habshabs444

There were no COVID restrictions at the hotel AFAIK with the exception of a bit more spacing at the ground floor restaurant and the requirement to register your contact info and have your temperature taken. You couldn't just walk up to the bar and grab a drink as you had to have an actual seat. The pool was a free for all.

PWMTrav

I realize this is an old thread, but we're staying at the FPR in early June and this thread has been super helpful. I'm trying to see if I can specifically confirm a pool view room on the same level as the pool deck - we booked the pool view category, but I had no idea the walk-out rooms existed.

Has anyone stayed recently on an Amex FHR rate? If so, was there any limit at breakfast? I'd be curious to know what FHR upgrades look like as well.

beefyT

As to your question about the pool view room at the same level as the pool, if I recall correctly, there are 24 pool view rooms. Eight of the rooms are on Level 6 (the pool level), so you have about a 1/3 chance of getting one without requesting it specifically.

The four pool-level rooms n the east side have private patios which will be sunnier (IMO better for summer pool-adjacent hangs), while the four rooms on the west side are darker and have covered patios with fireplaces.

Not sure about Amex FHR breakfast, but for my recent stay with the Diamond breakfast benefit, they basically told us we could order anything on the menu (within reason). Great service!

bcosinteno

The Fairmont Pacific Rim has a 4th night free through Virtuoso/STEP through December 30th.

PWMTrav

Super helpful, thank you. I reached out to the hotel about one of these rooms - told me policy is they can't guarantee it but will try. I asked for one with the fireplace on the pool level - if those are more shaded, that's probably more to my wife and daughter's liking anyway. I don't burn as easily!

Noted on breakfast. That seems fine - I'm not looking to order half the menu, but wanted to make sure I wasn't going to end up with half a stale bagel and a glass of OJ!

Ah! We're only doing 3 nights to try and minimize missed school days. But it's a reasonable drive for us, so the FHR guaranteed late checkout was important so I'd probably have gone with that regardless. In your experience, is there any practical difference between Virtuoso and STEP? The benefits seem identical - does STEP theoretically get the better upgrade?

ABG

In theory, STEP would be at the top of the list, but others will argue differently
If you book a stay 4 pay 3, but only really want to stay 3 nights then your 3rd night check out time can be as late as you want it to be

PWMTrav

This is a good point! I just took a look though and unfortunately the night on the day of our checkout (Sunday) is, like, 2x the nightly rate of the Saturday - which really surprised me. However, adding a night before our arrival day looks great, and I'm trying to see if the family wants to book that and just head up that afternoon/evening instead of the next morning. The fact that we're driving from Seattle does give us some flexibility.

Also, looks like FHR has the 4th night free as well. As the 4pm checkout is ideal for us, I'm going to keep that rate. Given what pricing on the night that we depart looks like, the "when available" late checkout of the other programs looks doubtful here.

mjrobson

First time going here - Diamond using 3 upgrades Thurs-Sun.. what do you go with? Fairmont Gold King Suite / Stanley Park View Suite / Pool View King Suite / Signature Harbour View Suite? Jasper2009 ?

What's your favourite room(s)?

PWMTrav

We really enjoyed our pool view room because it wasn't a production to get to the pool, and that was a big part of our stay. It's heated, btw, and we ended up there on a 55 degree rainy day - the pool was still amazing. Pool view all (I think) have a balcony or patio with an outdoor fireplace - unsure of the other suite types, but I think pool view and coal harbour corner suites are the only ones with outdoor space until you go up to the ridiculous category. It's also kind of convenient even if you're not swimming to be able to walk out to the pool bar and order food or grab drinks. Look at it this way - what other hotel has a room category that puts you right by the bar!?

If you don't need the extra space or the second bathroom, the pool view rooms are also great. The other thing is pool view rooms have a two queen bed option, whereas the suite does not.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my ted talk on pool view rooms at the pacific rim. I may have over-researched all of this (and many thanks to the folks in this forum) for my daughter's birthday trip, but we had a good time. And my wife says I like the planning more than the actual vacation, which may be true.

mjrobson

Thanks! If we were taking the kids, would probably go with the pool view suite for sure. Debating between the pool view suite and the fairmont gold suite at this point. Both rooms have balcony... The pool suite has those nice fireplaces which may be nice if its cooler, but the gold suite has that amazing view! Tough call! We stayed in the Glacier Suite at Chateau Lake Louise and it was annoying that it did not have a heater on the balcony but the Belvedere Suite next door did. Mornings / Evenings are chilly there - can't beat the view though!

Floor Plans for anyone Interested!
https://www.fairmont.com/pacific-rim...nt-gold-suite/
https://www.fairmont.com/pacific-rim...pr-pool-suite/

Do suites at Pacific Rim get any added benefits? At CLL, they had the "Suite Life" benefits for in root breakfast / parking etc...

PWMTrav

I don't recall the suite benefits, but I would say that Fairmont Gold probably isn't worth it if you're booking through something like Amex FHR (which we did, and is why I don't know exactly what benefits go with what). I don't believe it includes parking. That was ~50/night, valet or self-serve. Here's a helpful tip (I hope): This place is a destination on Fri/Sat night for the bar and the restaurant and the garage fills up. If it's full, you can always valet it and they'll figure it out, but if you're like me and just like to get to your car and go, you probably want to be back in the garage by 6pm or so to make sure you get a spot, if not you'll be valeting. We booked with FHR specifically because of the guaranteed 4pm checkout, and given that we live in Seattle and drove, it meant a last day where we could hang out at the pool and still shower and stuff afterwards. But we also had breakfast included, no limit (I asked), and while it's published as breakfast for two people, we had 3 (us + our daughter) and didn't get charged. I want to say only gratuities showed up on the checkout folio, but maybe not even that. The $100 FHR credit covered most of a room service lunch that we ate on the patio. I'm sure the Gold lounge has other stuff, but I don't want to have lunch/dinner/drinks in there - normally I wouldn't do that at the hotel at all, but the lobby bar and the botanist are both well-regarded in Vancouver, and there are many good restaurants within walking distance. And I like doing my own legwork, so I don't really care about the concierge services. At a minimum, I'd highly suggest that you book through FHR or similar (Virtuoso, or whatever the similar Accor program is called).

I think it comes down to whether you want to be near the pool or want the view. We had pool plans, and I was able to get a room with a patio (vs balcony) that walked out to the pool. It was awesome to be able to sit by the fireplace while also being able to just walk out to the pool and the bar. My kid is still talking about how great it was, if that helps with anything!

happyvoid

Anyone stayed here recently I booked 3 nights using my amex platinium card and was wondering how the daily breakfast for 2 works and $100 property credit which is best used for?

PWMTrav

Breakfast was at the hotel restaurant. I wasn't told of any limit, but you can ask at check-in. We paid the bill as normal, charged to the room, and it got taken off before the final folio at checkout. We didn't go nuts, but there were 3 of us (2 adults and a child), and everyone ordered something for breakfast + something to drink + some fruit for the table. I can't remember if the tip also came off the bill - it may have, but I don't recall and wouldn't expect that.

The $100 property credit is up to you. The lobby bar is quite a scene on the weekends if that's your thing. The Botanist is well regarded in Vancouver and that's another option if you don't mind having dinner the same place you had breakfast. We used ours on room service. We were staying on the pool level, so we decided to have lunch on our patio since our child wanted to keep swimming.

happyvoid

thanks for info

avocadogreen

Currently staying here now with my family. I booked through Amex FHR and reserved a Signature Harbour View King. We arrived around 4:30 on a Friday for checkin. It’s a long holiday weekend (Family Day weekend in Canada, Presidents’ Day weekend in the US), and the lobby was packed and the live band was going strong.

We valeted our car for 65CAD (same as self park) - pretty steep but it’s hard to find parking in the area. Checkin was a breeze, but we didn’t get an upgrade although the front desk acknowledged that we’re eligible for one.

We were originally assigned to 1511, and when we got to the room, there was a harbor view but only out of the corner of the window. The main view was of the taller building across the street. I called to ask for a room change, and after being put on hold so she could to talk to the GM, they changed us to 1709, which is admittedly a much nicer view of the harbor with the roof of the convention center in the foreground. TBH, the room experience didn’t live up to my expectations. I paid for a view room and given that they didn’t upgrade me at checkin, I expected a good view without having to ask for it.

The room is decently spacious even with a crib for the little one, but it’s nothing to write home about. The control switches are not intuitive and the room layout doesn’t flow super well with three people. There are power outlets only on one side of the bed so I’m glad it bought my own extension cord to use on my side. The control for the lights and curtains is also only on one side of the bed.

Breakfast was at the Botanist restaurant, and we were told it’s $60 per room per day. We were promptly seated but didn’t have a server for almost 20 minutes. Our little was getting hungry, and the floor manager noticed so he took our order. Eventually we received a server but he was gruff and generally unfriendly. The floor manger made up for the bad service by sending some some croissants to the table. A nice gesture that was appreciated, but poor breakfast service at a hotel always has me scratching my head.

The outdoor pool is great and heated to a nice temp. The temp is below 50F outside, but my husband and little one were able to swim comfortably. The gym is a good size with all the normal equipment but nothing special. No windows and no views.

We’re going to use the spa later today so nothing to report yet.

Overall, we like the hotel and the location is great, but I’m not sure we would stay here again. There’s nothing special or personal about the service, and the rooms are well-maintained but showing signs of age. It’s not a good value at $450+/night. We have 3 more days here so we’ll see how the rest of the experience turns out.



Using my own extension cord to get bedside charging


View from 1709