hauteboy

Just finished our weeklong trip though western Canada; we stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver, Banff Springs, Lake Louise and Palliser in Calgary. We were upgraded for every stay! All hotels had free internet/wireless for FPC members. All the hotels (except Banff) had flatscreen TVs.

In Vancouver we had a high floor corner city (partial water) view; huge room very modern, incredibly soft bed (our favorite). It's right across from the cruise ship terminal and there is a Skytrain station underneath the hotel. It was very busy with all the cruise ship passengers. There is a good dimsum restaurant (Imperial) nearby in the Marine building.

In Banff, we were upgraded to a huge king suite in the convention center wing (much quieter). There was free parking on the road leaving away from the hotel on the right hand side. There is a bus (route 4) that comes by every 20 minutes ($2) and goes into town, or you can walk there in 15-20 minutes. Lots of good restaurants in town with all budgets. But keep in mind, Banff means, Barely Affordable, Nothing For Free. The hotel was busy with tour groups and a McDonalds convention.

In Lake Louise we were in a Jr. Lakeview suite, 1st floor. The lake was still mostly frozen (and actually refroze both nights we were there). There is free parking in the public parking lots about a 5 minute walk from the hotel. There are several (overpriced) restaurants, but food options are limited to eating here or driving 10 minutes into the village. Very busy with tour groups, there were 15 buses there one day. Breakfast buffet was $26 (get there before 8 AM or after 9 when the tours leave) , there is also a deli where you can get chocolate croissants and yogurt, etc. Moraine Lake road had just opened a few days before, but the lake was really low and also still frozen. Very clean, modern room with a sitting area overlooking the lake.

The Palliser in Calgary is an old school hotel with a grand lobby. We had a Jr. Suite here as well. The room was huge but you could still tell it was an older hotel. The bathroom was tiny. There was free parking after 6pm on the street, but many of the parking areas on surrounding streets are currently blocked/closed due to construction. You can also park overnight in the next door parking garage, it was $6 6PM-6AM, then $2.50 for every hour after.

Overall a great experience and I've been very happy with our FAF Fairmont stays. Now I only need one more stay to make Premier...

MissJ

I can't seem to get any discount rates for Chicago now (6/14-6/17). I looked it up the other day, saw them but didn't book. Went back when I had time to make the reservations and no rates. I'm am kicking myself now. I was really looking forward to that stay.

nyx.t2t

Keep trying. Don't give up on it. It seems to change constantly like that.

This is another example of why if you see a good rate, just book it (as long as the cancellation policy allows you to cancel by the day of with no fees)...

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

MissJ

I know... I learned my lesson the hard way. If I see it again, I'm booking that second. I was at my desk, busy as could be and just went to check the rates. I thought I would complete the res at lunch and well... I missed out.

I have a backup reservation but I'll be checking the Fairmont every day and hoping.

azntenshi

is it just me but when I click the friends and family rate for the room and click submit I get this on the page:

Secure Connection Failed

fairmont.com uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is only valid for www.fairmont.com

(Error code: ssl_error_bad_cert_domain)

What am i doing wrong?

Diplomatico

Posting from the Fairmont Singapore. Checked in about 8 hours ago (this jet lag thing, whew!) with no problems whatsoever. 20th floor room, balcony, free internet (free for FPC members), excellent location, nice room.

Used the original booking code provided in this thread, no questions asked, NFAF rate honored.

Yet another thanks to the OP.

broncoboaz

When do the great rates get posted on the fairmont website? It says the first week of every month, but there is nothing for June yet?

nyx.t2t

I'm not sure where you're getting your information but this is an F&F and isn't posted to the general public. You are supposed to be referred the code to see the special rates. You should be able to see the special rates up to 3 months in advance of your planned stay and this is supposed to run til the end of the year.

CanuckFlyHigh

You are referring to the Fairmont Great Rates Great Dates promo that Fairmont has for FPC members each month. It is posted in the first week of each month, which gives them until June 7 to post the GRGD rates. I have an ongoing post in the forum that updates it when it is made available.

mctrees02

Same thing happened for me in July. The rates jumped $70/night from when I casually looked to when I went to book. Oh well...I've still got a bit more time.

broncoboaz

Thanks...I wasn't sure if they unveil their rates exactly on the 1st of each month or not. It sounds like it can be at any time up until the 7th.

cspcrx

Just got back from a week in beautiful BC staying at the Fairmont Waterfront, Chateau Whistler, and YVR on the FnF rates- no problems at all. We loved the Waterfront for the views and downtown location- we even took their bikes (weren't BMW like the promo described though) for an afternoon ride around Stanley Park! Our room at Chateau Whistler had an awesome view of Blackomb and Whistler but we were just a bit bummed that the Peak2Peak gondola wasn't open yet. Our Ziptrek tour more than made up for that though! And the Fairmont YVR's jetted soaking tub was the perfect way to end the trip. Being 5-10min away from all the great eating in Richmond was awesome too. Actually all the food we had during our trip was pretty awesome...now to work it off at the gym

Thanks again nyx.t2t!!!

nyx.t2t

Nice to hear your week in BC went well. Let me know if you need anything else.

nyx.t2t

Could possibly be the hotel itself having problems with their systems. I haven't seen this particular error yet but there have been one or two others I've heard of but have been the problem of the specific hotel. I recommend calling the hotel you are trying to book and asking about that.

SouthOxon

Which URL are you using? If www.fairmont.ca try www.fairmont.com instead.

This is just another example of the shockingly poor web site implementation that Fairmont use. Two weeks in and I still cannot see the details of one of my reservations.