I spent this morning booking 3 nights at the Fairmont Royal York (Toronto), using room-upgrade and 3rd-night-free certs. I thought my swan song would include a suite but they are renovating the floor where the suites are.
As for memories, Fairmont taught me and my husband the meaning of aspirational hotels. We honeymooned in a campground in Banff and told ourselves we'd return someday and stay at the Chateau Lake Louise. We fulfilled that promise for our 27 anniversary, courtesy of our freshly minted credit card. The following year, it was a river-view suite in a tower of the Chateau Frontenac. Year 3 we hit a bonanza: the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, following by a weekend at the Hamilton Princess (Bermuda), then a weekend at the Fairmont Mayakoba (Mexico) and then final get-away to the Fairmont Washington; all because each time we came home we found our certs had not been marked redeemed. Year 4 was a weekend at the Montreaux Palace in Switzerland. Year 5 (2018), our final set of certificates were spent at the Fairmont Royal Pavilion in Barbados.
There are so may fine Fairmont hotels that we never get to stay at for free. It was a truly sweet run.