Had Higher Expectations
While the grounds and room were beautiful, the short stay was overshadowed by lack luster guest services.
It was a 2 night, 3 day stay in Victoria. We were greeted quickly by a valet who took our vehicle. No offer of getting our bags was made. While this wasn’t a problem, I would’ve expected it.
We were dressed to check in desk where a woman assigned us a room and recommended Sunset Sips that had started just prior to our arrival. She highly recommended it.
After our things were dropped at our room, we went to check out the recommended Sunset Sips. There was no one to greet or seat us and only a small sign. We waited for about 5 minutes before wondering around to find someone.
We found success with someone, but he said he was managing the Q restaurant. He said he’d find his colleague to take care of us. We waited another 5 to 10 minutes. Since there was almost no one else in the lounge, it seemed we would have had prompt service.
The area we were seated in had one other group which was being served food from a specific menu that was not offered to us. Presumably they were eating in another restaurant, but seated with us which led to some confusion.
When we asked to see a menu for food items that were being delivered to people around us, we were strongly discouraged. It certainly seemed weird to be dining with people adjacent to us, but being served differently.
The room was nice and the building was historically interesting. They offered us bathrobes in the room, which were wonderful, but there were no slippers that were offered. I wouldn’t normally consider this to be a problem, but this is the Fairmont and we had just come from a, smaller hotel that did offer it. It seems like the Fairmont was just cutting corners.
The hallway was unusually warm making our room difficult to keep cool. The thermostat was limited to 67°F up to 75°F. This would not normally be an issue, but since the hallway was so warm, we couldn’t cool the room and it was uncomfortable.
The television was malfunctioning and I was unable to pull up the guide or the menu. Luckily, we weren’t invested in watching TV while we stayed.
The hotel features a lovely spa. However, we were only there for three days and there was only availability on our last day, but that conflicted with our plans. Additionally, there was no availability whatsoever for some of the specialty services that seemed very interesting.
The location of the hotel is great. They have a lovely gift shop and stores that are right inside the hotel. The quality of the food that we ate was great and our breakfast experience at Q restaurant was lovely. Joseph took great care of us.
We did order room service, which was delivered pretty quickly within about 25 minutes. It was very convenient and mostly delicious. It was a simple dessert order, so it’s kind of hard to mess that up.
The checkout process Was available by phone or TV or at the desk. We checked out in about 10 minutes and our car was Delivered only a few minutes after that.
I am disappointed to find out that there is something called Fairmont Gold, that offers a complementary bar and breakfast and dinner bar accessible to only those guests who have paid for it. The service is something I would’ve been interested in had I have been offered it. But I can’t recall where it was offered.
All things considered, the Fairmont is a large name, luxury hotel, and with that reputation comes a certain expectation. I apparently set my expectation too high when booking with the Fairmont.
They It was a fine stay but not for the price I paid, and not for such a prestigious name, such as the Fairmont.