xray

I just stayed there last weekend with a harbour/mountainview suite upgrade. FPC will let you know what you're confirmed to...even if it was the junior suite - as said, still a 1-BR suite and view is no big deal - it's a city hotel.

300rwhp

Going for May long and burning some upgrades (partner also is plat). Orignal plans have changed and now all the suites are gone except Sunday night. So currently we have the following booked;

Fri - Deluxe harbourview upgrade. Free night
Sat - Signature Room Want to try the special bathroom and deep soaker tub
Sun - Junior Suite upgrade Free night

To be honest we would be happy to just have the Signature room if it has the special bathroom for the whole trip. But because we are using free nights you can not combine them with the signature room. I offered to pay the difference but they said it was not possible. Any suggestions?

Also has anyone tried the willowstream here? We have only tried the Banff Springs. How does it compare?
Thank you,

Ancien Maestro

The key to using a free night is booking the Fairmont category room at the hotel, and upgrading from there. Looks like you're burning a room upgrade and a free night cert on the first night, Saturday paying the piper or using a room upgrade on the deluxe to get to the signature, and the Sunday night you're using a free night cert and a suite upgrade?

I'm assuming that you booked alternating reservations between your wife and yourself to receive three seperate stay credits between 2 profiles.

Not much to really suggest.. but if stayin in one room is important to you (assuming the goal isn't a MR) i would go for the signature room throughout the stay and keep the suite upgrade on a paid night later on the year. You can use the suite upgrade for up to 5 consecutive nights. The value of the suite upgrade if applied correctly can range from $500 to $1,000 value per night.

300rwhp

Ideally we would just get the signature room with the deep soaker tub bathroom for the entire visit. But we had to book three separate reservations to use the free nights and to get the soaker tub. I know the room/suite upgrades are good for a week but I dont think I will be able to use them this year. Fairmont is not located in most of the places I am going between now and March 2012. Nor will I have enough holidays to pop down to Mexico or Hawaii to get good value out of the suite. Going to Africa at Xmas but they have a blackout period even though I am booking 4 rooms for 5 nights each.

Do you think I contacting the Pacific Rim and suggesting a compromise between paying extra for each night and using the one room upgrade would bear fruit? FPC Concierge said no.

On a positive note using our passions enhancements to get some massages.

Ancien Maestro

I think it will get really complicated for the three night stay that you're planning to embark on. Exceptions can be made, but the breaking point is, will you actually get as much out of the stay as you hope to.

Jumping around 3 rooms, I used to have no problems with, but with kids hanging around, packing up and moving rooms is like moving an army tank. Best to think of everyone's comfort rather than using the rewards. I'm sure the signature room is excellent, maybe an extra weekend trip sometime and get a nice suite maybe in order.

So with the passion enhancements.. are you referring to the manicure/pedicure, or the $25 off for massages.. or is it something entirely different that you're referring to?

kokinos

I just finished a stay here again last week and as usual it was a pleasure to stay at the Rim. Concierge, check-in/out agent and doormen all were a treat to interact with. I used a suite upgrade for the stay and ran into a similar situation as 300rwhp, they didn't have a suite for the last night so they had to split my rez.
A few days before arrival I noticed the suite was available all the nights of my stay so called Plat line to extend it for the final night. No problems with getting this done. I even arrived hours before my intended arrival time because my plan to get a round of golf in after my flight to YVR didn't happen because of the cold weather and brisky wind.
I only had the Junior Suite booked which I think is room 616? I ended up getting a room a few floors up of this one which was a nice surprise. It's on the same corner as the Sig suite but using one less Fairmont room. I think the Sig suites start on the 12th floor.
For those curious about the junior suite, it's a nice layout but the view mainly the convention centre and it's roof. You will still be able to see the view of the harbour so a little bit of water but no mountains or even sails of the Pan Pacific. But it does have a nice size balcony which I think is a must at the Rim imho. So if you don't need a balcony or living area a Sig suite would work for you better.
The only small issue I had was the slow service 2 out of the 3 nights at the lobby bar. On the last night we were sitting for about 20 minutes with no service and then I just headed to grab a seat at the bar with the SO. With only one or two bartenders and one Point of Sale machine on a busy night now I understand why my heineken takes so long.

Back to 300rwhp issue: I think calling the hotel won't hurt. The hotel is about maximizing profits so if you offer enough cash they will do anything, you just have to find out what amount of $$$ will make it happen. Perhaps ask for a Front desk supervisor or manager bc they have a bit more flexibility imo.

As for the spa, it's nice but not a destination like in Banff. If the weather is nice they have hot tubs and a small common area outside but besides that not much to do. I probably spend 20 minutes there on my visits besides the treatment I get.

300rwhp

took ancien and kokinos' advice contacts the hotel directly and we have come to arrangement that has me in the Signature Deep Japanese style tub on the 19th floor for all 3 nights using my free night, my partners free night, and two room upgrades. Third night I pay the local's rate (BC,AB,WA) which was cheaper than the FAF rate. Looks like it will be a good trip- good room, good view, BMW Dinner for 2 at ORU, 2 Spa treatments and 2 of the 3 nights for free.

Ancien Maestro

Packing er' in.. good to hear 300rwhp^.. we are considering Vancouver since we've got a short haul reward, and actually was offered a stopover from CUN (Maya Riviera) for some odd reason.

kokinos

300 +2 good to hear

Ancien you have to go to this hotel, there may be no whales to watch like in Kea Lani but lots of harbour planes. Great live music in the lobby and make sure to order the samosas with extra dipping sauce with a few oysters. Before that dine out at Cioppinos, Vijs, Market, Bishops, or Blue Water for your seafood desires.

Ancien Maestro

Ahhhh.. as destiny would have my scratch golfer buddy Kokinos.. my connection (or 11 day layover) happens to be in SoCal for the Riviera Maya trip coming up.. May I suggest that you join me in the absolutely hot sweating weather, in our plight to use Passion free round certs in the nasty heat and beautiful surroundings of Fairmont Mayakoba.

So 14 nights in Maya Riviera, 11 nights thereafter in Disneyland, Universal, Sea World, Hollywood, Knottsbury Farm and the infamous Legoland.

schreibsman

Didn't see this elsewhere in the thread...but a note to anyone staying in this hotel who gets a room facing the city (not the harbour) - the windows are not 1-way glass. I mention because my office's boardroom looks directly into the hotel - we've had our fair share of 'scenery' since the property opened!

Perdita

Good to know! We are at the Rim in August.

What about the Signature Rooms with the bathrooms that have floor to ceiling windows? Do those have 1-way glass?

Since we are on the subject: Does anyone know if there are any Signature Rooms (with the deep soaker tubs) that sleep 4? The pics on the website all show one king bed in these rooms. We are staying Gold in case it matters to answer this question. Thanx for any help!

Revorgp

Hi,

Does anyone know what floors the Signature.Suite's are on?
Also is it worth it to upgrade to Gold?

Thanks

Jasper2009

Welcome to Flyertalk!

I seem to remember thereīs one Signature Suite on each floor starting from floor 12 (?), so there are a total of maybe a dozen Signature Suites, maybe leven fewer.

The Gold floor is excellent, there are only 24 Gold rooms/suites, so the atmosphere is very exclusive and private. The Gold concierges are great and the views from the Gold lounge patio on the 22nd floor are spectacular.

Whether itīs worth the premium, really depends on your willingness/capability to pay the premium. (I usually donīt as Prtemier/Plat members canīt use upgrade certs when booking Gold rooms/suites)

300rwhp

Staying here for the third time. Trying the Signature Room with the Onsen Tub. I really like the tub. I also found some hardware in the desk that appears to allow me to hook my computer up to the TV. Will report on that later. The hotel is experiencing some troubles combining my reservation and applying the appropriate FPC Plat certs, as they have given me a bill today although i do not check out until monday. Also the bathroom tv displays snow ( grey noise no picture just scrambled). Dined at ORU last night which was enjoyable.

Best news so far is the BMW not only drove us to Chinatown but also picked us up. So it seems this perk is actually available finally. At least at this hotel.