Not what I've come to expect from Fairmont.
As a Pittsburgh native, I try to return as often as possible to Pittsburgh. Annually, my wife and I come to Pittsburgh for our anniversary and spend the weekend, we always stay at the Fairmont and have been doing so for over 10 years now. This was our most disappointing trip to date. Also to note, we regularly bring at least one couple to stay there as well, many times they are new to Pittsburgh and new to the Fairmont brand. We always hype up the Fairmont brand as we usually do not have any problems at the hotel. The weekend we chose this year was a week earlier than we usually come but my wife and I both had to work on our actual anniversary weekend so we just moved it to another weekend. For some reason, the prices were a significantly higher for the weekend we chose but I still booked it as we always have a good time. The other couple paid significantly higher than us as they are not Fairmont members like we are. I actually felt pretty bad at what they paid and even told them if they cancelled, I'd completely understand as I didn't think I'd even pay those prices as they were double what they usually are. None the less they were coming and I tried to tell them the hotel and everything would be exceptional as that is what I've come to expect. They discovered quite the opposite from the onset of check in. They were initially given the wrong room and when they brought up the issue, the actual room they booked was not ready so they had to be moved to a temporary room before finally getting the room they actually booked. Not a crazy issue it happens, but then they got into their room and discovered there was no mini fridge. When they complained about that, they were then told all the fridges were being replaced and were brought a new one but it was just set in the room and not in the cabinet so they needed to walk around it. Upon hearing of now their second issue, we checked and our fridge was missing as well. Now we didn't plan on using it but it definitely would have been nice if we had been advised of the potential issues at check in. No one said anything. If you had replacements on hand, why weren't they already in the rooms and why would you remove the old ones without having replacements already present and on hand to install? Poor logistics from whomever made that decision. We requested additional pillows and an additional comforter after check in, we received the pillows but no additional comforter. Then we had separated on Saturday afternoon as I was visiting family but they (our friends) wanted to do some local shopping in Pittsburgh. I wish they would have contacted me but instead they contacted the concierge which usually is top notch. They sent them clear out to Robinson Mall instead of suggesting the downtown shopping that they wanted. This resulted in them having to drive, which then caused them to incur additional valet and parking fees as well as nearly making them late coming back for dinner due to traffic coming into town. Once there, Robinson had a power outage and they closed the mall. Not your issue but it led to the overall experience. If they wanted to be at the mall outside of town, we could have just stayed out near the airport and saved about $800. Then as we were getting ready for dinner one evening, they beat us to the lobby and tried to set up a rideshare for us to the restaurant and were told by the front door attendant there were none available? When we got the lobby, they told me this and I got right on my phone and had one there in less than 2 minutes? I'm not sure what was happening during this weekend but the level of staff friendliness from front desk to Fl2 staff, bartenders wasn't as it usually is. These other minor but yet compounding issues, have made me really question returning to the Fairmont, definitely will have to question bringing additional friends with us. Although our experience wasn't as bad as theirs, trying to tell our friends it was out of the ordinary when they paid so much and we'd hyped it up so much really fell on deaf ears as it wasn't backed up by their actual experience or service. I doubt they'll return with us in the future. I'm ok with you charging extra for the demand depending on what's going on in town, but at least back it up with exceptional service. This trip definitely fell short of what I've come to expect from your hotel.