The Best Mother’s Day Idea: Vancouver Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel

A Room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Downtown Vancouver, BC.

The best Mother’s Day ideas are always difficult: How do you show your appreciation to the woman who housed you in her womb, took care of you before you could talk, put up with your foolish teenaged behaviour, and told you to get the hell out when you became an adult? A daunting task indeed.

This year I decided to go all out and surprise my mom with a luxury night at the new Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in downtown Vancouver. She did support me through a shaved head, my failed attempt at many a plan, and my 80s Madonna phase… in the 2000s.

We checked into the hotel and happily found our one-night home and put our feet up (yes, I did it early, which really surprised her!). The next two hours were spent on quality time together and meaningful conversations, but, most importantly, playing with the gadgets

Bathtub View from the "Rock Star Suite at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver, BC.

Light switches are so passé, so we went from wall to wall getting the hang of the touch panels: All lights on, relaxation setting, night setting, and completely off. The curtains? You can open and close them, including the sheers or not, from the bedside and desk areas.

That was a fun one with my learning-but-not-so-techy-mom putting on a show as she tried to get them to do what she wanted.

We decided that the best way to take advantage of the room was to spend as much time in it as possible. Our floor to ceiling windows overlooked the outdoor pool (soon to be finished), the “rock star” suite (unfortunately, no celebrities were bathing from their visible bathtub or hanging out near their two-story living room windows, so no gossip to report), Coal Harbour and Stanley Park. Not bad.

A Regular Washroom at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver, BC (notice the TV screen in the mirror!).

So we ordered in, chatted some more and my mom took advantage of the soaker tub and Epsom salts, making a night of it. Well, after we convinced the housekeeping gal to give us a few more chocolates while she did our turndown service…

Having room service for breakfast isn’t the easiest on the wallet, so we decided to head to the lobby level to the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s Giovane café to stock up on yoghurt, muffins and fruit. We brought it all up to the room to stare at the view again and I expertly used the espresso machine to make her a cup of coffee. (Well, expertly after the second try.)

All in all, I think it was a very successful Mother’s Day idea. But how do I top it next year?

Tags: Best Mother’s Day Idea, Coal Harbour, downtown Vancouver hotel, rock star suite, Stanley Park, Vancouver Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel