Originally Posted by
Ancien Maestro
Whats the categories of suite they have going? There are only a very few junior suites, and the balance mountain/bay view. For awhile it seemed only the junior suites were redeemable, but then when I visited, the management became flexible about placing our reservation on an upper floor above junior suites.
Sounds like the hotel is tightening up inventory once again?
The suite upgrade policy hasnŽt really changed recently afaik: YouŽll get the junior suite and depending on the time of year and occupancy the hotel allows upgrades to other suites such as the Harbour View suite. While the policy is slightly more restrictive than it once was (e.g. back in 2010 one could upgrade to any suite up to Poolview suite category) management actually is reasonably flexible and eager to balance the wishes of the Premier/Platinum members and the limited number of suites available.
To be fair, the hotel usually is quite willing to consider a slightly more generous upgrade for regular guests and I canŽt complain about any of my upgrade experiences, but it seems to require more and more effort to get the same upgrade.
The issue IŽve experienced recently is more with the number of room categories / applying room upgrade certs. Afaik the room hierarchy now is:
Fairmont
Deluxe City View room
Deluxe City View Jetted Tub
Deluxe Partial Harbour View
Deluxe Poolview Room
Signature Harbour/Mountain View
Signature View Ofuro
At least when calling FPC I was told on several occasions that one could only upgrade to the next category (which of course is line with the T&C), however the big difference is that previously the hiearchy was Fairmont room -> any Deluxe room -> any Signature room and now each room represents a category, thus decreasing the value of the room upgrade certs.