We just returned from six nights at the Fairmont Olympic in Seattle. This was absolutely one of the best hotels in which we've EVER stayed. It's not the most upscale (Four Seasons New York, George V Paris, etc.) in which we've stayed. And many of the rooms don't have "views." And (omygod) the televisions are not flat screen and are still on stands, not in armoires (hence only four stars?). But then why would you watch tv in Seattle on six sunny days?

The location is terrific. The place is immaculate. The service is superb. Without exception, from the doormen, the room service staff, the restaurant staff, the concierge (ALL fabulous, esp. Patrick and those baseball tickets!), and the front desk, to the valets who gallantly parked our daughter's seen-better-days antique Subaru, et al. Everyone is professional, friendly, genuine, well-trained.

The beds were MamaBear comfortable (not too hard, not too soft). We never saw the housekeepers, but we always had fresh towels, ice, weather forecasts. The windows open! The a.c. works!

Maybe it was just the perfect weather. But we travel a lot, and we came away thinking that this was the perfect hotel.

I've been staying here for years. This used to be one of the best hotels in the city. When it was a Four Seasons it was the class of Seattle. Fairmont took over and they did a good job...not a great job. Unfortunately, in the time they've had this hotel, details have slipped. Rooms are getting a bit run down. Details that Four Seaons never miss are being missed.
If you stay here, get a quiet room away from the busier street corners. The hotel offers very little insulation from street noise.
Bottom line is that this is a nice hotel...but it's not what it used to be. Unfortunately.

I have stayed in this hotel about 15 times in the last three years, for a total maybe 45 days. Each and every stay was special.

The hotel is classy. To be honest, it is not really my style. I tend to go for boutique hotels, moneys allowing. However I never switch hotels here.

PRO:
- Best service ever. I all of my stays I have experience only once a slight impatience from a member of the staff. The rest of the time the staff was bending backwards and really doing their very best to honestly try to accommodate
- Great location, with nice views. Some of the corner rooms have great views of the river but even the other have very nice views of the surroundings
- Magical atmosphere: no matter how difficult the day was, the hotel staff creates a great atmosphere. The little touches like having the bed prepared and the Jazz channel in turned on every evening, the room made twice a day, the music in the hall, etc.
- Great gym: quite a few treadmills and similar cardio machines. A nice gym with some machines, a swimming pool, a great sauna facilities, etc. Again, nice touches like getting water bottles, headsets and having personal TVs on every treadmill. Very rejuvenating

CONs:
- It does not have a modern look to it. If you're absolutely looking for that go to the W across the street.
- Expensive, not necessarily overpriced, if you don't have a corporate discount.

Word of advice: even though the hotel occupies a whole block, it is often booked well in advance. So make a reservation as soon as you can

Also, when you reserve the restaurant through the Concierge, not only do you get great recommendations (they really understand what you are after), but you also get sometimes a free appetizer thrown in courtesy of the Fairmont Concierge,

really a great hotel. Would go back even if I was traveling on my won, and not for business.

Our group of 10 stayed at this property before and after an Alaska cruise departing from the Port of Seattle. One night before the cruise and three nights post cruise. We booked through the AMEX Centurion Card, so we received a number of perks.

PROS:

Location is ideal for walking about without being in the middle of the fray at Pike Market. There is a great restaurant across the street too, sort of a trendy tapas/wine bar, but the food was wonderful, fairly priced and despite the initial air of pretense they were very welcoming of the five children in our group (including three wee lads).

Town car service was handy and freely offered.

Food in the Georgian was perfect, really, perfect is the word. From fresh local cherries to the best chicken hash you could imagine the breakfast food was divine. We had room service dinners and the food was equally outstanding.

Rooms were on the "charming" side, but the furnishings and finishes were first rate, the bed was of the top of the line nature with down comforter, fancy sheets, pillow top mattress. The windows actually open which is a very nice feature in Seattle with the refreshing sea air.

The fitness/pool area was a little oasis in the city and hit the spot.

But beyond everything else the service in this hotel was as good as the best hotels in Europe or Asia. We were greeted by name throughout our stay, we were "remembered" on our return visit a week later. Servers were great with our three small children in the restaurants, not to mention the milk and cookies and toys. The best example was the kitchen fire on the day of our departure (10 guests mind you) that set off the smoke alarms throughout the hotel and put their emergency announcements into action and elevators were turned off for safety. We were on the 4th floor and needed to depart as our shuttle van was at the front door. We called the bell desk and at first were told that they could not come for our bags due to the elevator issue, I then explained our deadline to get to the airport and 4, yes four, bellmen came immediately to our room and brought our bags down 4 flights of stairs with smiles and good spirits.

CONS:

The Shuckers Restaurant had very slow service, it was almost like the staff there were not on the same channel as the rest of the hotel, I think it may be a concession.

The entry from the main street requires going up a level from the lobby, minor issue, part of the charm of an older hotel.

We will only stay at the Olympic on future visits.