JCFans

FTers, I'm about to book 5 nights at the Fairmont Beijing. Planning to use my suite upgrade. Some questions:

1) I do not see a Fairmont Room Category. I only see Deluxe, Fairmont Gold, Signature Suite. Is the Deluxe upgradeable using certs?

2) What is the likelihood for the suite upgrade to go through?

3) Are third-party bookings (Amex, Expedia) eligible for cert ugprades?

Thanks.

Jasper2009

1) Yes, no problem. You can always upgrade from a higher room category (but cannot apply free night certs). And indeed, the hotel's lowest room category seems to be the Deluxe room.

2) I'm not particularly familiar with this property, though the lowest suite category seems to be a Signature Suite which looks very nice. Please report back whether the upgrade went through smoothly.

3) I'd be hesitant to make a blanket statement regarding third-party bookings. I'd roughly say:

- Amex/Virtuoso/etc.: definitely no problem
- "real" travel agents and corporate bookings: definitely no problem
- Expedia: apparently possible per other FTers' reports
- Hotwire/Priceline and other, less well-known booking sites: I wouldn't count on it

JCFans

Thanks, Jasper2009. I will let you guys know. Called FPC just now. They will do price match to Expedia and other sites like booking.com (I checked it's $100 cheaper in total for 5 nights) but not Amex Travel bookings (since this website is members-only and not accessible to the general public).

FPC agent said Expedia booking is probably upgradeable using certs but they must see the booking come into their system first and decide. Since they will match the Expedia price anyway I will book through FPC.

And for those of you wondering, the Fairmont Moments offer is bookable until Mar 18 2016.

JCFans

My eCerts are out and I just booked both Shanghai and Beijing properties for a total of 10 nights. Upgraded both successfully to suites.

I wanted to note that we need to be careful booking through FPC. The agent quoted me the regular price rate and because it was in CNY currency I didn't really catch on. I finally caught on and informed her I saw a 30% discounted rate as part of Fairmont Moments. Her reaction was exactly and I quote: "Oh ... you want to book that rate? Yes of course you can."

Ummm..... I have no words.

Jasper2009

Well, to be fair, many people don't want to book non-flexible rates, but I agree it would be nice if theagent pro-actively offered different rates.

JCFans

Stayed for 6 nights at the Beijing property. They first said that rate doesn't include breakfast so I said it's fine I can pay for breakfast on some days where I choose to dine downstairs. Then I looked at my confirmation email and it says "rate is inclusive of breakfast meal". I forwarded this to the hotel and they called me immediately sending their apologies and that breakfast is included.

At the end of the trip they charged me for the breakfast meals that we had because they said the room only comes with breakfast for one person.

My question is: is this normal? I guess it doesn't specify specifically that the inclusive breakfast meal is for two people but one assumes because the room is booked for two people from the get go.

Any experience? Thanks.

Jasper2009

May I ask what kind of rate you booked?

Does your confirmation state "1 adult" or "2 adults"?

I have ha this happen to me where the hotel chares a higher ate for double occupancy.

JCFans

I don't remember anymore but it was the lowest rate at that time. I used a suite cert upgrade. The confirmation email states 2 adults.

Jasper2009

Hm, doesn't the confirmation e-mail state what rate you booked?

If the original confirmation e-mail states "2 adults", I'd argue it's very unlikely the rate only included breakfast for one person. But without knowing the rate it's obviously hard to be 100% sure.

JCFans

Conf email doesn't state what rate but I logged on Fairmont.com to my profile and the rate is Fairmont Moments Stay Longer 30% off.

Jasper2009

As expected, the Fairmont website says "complimentary breakfast for two".

As mentioned upthread, this would possibly not apply if you had booked 1 adult and the hotel charged different rates for 1 or 2 adults.

But otherwise I'd indeed agree that the hotel was wrong.

JCFans

Thanks, Jasper! Clarified with the hotel and they apologize profusely. They said sign whatever you need but we will waive at checkout.

Antonio8069

Anyone made the journey via subway to the hotel from the airport? Is it easy? Fast?

moondog

Unless the traffic is really bad, I would use a taxi:

-AEX transfer to Line 10 isn't fun
-Line 10 can be insanely crowded
-After you emerge, you're looking at a 10 minute walk (don't even think about switching to Line 1 in order to use Yong'anli instead of Guomao; you might shave 5 minutes off of the walk, but that transfer is a real beast)

vogriphach

Stayed at the Fairmont Beijing 2 weeks ago. Chose this property because I was very curious about its Gold Lounge which I've heard much about. Overall, it did not disappoint. I thought the service here was quite personalized - an element which often gets lost in many of China's gigantic hotels.

Wrote a detailed review of my stay here: http://iwandered.net/2017/03/18/fair...-hotel-review/