It was not as fancy as I would have hoped for the tower rooms were too small and the pool is small and by 1000 am all the chair are gone around the entire pool, which is not that many chairs to begin with. The food at the resturant was very good. Room service was very nice as well. We had an issue with the the business services. My husband had to get a fed ex overnight so they sent him to business services and the lady took his envelope and said they were due there to pick all the other boxes they had for fed ex and she would give it to them. Well, my husband got on line the next morning to check the fed ex tracking # and there was none. We ran down to the business ctr and all the boxes had been taken from Fed ex except his envelope he was furious and when he questioned the lady she said they never came. First off they did and she lied to him, and second if they didnt come dont you think good customer hotel service would either call up to our room and tell us, or call fed ex and tell them there is an envelope that needs to be overnighted asap??? They didnt even care. So anyway. It was not all that. The hotel is nothing to write home about, especially for the price I would expect more.

My husband and I stayed at the Fairmont for one night, August 13, 2004. We loved more about the hotel than we hated so I gave it a better than average revue. We drove thru very impressive Iron gates with a Gateman holding a list of all registered guests. Very impressive. As you reach the front of the hotel this very impressive 80 foot Miramar Family Fig tree greets you. You have to wonder what came first, the hotel or the tree. But the tree was planted somewhere between 1885 and 1889. On to reception. Valet Parking was very efficient and check in was very courteous and helpful.. Our room 1040 overlooked Santa Monica Beach and Pier. We spent several minutes taking in the breathtaking hustle and bustle of the beach from our patio deck. The room was small but tastefully decorated with a lovely white fluffy Duvet comforter on the very comforter King size bed. The Bose radio gave the room a wonderful ambiance. The furniture was also very tastful and traditional with the TV hidden in a lovely cabinet not far from the bed. They had all the extras like a coffeemaker w/ decaf and regular, ironing board hairdryer, and lovely toiletires in the bathroom. Less than impressive was the size of the the bathroom which was really fit for one person but both my husband and myself did manage a joint shower while only mildly flooding the bathroom floor. They were rather skimpy w/ the towels with only 3 bath towels wheras most luxury hotels provide 4. Also only one robe in the closet but we did not use even that one. And no turn down service which is such a nice touch if it is available. We did not try the food, (only a $3.00 bag of M&M's from the wet bar.) Location is excellent, so close to great restaurants,(we ate at Lago's and had a fantastic meal.) We also did not try the pool or the health club which is available. And to walk the Santa Monica Promenade is a wonderful experience with all the street performers, artists, characters, and international visitors. So to sum it up, we thoroughly enjoyed our one night stay but saw some areas where improvements could eventually make this a 5 star hotel.

We stayed here for four nights in July. Our cramped room on the fifth floor of the tower was decorated in what seemed to be a 1940s theme with worn pea-green bedspreads, tassels everywhere, a loose electrical socket, a permanently locked safe (I was told the machine used to open locked safes was away for repair) bad shower water pressure, a blockage-prone lavatory, a mysterious large sticky area on one of the windows, a bed with an incline, a faulty balcony door-lock and inconsistent housekeeping.

Our request to change room was met with disbelief bordering on rudeness by the front desk. After seeing two other rooms that were available we decided to stay where we were.

Room service was unusually expensive, with the food being edible but not tasty. Breakfast in the poolside restaurant was reasonable (except the $6 glasses of “fresh” orange juice which tasted unpleasant) but we experienced slow service.

We are not overly fussy, but like to stay in reasonable hotels. Having paid $299 + tax per night we were disappointed. The only things to recommend this hotel is the location (minutes from the beach and 3rd Street Promenade) and the efficient and friendly car valet.

After a doing quite a bit of research, both on this site and others, my husband and I decided to stay at the Faimont Miramar for a four day stay this July. I give the Fairmont mixed reviews because there are clear strengths and obvious problems that this hotel needs to correct in order the justify the very high price.

First, the good. Location, location, location. Right across from the Third Street Promenade with tons of dining, shopping, and people watching possibilities in addition to a ten-minute stroll to the Santa Monica Pier. The hotel staff, from valets to desk attendants, were amazing. Very professional and warm, they handled all of our needs as best they could. The pool is beautiful, but small, and the waitstaff service was excellent. The grounds of this hotel are fabulous and pristine and the beautiful lobby is equally impressive.

Now the bad. We arrived for check in at 3pm and were told kindly told that our room wasn't ready. On a Thursday? So we were asked to wait in the bar, where we were charged $16 for two beers. In my opinion, the drinks should have been on the house. An hour later, our room was ready and we were pleased that we have an airy, open, beautifully decorated room in the historic Palisades wing. We made dinner reservations for 8pm and took a stroll. When we returned to our room to shower, we discovered that the shower head wasn't working. The front desk offered to move us, but we opted to use the working shower "wand" instead, take a 50% discount for the night, and let an "engineer" fix the problem while we were out for dinner.

On our second day, we were getting ready for a wedding in the warm afternoon when the air conditioning broke. Not fun. So again we call down and while we are at the wedding, they send up the engineer to fix the problem.

I had called a week in advance to set up massage appointments for my husband and I the next morning at the independent spa located within the hotel. Our appointments were for 9am, but when we arrived 10 minutes early to ready for our treatments the spa was closed??? An attendant for the salon invited us to wait and read. So we did, and finally one masseuse shows, 10 minutes late, only to get on the phone and start making phone calls??? We were on a tight schedule, so my husband left to meet friends. The other masseuse arrived at 9:15 with no appologies. Only that I could still get 45 minutes of my hour-long massage or re-schedule. With this kind of treatment, I opted to take my spa money and go shopping. What a dissapointment.

On our third night, the air conditioning broke again. This time (at 11pm) the unit was completely frozen and the engineer had to run the heater for an hour to thaw it out. Again, we were offered a 50% discount and (this time) free cocktails while we waited for our room.

The bottom line is that this beautiful hotel with an amazing location could be served well to spend a little money working on maintenance issues in the Palisaides rooms. If I were heading back, I would request the newer Tower rooms (which are smaller) to avoid the maintenance fiascoes. And I would wait untill off-season when rooms are cheaper than $300/night. I would also avoid the "spa" - definitely not the spa experience I was expecting.