Hotel Review: Fairmont Pacific Rim (Stanley Park Suite), Vancouver, BC

Introduction

A full review will follow soon, but for now I wanted to share my initial impressions of the Fairmont Pacific Rim Stanley Park Suite. Brad and I decided to spend a night out after our Fairmont President’s Club Platinum certificates posted to our account, and chose the Pacific Rim to use one of our free-night stays.

To be completely honest, we weren’t planning on returning to this property after having one of our worst hotel experiences a few weeks ago on the Gold floor at The Pacific Rim, but The Director of Rooms, Tugce Atabay, reached out to me personally to follow-up on the stay, and asked us to come back to experience something more memorable.

Since this is the last year of the Fairmont President’s Club, Brad and I have a lot of certificates to burn through and asked to use one of our suite upgrade certificates in conjunction with our free-night. Suite availability is slim at this hotel with certificates, but Tugce offered to upgrade us to the beautiful Stanley Park Suite (not the suite made available for certificate use) as a gesture from our previous stay, which was much appreciated.

We arrived to the hotel shortly after 1pm, and were greeted by the always friendly doorman, who welcomed us back and handed us keys to our suite on the 19th floor. As we made our way inside, we were welcomed back (by name) from every staff member we passed, which felt both awkward and awesome at the same time. While I’m almost sure there was some conversation about us before our arrival, it should be noted that this service level is actually the norm at The Pacific Rim, and being recognized by name is one of the reasons we loved the property from our first visit.

Fairmont Pacific Rim Stanley Park Suite

At roughly 800 square feet, the Stanley Park Suite is spacious and offers both city and harbour views due its location in the corner, which is much better than the Port of Vancouver views afforded on the other side (the same views we had from our stay in a Signature Harbour View Corner Room at The Fairmont Waterfront).

The suite opens up into the main living area, which features a sitting area with armchair and pullout sofa bed, the same built-in minibar and office desk found in their standard rooms, with one of two bathrooms available off the wall near the bedroom entrance. The views from the living room are just incredible, and I spent a great deal of time just watching the Harbour Air float planes coming and going.

The Fairmont Pacific Rim is pet-friendly, and doesn’t charge extra fees for animals, which is why it’s one of our favourite pet-friendly hotels in Vancouver. Waiting for us on arrival was a very thoughtful welcome amenity for the dogs, in addition to the beds and dishes they normally provide.

There was also a bottle of champagne, some chocolates, and a welcome card from Tugce for us.

Off the living room is the spacious bedroom with king bed and sitting area. I love the layout of this room with wrap around windows offering both city and harbour views (while water views are always preferred, I also enjoy a nice city view). The bed was Fairmont standard, which is to say it was incredibly comfortable and featured high-quality linens and pillows. Drapes are controlled electronically from the bedside (as are the lights), and I can say with confidence this is one of the most stunning views you will ever find from a hotel bed.

Off the bedroom was the master ensuite, featuring walk-in shower, dual-sink vanity, Le Labo Rose 31 amenities, and a beautiful free-standing jetted tub with views of the city.

Fairmont Pacific Rim Stanley Park Suite Bottom Line

I’ll have a full review with more pictures and additional comments about the service on this stay coming soon (hint: it was seamless, as promised), but can say we’re both happy we decided to give this property another chance.

The Fairmont Pacific Rim provides phenomenal value for free-night certificates, especially in the summer, when paid rates for standard rooms approach $500-$700 regularly. The hotel also participates in the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program, with room upgrades, late checkout, daily breakfast, and a $100USD property credit on each stay. For those looking to book a night, I would recommend getting an American Express Platinum Card or Business Platinum Card to take advantage of the program.

• Apply now for a Platinum Card and earn 50,000 Membership Reward points as a welcome bonus  (This offer is temporarily unavailable. A new offer from American Express Canada will be available 2019-02-13!)
• Apply now for a Business Platinum Card and Earn 40,000 Membership Reward points as a welcome bonus  (This offer is temporarily unavailable. A new offer from American Express Canada will be available 2019-02-13!)

I really appreciated the effort by all staff to ensure a memorable experience, and am hopeful this service level is more the norm than our prior stay, where we left feeling really disappointed. The Pacific Rim is the first luxury hotel we experienced many years ago, and continues to be one of Vancouver’s premier properties with stylish guest rooms and world-class amenities in arguably the best location in the city.

Have you stayed at The Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver? Tell us about your stay in the comment section below!