Wow, what a hotel. In terms of the quality of the room, the spa and the location it really is second to none. The staff were excellent and the lobby bars and restaurants were lovely. We enjoyed a couple of nights here and made use of most of the offered facilities, all of which exceeded our expectations. I have two negatives which are the only reasons why this wasn't a perfect 5* review: - Firstly, due to my credit card not being accepted, the hotel required the entire value of my stay be taken from my debit card as security (approx 1500 CAD) It was to be credited on check out, however due to the fact I had paid for the room up front I thought this was slightly excessive and meant I had to watch what I spent for the two nights I was there. - Secondly (and this one is completely beyond me) there is no free WiFi! Of all of the services offered in this day and age, for a metropolitan hotel, how can you not offer free WiFi? And it's not cheap either! It may seem trivial to some people but for the money you pay to stay here, I think it's a bizarre caveat.

I have stayed at a few Fairmont hotels in the past and I have to say, while this hotel was beautiful, the attention to detail was not as grand as at other properties I have stayed at such as Kea Lani and Whistler. We had multiple issues throughout our stay, all of which were rectified, however should never have occurred at a 5* hotel. To start, we had electronic issues in our first room that were unable to be fixed and that were very obviously broken and should have been identified by housekeeping prior to us checking in. We were asked to vacate our room for about an hour by maintenance for the fixes originally but it was later determined that the fixes couldn’t be performed. We were offered a different room of the same category or the opportunity to upgrade for 180$ however the upgraded room wasn’t available until after 5pm as other guests had a late checkout. After some contemplation we decided to upgrade and asked if we too could have a late checkout as check in was delayed. They denied this request as they needed to keep it open in case someone else wanted to book the room in the morning - this made us feel like we weren’t valued as existing guests. We asked if anything could be done to adjust the upgrade price because we would have the room for less than 18 hours and they gave us a $20 reduction. We spent the rest of the day at the Willowstream spa as we had massages booked and this too was a bit disappointing. The facilities were lacking and they did not have a very plentiful selection of toiletries as at other Willow Streams I have visited. The ladies area only had 1 working shower out of 2 and 1 “experience” shower as well as a steam room. Outside we’re a couple hot tubs and a infrared sauna only big enough for 2 people. For the $600 we spend in massages I feel like the spa should have been nicer. We ended up going for dinner and then returned to our upgraded room. The upgraded room was very beautiful and we spent the rest of the evening ordering late night room service. Unfortunately, when we woke up the next morning the in room nespresso coffee machine was not working. I picked up the phone beside the bed to have it replaced and the phone was also not working - again, issues that shouldn’t be occurring in a hotel of this caliber. While our staycation had some bumps, the hotel lobby and restaurants are beautiful with wonderful ambiance and service. We ate at Giovane, the lobby lounge/raw bar, and drank at botanist and all were outstanding and should not be missed.

Called in and secured the Signature Ofuro Room w/ King for Christmas Eve with Self parking. Driving in and check in was easy as always, they welcomed us back and had a Christmas Loaf ready in the room. Hazel who assisted with check in even texted on my personal for additional requests. The room is always dog friendly with a dog bed and treats. Room is always spotless and we were able to enjoy the jacuzzi in private with a lovely sea view. Willow stream Spa was booked and massage was great after a long day. Our first time trying the in room dining service and price was reasonable with fresh food with great quality, warmed in a mini oven underneath the tray. Small detail counts! They even sent me email for a "Fast check out" email in case i did not have time to check out in person. We had lunch at the Botanist on Christmas and the experience was great as well. Please keep up the usual high standard guys! Pac Rim has become my go-to getaway now amid Covid-19. Stay well.