I recently had the opportunity to stay at this hotel and thought I'd share some thoughts:

common areas:

I didn't see much of the lobby due to the current renovations which are supposed to be complete by the end of March. All rooms and suites will be renovated within the next two years.

room:

I stayed in a Premium Suite which is the standar upgrade when using a uite upgrade cert. The suite was about 60sqm and had an excellent layout:

- bedroom with desk, two chairs and access to the full bathroom which had a large bathtub, separate rain shower, sink, toilet and bidet
- living room with two sofas, one armchair, dining table for four and access to a half bathroom (which I found was a nice feature)
- both the living room and the bedroom have their own entrance which was convenient; some of these suites apparently do not have a proper door separating the living room from the bedroom, so make sure to ask if that's important to you

The furniture, especially in the living room, is very dated with many stains on the carpet, hidious carpets on the wall and worn-out sofas. The bathrooms, however, were newer and in excellent condition.

service:

Service was excellent throughout the stay and all my interactions with the bell staff, front desk, restaurant and bar staff were up to Fairmont standards.^

Upon arrival the duty manager welcomed us and took us to the room which I thought was a nice touch.

restaurants:

- breakfast at the Polo restaurant was good, but nothing to write home about. Buffet included a continental spread with cold cuts, smoked salmon, cheeses and a rather limited selection of fruit along with eggs benedict, scrambled egg, bacon, sausages, potatoes etc. At 28Euros/person I would have hoped for a wider election of items incl. some Spanish dishes, maybe an omelette station etc.

- lunch / dinner at Polo was good, but again nothing special (the menu featured some salads, pastas, sandwiches and a few "standard" steak / fish main courses such as steak with fries or rice)

- atmosphere at the bar was pleasant with some nice live piano music, decent selection of snacks/food and drinks (which were priced surprisingly reasonably), service was excellent (the bar keeper even stayed longer just for us)

I guess dining options are somewhat limited due to the renovations and the fact we were there in off-season, but IMO there's room for improvement (quality is good, but options are somewhat uninspiring and limited).

conclusion:

Overall I had a very pleasant stay; I was particularly impressed with the service at this hotel. The hard product obviously isn't quite up to Fairmont standards (yet), but I very much look forward to returning once the renovation is complete.