Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a Toronto, Ontario -based operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Currently, Fairmont operates properties in 15 countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, United Kingdom, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
Fairmont is known in Canada for its famous historic hotels and resorts such as the Empress Hotel (Victoria) and Hotel Vancouver in British Columbia, the Royal York in Toronto, Banff Springs in Alberta and Château Frontenac in Quebec. Many of these hotels were originally built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As such, they were operated by Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts until CP Hotels purchased Fairmont in 1999 and changed its name to Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. The name change reflected the new international focus of the company.
Fairmont's portfolio also includes several other landmark and icon properties including Plaza Hotel in New York, the Savoy Hotel in London and the Peace Hotel in Shanghai, which is currently under-going an extensive renovation.
History
The original Fairmont is located in the city of San Francisco. The nearly completed structure survived the earthquake of 1906. Although heavily damaged by the subsequent fires, the hotel was renovated under the eye of architect Julia Morgan and finally opened in 1907. It was later acquired by Benjamin Swig in 1945.
The Fairmont chain consisted of seven properties in the United States when it merged with Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts in 1999:
- The Fairmont San Francisco
- The Fairmont, New Orleans (formerly The Grunewald and now a Waldorf + Astoria)
- The Fairmont Copley Plaza (Boston)
- The Plaza (New York)
- The Fairmont Chicago
- The Fairmont Dallas
- The Fairmont San Jose
In early 2006, after a contentious bidding war started by investor Carl Icahn. Icahn lost the bid and Fairmont agreed to be sold for $3.9 billion USD. Fairmont announced on January 30 , 2006 that the company will be purchased by Colony Capital, LLC and Kingdom Hotels International. As a result of that purchase, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is now a subsidiary of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI). At the time of the purchase, FRHI also owned Delta Hotels & Resorts; however, Delta was sold on October 2, 2007 to bcIMC (British Columbia Investment Management Corporation).
In October 2008, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, it was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers, which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.
Properties
Canadian properties
British Columbia
- The Fairmont Empress Resort in Victoria
- The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver in Vancouver
- The Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver (opens January, 2010)
- The Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver
- The Fairmont Vancouver Airport in Richmond
- The Fairmont Chateau Whistler (Resort) in Whistler
- Fairmont Heritage Place at Nature's Door Whistler
Alberta
- The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise (Resort) on Lake Louise
- The Fairmont Banff Springs (Resort) in Banff
- The Fairmont Palliser in Calgary
- The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge (Resort) in Jasper
- The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton
Manitoba
- The Fairmont Winnipeg in Winnipeg
Ontario
- The Fairmont Château Laurier in Ottawa
- The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto
Quebec
- Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth in Montreal
- Fairmont Le Château Frontenac (Resort) in Quebec City
- Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu (Resort) in Charlevoix, Quebec
- Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello (Resort) in Montebello, Quebec
- Fairmont Tremblant in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec
Atlantic
- The Fairmont Algonquin (Resort) in St. Andrews, New Brunswick
United States properties
- The Fairmont Orchid (Resort) in South Kohala, Hawaii
- The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui (Resort) on Maui, Hawaii
- The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Washington
- The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa (Resort) in Sonoma, California
- The Fairmont San Francisco in San Francisco, California
- Fairmont Heritage Place Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, California
- Fairmont Seaside (Resort) in Monterey/Seaside, California - (Opens 2011)
- The Fairmont San Jose in San Jose, California
- Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, Santa Monica in Santa Monica, California
- Fairmont Newport Beach in Newport Beach, California
- Fairmont Avanterra, Palm Desert in Palm Desert, California - (Opens 2011)
- Fairmont Vail in Vail, Colorado - (opens 2011)
- Fairmont Heritage Place Franz Klammer Lodge in Telluride, Colorado
- Fairmont Scottsdale (Resort) in Scottsdale, Arizona
- The Fairmont Dallas in Dallas, Texas
- The Fairmont Chicago in Chicago, Illinois
- The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club (Resort) in Miami, Florida
- The Fairmont Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- The Fairmont Washington, DC in Washington, D.C.
- The Plaza Hotel, a Fairmont Hotel in New York, New York
- The Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts
- Fairmont Battery Wharf Boston, Massachusetts
Central American and Caribbean properties
Barbados
- The Fairmont Royal Pavilion (Resort) in St. James
Bermuda
- The Fairmont Hamilton Princess in Hamilton
- The Fairmont Southampton (Resort) in Southampton
Dominican Republic
- Fairmont Roco Ki (Resort) in Roco Ki, Punta Cana Dominican Republic - (Opens 2010)
Mexico
- The Fairmont Acapulco Princess (Resort) in Acapulco
- The Fairmont Pierre Marques (Resort) in Acapulco
- The Fairmont Heritage Place Acapulco Diamante in Acapulco
- Fairmont Mayakoba (Resort) in Riviera Maya
European properties
- The Savoy, a Fairmont hotel in London, U.K.
- Fairmont St Andrews in Scotland
- Fairmont Monte Carlo in Monaco
- Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, Germany
- Fairmont Le Montreux Palace in Montreux, Switzerland
- Fairmont Kiev, Ukraine - (Opening Q4 2010)
- Fairmont Corfu Resort & Spa in Corfu, Greece - (Opening 2012)
Middle Eastern and African properties
- The Fairmont Dubai in Dubai, U.A.E.
- Fairmont Palm Jumeirah in The Palm, Dubai, U.A.E. - (Opens 2010)
- Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Abu Dhabi in Abu D