breakfast delivered to my room and they gave me superb restaurant recommendations. Location is right in the middle of the nicest and most happening part of Vancouver.

Cons A couple things: it was not obvious to me how to turn off some of the lights and screens in the room when I wanted to go to sleep, which was annoying and the receptionists (perhaps understandably) gave me a bit of a hard time when I was checking in since I lost my photo ID.

First class hotel with a great piano in the lobby!

We were in Canada touring for three weeks staying in some very nice hotels, and the Fairmont Pacific Rim was the finest of them all. We had booked a gold suite with an adjoining room for our children and both rooms were first class - spacious and quiet, with well-appointed bathrooms in both. I don't know what the rooms on the other floors are like but certainly the gold floor rooms we had were, I felt, good value for money. Check-in was incredibly efficient - we drove up to the hotel after a long flight and the valet immediately took the keys and gave us the access card for the gold floor where we were able to check-in very quickly. The gold lounge is a major benefit at this Fairmont - having stayed in quite a few different Fairmonts, the facilities in the lounge do seem to vary quite a bit but the one here is excellent. The breakfast is particularly good with a menu from which you can order from as well as an extensive buffet. In the evening, the selection of wines was very good with some very good offerings by the glass. The lobby is very grand and has a Fazioli piano which appears to be used for entertainment most evenings. It is very rare to find a hotel lobby with a piano that is even in tune let alone have a top class instrument like a Fazioli. They could have saved a lot of money by buying the easy choice like a Steinway and the fact they did not shows the level they are striving for at this hotel. Eating in the lobby was very enjoyable - it has a great atmosphere with the live music and the the food was well presented. If I am nit-picking there were a couple of housekeeping lapses during our stay such as the milk frother in the coffee machine not being cleaned but I guess these things can happen. Overall, I would definitely stay here again when I am next in Vancouver. I have not stayed in any other hotel in Vancouver so I can't compare it but I would be very surprised if there was anywhere better.

Luxury lost to summer crowds

Sadly, our worst stay at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. As loyal guest members the only places we stay in Vancouver with highest end presence is the Fairmont Pacific Rim or Rosewood Georgia. During the summer season I would not book here unless you want an unorganized overcrowded family experience and you may need the patience to wait for the specific room you booked 2 hours after the policy check in time after your long travels. We paid more for a balcony that was unusable. Unlike the terrace shown in their marketing expect kids screaming from open to close in the pool as if it was a splashdown waterpark including inflatables, cannonballs, and sporting equipment. Our morning breakfast view was of a dirty diaper change on their premium loungers advertised as luxurious and sophisticated on Instagram. Advice would be to implement adult terrace hours as this is not a place for a couple to enjoy food in a cabana or an evening hot tub the way that it is portrayed. However if you do stay you can overcome this by booking an additional spa treatment as those facilities are stunning. Our stay we saved by their courtesy sparkling wine amenity and a few star staff members Tina RMT in the spa and Annique in lobby lounge dinning showing the Fairmont spirit and work ethic of the getaway that I wanted to have and kept me from unraveling. Of course the resort itself is still beautiful in the ways we came to love it previous visits such as their beds, bathrooms, restaurants, and spa but this stay our expected luxury was lost to summer crowds.