Review: the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel

This is my review of the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel, just outside London.

It was announced this week that Fairmont Windsor Park, the (surprisingly) impressive new luxury hotel on the edge of Windsor Great Park, will avoid demolition.

In what was potentially the least believable apology ever issued, the hotel had claimed that it was due to “a highly challenging construction site being developed in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic” that it had built an additional wing and an extra storey at roof level vs the approved plans. In total, 2,868m² of extra space was added by mistake.

Runneymede council was not impressed and ordered the extra wing and top floor to be removed. This would have effectively meant the demolition of the entire hotel.

However, as you do, Surinder Arora – the developer of the hotel via Arora Group (which also owns Sofitel Heathrow Terminal 5) – also owns Parkwood Estate, a derelict mansion next to the hotel. This modest home is equivalent in size to the unauthorised space added to the hotel.

Parkwood will now be demolished. The council said that demolishing Parkwood “clearly outweighed” any harm to the green belt by the unauthorised extensions.

Fairmont Windsor Park is great

Whilst it is clearly wrong to support abuse of the planning process, I have been telling anyone who asked for the last four months that Fairmont Windsor Park is fantastic and that it would be a travesty to demolish it.

Once you see how it relates to Windsor Great Park – on the opposite side of the road, in an area with plenty of other buildings and relatively enclosed – the idea that it is out of keeping is crazy. It is also a decent piece of architecture and in keeping with the look of the Savill Court Hotel which previously occupied the site. It’s not exactly a green field development in the middle of nowhere.

I stayed here in early December with my son for two nights. I liked it so much that I brought the whole family for a break between Christmas and New Year. I never got around to writing a full review (both stays were paid in cash) – partly because I felt I’d be wasting my time if it had to close – but I will now share a few thoughts.

As this was December, the days were short and rainy which is why the photos are a little dark in places.

Getting there

We took the train to Egham to Waterloo, from where it is a short taxi ride. You’ll need a car if you want to go anywhere except into Windsor Great Park but we were mainly planning to be around the hotel.

You drive through a residential area – albeit one with huge houses – and then swing down a winding drive and cross a small lake as the view you see in the top image opens up. It’s impressive. The hotel is a lot wider than the top PR picture implies – at least twice as wide. There is a HUGE underground conference centre for a start although clever design means you don’t really know it’s there. It does NOT feel like a conference hotel.

On our first stay I used two Accor Live Limitless Suite Night Upgrade awards. I described how these work here – you receive them as a Platinum member and you are able to book a suite for the cost of a non-suite room. It is NOT based on the cheapest room though. It seems to be 2-3 steps down from the suite itself.

For the first 2-night stay, we paid £534 per night for the suite instead of the standard £1,020. This was based on the £534 cost of a Deluxe Double. The cheapest possible room – a tiny space in the eaves – was £325.

The suite was impressive. A four poster style bed:

…. with a huge living area:

…. and a smart bathroom, with Le Labo toiletries:

Here is a standard (non-eaves) room from our 2nd visit which looks very similar:

Fairmont Windsor Park facilities

Let’s whizz through some of the hotel facilities. As you enter there are a number of boutiques in the lobby which I wasn’t expecting, including an old-fashioned sweet shop:

To your left is a lovely afternoon tea salon, the Orchid Tea Room, with Japanese-inspired wall coverings. It is actually open from 8am for tea, coffee and pastries.

Off to the right is one of many public rooms – the Library Bar. The photo is just one corner and it’s around 10x bigger than this. The bar itself is only open on Friday and Saturday evenings but you can hang out here at any time.

The lobby opens into this circular space which, in December, housed this huge tree:

As you pass on through the lobby it’s a very simple layout. The impressive looking 1215 Bar is off to the left:

This PR shot gives you a better idea of the scale:

…. and here’s the 1215 fine dining restaurant, which we didn’t try. It is open from 6pm to 9pm, Tuesday to Saturday. It is also open for a more casual lunch menu on Friday and Saturday.

Off to the right is this long corridor running the length of the building, ending at the escalators which lead to the basement conference area.

This includes a small kids club, although my children are far too old for them these days. This was not staffed when I was there:

The main restaurant, Moreish, is also in this area and is open for lunch and dinner. This is also where breakfast (from 7am) is served. Here is a PR photo as I could never get it empty enough for a good photo:

Leisure facilities at Fairmont Windsor Park

Head down one level and you get to the wellness area. This was hugely impressive, and I say this as someone who rarely takes an interest in these things.

There is a spa cafe, Greens Wellness Cafe, of which this is only one corner. It is open from 9am to 5pm.

There a huge beauty boutique:

There is this lovely indoor pool (warning: when we returned in late December it was rammed. My first visit was midweek in early December and we had it to ourselves, pretty much):

Kids swim times are 8am to 10am and 4pm to 5.30pm.

There is also a jacuzzi:

…. and the very cool bit …. a heated outdoor pool which is actually at basement level. You can see the spa relaxation area in the background, which is just one of the areas I didn’t photograph and aren’t shown here:

I haven’t touched on the spa, steam rooms etc but this place seems short of nothing. Do check out the hotel website for more information.

Here is part of the gym – it’s large but, as it’s in the basement, lacking natural light. It is open 24 hours.

Out and about

Here is the view from our room on the 2nd stay, looking out towards the small lake:

The grounds of Fairmont Windsor Park are smaller than you initially think, although worth a wander. You’ll find some tennis courts and an adventure playground tucked away for a start:

There are treehouses too, although I believe they are not currently bookable because they were also built ‘by accident’:

Over Christmas and New Year there was a pop-up farm on site:

The main entrance into Windsor Great Park is just a couple of minutes walk away. This is at the side of the park where the royal residences are. It is a decent trot to the top of the Long Walk:

…. with, as you just see in the photo above, Windsor Castle at the end. We didn’t head that far but the logical thing to do would be to walk from the hotel through to Windsor and take a taxi back.

The Savill Garden, a major ornamental garden, is around 20 minutes walk from the hotel on the edge of the park and has a decent cafe and shop. You can reach it by entering the park and turning left, or walking down the (mainly no footpath) road which runs behind the hotel.

Windsor Great Park has a website here so you can get a feel for what is there.

I’ve deliberately not talked about food here, because we had the children with us and weren’t focusing on fine dining. Even the luxury afternoon tea wasn’t really for us. However, what we did have – mainly in the bar – was good.

Conclusion

Fairmont Windsor Park is a VERY accomplished hotel. It far surpassed my expectations, especially in terms of the quality of the rooms, the huge number of public spaces, the boutiques, the variety of places to eat and the leisure facilities, especially the heated outdoor pool.

It’s not quite at Four Seasons Hampshire levels, but close in many ways. FS Hampshire is also more expensive of course. FS Hampshire works best if you want to get further into the country (Egham isn’t exactly rural, despite the presence of Windsor Great Park next to the hotel), has a good kids pool and has more outdoor activities – an equestrian centre, clay pigeon shooting etc. The main swimming pool is also far larger.

However, if you live in London and enjoy the occasional weekend break in a luxury hotel nearby, you can obviously do both. I’d definitely recommend trying Fairmont Windsor Park rather than doing your umpteenth stay at Four Seasons Hampshire by default.

You could also stay here on your way to or from Heathrow airport. It is only a seven mile drive according to Google Maps.

Earn Accor Live Limitless points and Avios

The hotel is part of the Accor Live Limitless loyalty programme. Accor is fully revenue based, with the points you earn from your stay redeemable at 2 Eurocents each off a future stay. Our full guide to Accor Live Limitless is here.

Platinum status in Accor Live Limitless – probably the sweet spot, giving you lounge access and Suite Night Upgrade awards – only needs €5,600 of after-tax annual spend. For better or worse, a stay here would make a decent dint in that.

You also earn Avios on top of ALL points – not ‘instead of’. Link your Accor Live Limitless account to your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account and you’ll earn 1 Avios for every €1 you spend – see here for details. You receive your Accor Live Limitless points as usual. I’ve found this to be a handy Avios earner with zero effort required after the initial account linkage.

Get ‘3 for 2’ with Accor STEP benefits

If you are booking Fairmont Windsor Park, it makes sense to go via our booking partner Emyr Thomas and use the Accor STEP programme for luxury travel agents which he can access.

You will currently get your ‘3rd night free’ when you book a Fairmont Windsor Park stay via Emyr.

This is on top of the other Accor STEP benefits:

• Free room upgrade at check-in if available
• Complimentary daily breakfast for two
• $100 hotel credit to be spent during your stay
• Early check-in and late check-out subject to availability
• VIP welcome

There is no minimum stay requirement. You will pay ‘Best Available Rate’ so if you were going to book a cheaper pre-paid rate for 1-2 nights then you need to do the maths on whether the extra goodies – plus the flexibility to cancel – are worth the extra.

With ‘third night free’ it’s a no-brainer to use Emyr if you want 3+ nights. It arguably worth using this ‘3-4-2’ deal for a two night stay too – use the third free night before your stay, to guarantee a very early check-in, or after it to guarantee a very late check-out.

You can contact Emyr with booking enquiries here. You pay at check-out as usual and stays will earn Accor Live Limitless points.

The hotel website is here. If you’ve got any questions (and this was a whistlestop review, I know) then please post them in the comments.

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Accor Live Limitless update – December 2024:

Earn bonus Accor points: Accor is not currently running a global promotion

New to Accor Live Limitless?  Read our review of Accor Live Limitless here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our analysis of what Accor Live Limitless points are worth is here.

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