Jasper2009

If she´s travelling alone, I´d probably agree that she may be better off wandering off-property. If she´s travelling with someone else, $100 is a pretty good deal for an upgrade to the Gold floor.

CanadaDH

Food is expensive at the CLL, and it's also expensive in the limited number of restaurants in the village of Lake Louise. So, $100 per day to have the free breakfast/snacks could be good value. Banff has a lot more food options in town, including some cheaper options. In Banff, you can just grab breakfast at the Tim Horton's for $10, so paying a $100 premium for the gold floor would be an enhanced experience, but wouldn't pay for itself on food value alone.

trey

Question: I am staying at CLL and Banff this fall using Visa nights and upgrades. Am i eligible to pay to get on the Gold floor?

Jasper2009

Offfically no. I´m not aware of either property offering such a "promotion"/offer, though it never hurts to contact the hotel directly and politely ask.

Shanye2233

Thanks il see what she wants to do. With the promos and seniors I can get the rates down to $318CAD which isn't too bad. And now I know she can't get some breakie at tims for $10 that's where il tell her to head.

kokinos

+1 and probably one of the main reasons I go to Banff more often.

I did notice CLL got on CNtraveler top hotels lit but Banff I don't think did.

CanadaDH

I just returned from 4 nights at the Chateau Lake Louise. Not only did I get to experience the CLL Gold floor, but I stayed in Suite 703, the Marquis de Lorne Signature Lakeview Suite. What a fabulous room! It's a long walk down to the very end of the hallway, but well worth the trek.



Here are pictures of the main salon, complete with electric fireplace, 3 sitting areas, and two incredible walls of windows overlooking Lake Louise.





Here is the main bathroom.



The room has a separate powder room off the main entrance.



As many have commented, the CLL has a very nice gold lounge.



I've only stayed on the gold floor at a handful of Fairmont properties (Tremblant, Frontenac, Laurier, Queen Elizabeth, Lake Louise). Among that group of properties, I still like the gold lounge at Tremblant the best, followed by Chateau Frontenac, and then Lake Louise.

The service received at CLL was excellent, as usual. This was certainly the nicest room I have stayed in at any Fairmont property.

Jasper2009

Wow - that suite (and especially the view) looks awesome!

CanadaDH

Yes, the view was certainly awesome. The bedroom had another wall of large windows overlooking the lake as well. The suite felt like it was about 700-800 square feet, so it was also quite spacious for the CLL, which has a reputation for having smallish rooms. It wasn't cheap, but in the end I was very happy with the rate. The hotel allowed me to pay for a Gold Lakeview room and use a Suite Upgrade Cert to get a Gold Lakeview Jr. Suite. I then had an e-standby upgrade approved for only an additional $180/night to go up to the Signature suite.

I was rather surprised it went through, since the first week of September is still quite busy in the Rockies, and the hotel was nearly full. When I tried to make a dummy booking shortly before my arrival, the website returned a message saying no rooms are available for my selected dates. Based on that, I was just expecting to get the Jr. Suite I was confirmed in, so I was pleasantly surprised upon check-in.

uncertaintraveler

That suite looks like it is the better of the one-bedroom lakeview suites on the Gold Floor. The other one, which is almost directly across from the Gold lounge, has a fireplace (although it is opposite the view...), multiple seating areas, and the half-bath as well, but it doesn't look nearly as large as what you got.

CanadaDH

I've been in the regular one-bedroom suites, and they're almost as large in size, and are a slightly irregular shape. In the photo below, I've circled the regular 1-bedroom suites in yellow, and the signature suite I was in is circled in red. The salon is the 2 windows in the corner of the building, and the bedroom window continues along the front of the hotel to the next group of windows.



With the signature suite being in the corner, the room can be made more 'square', as opposed to the unusual angles in the other suites. The other differences is the window size. The other parts of the building all have the smaller vertical rectangular windows, where as this suite is more of a full wall of glass.

I think I took a photograph of the floor plan of the 7th floor from the back of the room door. I'll upload that later today.

uncertaintraveler

Like you (I think...), I've been in both of the suites that you circled in yellow. However, I don't recall the left-most circled suite as being a 1-bedroom suite--it was more like a (very large) junior suite. The right-most circled suite was a true 1-bedroom suite, with a wall separating the bedroom from the living area. That said, of the two, I actually prefered the junior suite.

stephem

Anyone with any experience booking AMEX FHR here?
I have a choice of roughly the same net cost via an AAA rate or a FHR rate (FHR is $100 more over 4 nights but has $100 F&B credit). The FHR rate gives me a later checkout (which I actually may use), $100 F&B credit (which I would need to use for parity w AAA rate) and upgrade if availability.
I am booking a Fairmont Gold Lakeview b/c that is the room we want, but curious if there is ever any success w FHR upgrade here? I know in the past at nearly all properties I book FHR that it results in a more carefully selected room (as in best view, higher floor, etc).
Any guidance?

CanadaDH

I don't have any experience booking the Amex FHR rate here, as I've always found either the CAA/AAA rate (30% off) or the moments/original offers (one time was 33% off) to be better than Amex. Doesn't the AAA rate give a F&B credit of $50/stay at the CLL?

What time of year were you planning on visiting? If you're there during the summer months, the hotel is often at capacity, so no upgrade on check-in would be likely. If in the off season, who knows?

Do you have any FPC Plat/Premier upgrade certificates to use to get a confirmed upgrade? I was able to get the hotel (not the central res number) to book a gold room and accept a suite upgrade cert to get the further upgrade.

stephem

Thanks, it's for next week. Last minute so I am really scrambling, but there is decent availability and there are some good rates.

I looked again and for Gold Lakeview Room there is a AAA rate that has $50 F&B, so that would mean my real choice is $50 less over 4 nights with AAA rate vs late check out, possible upgrade (and free breakfast downstairs as option) with FHR. I'm inclined to take FHR.

One other thing I noticed with the AAA rates is they have Jr Suite Lake View (not on Gold floor though) for same price as Gold Lakeview Room and Luxury Suite Lakeview for only a bit more per night.

But it sounds like the Gold floor is the best place to stay at this property, am I right that the Gold rooms are better and access to Gold lounge should trump getting a Jr Suite or full Suite on non Gold floor?