World Traveller 73 
Review: Fairfield Inn and Suites, Orillia, Canada
A recent business trip to Orillia, Ontario, Canada had me staying in the city for three nights. With a limited Marriott Bonvoy footprint in the area, I ended up at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia for a three night stay. The property ended up being quite busy during our stay. Despite this, I had a great stay otherwise. Read on to see how the Fairfield Inn & Suites met our business needs while we were in the Orillia, Ontario area.
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Review: Fairfield Inn and Suites, Orillia, Ontario, Canada
“A brand new Fairfield Inn that represents the new evolution of the Fairfield Inn & Suites brand. A popular location, the property offered great Marriott Bonvoy Elite recognition, along with a comfortable and quiet stay.”
My week of meetings was taking place in Orillia, Ontario, Canada; which was located about an hour and ten minutes north of Toronto, Canada. There isn’t a great selection of hotels in the small lakeside town of Orillia, Ontario. It’s giant water front lake and geographic location on Highway 11 make it an ideal stop over location for travellers passing through the area.
Booking the Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia:
There aren’t many hotels in the town of Orillia, Ontario. The Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia is the only Marriott Bonvoy option for miles around at the time of our stay.
The Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia generally offers rates between $160 – $275 CAD ($118 – $200 USD) during the week, for a standard guest room. The highest rates appear to be mostly on the weekends, likely representing most of the users of this property being families and leisure travellers.
Being the only Marriott Bonvoy property around for miles, and the only new hotel in Orillia, the Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia tended to sell out well in advance. If you’re planning a visit, make sure you book well in advance.
I booked through the Marriott Bonvoy website, which as a Marriott Titanium Member, entitled me to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, including select suites, complimentary access to the Marriott Executive Club Lounge (of which there wasn’t one at this property), and a complimentary late check out up to 4 PM.
It is worth mentioning that there are only a few suites at this particular property. As a result, the likelihood of getting an upgrade into an actual suite (with a separate living room) is limited. The likely Marriott Bonvoy Elite upgrades offered will be a soft upgrade into a higher floor category, a better view or quieter area away from the elevator.
Marriott Bonvoy Redemption Opportunities:
The Fairfield Inn and Suites Ottawa Airport offers competitive room redemptions with the new variable redemption rates. Marriott Bonvoy rates were between 16,000 to 25,000, which represents value on some nights but not on others.
If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at $0.008 a point, you’d have to spend more than $128 CAD room rate to come out ahead for a 16,000 point redemption, or $200 CAD room rate if you happen to find a 25,000 point redemption. While this represents reasonable value under certain circumstances, you’ll want to make sure that your redemption is value based in order to get the most out of your Marriott Bonvoy points.
Arriving to the Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia Airport:
After arriving off Air Canada Express Business Class Regina – Toronto, I had rented a car from Hertz at the Toronto International Airport in Ontario, Canada. It was an easy one hour and fifteen minute drive up Highway 400 to get from Mississauga to Orillia.
The Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia is located off the highway on a newer commercial mall shopping complex. Located just behind the mall, the property was easy to find using Google Maps.
The mall near the hotel contains a number of casual / fast food restaurants that make for a convenient stay at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia. During our visit, I happened to visit State and Main Restaurant, along with Chick-fil-A for a spicy chicken sandwich. There is nothing like having convenient restaurants near your hotel, as it makes it easy to locate food and beverage after your day.
I booked direct on the Marriott Website. Given high travel demand, I ended up with a paid night averaging about $260 CAD a night for 3 nights. I also took advantage of a Marriott Bonvoy promotion that allowed for an extra 2,000 points over every two night stays.
Arriving to the Property:
The Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia was easy to find. I found free parking on the property and headed inside to check in. While there was limited parking on the front side of the hotel, there was ample parking surrounding the property.
The Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia is a brand new build. As a result, the lobby and public spaces are completely new and sparkling pretty.
The lobby was anchored by a large breakfast space. Fairfield Inn’s offer a complimentary breakfast as part of their brand standard for all travellers.
I had a a warm check in experience. I was provided with a welcome bonus of 500 Marriott Bonvoy points as a Titanium welcome amenity. I was also given a pleasant explanation of the property features and the breakfast hours.
Self parking was free at the hotel. There was no parking pass needed for the vehicle dashboard, something that I appreciated, given it’s simplicity.
The Room: Guest Room – 1 King, Sofa Bed
I had booked a base Guest Room – 1 King room. My Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status elevated my stay to a higher room assignment on the forth floor. As a result of heavy travel demand, I did not get a further room category upgrade.
My assigned room #423 was located at the very end of the hallway far near the elevator.
The Guest Room – 1 King was a standard 282 sq feet room that was “as expected” for a Fairfield Inn.
The Bedroom Area:
Immediately upon entering the room, we found a giant king size bed. The Fairfield Inn had crisp white linens that offered a comfortable sleep experience.
As a single business traveller, the room was perfectly comfortable for one person, with sufficient space to stretch out in. A single occasional chair marked the accent space in the room.
Despite arriving at night, the room was fairly well lit. Although the room had some dark spaces, it remained a functional space that was suited for work and relaxation.
The room featured a small desk space that could be used for work. The space was a little short on power charging ports, with only 4 power port plug ins and no additional USB charging drop ports.
The room featured a simple filtered coffee maker. I didn’t end up using the coffee maker
On my arrival to the room, I received a wonderful Marriott Bonvoy Titanium welcome amenity consisting of a few bags of potato chips, a small Aero chocolate bar and two bottles of water.
I have to congratulate the Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia for offering this. It’s great to have some elite recognition and it still elevates the stay when you get a welcome amenity such as this.
The amenity bag featured a property description sheet. The sheet offered information on where. theice machines were located, the hours of breakfast and hours of the pool and fitness centre.
The room featured a view over the highway and an adjacent lake. While the view wasn’t all that exciting, it was nicer than looking into another building of an office park or other similar concrete structure.
Like with most Marriott properties, the bed and linens were super comfortable. Despite being located close to the highway, I did not get a lot of highway noise with windows being well sealed and sound proof. The bed was of good quality and I had decent sleeps as I adjusted to the Central Time Zone.
The Bathroom:
The room offered a standard single vanity sink, which was as expected for a hotel of this category. The bathroom was perfectly spacious for a single traveller, but it may be a little more compact for a couple travelling together.
The room offered a stand up shower with no bathtub option. This wasn’t an issue for my travel circumstances, but it may be of concern if you’re travelling as family.
While the hotel was marketed as a Fairfield Inn and Suites, there were only one or two suites located on our floor. As a result, I wouldn’t expect too many upgrade opportunities based strictly on suite availability.
Food and Beverage:
Much like all other Fairfield Inn’s, there is no on site full service restaurant at this property.
Per the brand standard, there is a complimentary breakfast served in the lobby. During my visit the hours of breakfast were as follows:
- 6:30 AM – 9:30 AM on weekdays
- 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM on weekends & statutory holidays
The breakfast at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia was full featured. It offered an equal distribution of continental items, along with hot breakfast items.
There was a baked waffles station, which simple offered maple syrup toppings.
There was also a scrambled eggs and egg and cheese pre-made omelette section. There were also the usual Marriott salsa’s and shredded cheeses to make this food area a little more exciting.
Having breakfast in the lobby of your hotel makes the stay very convenient. I can’t imagine many having any concerns about the breakfast being offered at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia.
Around the Property:
The property offered both a gym with free weights and an indoor pool. The gym offered a few treadmills, elliptical cycles and free weights.
The pool was the standard indoor variety. It was fairly small for exercising, but would certainly keep the kids entertained after a day’s of travel.
Overall, the features of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia was about as expected for a Fairfield Inn. Having the property located close to a commercial mall was also helpful, as it was just a short five minute walk away for most restaurants and a few retail big box opportunities.
Checking Out of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia:
I had no issues checking out of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia. Strangely, my bill was split into a Deposit Amount of one night’s stay with incidentals, and a balance portion of my remaining two nights stay. I thought this was a little unusual since I was doing expense reconciliation, which required an extra step of math, but everything was added up accurately.
It took approximately 4 days to get my Marriott Bonvoy points posted to my account, and all promotional bonuses posted correctly.
My Thoughts of the Fairfield Inn Orillia Airport:
In general, the Fairfield Inn and Suites Orillia Airport represented a great stay in the Orillia, Ontario, Canada area.
Along with any brand new hotel build, the stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia was clean and sparkling. The stay was made warmer with great Marriott Bonvoy Elite recognition, a great room assignment and a convenient location that had many restaurants and amenities that were within walking distance of the hotel.
I would easily stay again if I needed an overnight stay in the Orillia, Ontario area.
World Traveller 73 
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