The hotel is beautiful, no doubt. But, we bought two consecutive package deals for two nights. They included parking, yet they charged us for it. When I tried to get refunded, I was not treated very well.

Other than that, it is a great place to stay - just make sure you check your bill before you leave!

In Dec 06 we stayed here for two different nights, one week apart.

The first Saturday night stay we booked a room because my husband's office holiday party was at the hotel, so we thought we'd make a whole night of it. We had a beautiful deluxe room with a King bed. The furnishings, drapes, etc. are a bit dated, I must say, but still very classy and lovely, with a formal feeling. The service was top-notch, though. Marble bathroom was nice enough, though could definitely use an update, especially the tub/shower. There was no fan in the bathroom, which leaves the mirror steamed up after a shower. Fluffy white robes are provided, which are nice to don when you go use the indoor heated pool and jacuzzi--this wonderful big room is in a glass atrium so you can see the sky and the city.

The second Saturday stay was with our three kids (7, 4, and 1). We booked an Executive Suite, which is larger. The King bedroom has French doors that keep it separate (sort of) from the sitting area with a pullout sofa. I never thought of this hotel as a kid-friendly hotel until our stay--they are awesome to kids! When we checked in, each child received a gift bag with age-appropriate goodies/toys. Each child also received a certificate for free milk/cookies room service. Once we settled into our room we called room service, and soon a very nice guy came with a silver tray laden with fabulous choc chip cookies and kid cups with milk and "magic" color-changing straws. Big hit with the kids :) We went out to dinner and did some of the Christmas-y things around downtown, then came back to the hotel for a swim. The closet had 5 fluffy white robes: two adult ones, two kid ones, and to our absolute delight, a tiny little robe for our toddler! I didn't know they made these hotel robes for toddlers :) The kids LOVED their robes, and LOVED the pool/jacuzzi. There is a basket full of kids' pool toys--noodles, floaty toys, boogie boards--which all the kids enjoyed.

What could take this hotel from a 4-star to a 5-star rating:
- Update the bathrooms and some of the room's furnishings.
- Get new portable cribs. For a Fairmont hotel, I was quite surprised to get a portacrib that looked like it was about 15 years old, with tatters and rust on some of the joints. It was so old we couldn't even figure out how to open it up at first, since it didn't open and get set up like the newer portacribs do. We have stayed at Grand Hyatts, Marriotts, Four Seasons, etc., and never have gotten a portacrib like this before.
- Put glass on the French doors in the suites. The whole "wall" has no sound barrier because there is no glass on the doors or windows--just open frames with dainty little curtains on them. Why bother, really, if there is no sound barrier (hence, privacy) provided?!
- Newer TVs. Flat-screen would be even better!

I would still stay here again, because the service, pool/jacuzzi, and kid-friendly features are just too good to pass up. But I would bring my own portacrib next time! Maybe by next December some of these issues will have gotten resolved.

Our family of four spent two nights at the Fairmont between Christmas and New Years and had a terrific stay. I had a problem trying to book a special price on-line and called the property. The reservations staffer told me that the rooms were not available, but then helped me get a larger room at the same price. Our rooms were spacious and well-appointed. The property itself was very dressed up for the season and looked beautiful.

The hotel has a great fitness center that includes a lap pool, jacuzzi and sauna in addition to weight and cardio machines.

The concierge steered us to excellent dinners both nights. We went to Shuckers, the more casual of the two restaurants in the hotle, for dessert one evening and were shocked that the size of the chocolate cake and mud pie items that our kids ordered. Four of us couldn't finish these two dishes. The waiter was very friendly and engaging.

The surrounding neighborhood is one of Seattle's nicest. Our kids were thrilled that we let them go off on their own for some shopping in the area for an hour or two each night.

I stayed a few weeks in this hotel and there is much to love, but don’t expect everything to be perfect. It is a grand old building that is impressive, and you really feel like you are someplace special. The staff usually, but not always, treats you amazingly well and no matter who you call or speak to they seem to know your name. My rooms were always spacious and cozy, the turndown service (including filling the ice tray) a great treat, the hotel restaurants are great (one is quite pricey), room service has great food and comes fast, and the workout room is fabulous. Some flaws include worn carpets and furniture, some service issues such as occasional long delays and confusion with valet parking, and one or two of the doormen are sometimes moody (for example, one friend was treated poorly by a doorman for missing a tip one day, after weeks of giving him and others $5 tips). Overall, as a business traveler I will always stay at the Fairmont since it is one of the best in Seattle and for that reason, I view the Fairmont’s flaws are simply part of its character.