World Traveller 73 
Review: Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver, Canada
In honour of a local girls weekend in celebration of a special birthday, I ended up at the Fairmont Pacific Rim for a weekend stay. The Fairmont Pacific Rim is one of Vancouver’s most luxurious hotel properties, and is the crown in the Fairmont portfolio for the city of Vancouver. We would end up having a luxurious stay, complimented by almost every imaginable amenity. Read on to see what a stay at the Fairmont Pacific Rim looks like.
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Review: Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
“The Fairmont Pacific Rim was a posh and perfect stay for a girls weekend; the rooms were quiet and comfortable, with a great Coal Harbour location with excellent restaurants nearby”
The Fairmont Pacific Rim is the Fairmont’s flagship property in Vancouver, Canada. Between the historic Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, the Fairmont Waterfront, and the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, the city is well served with luxury properties.
Booking The Fairmont Pacific Rim:
The property is bookable on the Fairmont website. As a premium property in Vancouver competing against luxury properties like the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver, you’re looking at a top end rate starting at around $500 CAD ($367 USD), going up to $1,000 CAD ($735 USD) on weekend nights in the summer. These are among the most expensive non private hotel properties in Vancouver, and are priced accordingly.
The hotel is a member of the All Accord Limitless Program. All Accord Members who are gold level members or higher (30 nights & 7,000 Status points or 2,800€ spend) may be entitled to a room upgrade, when booking through direct channels.
The Fairmont Pacific Rim is also a member of the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program for those with access to an American Express Platinum Card. Assuming you are not looking to earn All Accord Elite status, booking through the American Express Travel website will afford you with a series of benefits from the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program which include:
- US $100 Property credit to be used during your stay
- Room upgrade upon arrival, when available
- Noon check-in, when available
- Daily breakfast for two
- In-Room Wi-Fi, exclusions apply
- Guaranteed 4:00 pm late check-out
Dependent on the rates, you may end up being ahead if all these inclusions offer value to your travel circumstances.
Getting to the Fairmont Pacific Rim:
The Fairmont Pacific Rim is located in downtown Vancouver, Canada. The property commands a prominent location just off the waterfront promenade near the Vancouver Convention Centre and one block away from the Vancouver Cruise Ship Terminal.
The property is accessible from the Vancouver Skytrain Canada line with connectivity to the Vancouver International Airport. While most arriving to this property will probably be through private car service, it’s nice that there is a convenient public transit option that runs with regular frequency.
The Coal Harbour neighbourhood contains quite a number of “off property” restaurants and also is within a two minute walk to the seawall promenade that fronts the Vancouver Convention Centre all the way along to Stanley Park and The Westin Bayshore hotel. It’s a pretty upscale neighbourhood, although with a north facing orientation, it can tend to be on the shady side at times.
During our stay, we visited the nearby Nightingale Restaurant owned by celebrity chef David Hawksworth. In terms of walking convenience, it doesn’t get much better than the Fairmont Pacific Rim.
Arriving to the Property:
The night before, I was in town another social event with my husband. After that concluded, on the next day, I ended up walking over to the Fairmont Pacific Rim property, where I met up with a bunch of my girlfriends before a night out on the town.
The Fairmont Pacific Rim contains an outdoor loading and arrival area that is located on the east side of the building.
Immediately inside the lobby doors, you’ll find the hotel lounge and lobby seating area. The lobby can tend to be quite a busy place; it’s not always quiet and serene.
We were quickly attended to at the front desk, which was draped in a red backdrop. We had received a base level room consistent with what was booked with no further upgrade.
The Room: Deluxe, City View Two Queens
On receiving our room assignment, we headed up to our assigned room #1021. The elevators were easily accessed off the lobby. The property offered great first impressions. Everything was exceptionally clean and well maintained.
The Bedroom:
The Deluxe City View Two Queens room was pleasantly decorated in modern brown and earthy tones. While earth tones can look a little dated at times, the combination fit quite well here.
The bedrooms feature Stearns and Foster beds, which are quite comfortable overall. They are paired with luxury linens, for a comfortable feel while sleeping.
In room slippers were provided, which is something that I always appreciate when travelling in strange hotel rooms for cleanliness reasons.
The bed site featured modern electronic conveniences, such as the ability to music, alarms and control the television.
The room had a small desk area along with a little counter space. I didn’t end up using the desk, but there was enough there for a small work project or to use the house phone.
As can be expected, the Fairmont Pacific Rim room was well stock with everything that you need for a stay. This included proper stemware, and a small selection of alcohol consisting of wine and spirits.
The room also contained a fully stocked in room mini bar with champagne, white wine and several local microbrewery Stanley Park Noble Pilsner beers.
The room also featured a Nepresso Coffeemaker, along with still water that had been placed in your room.
Along the lines of being well featured, the room featured a “chocolate” welcome amenity. The chocolate welcome amenity features a selection of house made chocolate bars using Valrhona chocolate.
The Bathroom:
The bathroom had a “spa like” feel to it with contemporary flooring and tile. The bathroom featured a luxurious white patterned marble looking countertop with two vanity sinks. This was appreciated given there were a number of us sharing the room for the night.
The bathroom offered a stand up shower, along with a separate detached water closet.
Room with a View:
The room did offer exactly what was described; a city view. The Fairmont Pacific Rim is located within a skyscraper jungle, so some of the rooms will not be mountain and water facing. This happened to be one of those rooms that didn’t have an “ideal” view.
It terms of sleep quality, the room was exceptionally quiet and peaceful. The room featured dark blackout blinds, which made for a dark and pleasant sleep.
Around the Property:
The Fairmont Pacific Rim offers a number of full service amenities. For a full service luxury hotel in the middle of the city, it does a terrific job at offering a little of everything you’d need from a luxury hotel.
Fitness Centre:
The Fairmont Pacific Rim offers a fitness center. The gym is in daylight space, and was almost deserted when I visited.
Outdoor Pool & Cabana:
The Fairmont Pacific Rim offers a wonderful outdoor pool space. The outdoor pool offers inner city peek a boo views to the Burrard inlet between the Vancouver Convention Centre towards the water.
During my visit, there happened to be a lot of snow around the city and consequently, the pool deck. It’s not often you get to see snow and palm trees in the same photograph.
Despite this, the pool was open for business. Given the temperatures, there weren’t many taking advantage of the pool deck. I could see some potential for this space in warmer weather.
The Pool and Cabana space also offered a small hot tub on the deck.
The Fairmont Pacific Rim also offered a seasonal outdoor beverage station, which was closed during my February visit.
I left the pool area wanting to return in warmer weather. This space would be ideal in the warmer July and August months in Vancouver.
Food and Beverage:
The hotel contains both the Botanist full service restaurant and the Lobby Lounge. While I didn’t get the opportunity to try the Botanist Restaurant, we did enjoy a few drinks in the Lobby Lounge.
The Lobby Lounge and Raw Bar:
The Lobby Lounge and Raw bar is located on the ground floor of the Fairmont Pacific Rim.
On our Saturday night visit, The Lobby Lounge was an exceptionally popular place. We didn’t have any trouble getting seated after dinner at nine pm. We had asked about getting reservations, but were told just to turn up.
We enjoyed a round of drinks. There was an extensive cocktail menu along with wines at around the $20 CAD price point. The atmosphere was great with live music and the environment had a celebratory feel to it.
My Thoughts on Fairmont Pacific Rim:
I really enjoyed our stay at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. The hotel was exceptionally clean, with terrific amenities. The room was well featured with every possible convenience. The location of the hotel was also exceptionally convenient in Coal Harbour, and was walking distance to many restaurants. For a girls’ weekend out, having the Fairmont Pacific Rim as our home base was just about perfect.
World Traveller 73 
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