Hello from Vancouver, as I’m currently on the outbound portion of my review trip to South Korea and Japan! I had an overnight in Vancouver, and decided to check out an airport hotel that has long been on my radar — the Fairmont Vancouver Airport.
The 386-room hotel is connected directly to the terminal, I don’t often review Fairmont properties, and Fairmont also belongs to the Accor Live Limitless (ALL) loyalty program, so I thought those reasons were enough to give this property a try.
I’m so happy I stayed here, because this easily ranks in my top five airport hotels I’ve ever stayed at (and probably top three). While I’ll have a full review soon, I wanted to share some initial thoughts on the property in this post, especially from an aviation geek angle.
In this post:
The Fairmont boasts amazing plane spotting!
The Fairmont Vancouver Airport is located on top of the airport terminal, with rooms taking up floors five through 14. There’s of course a huge convenience factor to staying directly at the airport, but there’s another benefit as well, and that’s the views!
I decided to book a Fairmont Gold room, which is Fairmont’s name for rooms with club lounge access. I did that because I wanted to review the Fairmont club experience, and also because club rooms are on the top floor, and have the best views. I booked through the Accor STEP program, and got a space available upgrade to a runway view room.
I can’t even begin to say how amazing the views are, as you have panoramic views looking out over the ramp, as well as the runway. You almost feel like you’re in the air traffic control tower. The mountain views in the distance don’t hurt either.
It’s also cute how Fairmont embraces the whole plane spotting thing, as there’s a telescope in the room (perhaps an overkill?), plus a plane spotting guide (definitely not an overkill, for those who can’t easily identify planes).
The only other hotel I’ve stayed at with this cool of an experience is the Grand Hyatt SFO, which is another amazing airport hotel.
The Fairmont is a generally high quality hotel
As any frequent traveler can attest to, many hotel owners and brands seem to have forgotten that they’re in the hospitality industry, based on how we’ve seen the industry evolve after the pandemic. So many hotels charge more, offer less, and nickel-and-dime at every turn. Admittedly this isn’t the case everywhere in the world, but at least in the United States (and I imagine to some extent Canada), it has become the norm.
The airport hotel business is even more challenging, since it’s kind of like the airport food concession business. Is there an incentive to provide a quality product, when most people aren’t actually going to be regulars? Most people stay at an airport hotel because they have to, and not because they want to.
That being said, the Fairmont is clearly the premium option at Vancouver Airport (and it’s priced accordingly), and the hotel very much puts the effort in, which I appreciate. The hotel is 25 years old, so you can definitely sense that based on the bones, but the hotel has been beautifully maintained.
The hotel has a nice lobby area, a spacious bar and restaurant with airport views (though this is on the fourth floor, so the views aren’t as good as from the 14th floor), a gym and pool, and more. Staff were uniformly friendly, turndown service was provided, etc.
I had a $100 credit to spend for booking through the Accor STEP program, so I had a delicious halibut dish at the hotel’s restaurant, where there was even live music.
Breakfast was equally tasty, with a smoked salmon omelet that was incredibly flavorful.
For a moment I forgot I was at an airport hotel, in the best way possible (I didn’t actually want to forget I was at an airport hotel, because I love the plane spotting!).
Bottom line
The Fairmont Vancouver Airport is one of my favorite airport hotels I’ve stayed at. My favorite thing about the hotel is the views, and they’re especially good from runway view rooms on higher floors. But even beyond that, this is a hotel that understands hospitality, from the staff, to the amenities, to the quality of dining options. I’m happy I stayed here, and if you can do so without breaking the bank, I’d recommend doing so.
I’m curious to hear from OMAAT readers — what’s your favorite airport hotel you’ve stayed at?
Thanks for the Fairmont review. You should do more Fairmonts and other Accors. This lifetime Bonvoy and Hilton elite now thinks Fairmonts are his favorite chain. I will go out of my way to stay at a Fairmont instead of any Marriott or Hilton, especially their resort properties.
You really should review more Accor hotels. Granted, no one wants to read about an ibis, but their top end (Raffles) likely one-ups a Park Hyatt, and their upscale brands are nice. Their points are a bit pointless since they're directly cash-based, but their loyalty program has improved (top tier even gets lounge access at Fairmont Gold). And in APAC, Accor Plus is really quite the deal.
I've stayed at plenty of airport hotels. The Pan-Pacific KLIA (now Sama Sama Hotel), Novotel BKK, Regal Hong Kong, Mariott Hong Kong Airport, Hyatt Regency Incheon, Crowne Plaza Changi, Hotel Nikko Narita and Kansai. I think the Crowne Plaza and Regal have the best view facing airside.
So happy to hear this - I'm staying there in a couple weeks. Looking forward to your full review!