Fairmont Chateau Whistler is a great hotel choice in Whistler and is a typical example of a wonderful Fairmont hotel that offers both standard and Gold rooms. But is it worth upgrading to a Gold room?
Most Fairmont hotels offer Fairmont Gold rooms, which usually sit on a separate floor with enhanced amenities and access to an excellent club lounge. The club lounge provides excellent value, with free food and beverages throughout the day, plus a nice, sociable environment to escape to.
Having previously compared Four Seasons Vs. Fairmont Chateau Whistler earlier in the year, I now focus on the standard rooms Vs. Gold rooms at Fairmont hotels, using the Whistler property as an example.
Advantages of Fairmont Gold Rooms
Fairmont Gold rooms provide more luxurious surroundings than the standard rooms for your stay in Whistler or at any other Fairmont hotel with a Gold floor. In particular, at the Whistler property, all the Gold rooms offer a gas fireplace, complimentary High-Speed Internet Access, and upgraded amenities, including a four-piece bathroom, soaker tub, and views of Rainbow Mountain or Woodlands. Maximum occupancy at this hotel is two people in a king room and four people in a room with two queen beds.
Fairmont Gold amenities include a Private check-in & dedicated concierge team, which is a much, much more pleasurable way to check-in. This means, much like when you’re flying on an airline, you can avoid the queue and check-in in relaxing surroundings.
The main highlight for booking Gold at Fairmont hotels is the private lounge, which is exclusive for Gold guests. Much like any other club lounge, this lounge offers a continental breakfast in the Gold lounge, mid-day snacks and unlimited coffee & tea, evening cocktail canapés, and late-night house-made treats in the Gold lounge. There’s also an Honor bar, Complimentary newspapers, personalized wake-up calls, and in-room high-speed internet access.
Is It Worth Upgrading To A Fairmont Gold Room?
In April 2022, a two-phase $14 million guestroom refresh of the Whistler hotel’s Fairmont rooms and Mountain View Suites began. Three hundred sixty-six guest rooms and eight suites have been re-styled with an eye-catching, modern alpine lodge décor. This means that whether you book a Gold room or not, every hotel’s guest room will have been renovated. While all the rooms have been renovated, Fairmont Gold rooms and suites are the only room products with fireplaces, which is a nice additional, atmospheric feature and a feature that may be a dealbreaker for you. By comparison, all the rooms at Four Seasons Whistler have fireplaces, so it would appear that most luxury travelers do enjoy having a crackling fire to warm up their room.
The breakfast, mid-day snacks and unlimited coffee & tea, evening cocktail canapés, and late-night house-made treats in the Gold lounge are all worth having. This saves you from popping out to a grocery store to pick up snacks between meals. The lounge also makes a nice private escape when you’re bored in your room. That said, if you book a stay here via our luxury travel concierge, you get a wonderful full complimentary breakfast included, so the Gold lounge continental breakfast has less value.
Should You Upgrade To A Fairmont Gold Room?
If you are not restricted by budget, yes of course you should upgrade to a Fairmont Gold room. The Gold lounges are always fantastic across all Fairmont hotels. The upgraded room size, decor, and sometimes amenities are also very much worth having.
However, if you book via our luxury travel concierge, you will already get breakfast for two, a welcome amenity, and you will already be in with a good chance of a room upgrade too, so the advantages of Gold rooms become slightly less valuable. It is definitely worth weighing up the cost Vs. benefit for your particular group at your particular Fairmont hotel. The Gold rooms and lounge are worth having. How much you would be prepared to up your budget to stay in this accommodation is up to each individual.
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