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Hotel check: Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver

Originally published on businesstravelerusa.com 19/12/2011 - Filed under: Tried & Tested » Hotels » United States »

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HOW MANY ROOMS? There are 377 in nearly 30 categories. Choose one of the Harbor View or Mountain Harbor View rooms.

ROOM HIGHLIGHTS Let the hotel know ahead of time and they’ll have an Adidas training kit ready and waiting in the room.

PRICE Internet rates for a midweek stay in November started from C$299 ($288) for a Fairmont room. 

CONTACT Fairmont Pacific Rim, 1038 Canada Place; (604) 695 5300; fairmont.com/pacificrim 

VERDICT The design makes the most of the Fairmont’s waterfront location, making it the perfect introduction for first-timers to Vancouver. The service is faultless, and the rooms well thought out with good technology.

BACKGROUND  The property opened just in time for the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February 2010 and occupies the first 22 floors of a 45-story building on the waterfront, overlooking Coal Harbor, the North Shore mountains and Stanley Park.

The unusual name came about for two reasons – first, this is one of four Fairmont hotels in the city, including the Fairmont Vancouver a few hundred yards away, the Fairmont Waterfront, and the Fairmont Vancouver Airport. So the name was picked to distinguish this property. And second, the city’s location on the Pacific Rim; much of its business comes in through the port – if you get a Harbor View room you can watch the ships coming and going. 

WHAT’S IT LIKE?  Quite beautiful. The outside is glass and white steel, with a million-dollar installation by UK artist Liam Gillick (it says: “Lying on top of a building the clouds looked no nearer than when I was lying on the street”) wrapping around the downtown-side corner and then up from floors five to 22, dividing the hotel from the luxury residences above. The entrance features a cobblestone driveway with waterfalls and a teak bridge. The lobby has white Bianco statuary marble floors and columns from Italy, a 20-foot granite-fronted fireplace, a lounge bar with a $225,000 handcrafted Fazioli piano (there’s live music every night) and a grand marble staircase leading up to the restaurant, Oru. The intention was to create an urban oasis, and other elements in the hotel include an outdoor pool deck, palm trees, fire pits and cabanas.  

WHERE IS IT? At the foot of Burrard Street, at the intersection of Cordova Street, in the heart of the financial district. It’s across from the cruise ship terminal, and close to shopping and restaurants. An underground walkway connects the hotel to the newly expanded Vancouver Convention Center. 

ROOM FACILITIES The 377 rooms are split into almost 30 different categories. Entry-level Fairmont rooms are 400 square feet and have views across town, but if you’re coming to Vancouver for the first time, go for a Deluxe Harbor View or Deluxe Harbor and Mountain View for the vistas. Better still, head for levels 20-21, the Fairmont Gold executive floors which offer lounge access. 

All rooms have Stearns and Foster beds, Mascioni cotton towels and bedlinens, robes and slippers, turndown service, marble bathrooms with deep soaker jetted tubs and/or spa showers, wired and wireless internet access (C$15.60/$15 for 24 hours), media hubs, 42-inch flatscreen HDTVs with video check-out, Bose sound systems, iPod dock/alarm clocks, large workdesks, Nespresso coffee makers and tea-making facilities.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS The 120-seat dining room, Oru – a name derived from the Japanese word meaning “to fold”– has an open kitchen with two chef’s tables, a private dining room, a wine tasting area, and a 180-foot-long sculpture by local origami artist Joseph Wu. It serves Asian fusion cuisine as well as breakfast. On the lobby level is Giovane, a dual-level Italian-inspired bakery that turns into a wine bar in the evening, with more than 30 vintages available by the glass.

BUSINESS AND MEETING FACILITIES Since it’s adjacent to the Vancouver Convention Center, the hotel’s meeting facilities, though well appointed, aren’t huge – the three ballrooms collectively hold 400 for an event. The 15,000 square feet of meeting space is all on the second and third floors, along with a small business center. 

LEISURE FACILITIES Vancouver has so many leisure options, from sailing to trekking, that it’s hard to stay in the hotel. Still, the hotel offers a pool, private cabanas and meditation pods. The gym and spa are on levels five and six. The Willow spa has a calming atmosphere, with nine treatment rooms, steam rooms, and relaxation areas for men, women and couples. Adjacent is the fitness area, yoga room and spa deck.  

By Tom Otley

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