Property: Fairmont Resort & Spa Blue Mountains (MGallery)
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Standard 2 x Queen room
Room upgraded: No
Rate: Accor Stay Plus (one night), Accor Stay Longer & Save second night
Free internet: Yes.
Welcome drink: Yes, 2 vouchers, despite three guest on the booking. Bottle house red and cheese plate (wasted - see below). Two bottles of water
Early Check in/out: Yes, 1pm checkout granted.
A very disappointing stay for what claims to be a five-star hotel. I’d rate it below Accor’s mid-tier properties - Novotel and Mercure.
On check in I was advised that a car space had been reserved for me as a Platinum and that the concierge would assist. However, the concierge was nowhere to be found, nor was the reserved car space. I'm happy to park my own car, but having this offered, then not able to be delivered is worse than not offering it to begin with.
On the table in my room was a welcome note, a bottle of house red wine and a cheese plate. However, as I checked in after 6pm the cheese was not cold and the brie had sagged badly. My guess it it hadn't seen a fridge for >5 hours. I wasn’t prepared to risk it, so the cheese plate went to waste. Why do they do this? Either put it in the fridge or deliver it after the guest has checked in.
The room itself was basic with a small work desk and single sitting chair. See pics. The carpet was stained and frayed at the edges. The bathroom had a shower head with a leak that sprayed water all over the bathroom. The amenities, soap etc were good.
Sadly, housekeep was also a disappointment. Tea/coffee was not replenished and wet towels were left on the bathroom floor. I'm happy to hang and reuse towels for a two-night stay, but these were saturated due to the leaky shower head and should have been removed. Additionally, the cheese plate and napkins were moved from the room to the hall outside (not by me). I can only assume the housekeeping staff considered this a job for room service staff. You walk past food trays in hotel hallways all the time, so I don't care... but it illustrates that five-star service is not provided, despite the five-star price paid.
The next morning, I arrived at breakfast and was told this would be charged to my room. Knowing breakfast was included for Plats, I ask why. The staff member was adamant that breakfast was not included for Plats. Having checked the website just days before the trip, I asked when this change happened and was told “it’s never been included”. This particular staff member was not going to back down. Rather than make a scene I went to reception where staff confirmed breakfast was included. A reception staff member accompanied me back to the restaurant where the bloke was still insisting I pay for breakfast. The breakfast supervisor quickly appeared and was apologetic. She explained the staff member was still in training.
While I understand staff need to be trained, and I’m totally fine with that, a staff member arguing with a guest at a five-star hotel is unacceptable. Especially when the staff member is wrong!
Breakfast was a standard hotel buffet with the usual hot and cold options of a mid-tier hotel. As a comparison, recent stays at Novotel Sunshine Coast and Novotel Sydney had similar buffets but also offered additions like Eggs Benedict and/or omelettes on request.
Now I’m always happy to give credit where it’s due and the breakfast supervisor on our second morning, was excellent. He was cheery, helpful and offered good advice on walking options in the local area. Additionally, the barista coffee both days was excellent.
The hotel has several restaurants, but only one was open during our stay. We ate in the hotel bar the first night. It was noisy due to a group of around 50 people (seemed to be a conference group). Food was as you'd expect in a bar and was served in good time considering how busy it was. On our second night the restaurant, Embers, was fully booked. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we ate in Katoomba (see my Trip Advisor review for Avalon which was excellent).
I took advantage of my Accor status to request a late check out. This was our only glimpse of five-star service with the request granted. And it was much appreciated given our evening flight.
Like many places in the hospitality sector, Fairmont Blue Mountains seems to be trying to get back up to speed after Covid. But domestic tourism has been open for more than 6 months now and this hotel still has a long way to go.
With rooms comparable to those in the Novotel/Mercure range, and with such poor service there is no way to justify paying double the price of mid-tier Accor hotels.
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