This article reviews hotels in Vancouver, including Vancouver Airport, with the best club or executive lounges. By reviewing each of these club lounges, in turn, I conclude which hotel club lounge comes in at the top and which hotel I would select as having the best club lounge in Vancouver.
Luxury hotels in Vancouver include the Four Seasons Vancouver, Shangri-La Hotel, the DOUGLAS, an Autograph Collection Hotel, Fairmont Waterfront, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Wedgewood Hotel & Spa, and then further up in the Rocky Mountains for skiing you have The Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Four Seasons Resort Whistler and Sonora Resort on Sonora Island in British Columbia, Canada as well as the Clayoquot Wilderness Resort.
We can’t get you free club lounge access at all these luxury hotels. See which ones feature club lounges below. Don’t worry. If the hotel doesn’t have a club lounge, you can book via our luxury travel concierge, and you will get amazing free VIP benefits and perks available at almost every luxury hotel around the world. You’ll get your usual loyalty points and status benefits on any booking you make with us, too.
I have compiled a list below containing the club lounges available across luxury hotels in Vancouver. We have also listed the best club lounges in the nearby city of Seattle. In this review, I list the lounges in Vancouver that I consider to be the best at the top. I will be reviewing each of these hotel club lounges in detail in turn so that you know what you will get if you book a room with club lounge access or get upgraded to a club lounge for free because of your loyalty status.
1. Fairmont Pacific Rim
The Fairmont Pacific Rim is the best Fairmont in Vancouver and one of Vancouver’s best luxury hotels. It is probably joint top with the Rosewood Vancouver. It is located at 1038 Canada Place Way Vancouver V6C 0B9, within 100m of the Fairmont Waterfront listed below, and it features a Gold Club lounge.
This hotel also has a main lobby bar, which is the place to see and be seen in Vancouver and is great for people-watching. It has probably the most stunning pool in Vancouver, surrounded by loungers and cabanas, and is a great place to hang out in the summer. Rounding the hotel off is an outdoor terrace, a garden, and the Botanist Restaurant, which offers a menu inspired by the principles of botany, organic farming, and sustainable sourcing.
While the Fairmont Pacific Rim and Fairmont Waterfront are both very solid properties, the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver traditionally was the worst of the three Fairmonts in central Vancouver. Still, a recent refurbishment, which includes the club lounge, along with new management, seems to be bringing this back as a contender for a great Fairmont choice in Vancouver. However, the best remains the Pacific Rim, which is a little bit better in most respects. This “betterness” is typically reflected in its higher room rates.
As for dining and shopping, there are plenty of good options within a 20-minute walk. The hotel provides complimentary drop-off services in one of their BMW house car (7 series) on a first-come, first-served basis, and you rarely have to wait for more than a couple of minutes for a ride.
The lobby lounge is a really fun feature of this hotel as it turns into a bar at night and attracts some of Vancouver’s finest try-hards. It’s to people watch but can be quite lively and is certainly not a relaxing lounge bar to take the family or look for some peace.
A Harbour View Room in the Pacific Rim is your best room choice from these hotels, although the Waterfront has a similar view. Pac Rim has more frills with a TV in the bathroom mirror, virtual surround soundbar, iPad room controls, super fluffy bathrobes, more dining options, and a better gym.
Both the Gold lounges at the Pacific Rim and Vancouver Waterfront during the summer months since both have an awesome outside patio. The Fairmont Pacific Rim Gold Club Lounge offers breathtaking views of Coal Harbour, Stanley Park, and the North Shore Mountains.
A personal concierge service from the dedicated Fairmont Gold team unlocks the city’s best and will arrange airport transportation, personal shopping, dining reservations, event tickets, and other special requests such as access to a personal trainer and running the perfectly drawn bath.
Within the lounge, there is a locally-inspired daily hot breakfast with a Chef-attended omelet station. This is the only Fairmont lounge in Vancouver that has an omelet station. There is also a seasonal selection of afternoon snacks, evening canapés, and desserts.
All-day complimentary tea, coffee, juices, mineral water, and soft drinks are available for free, and an Honor bar is available from midday, allowing you to charge alcoholic beverages to your room. Prices range from $9 – $14 CAD.
2. Fairmont Waterfront
The Fairmont Waterfront is located at 900 Canada Place Way Vancouver V6C 3L5 and features an outdoor heated pool which is handy if you visit in the summer but not so useful in the spring, autumn and winter! If you are here on business, this hotel is connected to the Vancouver Convention Centre and Canada Place Cruise Ship Terminal.
The renovated rooms at Fairmont Waterfront are very nice (and very similar in style to those at the Pacific Rim), and bathrooms now have a large walk-in shower instead of a shower/tub combo.
The hotel within a hotel experience of Fairmont Gold includes lounge access on the exclusive Fairmont Gold Floor. A dedicated concierge team is ready to extend a friendly, sincere welcome. From dinner reservations and limousine transfers to any other special touches you require, you’re assured of a memorable experience.
This Fairmont Gold Lounge has a stunning gardened terrace (pictured above) overlooking Vancouver’s harbor and North Shore mountains and offers the following complimentary, daily food options: Deluxe European buffet breakfast, a selection of house-made pastries, and savory snacks served in the afternoon followed by a selection of hot and cold canapés in the evening.
All-day complimentary tea, coffee, juices, mineral water, and soft drinks are available for free, and an Honor bar is available daily from midday, allowing you to charge alcoholic beverages to your room. Prices range from $9 – $14 CAD.
Fairmont Waterfront has a unique feature of lending you rain gear in partnership with Native Shoes and Moojoes (both local Vancouver companies). Similar to FairmontFit, guests can sign out a pair of Native rain boots and a rain poncho during their stay.
The Fairmont Platinum amenity here is a moist hazelnut coffee cake.
3. Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is located at 900 W. Georgia Street Vancouver V6C 2W6. Right in the city center, this well-located hotel offers the newest club lounge in Vancouver and, therefore, our favorite. Fairmont hotels are now part of the AccorHotels and Le Club AccorHotels loyalty scheme.
Starting June 9, 2019, the Fairmont Gold accommodations have been newly redesigned. It is these Fairmont Gold rooms that give you access to the executive lounge at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. When choosing rooms, there is not much to choose between the Gallery View and City View, but make sure you request a newly renovated room. It is worth noting that during the refurbishment, the new bathroom has a large tiled shower rather than a tub.
The Gold Lounge is described as “our Fairmont Gold Castle in the City”. This ‘hotel within a hotel’ Gold Lounge is located on the 14th floor, where you can enjoy beautiful views and special privileges as well as excellent service. These perks are well worth the premium you pay (usually about $100 USD per night).
You can make use of a private concierge service, and a daily European Breakfast featuring hot items is served in the exclusive surroundings of the Fairmont Gold Lounge. The breakfast selection is excellent and filling with plenty of oatmeal, hard-boiled eggs, cereals including sweetened Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes, a wide variety of perfectly ripe fruit, muffins, plain bagels, toast, Belgian waffles, yogurt, cottage cheese, bacon, sausage, deli meats and a rotating egg dish (quiche, baked eggs in a Canadian bacon cup with cheese and spices and so forth. All are creative and delicious).
You can also indulge in a mid-day treat, which is usually an afternoon tea-type affair with scones, cream, various sweets, and evening Hors d’Oeuvres, which previews the Chefs’ culinary expertise at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The food selection in the lounge is great with sushi, spring rolls, and shrimp skewers, or for meat lovers, small bone-in lamb chops with flatbread topped with goat’s cheese, prosciutto, and dried figs. The food on offer rotates each night, much like the egg option in the morning. You also always have cheese/crackers and a few other snacks. Finally, you are offered a late-night snack, which is usually cookies.
All-day complimentary tea, coffee, juices, mineral water, and soft drinks are available for free. An Honor bar is available to enjoy daily, from midday, charging alcoholic beverages to your room, and prices range from $9 – $14 CAD.
To help you ease into your morning, Fairmont Gold rooms benefit from coffee or tea delivered to your room with the wake-up call. A complimentary shoe shine services and one complimentary piece of pressing are also perks of these Fairmont Gold rooms.
The Fairmont Platinum amenity at this hotel tends to be a very generous box of high end & original local boutique chocolates.
4. Pan Pacific Vancouver
The newly renovated Pan Pacific has Italian-inspired exclusive Pacific Club Guestrooms and Lounge. Book a Pacific Club guest room, and you get access to the lounge.
Within the lounge, you get a complimentary West Coast continental breakfast, complimentary all-day coffee and tea services, complimentary evening hors d’oeuvres, concierge services, complimentary wireless Internet, local telephone calls and fax services (in the lounge), an assortment of local and international newspapers and magazines and all with panoramic top-floor views of Stanley Park, Lions Gate Bridge, and the North Shore Mountains.
While this is a great hotel and choice, if you can stretch a little more, the Pacific Rim lounge and the hotel is the better choice. If you do decide to book the Pan Pacific, the Waterfront Station Skytrain is only 350 m away.
5. Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre
Located in Vancouver city center, the rather average although very tall Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre has a hidden secret, its club lounge! The hotel costs 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night on redemption, which is a decent deal.
The Sheraton Club here has two levels. The lower level is for dining and has an outdoor terrace. The upper level has sofas and is designed for relaxing.
The continental breakfast at the Sheraton Club is generous. The only eggs available during breakfast are hard boiled eggs, but otherwise, there is a great spread of fresh fruit (cut up and available whole), assorted bread and pastries, cheese, and cold-cut meats. It’s more than enough to fill you up if you can get over the lack of scrambled eggs and bacon.
There are plenty of cookies during the day, including gingerbread men, along with fruits, bars, chocolates, crisps, sweets, and drinks, including bottled water in three refrigerators and hot coffee and tea.
In the early evening, appetizers, fresh veggies with dip, assorted fresh-cut fruits, smoked salmon, and cheese. The hot dishes include things like pastrami sandwiches, chicken enchiladas, chicken pasta, and nachos. Deserts vary by day and are quite innovative with mouses and mini doughnuts.
6. Hyatt Regency Vancouver
The Hyatt Regency Vancouver lobby area is quite large, and there are quite big glass areas to watch the commuters go by or other tourists during the day from the main lobby seating area. Starbucks is integrated into the lobby corner of the building and is generally always busy. There are two bars here and one restaurant. The bar on the ground floor is a great place to have a drink, and people watch. Parking here is underground and can be valet or self-park. The cost is around $35 CAD per night.
The basic rooms with King beds are decent rooms but nothing majorly special. It reminded me very much of a standard Hilton in the USA or Canada, with the bathroom having a low-height shower over the bath and a hideous shower curtain. Compare this to any of the newly refurbished Fairmonts with bathrooms with walk-in showers, and it doesn’t match up or even come close.
The amenities were more basic when compared to the Seattle Grand Hyatt, which features in our best executive lounges in Seattle but there are bathrobes and slippers which is a nice touch and elevates them above competitors for the same price.
The Club Lounge is on the 29th floor, Regency Club floor, and is fairly standard for a Hyatt and rather bland. It’s quite cramped, with two TVs playing loudly at both ends. Seating is at tables rather than easy chairs, which is not relaxing and gives the place a school cafeteria feel. Alcoholic drinks are charged, but the happy hour food and breakfast offerings are generous and good if uninspiring. There is, however, excellent World of Hyatt Globalist recognition at this hotel if you are a high-tier World Of Hyatt Member.
7. Hotel EXchange Hotel Vancouver
Situated within 200 meters of Waterfront Centre Mall Vancouver, EXchange Hotel Vancouver is a four-star hotel in Vancouver with a club lounge.
Located in the heart of the financial, shopping, and entertainment district, the EXchange is exactly where you want to be in downtown Vancouver. Situated in Vancouver’s first LEED Platinum Heritage conversion, the history of the Vancouver Stock Exchange comes alive with modern-day amenities and quick access to business and leisure facilities.
Their Dividend private club lounge offers a light breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres with a bar.
8. Fairmont Vancouver Airport
The second best airport hotel in the world is the Fairmont, Vancouver Airport in Canada. It is the only airport hotel directly connected to Vancouver Airport’s International Terminal, and you can get into central Vancouver via Uber or the Skytrain.
I have found this airport hotel to be particularly good for getting over jetlag when flying in from London. I then grab a taxi, Uber, or bus up to Whistler for some skiing and stay at the Four Seasons Whistler. Of course, it is not in the center of Vancouver, so it is not ideal for touring the city, but it is a fabulous choice if you have an early or late flight or like to watch planes.
The hotel is connected to the airport building and is situated right above the US departures area, within a minute or two’s walk from the luggage carousel. There is so much to love about this airport hotel, but the floor-to-ceiling windows, which are heavily soundproofed, have to be a highlight, as he really can watch the planes take off from your bed. Beyond the rooms, there is an indoor pool, health club, and spa, along with restaurants, including a jet sidebar for live music, tapas, and cocktails, and globe@yvr, an award-winning restaurant where you can have breakfast.
There are various rooms to choose from, and if you want a luxury boutique hotel experience, some newly renovated rooms on the 14th floor give you access to a complimentary club lounge. It is well worth paying the extra for a Fairmont Gold Room because of this club lounge access. Within the club lounge, you get a continental breakfast, or you can have the complimentary breakfast delivered to your room if you are leaving before 6:30 am. In the evening, there is a selection of hot and cold canapés and desserts within the lounge.
Non-alcoholic drinks are included within your room rates in this lounge, including espresso tea, coffee, soft drinks, and water, and there is also an honor bar with spirits, wines, and beers available from midday. By booking a Gold Room, you also get a daily turndown service, complimentary local calls within North America, complimentary BMW car service between the hotel and YVR’s south terminal, and a golf cart service within why they are the main terminal.
9. Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown
Located in downtown Vancouver, Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown is a 31-story hotel with views of the North Shore Mountains. Vancouver Harbour is a 5 minutes walk away. The hotel costs around 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night on redemption, which is a decent deal.
This is a standard Marriott with a standard club lounge that closes on the weekends. Hence, it is positioned as the worst Club Lounge in Vancouver. If you are looking to blow your Marriott Bonvoy points, we suggest you redeem them at the Sheraton above. if you are paying for your room, it’s always worth contacting our concierge for a better deal.
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