Fairmount is an interesting brand, and one you don't really hear much about. Despite them being a Canadian company, they have hotels all around the world, with the majority of them being historic structures. One of them is the Fairmount BAMF Springs, located within the stunning BAMF National Park in Alberta, Canada.
It's a well-respected property with a ton of history and a pretty iconic structure in the Canadian Rockies. So today, I'm flying out to see what it's like. We're checking in for one night in Fairmount's prestigious gold category, getting the highest level of service with some of the highest prices to accompany it. So does this experience justify the high price? Well, let's find out.
This video has been made possible by NordVPN. But in NordVPN.com slash Bright Sun Travels to get huge savings on a two-year plan, plus an additional gift. So I've had a pretty rocky relationship with Fairmount in the past. My most recent stay at one was in 2018 at the Chateau-Laurier in Ottawa. I paid somewhere in the high $300 range for a standard room that charged you extra to use the in-room refrigerator, made me miss my flight from their valet service taking much longer than expected, and charged an offensive $9 for an Escobar bottle of water.
So you can say that Fairmount hasn't exactly been my top choice for stays since. With that said, I've always known about the Fairmount Bam Springs and the Lake Louise hotels. They're stunning properties with over 100 years of rich history. They're also located in Banff, one of the most breathtaking national parks in North America. My good friend and producer John has been harassing me over the past three years to go check it out. So I finally caved and booked a flight to do just that.
The Fairmount Bam Springs is about an hour and a half away from Calgary's international airport. Although it doesn't feel like it, as once you reach the mountains, the drive gets a lot more pretty. It continues to do so once you enter the actual town of Banff, and ultimately arrive at the Fairmount, which is a stunning and massive Scottish inspired castle. It was built in 1888, and is essentially built upon the confluence of two rivers. It was originally built by Canadian Pacific Railway, as a structure looking rather different than how it does today.
That's because in 1926, the majority of the original structure had burned down, and the present tower was built in the years following. The Bam Springs Hotel, as it was originally called, hosted many dignitaries from King George VI to Queen Elizabeth, and a few Canadian Prime Ministers. It was ultimately designated as a national historic site, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Canadian Pacific Railways Hotel Division was actually still acting as the owner up until 1999, when they had purchased the controlling shares in the Fairmount brand, to which they had decided to rebrand this property as a Fairmount.
Today we booked a standard one-king bed Fairmount Gold Room. I'll talk more about the pricing at the end of the video, but from what I've seen online prior to our visit, I really wasn't expecting much, and certainly not an ultra-ligurious room. However, to my genuine surprise, Fairmount has really stepped up their product. This is due to a $30 million renovation to the main tower in 2021, which is spruced up all of the guest accommodations, as well as a few public spaces. This was desperately needed, as the former rooms were simply nowhere near what Fairmount was charging for.
That things have changed for the better, and our standard Gold Room was exceptional. While it's on the small side, likely due to the age of the structure, this room was exactly what should be expected for an accommodation at this price point. It has beautiful and tasteful touches of luxury, tons of ports, including USB-C, as well as a stocked coffee bar, and a free to use fridge. Oh my god, they did it.
The bathroom is also pretty small, but aesthetically is very modern with good finishes. Not the best I've ever seen in a luxury hotel, but totally acceptable. The only annoyance was the bathroom door, which is a sliding door that doesn't exactly close all the way. Now the other rooms at the hotel range from similarly sized standard rooms with slightly downgraded decor to one bedroom corner suites to the massive tower suites, located at the very top of the structure inside the peaks, but honestly our small room was near perfect for one reason alone, and that's the astonishing view.
Looking south down the mountain range was absolutely incredible to wake up to. Now the Gold Accommodations at this hotel occupy the entire 4th and 5th floor of the main town, but what do you get with Gold other than just a nicer room?
Well, on the 5th floor there's a private costier just for you to answer all of your questions and fulfill any bookings. Further on are two lounges, the first being a quiet one to read, and the other where you'll find the buffet. Open during the day and into the night serving breakfast and evening or dusk. You can also find some premium drink offerings from teas, coffee, a build your own hot chocolate, fresh juices, and even smoothies.
This was already a really solid and luxurious offering, but the spreads they put out for breakfast and dinner were genuinely fantastic. Breakfast featured a ton of options from delicious smoke salmon to a huge selection of hot items. I'm pretty sure the evening or derbs were not meant to be eaten as a full dinner, but the amount of genuinely delicious selections they had literally turned into one for us. They had great options from pasta and meatballs to a full charcoot-free spread to polenta fries and spinach dip. It was all by far the best lounge food I have ever had. Honestly, it was some of the best buffet food I've ever had, and it really made this something to remember. Unfortunately though, alcoholic drinks were an extra charge, which I would have expected to be complimentary given the price point.
But if you are willing to pay for drinks and looking for a wider selection, the newly renovated Rundle Bar provides a very luxurious space to enjoy a wide selection of pricey drinks. But the views are great and it even has a secret, speakeasy style entrance to a quiet seating area. Elsewhere is the Ramsey House with a nice lounge below as well as the Walt House pub, both featuring pool tables. As for dining, well the fair amount has a few selections. Other than the pub food at Walt House, there's Castello Italiana, the Vermillion Room, and 1888 Chop House, all of which are very expensive. Like an 8-ounce Follé Minion at the Chop House is $70. And while some of these restaurants are very beautifully designed like the Vermillion Room, I'm not sure if a $70 steak in here is all that worth it. Even the quick service option down at the lobby, while nice and looks like it has tasty food, was very expensive. Like these very simple sandwiches were $16, $17, and $20, which is absolutely insane.
如果你愿意为饮料买单并寻找更广泛的选择,新装修的Rundle Bar提供了一个豪华的场所,可以享受各种昂贵的饮料。但是这里的景色很好,甚至有一个秘密的、类似于隐蔽酒吧的入口通往一个安静的座位区。Ramsey House也有一个漂亮的休息室,以及Walt House pub,两者都设有台球桌。至于餐饮,还有一些选择。除了Walt House的酒吧食品外,还有Castello Italiana、The Vermillion Room和1888 Chop House,这些都非常昂贵。像1888 Chop House的8盎司Follé Minion就要70美元。虽然某些餐厅的设计非常漂亮,比如The Vermillion Room,但我不确定这里的70美元牛排是否值得。甚至大堂的快餐选项,虽然看起来很不错,食物味道也好,但价格也非常昂贵。两片很简单的三明治就要16、17和20美元,这真是太离谱了。
Now with that said, the reviews for all of the dining have for the most part been overwhelmingly positive. But when you're not at the bars and the restaurants, there's plenty to do elsewhere. The resort offers basically every experience you can think of in BAM, from helicopter rides to private group tours and so much more. The summer activities list is even more extensive with horseback riding, fishing, whitewater rafting, ATV tours, and a ton of other stuff. But pretty much all of those are at an extra charge, and with some like the helicopter ride and private tours costing hundreds of dollars just for the experience.
That's really neat and all, but what I care about is what's free. Or well, included with your daily resort fee. Surprisingly, there's a decent amount. Regardless of what type of room you get at the hotel, your resort fee covers some equipment rentals, access to the indoor and outdoor pool, along with fitness center, as well as a free pass for local transportation. Giving you free transportation to the local highlights, including the White Museum, which you also get a complimentary pass to. The hotel also hosted a few daily activities like guided nature and history tours and wine tastings. Some require registration and others do require payment such as the camp fire rentals, which is a shame. But I was surprised to hear that the wine and cheese tasting is in fact complimentary, which is a nice perk.
But when you do leave the property, there is still so much to do. The fair amount is in very close proximity to Beau Falls, which is a short hike down the hill. For a much longer 1.5 kilometer hike, you can walk to the salt for mountain, where you can either bathe in the hot spring at the base, or climb the mountain by foot or gondola. For a short drive away, you can find the cave and basin historical site, or the close by Mount Norquay for skiing.
So obviously there's a lot to do on property. But even more, especially off property. And I guess that's where the value proposition comes into play here. As I'm sure you've guessed, staying at the Fairmount Bam Springs isn't cheap. Our standard gold room for one night was $835 Canadian, which is about $620 USD. While that does include all taxes and resort fees, if you bring a vehicle like we did, it will also be an extra $32 for self-parking, or $46 for valet.
Now, the resort doesn't really have a base rate, as they go off a variable pricing structure, which is constantly fluctuating. But from what I understand, the cheapest time to visit is when we did it over the winter. It's when the property tries to fill vacancy with the convention crowd, while the summer is more primarily focused towards tourists, and is also much more expensive.
For just a standard regular room, the cheapest rate I could find is in April, at around $450 Canadian, which is a fairly reasonable $330 USD. But that is rock bottom, literally the cheapest day for the entire year. And over the summer, you're not spending anything less than $1200 a night, just for a standard room. If you want to upgrade to gold, then you're pushing $1,600 a night.
Even with the updated decor, rich history, and excellent service, I really don't know if you could ever justify that price. But I guess it all comes down to what you care about most. If you want to experience the actual location of BAMF and see all of the sites, or if you're into skiing and don't care all that much about the most luxurious place to rest your head, then there are a lot of other choices in the area. Some like the Moose Hotel and the Mount Royal Hotel are arguably in better locations, and at their highest rates over the summer are pretty much the lowest rates at the Fairmount over the winter.
It's also worth noting that the hotel does run several discounted rates throughout the year, and is also a part of the Accor Hotel Alliance. Now Accor Hotel Alliance is kind of useless to North Americans, since the majority of their hotels are overseas. But that does mean there are a few ways to book this on points, and just generally find other ways to save. But that's a whole other rabbit hole, so look into it if it interests you.
But really, even if you don't stay here, just drop by for a visit to see the castle and walk the ground. You can still experience the property without spending tonight. In the end, I was really pleasantly surprised by the Fairmount BAMF. I went into it not with the greatest perception, but was absolutely blown away by the quality of service and how astonishingly beautiful it all was. From what I've seen, the summer looks even more stunning and vibrant, and really, that's what you're paying for.
This is a Canadian icon. It's one of the most famous hotels in Canada and even North America. It's also one of the most breathtaking, from the incredible architecture to the endless mountain vistas that make you feel like you're in a matte painting. It's incredible everywhere you look, and you know what, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that maintaining a property like this is a costly endeavor, and as a result requires the high rates.
Fairmount Gold is a step above it all. It was exactly what it needed to be, and while I never think club level is fully worth the premium, I do see a lot of value in it. If you can snag it at a decent price and maybe make it a special occasion or something, I think you'll be totally satisfied. And I think it's genuinely hilarious that this was $465 cheaper than Disney's contemporary's club level room. Go watch that video if you haven't already.
So let's give this an actual rated review. I'll rate the fair amount out of five categories for a potential perfect score of 50 out of 50.
Starting with the location, you are situated in an insanely beautiful valley with some very close by attractions. With a free bus fare, you're pretty much connected to everything you need to be in the area, and that gives it a perfect score of 10 out of 10.
Amenities are also really solid. You have a few options of ultra fine dining, along with a spa, pool facilities, a bowling alley, tons of shops, and even a convenience store, business center, adventure desk, and winter gear facility. There are certainly a lot, but I do wish a few more experiences were complimentary. So I'll give it a 9 out of 10.
Luxury and quality is also pretty good. Our room, while small, was very well appointed. There were some areas of the property that didn't necessarily live up to other luxury brands like the Four Seasons. And there are some parts that feel a bit dated and not at the caliber of what you're paying. I'll give it a 7 out of 10.
Service was phenomenal though. Everyone was super kind and happy. No one made me feel like I was at a place, and all the staff genuinely went above and beyond. I have never had this type of service at any other luxury hotel I've stayed at, and I mean it when I say the staff at the fair amount were some of the most warm and friendly people I have ever met. I wouldn't ask any more from them, so it's a 10 out of 10.
Value however is really the most subjective category here. Prices are a bit steep, and even after the renovation, I don't think the rates past $900 a night are worth.
价值是在这里最主观的一个品类。价格有点高,即使经过翻新,我认为每晚超过900美元的费用也不值得。
Fair amount gold was a fun experience, and I maybe would do it again for a special occasion sometime over the winter, but I'm not sure if I could ever justify paying over $1000 a night for a standard room.
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Anyway guys, my name is Jake, and thank you very much for watching.