HOTEL REVIEW: Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver Airport. An indulgence. Oh Canada!

• TRIP REPORT: Oh Canada! Introduction
• LOUNGE REVIEW: Qantas First check-in and Lounge, Sydney
• TRIP REVIEW: Qantas B787-9 Dreamliner, QF75 Sydney to Vancouver in Business Class. Oh Canada!
• HOTEL REVIEW: Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver Airport. An indulgence. Oh Canada!

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The Oh Canada trip report continues. It’s time to review my first hotel stay on Canadian soil at the Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver Airport, which is located within the airport building. I’ve already covered my First Class check-in and Lounge visit in Sydney, and my Dreamliner flight with Qantas to Vancouver.

Introduction

My QF75 flight arrived in Vancouver at roughly 17:30. So given its 14-hour journey and evening departure, it was time to get a good night’s sleep. I needed to be up early the next day to join my husband on a flight to Ottawa, Canada’s capital city.

Booking & Price

Given this is an airport hotel, how could I pass up booking a room with runway views? I booked direct with the hotel and opted for an oversized room with runway and mountain views. As an Accor+ member, I got a 15% discount on the rate. Mind you, it didn’t make the room much cheaper.

Stay: 27 May, 2026, for 1 night
Stars: 4
Room: SIGNATURE Runway View King
Size: 48 sqm (513 sqf)
Bed: King
Per Night Average: CA$618 or ~AU$625
Address: Vancouver International Airport, 3111 Grant McConachie Way – V7B 0A6 RICHMOND – Canada
Phone: +1 6042075200
Email: vancouverairport@fairmont.com
Web: www.fairmont.com

Details

I should point out that it was the time of the FIFA World Cup, and Vancouver was one of the host cities, which I think contributed to the room’s expense (see below for the FIFA tax.

Just a note for the unwary. Canadian law does not require businesses to include tax in the advertised price. Taxes are in addition to the advertised price. In this case, the taxes were just shy of 15% at 14.65%.

For those who like details, there are a plethora of taxes that applied, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 5%, the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) at 8%, the Major Events Tax for the FIFA World Cup at 2.5%, the Municiapl and Regional District Tax (MRDT) at 3%, and the Destination Marketing Fee (DMF) at 1.59% (approx.). Oh Canada!

The room description says the inclusions are:

Signature Rooms feature a spacious layout and soundproofed views of YVR’s north runway, active airside operations, and the North Shore Mountains. The oversized bathroom includes a double vanity, jetted tub, and separate shower for a relaxing escape.

And, I certainly did get my apron windows, revealed when I parted the automated curtains and blinds.

Location & Arrival

The hotel is located within the hotel, basically above the USA departures area. You just exit baggage claim and enter the pubic arrivals hall. Watch for overhead signs pointing to the US departures area or the Fairmont Hotel.

On the departures Level 3, there is a lift and escalators that will take you directly to a walkway over the departures area to the hotel.

History

The Fairmont Vancouver Airport opened on 7 October 1999 as part of the airport’s expanding international terminal complex. Built at a reported cost of C$65 million, the 386-room hotel sits directly above the United States departures area. It is a lift and an overhead walkway over the departure area after arrivals.

The property has operated under the Fairmont name since opening. Originally developed by Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts, which became the Fairmont group over time. Fairmont is part of the French hospitality company Accor.

A substantial room redesign was completed in 2018, introducing natural materials, coastal colours and artwork inspired by British Columbia’s landscape and aviation history. This included a C$1.8 million refurbishment of 37 Fairmont Gold rooms and suites.

Check-in

This was as efficient as you would expect at a large, high-traffic airport hotel. I had my key, directions and breakfast arrangements within minutes, and then I headed to the lifts and up to my room.

The Room

I knew that I had overdone it with this room, because I wanted a ‘runway’ (read apron) view of the airport but I did not know by how much. This room was HUGE, and the view was pretty impressive. Here are some images to give you a bit of an overall impression and then I will break down the facilities.

As you can see, the room was well provisioned, and the views of the apron were pretty good. There were views of the runway, but they were slightly obscured by that collection of gates. But, not to worry, when there was action, there was plenty to see.

A note on switches

There were a kit of switches and a lot of consuls. There were switches to control the drapes and lights, and privacy and air conditioning, and of course lights. Were they confusing? Yes. Were they all clearly labeled with what they did? Yes. So well done there.

As I tend to do, I turned the air conditioning off overnight. It stops my throat from drying out, and avoids any annoyance from the noise. I find that in most rooms, there is enough residual heat, or lack of it, the maintain a comfortable atmosphere until morning. If not, you can always turn it on again.

Bedroom

This was vast, like the rest of the room. One wall was basically taken up with the window to the airport. The other wall opposite was a remnant of the 1990’s fashion for windows between bathrooms and bedrooms in hotels. A fashion that fortunately has disappeared. It only endures in these hotels built during the later part of last century!

The third wall, was of course the bedhead, and opposite a TV and console.

This was impressive. The king bed was comfortable, with adequate pillows and bedside table space. It was a pity I was only spending a night here. I would also have to be wary of distractions from airport operations. That could keep me up for a while. Not because of the sound. The windows were double, maybe triple, glazed, so it was not the sound that threatened to keep me up. It was the fascination with the visuals of airport operations. Fortunately, Vancouver doesn’t seem to be that active in the evening.

The View

I had paid for a runway view, and damn it, I got it. both in the evening and the following morning. Here’s a selection of what I could see.

Mini-Bar

The mini-bar was well stocked with a full variety of snacks and drinks at the ‘refreshment centre’ as they call it.

A hotel must have is Pringles in several varieties as well as water and wine. Below that is coffee and tea making ingredients and mugs.

Kettle, ice bucket, and drawers for glasses also located in thes ‘refreshment’ console. Next door was the fridge, with those hideous pressure charge things that mean items are added to your bill automatically.

Of course, I did pick up a can before I realised, knowing that it might appear on my bill. It didn’t. More detailed images below.

Wardrobe

There were two wardrobes, each small, either side of a dressing table and stool, wall and desktop mirror in the hallway, plus a valet stand.

In the left hand wardrobe were bathrobes with slippers tucked into their folded sleeves.

The right hand wardrobe was furnished with a luggage stand, a laundry tray, umbrella, and steamer, along with ironing board and iron.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was vast, and betrayed the hotels 1990’s routes, with that brown granite floor, curved double basin, and the window into the bedroom. But those ageing notes aside, this bathroom was all you could have wanted, with lots of space.

The basins were opposite the entrance, with a bathtub to the left, and toilet and shower to the right. Since my arrival was in the evening, bathmats had already been laid out.

The bath was a decent size, but the safety drain was located too low, so that you couldn’t quite fully immerse yourself underwater. It did come with a handheld shower, and that ’90’s era opening onto the bedroom.

But, I did have an enjoyable hot and long bath post my flight, and pre, going to bed to sleep before my morning flight. To have a bath, was one of the reasons I chose this room, and paid the extra. The other reason was those apron views.

To the right were the toilet and shower. There was plenty of space, plenty of mirrors, and plenty of marble!

Amenities

All amenities were branded with Rose 31 by Le Labo. To quote from their website:

‘The perfume’s aim is clear: to transform the famous Grasse rose, a symbol of voluptuousness and unqualified femininity, into an assertively virile fragrance that can be worn by anyone…

‘The result is a model of its kind: alternating femininity and masculinity of the Centifolia rose, quickly picked up by a chorus of warm, spicy, and woodsy notes such as cumin, olibanum, cedar, and a touch of amber… In the background, the declared sensuality of Gaïac wood and cistus highlighted by distinctly musky notes, give this perfume a disconcerting sense of mystery.’

For me, this was a pleasant non-offensive scent, on the floral side, but not overwhelmingly so.

Public Areas – Bars, Restaurants & Gyms

Since my stay was much less than 24 hours, and I didn’t need to eat at the hotel, I didn’t really sample any of the facilities, like gym, bar or restaurant. I had more than enough to eat on the flight, and would be grabbing breakfast at the Air Canada lounge.

Given that, here are some images of signage to the gym, and a view of the main restaurant bar and breakfast area, Jetside.

2PAXfly Takeout

I had a wonderful stay here, which given the price, I was entitled to. The apron views were pretty good, but I was not around for the major aircraft action of the day, or possibly Vancouver Airport is not as busy as I would have imagined.

Really, this hotel was a bit of an indulgence. But I got my bath, my runway views, and a great sleep. So, in that sense, it was worth it. Value for money is a hard thing to judge, but it did make my break before my onward journey to Ottawa very pleasant.

Would I stay here again? Definitely. But maybe without the view next time, and not during the Football/Soccer World Cup, which also didn’t help with the pricing.

Next, the Maple Leaf Lounge prior to my flight to the capital city of Canada, Ottawa.