Fairmont St Andrews

Another excellent stay at the Fairmont St. Andrews. We received an excellent welcome and check-in from Edward, who made us feel as though we were checking in for a month in the Kingdom of Fife Suite (the staff who were observing him at the time will do well to learn from his approach). The room was again spacious, clean and well-decorated. We also always enjoy the spacious bathrooms and large rainfall showers in the rooms. The hotel is very relaxing, with low lighting and a calm and peaceful aura filling the hotel in the evenings. There is no rowdy golfers, busy bars or needless music as one might expect. We also made use of the pool – large and clean, with plenty of comfortable deckchairs and seating. Soft clean towels were also regularly being replaced so there was always a fresh warm towel available. The food was again excellent – the fillet stroganoff sandwich is exceptional. The a la carte menu for breakfast is also a nice new touch. The buffet again had plenty of hot food and the meat, eggs and haggis were of excellent quality. We were also greeted and looked after by Naomi each morning, she was excellent and went out of her way to ensure that we had a comfortable dining experience. Her service made the difference and pushed the experience into the 5-star category. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our three nights and hope to return in the new year.

We visited the Fairmont for a 1 night stay as a family, to meet Santa and have a festive overnight stay. Santa’s grotto was wonderful as always and it’s a tradition to meet this Santa that we have done since my now 4 year old was 1, and Santa is as magical as ever. The hotel itself is beautiful and the festive decorations are lovely, however I really felt it was lacking in festive atmosphere. The hotel states it caters for families but in reality there isn’t really much for children to do once they’ve met Santa in their 10 minute slot. There was the festive film club, however unlike previous years there was no popcorn/tuck shop that sold snacks, and this was quite disappointing. I really feel the hotel is missing a trick by not having any child friendly festive activities or even a small children’s club throughout the month of December even. The grounds are lovely, but there isn’t much to do when it’s so cold outside!! We had a really lovely evening meal at La Cucina during out stay at the Fairmont, however I do feel there are a few issues that need to be addressed. - £5 for a bottle of apple juice for a child’s drink is obscene, and there really was no other alternative. There was so squash/diluting juice, or even a carton of kids juice. Given the hotel promotes being family friendly, I do really feel the choice of children’s juices available should be addressed. - Children’s cutlery; again in a family friendly hotel it would have been nice for children to be issued with appropriately sized cutlery for them to eat their meals with instead of them struggling with a standard sized fork. - The white wine wasn’t overly chilled, and at £50 per bottle I would expect it to be the correct temperature. - The meal itself was lovely, very good portion sizes and beautiful quality. However despite being advertised on the menu as children eat free, we did have to ask for the children’s meals to be taken off the bill. - The atmosphere within the restaurant was lacking. It’s supposed to be family friendly and given it is Christmas time, I feel there could have been more effort put into decorations inside the restaurant and on the tables. Our room was nice, but there were a few issues. Two tiles were pretty loose in the bathroom, there was no conditioner in the shower and nor was there any milk in the fridge for the coffee/tea station. 2 bottles of complimentary water left for a family of 4 isn’t really enough, and again given it was a festive Santa break I though they might have put more effort into making the room more festive for kids with chocolates or decorations of some sort. The room was also far too hot, and the thermostat wouldn’t go below 17 degrees. We are returning guests, but I feel that the Fairmont is losing its special touch and really just feels a ‘normal hotel’ in some areas. The room, food and drink is too expensive for it just to feel ‘normal’. It was a nice stay but there is so much more that could be and should be offered to cater for children & make it a bit more festive.

We had booked the Fairmont for two nights on a B&B basis primarily as we were attending a wedding in the area and transport to and from the hotel to the wedding venue was prearranged . Our experience at this hotel was terrible and it did not lend itself to being a five star hotel. Check in at the hotel was swift and our room was ready. The room itself was of a good standard although we did notice the the bathroom was looking a bit tired in places and perhaps needing a freshen up. The room was positioned on the second floor and was supplied with a mini bar coffee and tea making facilities as well as a Tunnocks Caramel wafer so all good. We enjoyed a quick cup of coffee from the Nespresso machine and then we had just enough time to freshen up before meeting friends for dinner in St Andrews. On returning to the hotel we had a couple of drinks in the bar where we had no complaints with the bar staff who were efficient and friendly before retiring to bed. The problems all started the following morning. On taking a shower I discovered there was no shower gel so I had to make do with the bar of soap. We then went for breakfast and the service was a complete shambles. There was a ridiculous wait for tea and coffee to the extent that it arrived after we had breakfast . The hot buffet was cold however I have to say fresh fruit , juices breads etc were of a high standard. We noticed that others were suffering from the same problems as our selves so it was not an isolated incident. To make matters worse I reported the lack of shower gel to reception and asked if this could be attended to when servicing the room . We were away most of the day and did no return until after midnight so we went straight to bed. The next day we discovered that our room had been serviced however still had no shower gel. On closer inspection glasses had not been cleaned and bins not emptied . we then went for breakfast and this I can only describe as complete chaos. The buffet was not operating and the service was in complete disarray . The hot food was cold . My full Scottish came with no eggs. On checking out I mentioned my issues regarding the shower gel and asked to speak to a manager . To make matters worse when explaining my problem another gentleman overheard and added that his room ran out of toilet paper. A manager came and apologised however this did not convince me to return. I love St Andrews as a town and we will return but it will not be to the Fairmont

It's always nice to go back to The Fairmont ... Have stayed here many times over the years. Visited off season, so it was fairly quiet and not much atmosphere. But enjoyed relaxing in the pool and spa when it was cold, dark and windy outside. Staff were polite and service was reasonable, including free shuttle minibus into St Andrews. Enjoyed breakfast. Bed was comfortable. Great shower, bath and toiletries. Overall it was a relaxing break. But pretty expensive, even off season. As others have mentioned, the hotel is starting to feel a bit tired and could do with a makeover when you consider the prices charged. It's unclear why post-pandemic they still have later check-in times and earlier check-out times than is reasonable ... it means that short breaks are shorter than you'd expect, yet full price is charged. Enjoyable break, but they need to up their game and provide better value for money.

Still a lovely place following on from last visit at beginning of year but felt short changed this time considering the cost of room was high end for November. Check in still a problem with delay but more alarming was being given wrong room number😳. Luckily no one was in the room when we entered. Luggage open( not ours obviously) so hastily left back down to reception. Not a good start. New room was fine, although had to call room service as fridge had not be checked and replenished. Heating was a bit erratic, manual set up- thought it would have been on a timer for the cold mornings? On to breakfast and found it had been scaled back considerably from last visit, disappointing. As for drink prices, way over the top. Finally was looking forward to using the courtesy bus into St Andrews later on in the day but even that stopped at 6pm. On a positive note found the staff in bar area very nice and attentive to our needs so well done.