lsed

Stayed here last month, in the junior suite below the owner's suite.
Don't really get why this hotel gets such rave reviews.

At check in, the FD agent did not even greet me. I quoted my name, and she spent a minute searching the system. Then she asked "are you an FPC member" and I said yes, and she searched a stack of folios, found mine and said "ahh here you are". We have you on the Xth floor.

And that was it. No smile, no "welcome" no "have a pleasant stay, if you need anything ...". In fact she didn't even check for an ID which was fine, but it left me with a really bad first impression.

The jr suite had lots of dead space and I felt the design was uninspired as it was just all 1 shade of brown. The lighted 'console' over the bed also felt out of place.

Sure the jetted tub was nice and the ability to order more toiletries with the ipad is great, but if they didn't use the tiniest size of Le Labo I've seen in any Fairmont suite, I wouldn't need to request for more.

That said I did like the spa as well as the Giovane cafe - loved the food and the concept.

Jasper2009

IIRC there were several posts here saying that the front desk experience wasnīt exactly stellar, and Iīd have to partially agree. While some front desk staff are excellent, cheerful and welcoming (some even recognized me after not staying there for half a year), a few agents didnīt seem too excited about their job. Premier/Platinum members also sometimes receive their keys directly from the bell staff, which is nice.

To answer your question: IMO the very positive reviews are based on a combination of the following:

- there are no "bad" rooms / all rooms are pretty nice (i.e. aove average even for 5* hotels: spacious, modern bathroom, no bath/shower combos, King bed at a minimum) and all the suites (except maybe the junior suite) are very impressive (850sq.ft. minimum, two full bathrooms etc.)
- service generally is excellent
- most people seem to enjoy the spa, pool deck, Giovani and ORU restaurant
- the Gold lounge is excellent
- management is doing a great job IMO and seems to care about Premier/Platinum members, especially those staying at the hotel somewhat regularly

CanuckFlyHigh

It was booked through Netjets as part of our week long jet trip. Flying around with the bosses from NY. I wasn't going to get involved ha.

Jasper2009

Just completed another brief stay at the Pacific Rim and had a very enjoyable, relaxing time. Thereīs no point in posting another review, but two points struck out:

1) The hotel still seems to be re-assigning room/suite categories and overall increasing the number of room/suite categories making it a more difficult to redeem upgrade certs.

2) Service, from the res department over room service staff to the team at ORU, was excellent - the only exception being the front desk. The agent was unable to process my check-out as some certs hadnīt been redeemed properly. This is the first time Iīve experienced a front desk agent who couldnīt fix such a simple issue, but not a big deal as he promised to take care of it and send me a correct invoice via e-mail. Of course he didnīt, so I had to follow up on that.

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?

Jasper2009

The suite upgrade policy hasnīt really changed recently afaik: Youīll 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 canīt complain about any of my upgrade experiences, but it seems to require more and more effort to get the same upgrade.

The issue Iīve 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.

mikeyyz

Apparently they will now no longer upgrade to the Signature rooms - even with a Suite upgrade certificate. I was able to get it done with an e-mail to the hotel for a special request (we had three rooms and I was asking for one) but it does seem they are creating their own version of the rules...

AMRivlin

PacRim be fancy. Lolz

Ancien Maestro

Thanks for the update. So nowadays, the suite upgrade confirms into the junior suite and no other, and at check-in, the hotel upgrades accordingly to what they have available.

The bottleneck is how many junior suites are available at time of booking, because once that maxes out, means only a small number of suites available for elite FPC members using suite upgrades. It would be nice if Fairmont allowed another suite category guaranteed at booking since they cut back on the number of suites available for suite upgrades when the junior suite category was created.

Jasper2009

Not quite.

Depending on the time of year (and possibly occupancy) standard suites (not just the junior suites) can be confirmed at time of booking when using a suite upgrade cert.

When chatting with the previous GM he told me heīd decided to change the suite upgrade policy to include more suites during off-season and shoulder season (I had complained about the lack of suite upgrades available and the drastic change from "any non-specialty suites" to "junior suites only"). I havenīt had much contact with the new GM (well, heīs been there for over a year now), but I believe that still is the current policy. E.g. FPC offered a Harbour View Suite this spring when applying a suite upgrade cert (this presumably was shoulder season), but not this summer.

Ancien Maestro

The hotel is busier, and frankly doesn't have flank a consistent roster of suites. But at least in the off season, more are made available. If just the junior suites available all the time to book, its pretty competitive.

Of course, with the latest award the Pacific Rim received, the demand for the hotel is higher than ever.

Nevileon

It's definitely YMMV. In September, they actually suggested using my suite upgrade cert so that I could take advantage of my comp night, and get a signature Ofuro room (beautiful - I'd take it over a suite, honestly).

Tried to do the same thing in February - no deal. That was apparently a 'one time exception'.

The certificates are nice, but I'm finding they're more trouble than they're worth to spend.

Jasper2009

That room indeed looks awesome. I guess the main difference between the Signature rooms and the Signature Oforu rooms is that the Oforu rooms are located on a higher floor (apart from the "Japanese soaker tub")?

I also thought that some Signature rooms had a patio, but canīt seem to find that in the room description anymore.

mikeyyz

The Signature Ofuro room has a white marble bathroom against the corner of the building so you get a sweet 2/3-side view of stanley park, mountains, and Canada place from the tub ^ I believe it's also 50 sqft bigger although that seems to be incorrect.

Signature room has the bathroom near the door and a great view from the room but not as impressive.

Ancien Maestro

Sounds like the Oforu suite is above the suite we stayed. Iirc mountain harbour view suite.. Which was above the Junior suites I believe.