Mo O.
Yelp
We recently stayed at the Fairmont for some golfing and sightseeing. Overall, a very fantastic stay, and a very fantastic hotel. The ONLY reason I am not giving them the 5th star is their restaurants...more on that below.
But first the good things! Everything about this Fairmont property is wonderful: the rooms are large and comfy, the hotel is beautiful, and the surrounding scenery is hard to beat. Service and staff are first rate: from the time we entered to the time we left, the staff was absolutely great. They were always helpful, friendly, and made us feel like they were glad we chose to stay there. The shuttle service to/from town was awesome, with the drivers twice customizing their times and routes to accomodate our group (they didn't have to do this).
The rooms were great, with great views overlooking the ocean and golf courses. Beds very comfortable, bathrooms nice and big with a separate walk-in shower. And each floor has its own ice machines, saving the need to call for buckets of ice to be delivered! (A rarity in European hotels.)
The breakfast buffet was the best we've had in a long time. Good food, enough selection to avoid having the same things every day, and a make-to-order omelet/egg bar.
And now the not so good....the restaurants. Twice we had dinner in the hotel, first at the Kittocks Den lounge, and another night at the La Cucina Italian restuarant. In both cases the food was fine, even good. But the service was slooooowwwww, unbelievably so for a property like the Fairmont. Not sure what is going on with the running of their kitchens behind the scenes. The food ordered at the Kittocks Den took over one hour from order to service. And the experience at La Cucina was even worse. We had reservations for La Cucina so were seated promptly. But the service was slow from start to finish. All told it took 2.5 hours to get served two bottles of wine, and single course dinners, e.g. pizza, lasagne. 15 minutes after ordering our wine, we could see the bottles sitting at the bar and no watier to bring it to us, so we went up and asked ourselves. Another 30 minutes to get an appetizer, and then another hour to get our food. With the exception of the pizza my wife ordered (which was under-cooked), the food was at least good. My wife asked that the pizza go back in the oven for 5 minutes...but the "chef" threw it out and made a new one....ANOTHER 20 minute wait then for my wife to get her pizza. And the restaurant was not all that busy. Nor were we the only ones experiencing these waits, we actually started joking around with two other tables who were going through the same exact delays. The manager of the La Cucina did profusely apologize, comped the undercooked pizza and discounted the rest of the meal, so I give her credit for recognizing the issues. But really all we wanted was a nice dinner, and would have gladly paid full price for a good experience.