The Fairmont Pacific Rim is one of those hotels that makes Vancouver feel like a truly international city. Floor to ceiling glass, direct views of the inlet, mountains in the background. You step in from Burrard Street and the city outside becomes a painting.
I’ve walked past this hotel probably a hundred times. Staying in it is a different thing entirely.
The Room
I was on the 18th floor with a harbour view. The room is modern, clean lines, nothing fussy. The bed has the kind of pillows that hotels charge extra for and should — plump, cool, and somehow both firm and soft at once. I slept ten hours without meaning to.
The bathroom is marble and well-lit, which is more important than it sounds. The rain shower has good pressure. These are the details that separate a $400 hotel from a $600 hotel, and the Pacific Rim gets them right.
What Could Be Better
Breakfast is expensive even by Vancouver standards, and the lobby can feel slightly corporate during conference season. Neither is a dealbreaker, but worth knowing if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing.
