Location Vancouver is all about the waterfront, and this latest Fairmont hotel, the Canadian brand’s fourth in the city – and one of its nicest anywhere – has an enviable spot overlooking Coal Harbour. Floor-to-ceiling windows afford mountain and ocean views on several of the 22 storeys, although there’s no getting away from the city’s other towers. The new Canada Line, a five-minute walk away, can whisk you to and from the airport within 25 minutes for C$7.50 (€5). A cab costs around C$40 (€28).

Style James Cheng, a notable contributor to the city’s glass and steel architecture, has once more delivered clean lines, walnut and stone slabs and a vast light-filled lobby. The Lobby Lounge has an outsized granite fireplace, contemporary sweeping marble staircase and a Fazioli white piano. Design statements aside, all the facilities you’d expect from a hotel of this class are offered with panache: a rooftop pool big enough for lengths, outdoor terrace with jacuzzis and ‘firepits’ and a full fitness centre. The spa caters as much for men as women, with a relaxation area for guys like a club lounge. The pan-Asian Oru restaurant is livelier than many business hotels’.

Guestrooms There are 377 bright, modern, unfussy and functional rooms and suites – 290 with harbour views – with modern touches, such as comprehensive bedside touch-screen control panels, 42in HD TVs and iPod dock. The white marble bathrooms are sleek, with spacious showers, separate tubs (some have square Japanese soaker tubs), double sinks and Miller Harris toiletries. You probably won’t leave with style tips, but you should get a good night’s rest in the Italian Mascioni bed linen.

Can I work here? Rooms have large solid desks and decent chairs with well-positioned sockets and free high-speed wi-fi (if you sign up online to be a member of Fairmont President’s Club – indeed, doing so gets you complimentary wi-fiat all Fairmont hotels). There is 1,400m2 of space for meetings and events – two boardrooms, three smaller rooms, a multimedia theatre and three ballrooms – and secretarial services.