Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten

We spent 3 nights at the Fairmont for a short stay in Hamburg, combining business & pleasure. The hotel location is excellent, everything within walking distance (although the road in front is completely closed at the moment and it a construction dump). The hotel itself is very nice & retains a certain grand european hotel charm and the staff were friendly enough throughout our stay. Our room (deluxe double room courtyard) was a good size, with a walk-in closet, and with all essential amenities that are to be expected at a Four Seasons. The only downside in the room was the fact that, when the TV was on, it automatically played on speakers in the bathroom, and you were not able to turn this feature off (at least we did not figure it out), but this was not an inconvenience. The bed was large, but not the most comfortable night sleep we have had, and the duvets were quite small and in fact was separated in 2, with 1 per person. The daily complementary 2 bottles of water were appreciated. Now the bad part - we did not opt for breakfast for all our stay as we were unable to make it for all 3 mornings, but we did try it on our second morning, especially as it had been recommended to us by our local friends, both for the quality and the location (Grill & Condi restaurant). The breakfast is spread out between the Grill restaurant, which you walk through, to get to the Condi. We were quite shocked at what we found there, namely a spread of cold cuts (cheeses, hams, tomatoes, yoghurts, houmous etc) on about 10 platters in the middle of quite a cramped room, so often we were bumping shoulders with other guests, or having to time when we went up. The only warm option, is an omelette station, but when I asked for scrambled eggs with bacon and sausages, this created a stir and was far too much for the staff to handle. The bacon was doable, but asking for the sausage was a step too far, and for reasons beyond me, created panic with the inexperienced staff. I waited 20min+ and my omelette and bacon were ready and getting cold, but still the staff was inexplicably unable to procure any sausages. It was a completely bizarre experience and finally I gave up and complained to the shift-manager who informed me there had been a mix-up (!). What kind of mix-up on something so basic, is completely beyond me... The price at EUR70pp is outrageous for what is offered (warm drinks + the cold cut spread + omelette station - it was not clear if the other a la carte items were in addition to this, but we believe they are), and they did agree to comp our breakfast after the experience we had, but we probably would have simply refused to pay that much for this pitiful spread. We have had more options and warm selections probably in every other single 5* hotel we have stayed in. The cherry on the cake: I asked for a lemon tea (the waiter asked me what type I would like), and everything seemed OK, until about 25 minutes later, he brings me a teapot, with literally 2-3 lemons that had been squeezed into the boiling water. Safe to say, this was NOT what I was expecting, and after the omelette incident, this was verging on comical levels of incompetence. If he was unsure, or did not have lemon-flavoured teabags, then you would expect to be asked. Safe to say we got up and left at this stage, and went on the hunt for a proper breakfast at a local café. No choice but to give just 3 stars for our stay, considering this shocking breakfast, which was completely out of place for the hotel & location. We will return to the Fairmont, as we had an otherwise enjoyable stay, but will definitely skip the breakfast, and I advise other guests to do so too.

An amazing hotel, beautifully designed, great classical bar, lounge and a large number of restaurants. You can stay in the entire day and don't feel the need to get out of the hotel and explore the city. The rooms are at very high standards, the service is very good, and the location is central – walking distance from everything.

The Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten is a luxury hotel centrally located on the Neuer Jungfernstieg in Hamburg, Germany. This city hotel has approx. 156 guest rooms & suites, three restaurants (Haerlin 2 star Michelin, The Grill and an Asian-Fusion restaurant NikEei Nine), besides the Wohnhalle/Condi for coffee and tea, as well as spa facilities. Since 1989, I believe, the ownership of the hotel changed four times. The current owners (Dohle family offices) started renovating rooms and facilities in 2014. The hotel is managed by Fairmont Hotel & Resorts which is a sub brand of Raffles Hotels which is ultimately owned by Accor S.A. Accor is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. The Hotel Vierjahreszeiten Hamburg is not related to the hotel in Munich with the same name (Kempinski Group) nor related/owned by intern. Four Seasons Hotels/Resorts. The arrival by cab from airport was below expectations. I received days ahead of my stay an email from the hotel informing me that massive street construction in front of the hotel started. The info was appreciated but sadly it seemed no one informed the Hamburg taxi drivers who mostly struggled to approach the hotel. I was dropped off one block from the hotel and walked around barriers until reaching the main entrance where the nice doorman offered to help me with my suitcase conquering the massive staircase. My experience with FO operations were mixed. The rooms was available ahead of regular checking time which was appreciated. The friendly and assertive male staff member who checked me in was efficient, pragmatic and more important listened, while a bunch of his colleagues were starring at me during checkin-in, without smiling the whole time and whispering. Awkward and simply unnecessary. Smiling in hospitality goes a long way. It is a free, cost efficient tool. It can be enchanting, disarming. It sets the tone of the conversation and the stay. Overall I got the feeling that staff were professional but reserved. Somehow interactions mostly felt rehearsed and wooden. Yes the hotel has a long and splendid German past which is undisputed and peopled should be proud but it is nevertheless history and hospitality is in the now and forward moving. The checkin process took longer than necessary and I believe most of it could have been handled electronically prior checkin, avoiding filling out/correcting paperforms like address/ phone numbers/ birth days etc. . The room, a Junior Suite, overlooking the lake on the second floor was quiet, spacious in the living room and bedroom area. Comfortable bed & pillows with small blankets. Unfortunately the bathroom was tiny with a dwarf sized awkwardly shaped shower cabin and only had one sink but with a good water pressure. For the room category the intern. traveller could easily expect more space, especially when not traveling solo. Housekeeping is doing a terrific job in cleaning and polishing the rooms & bathrooms, hotel facilities Rarely do I experience such a clean, sparkling room, chapeau! That was truly remarkable. That the tablet in the room did not work, the desk clock stopped a while ago due to corroded batteries and the sink did not properly drain is forgiven and has been already fixed, I am certain about it. After exploring Hamburg and returning back to the hotel my next FO interaction was asking for my room key which I received instantly by just naming the room number. No name check or proof of ID by staff who were not present when I checked in. Also no smile... I most certainly think that there is significant room for improvement to enhance security going forward. Checkout the next morning around 5:00 am was most pleasant by the night portier. Coffee was offered, sadly no croissants or sth else available. No door man available helping with luggage. The happy maintenance staff member polishing the floors in the lobby was super friendly and delightful. No one acknowledged my birthday the day I checked out but it was probably lost in translation filling out the German paperforms the day before. The reserved taxi arrived 5:25 am as requested at checkin and so I left. Overall I did not dislike my stay, no one is perfect and all mentioned issues/ hiccups are easy to fix and quite honestly first world problems. Would I stay here again when in Hamburg? Most certainly, but I would prefer the Fontenay despite the better location of the Fairmont. I simply miss my ParkHyatt Hamburg.....

This hotel exudes luxury in a classical European way. From the doormen to the front desk to the bar staff the staff charm equates to top of the line service. Both the lobby and huge lounge ( tea or coffee or just relax) face lake Alster which is viewed through large windows while sitting in the most comfortable couches and chairs. You have a meeting reserve a space in the Lounge. Three restaurants to suit variable tastes of any guest. Large room with a sitting area and huge bathroom. Don’t want to dine in, the Fairmont is located near restaurants, + UBahn and local sites.

This is a Four Seasons, lovely, luxury hotel set on the lake. The staff are friendly and helpful and the rooms so well-appointed. Our room was a good size and the bed extremely comfortable. There is plenty of choice for breakfast. The Asian restaurant downstairs is first class.