For a hotel brand to have three individual outposts in the same destination is a rarity, to say the least. But when Fairmont Pacific Rim opened in 2010, joining its Vancouver sister properties, the design-driven hotel did so with a new concept: one rooted firmly in bringing together locals and visitors who crave creativity, community, and tech-enhanced hospitality. As such, this is a place to stay that built its reputation on doing things differently. And it continues to lean into this spirit.
We’d only just set foot in the lobby of Fairmont Pacific Rim and were about to join a queue to check in, when a member of the team approached us and directed us towards the 20th floor instead. “You’ll be staying in one of our Gold Suites”, he said, “And you’ll have access to the Gold Lounge upstairs”. Never ones to turn down anything golden, we swiftly made our way towards the lifts at the back of the building – past a musician tickling the keys of a white Fazioli piano, and oversized dolls ‘Moneyboy’ and ‘Moneygirl’ by Canadian artist Douglas Coupland, which sit atop a freestanding marble fireplace and rotate day and night, much to the amusement of guests.
Upstairs, things immediately felt more hushed. Guests staying in Fairmont Gold accommodations benefit not only from more luxurious rooms, but also from a hotel-within-a-hotel experience that constitutes an upgrade across all areas of their stay. There was no queue to check in on the 20th floor, and instead, we were offered tea and asked to take a seat amidst the Gold Lounge’s wood-panelled interiors, low-slung coffee tables and retro lampshades. The 24/7 concierge team here was excellent, pulling strings to get our room ready early, and communicating in a way that left no doubt as to what their number one priority was: ensuring our utmost comfort and convenience.
But there’s more to the Gold Lounge than just personalised service. With some time on our hands, we strolled into an adjoining space where ever-changing light bites and drinks are served on a complimentary basis at varying times throughout the day, sipped on a glass of champagne and settled into the panorama on view through the lounge’s floor-to-ceiling windows; from the city’s green lung, Stanley Park, straight ahead, to Vancouver Harbour on our right, and the North Shore Mountains at its back, cloaked in mist with golden light pouring through the clouds above. There was a wonderful sense of calm in being able to look far beyond the streets of one of the most bustling destinations in all of Canada, and this quality came to define our stay.
Its Gold Lounge is not the only space at Fairmont Pacific Rim that we enjoyed exploring. The hotel is also home to a library courtesy of Taschen, featuring nearly 300 of the German mega publisher’s most beautiful volumes (guests can flip through these at leisure, or make appointments for a dedicated tour and consultation through the collection). And in another commitment to fostering creativity and community, there’s also the Pacific Gallery, a white space for contemporary art by Canadian and international makers, which Fairmont launched in partnership with local gallery Equinox. The most prominent artwork of all here, however, is a large-scale installation of poetic prose by Liam Gillick, which doesn’t sit within the building itself, but adorns some seventeen floors of the hotel’s facade, instead.
We found our 37 sqm (400 sqft) Fairmont Gold Harbour King – one of 367 guest accommodations, including 47 suites – to be equally original, with a myriad of features to elevate our stay. An in-room yoga mat, room spray and a bedside essential oil diffuser, which the housekeeping team would prepare to our preferred setting each night at turndown, spoke to the hotel’s proposition of a more wellness-focused stay, while our sleek bathroom boasted a Japanese smart toilet, a Dyson-branded hairdryer, full-size Le Labo toiletries and a generously sized bathtub (some Gold Suites feature special tubs like Japanese ‘ofuros’ or jetted egg bathtubs).
That the hotel’s rooms were designed as relaxing cocoons from the outside world is reflected in the soothing colour palettes and textural wealth across all surfaces, from warm woods to beige rugs and moss-green, velvet B&B Italia sofas bathed in the diffused glow of statement light fixtures by local brand Bocci. We often find that tech-forward accommodations end up making our lives harder instead of easier, but this wasn’t the case here. Smart and intuitive light settings meet automated drapes, bedside iPads and easy-to-use Bose sound bars. Virtually every detail of our room could be controlled with the use of a button that was never out of easy reach – if only that were the industry standard.
Visitors looking to splurge should consider booking the one-of-a-kind Suite X, a collaboration with artist and author Douglas Coupland (you know, the maker of those giant rotating dolls in the downstairs foyer), or the 210 sqm (2,250 sqft) Chairman’s Suite, accessible via a dedicated lift that’s sure to make even fellow Fairmont Gold guests green with envy.
On the gastronomic front, Fairmont Pacific Rim offers the light-flooded and pastel-heavy Botanist, home to an excellent bar and more potted plants than we could count, alongside the Lobby Lounge & RawBar, whose live music makes it a popular choice for drinks and dinner with locals and visitors alike. The music here was a little loud for our liking, though, and it’s perhaps rather telling that when our main course hadn’t arrived some thirty minutes after we’d finished our starter, causing us to enquire about it, our waitress apologised and explained that she simply hadn’t heard that we’d ordered a main (mind you, we found this rather entertaining and were able to laugh it off).
Our bigger issue was that the hotel was rather inconsistent with what it offered in the way of catering to diverse dietary requirements. We loved the array of vegan-friendly starters at the Lobby Lounge, but looked in vain for plant-based desserts in the Gold Lounge, and were a little puzzled that The Botanist’s menu featured just one main that suited our requirements (and which we didn’t find particularly appealing).
Our waiter had made a point to stress that the restaurant was ‘plant-forward’ and animal proteins were ‘just an accompaniment’, but looking at the offering, we realised that the venue’s interpretation of plant-forward wasn’t veggies-over-meat, but rather, veggies-over-carbs – the two, of course, being very different takes on the term. As a result, there wasn’t much on the menu for us, although we did really like our vegan dessert, a bergamot tart with basil meringue and Amarena cherries sorbet (then again, this was the same we’d had at the Lobby Lounge the night before). Those without dietary requirements can look forward to creative and well-executed meals during their stay. And with more thought put into its dietary inclusion practises, we think the hotel has the potential to excel at celebrating the preferences and individual choices of all diners.
We certainly felt more pampered, literally, at the Fairmont Spa, which is a destination in and of itself. Its facilities easily beat those of the hotel’s local sister properties, and spill onto a stylish outdoor terrace home to a dry sauna, mineral jacuzzis and fire pits for communal relaxation against views of the Canadian metropolis (we loved coming here in the evenings, when the city lights come on). Meanwhile, nine treatment rooms, steam facilities, and private lounges featuring fireplaces and an assortment of teas and snacks mean you could spend hours here without getting bored. More commendable still than the facilities themselves is how the spa is run, with guests being escorted and shown around on their first visit, which isn’t always the case even in the best of hotels, and made us feel cared for and looked after from the moment we arrived.
A separate ‘Nordic Spa’ with cold plunging and a cedar-panelled sauna is seasonally available on the sixth-floor pool deck, drawing those who just can’t do without their daily thermal therapies. It’s another manifestation of the level of investment that’s gone into Fairmont Pacific Rim, which frankly surprised us at times. While the brand is no doubt well-regarded, it’s not the world’s most luxurious – and it doesn’t try to be. But this particular property stood out to us, not least due to how it translates the Fairmont Gold experience, relying not merely on more lavish rooms and suites but offering a heightened level of service and attention that sets the premium product apart from a regular stay. While no hotel is perfect, Fairmont Pacific Rim is a shining example of the direction we hope the brand will continue to steer in.
Photography by Ema Peter and courtesy of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
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While you’re OutThere
You can’t go wrong with a trip to Vancouver’s wonderful Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, where, vertigo-inducing attractions aside, pristine nature and displays offering a deep dive into the region’s history and culture abound. Get here early and make your way back into town for an afternoon whale watching experience with Prince of Whales, a responsible operator bringing you close (but not too close) to the Salish Sea’s gentle giants. We watched twelve Northern resident orcas for half an hour before a pod of humpback whales appeared out of the blue – literally – on the other side of the boat, taking our breath away. For the ultimate guide to town, Destination Vancouver is a fantastic resource.
