Just had a 2 night stay this past weekend in order to burn my last suite upgrade certs ever. By calling in-house reservations directly, I was able to negotiate using my last 2 certs for to upgrade to a 1 bdrm lakeview suite in the Mount Temple wing which was the only suite remaining other than the specialty suites a few weeks out. Historically, BSH has been our go to which we usually frequent with the kids a few times per year with our last time at CLL probably 6 or 7 years ago. I had enquired about the suite life benefits a couple of weeks out and was given some conflicting information that breakfast was included when it was in fact not. As a goodwill gesture, valet parking was proactively offered due to the miscommunication which was appreciated.
Firstly I will start off with the negatives/service issues of which multiple were encountered within the first 24 hours we were there. 48 hours prior to arrival, I received the customary check-in email enquiring when we were arriving which was going to be 2pm. Upon our arrival shortly after 2pm, I was informed by the front desk staff that our room wasn't ready which was fine given it isn't a guaranteed platinum amenity. I asked how long it would be and she was unsure, but promised to text me as soon as she heard. Given our 1.5 year old was ready for a nap, we were anxious to get our room. An hour later after a decent lunch in the lounge, I still had not heard anything so went back to the front desk to be told that our suite was in fact ready and had been for awhile. I questioned why this wasn't communicated and was told that she would look into it. Once we were in our suite (which definitely met our needs), I received a call from the initial front desk agent apologizing for the misunderstanding and enquired if everything was good in the room. I requested for a crib (requested in my original reservation) and also for bedding for the pullout couch for our 3 year old. I was told this would be no problem - more on this later.
Our first dinner was at Alpine Social. Our server was very engaging and we ordered a bunch of plates to share. To our astonishment, everything arrived less than 10 minutes later even before our wine arrived. There was no way that everything could have been cooked in that short time frame at a busy dinner hour, so we couldn't help but think that everything had been pre-made and warmed up. Our suspicions were confirmed when everything tasted cold and quasi stale less than 5 minutes later. We did not make a big issue of this as having to wait for another round of meals with young kids almost ready for bed is a lesson we learned long ago.
Fast forward to our arrival back at the room and the pullout couch is not made up and there is no bedding to be found (the crib was there at this point). I call back down to the front desk and they said they would send someone up right away. Ten minutes later with 2 overtired and cranky kids, I call again and said they would put a rush on it. Finally someone turned up 25 minutes after the initial call. Having to make 3 requests with an additional follow up beginning with the initial reservation was not acceptable. When there's no young kids involved, this wouldn't be a huge issue, but for anyone that has travelled with young kids, when they are ready for bed, they are definitely ready for bed!
The next morning we had breakfast at Poppy Brasserie. We elected just to order a la carte which ended up being a huge mistake. One kid's pancakes came out first but we were told, they were out of syrup so that didn't appear for 15 minutes. Then an order of toast was missed, then the next one came out cold. The butter that eventually came was frozen solid. It was a comedy of errors that went on and on and they didn't appear to be overly busy. Lesson learned - go for the buffet the following morning.
Later on that day, I received the usual text message follow up enquiring how I would rate my stay from 1 - 10. I replied with a 6 stating that the suite, hotel as a whole, and the outdoor activities have been solid but there had been multiple service issues to that point. Her response was "I'm sorry to hear of your poor experience. What could we do to make sure your experience is excellent?" Huh?? Perhaps enquire what the issues and use them to coach the staff in the future?? I texted her to call me if she wanted to hear about them for which she did and was quiet apologetic. She asked what she could do for us and I reiterated I wasn't looking for anything in forms of compensation - all of the issues weren't overly significant, rather the sum of them wasn't something that I would normally expect from a Fairmont. She enquired where we had reservations that night and we were dining at Walliser Stube and she proactively offered to comp the dinner which was far over and above what was necessary.
From here on in for the duration of our stay, everything was great. Dinner at Walliser was great with service to match. Our server encouraged us to order as we see fit given it was covered, but I didn't feel right in ordering anything outrageous in terms of pricey wine etc that we wouldn't normally order when paying ourselves. It was also clear the next morning that the message had been conveyed to the wait staff at breakfast as we were continually fawned over by the staff, almost to the point of it being over the top as the diners around us weren't getting the same level of attention. Although the weekend was chilly, we still enjoyed multiple skating sessions on the lake in the sun and also the sleigh ride around the lake and of course numerous visits to the pool. Late checkout of 3pm was graciously granted (post issues, they suggested even 5pm).
Overall I was more than happy with the service recovery. Of course I can't help but compare to our defacto weekend destination of BSH, but I think we will continue with old faithful. The outdoor pool with the kids is obviously a huge draw at BSH which probably puts it over the top, however things may change as the kids get older and become more involved in outdoor activities.