8/10 Good
Cristina, Santa Maria
Travelled with pets
3 Jan 2025
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Who wouldn’t want to stay at the Fairmont Empress? I reserved a Gold Suite with Harbor View for three nights to stay with my two dogs. I left after one night. What happened?
The room was lovely, I felt anticipated by a welcome note with my name already in the room along with pet beds and food/water bowls supplied by the hotel. Facilities look beautiful, two fluffy bathrobes, slippers and plenty of toiletries for nearly every need.
Because the hotel is older (but very tasteful renovated) one can hear every conversation and giggle in the hallway (no buffer zone like in new hotels), which made getting a good night’s rest a challenge for me and my dogs. The following morning I went out to explore, I left my dogs in the room with the DND on the doorknob, and asked that my room not be disturbed by housekeeping as my dogs would naturally try to defend their “home” by barking. Agreed. Well, forty-five minutes later I get a call from the hotel that my dogs started barking when housekeeping knocked and attempted to enter my room. I immediately returned to my room, quieted my dogs, took them out to potty and considered my next steps.
While Fairmont Empress is a beautiful and luxurious hotel, and I desperately wanted to stay and explore all the amenities, unfortunately, it was not the right hotel for me. Hotel is pet friendly, yes; meet my pet needs, sadly no.
I would recommend Fairmont Empress for the experience, and recommend leaving anxious dogs at home with a pet-sitter.
Cristina
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2024