Fairmont Royal York

Front entrance has no ramp or elevator but a long staircase was offerred help with small carry on bag but watched as my wife struggled with the stairs. we used the royal york for it's proximity to union station but to get a cab we had to use those painful stairs. NOT IMPRESSED

Room a wee bit dated. bathroom not at all accessible for a PWD (tub very slippery and my able bodied partner nearly fell twice. Quality of room service (food & service) very good and reasonably priced. Just made it before holiday decorations were removed - my 4-year old granddaughter very happy (although nut cracker display was already gone.) I am a PWD and use a scooter and was not able to access Union station concourse (Path) without going outside - coul not do due to inclement weather (escalators down to that level & could not use with scooter) somewhat disapointing.

The Good: beautifully decorated Christmas decor in all common areas. Excellent wedding reception & New Year’s Eve food / service in the Imperial Room. Lots of New Years Eve party favours to ring in the New Year. Clean, well-maintained room with good shower water pressure & anti-scald, temperature control valves. The Bad: So many misses we can’t believe this is supposed to be a 5-star hotel! Fairmont Accor Gold members free room upgrade is not recognized. My company also has a corporate account with Fairmont (also Marriott BonVoy Gold Elite). No one advised us that this perk doesn’t apply to a wedding room rate block of rooms! Our room requests were sent in 2 months prior: Higher Floor with larger windows & nice view, double sinks, feather pillows were not at all accommodated! Yet no one contacted us in advance to let us know our requests could not be accommodated due to the wedding block rate & location of those rooms on the 1st floor. The room Dhawal (Front Desk) gave us was the opposite of all requested! & he proceeded to justify the reasons why we can’t have our “standard” room requests rather than trying to find “solutions”. Dhawal behaved like an insurance adjuster who’s instructed by his company to always deny claims! Incompetent the hallway on way to the room, my nostrils were stinging from a very strong chlorine smell. It was because their 1st floor is just above Floor H (Health/ Fitness/Pool!). It gave me such a headache! Our Rm#1120 was a horribly dark hole on the 1st floor (their 5th floor) with 1 small window, obstructed by view of construction support @ roof Their website description is misleading advertising! We booked a higher category room — Signature Dble/Dble , 500s.f. promising a “premier guest room category offers larger open-concept rooms with upgraded views. Luxuriously renovated, Signature Rooms are fresh, modern, elegant and some include distinct characteristics, such as a fireplace” not worth the extra money!!). HA! “Lipstick on a pig!” Got no view! Inadequate lighting. No natural light. 2 separate closets so far apart. Bathroom was dated & tiny with no counter space for makeup, toiletry kit, etc. No fireplace. Save your money & DOWNGRADE to a less expensive Deluxe Dbl/ Dble or Deluxe King which is an updated modern room, with 2 big windows, better south-facing views, same size as Signature 495 s.f. & has 2 full updated baths for LESS $ than a Signature room! In addition to room assignment incompetence, their beds were uncomfortable & lumpy as were the hot foam pillows which now require us to see our massage therapist for the crick in our necks. We’d requested (as always) feather pillows but never got them! Missing tea cup & Nespresso pods for the extra adult in our room booking. Had to call for it in morning. Took 1 hour to be delivered. What adds insult to injury is that our friends (2 Adults) were given our requested room basically— a south-facing Junior Suite King bed, pocket doors separating bedrm area from sofa area, a very large window in each half, 2 full bathrooms (1 in bdrm & 1 in living area) at the lower category Deluxe King NS! Also Reign Restaurant only offered New Year’s Buffet Brunch on Jan.1 for $135./person! Highway robbery —even their Concierge sent us to Azure in the Intercontinental Hotel a block west (their breakfast buffet was only $37.99/person on New Years Day & stayed open till 12noon, great ambience & service!). Paul, Concierge added 3pm late checkout & yet when we returned from brunch, our card keys did not work. Had to go to Front Desk to get them re-programmed! Another unnecessary hassle! I have the annual national sales meeting to book for our company this spring & this was an opportunity to check out The Royal York Hotel as a possible venue. After all the room assignment misses & lack of reservations feedback, we’ll be going to the Intercontinental a block away! Nor will we return for personal leisure bookings anytime soon!

We stayed at the Fairmont during the holiday season, and the property itself was absolutely beautiful. However, we were disappointed with the quality of the rooms, which did not meet the high standards typically associated with Fairmont properties. The rooms lacked the sense of cleanliness we expected, which detracted from the overall experience. Additionally, we encountered challenges when trying to reach room service, as we had to call multiple times before our request was attended to. While the hotel’s common areas were stunning, this experience has led us to consider other options for future stays in Toronto.

Disappointment#1: while the facility and service are generally good, some key commitments made to me when i pre-booked (which i really depended on) were not kept and there was no accountability. Disappointment# 2: I received this email request for evaluation 3 times and did not respond till now. I had left a message with the hotel's director of guest experience on Dec 30 to discuss personally the experiences of my recent staycation at the Hotel right after i returned home. I have not received any call back or email response since then.