The Fairmont Washington, D.C. Reviews

There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe how thrilled we are with our decision to get married at the Fairmont! From the moment we first inquired about the venue to our wedding day, the Fairmont's hospitality was second to none. We worked with Kiera who was absolutely a rockstar! She was always quick and thorough in responding to all of our many questions and concerns for the whole year that were planning our wedding, and always made us feel like she had control over all the details and nuances of our event. She worked with us to make our event work for us--making special items that were not on the menu, accommodating dietary needs, coming up with creative solutions to our concerns, etc. The hospitality at our tasting and over our wedding weekend was incredible and made us and our families feel so special and well taken care of. The venue is truly luxurious. The bridal suite, the amenities, and the overall service were top notch! From the wait staff to the valet to the front desk team, everyone we encountered was extremely accommodating!

In addition to the wonderful experience of working with the Fairmont team, our wedding was truly perfect! The food was delicious (we got tons of compliments on the quality and variety), and the overall logistics and flow of the event were perfect. There were 2 weddings at the hotel at the same time, and Kiera and her team did a perfect job accommodating both and avoiding any overlap or crowding. We did our ceremony and reception in the Colonnade, which is a gorgeous indoor space that almost feels like an indoor gazebo with a circular shape and a raised dance floor in the center. It felt so unique and special and visually beautiful but also had the ease and amenities of being at a hotel. I could go on and on about how amazing the Fairmont is, but my best advice is to book with the Fairmont!

I'm not sure where to even begin putting into words how PHENOMENAL the Fairmont is. From the moment I toured and saw the Colonnade Room, I knew it was going to be a great venue and it still exceeded all of my expectations. We worked with Carrow initially before Kiera took over for the bulk of our planning and execution and I feel so fortunate to have worked with her. She is incredibly thoughtful, has fantastic attention to detail, and was so responsive throughout the entire process addressing our many questions. She also had some great suggestions during our planning process (such as inspiring us to do a cookbook as our guest book since we're big at home cooks). Rest assured, you and your other vendors will be in great hands with her. The hotel itself is stunning and went under a massive renovation within the last several years which really shows. The Colonnade (where we had our ceremony and reception) is such a unique space to host a wedding in and our guests loved the elevated dance floor. Our guests were blown away by the service and kindness from the entire staff at the Fairmont from the front desk to the bartenders to our reception waiters and bartenders. They were so attentive throughout the entire weekend and made everybody feel at home. When we went for our tasting several months before, I knew we were all going to be in for a treat. We heard from our group that it was hands down the best food they've had at a wedding and we could not agree more. Everything from our passed appetizers at cocktail hour to reception food to our cake and brunch the next morning was top notch. We also did an espresso martini bar and dessert room that was an amazing add on. I could go on and on about the Fairmont and cannot recommend this venue enough - you absolutely will not regret it!

My husband and I were married in the Colonnade Room, which was then flipped for our reception. Everything was so beautiful and perfect! The room is just magical - like a little countryside estate right in the middle of DC. Our guests raved about the food! But what really made our day magical was Carrow, the Fairmont’s wedding coordinator. From the first time we toured the place, she painted a picture of what our wedding would be like, and then she delivered! She was so responsive, kind, and understanding. And although I know she was probably working with hundreds of couples, she did an amazing job at making us feel like we were the only ones. She was a huge reason our wedding was as wonderful as it was. I can’t say enough good things about The Fairmont or Carrow. If you’re considering having your wedding here, definitely do it - you won’t regret it!

We could not recommend the Fairmont more highly! We worked with Carrow Rasberry, who was an absolutely incredible asset as we planned our special day. Carrow and her team anticipated every need. She was always responsive and we loved that she handled everything! She was extremely detail-oriented (a plus for this Type-A couple) and was so open to all of our ideas. She took our ideas and made them come to life! Our wedding felt so personalized.
The Colonnade room, where we had our ceremony and reception, was stunning! The room itself is just beautiful and the lighting was perfect. We loved having the gazebo-like stage in the middle for our ceremony and for the dance floor — it made us feel so special!
The food was amazing, as well! We had such a fun time at the tasting, where the chef and Carrow helped us to alter an entree with a different side dish and the pastry chef made our wedding cake into cupcakes. We received so many compliments on the food — especially the sea bass — from our guests.
The Fairmont was also so flexible when it came to changes in our headcount, something we really appreciated in these times.
We loved our experience at the Fairmont so much! We’d love to come back as wedding guests one day :)

We signed with the Fairmont in Sept 2019 after touring multiple luxury wedding venues in the DC area for our planned 300 person wedding. We were sold initially on the glamorous decor, unique rooms, and superb customer service from Carrow Rasberry. The Fairmont was relatively new to South Asian weddings and we loved how the venue was perfect for the Baraat we envisioned. Like many couples, we postponed our wedding multiple times due to the pandemic. Carrow and her team were always flexible and supportive -- actually the most so out of all our wedding vendors. When our wedding weekend arrived, Carrow and her team exceeded ALL expectations. We were excited to share this gorgeous venue with our friends & family, but the level of customer service that all of our guests experienced was incredible. A few particular features that we believe make the Fairmont THE premier destination in DC to host a South Asian wedding.
1. Baraat / Courtyard - ours started on M street and wove into the beautiful Fairmont courtyard where I could actually watch from my bridal suite balcony. Perfect! Also, multiple guests told us afterwards that the courtyard led to such an easy communal resort-like ambiance for the wedding weekend. Friends and family could easily gather there for a drink or a snack.
2. Multiple event spaces that feel so different - we hosted our Sangeet in the Kennedy ballroom, our wedding ceremonies in the Colonnade, and our reception in the Grand Ballroom. Each space was so unique that it didn't feel like the wedding weekend was all in the same hotel.
3. The Colonnade room - the stage in the middle made a perfect Mandap for our ceremonies. The chandelier with natural light streaming in gave us the feeling of an outdoor wedding without the annoyances of the outdoors. We draped the pillars and were able to use the large stage for both Hindu and Sikh ceremonies.
4. Beautiful decor - from the carpets to the artwork to the light fixtures, everything about the Fairmont decor was modern elegance. Between the main lobby and the courtyard, we felt that we enough beautiful backdrops for family pictures that we didn't need to run around DC which saved valuable time.
5. The Fairmont Team - can't stress this enough, the hospitality team was superb. Carrow was always easy to work with, but her team truly went above & beyond during our wedding weekend to make things fun, easy, and enjoyable for everyone.

We know planning a South Asian wedding is an ordeal, and couples certainly want to give business to vendors who are experienced with the nuances of cultural celebrations. Choosing the Fairmont as our wedding venue was one of the best decisions we made - absolutely our favorite vendor from the entire experience.

PHENOMENAL venue!
We had the perfect wedding here in the Colonnade Room - I can't say enough good things about the Fairmont and about our above-and-beyond fabulous coordinator Carrow. Every single thing went perfectly thanks to her and her staff. The venue is spectacular - it has an outdoors garden feel while allowing you to stay cool and dry inside. All our guest gushed about what a beautiful space it was.
Carrow is THE BEST. She is responsive, flexible, patient, and so so funny. She makes you and your family feel like royalty while still being honest and upfront. We didn't have a wedding coordinator so we had a lot of questions for her and she answered them timely and thoroughly every time. We asked her for help on several things that were definitely beyond her normal duties and she was so accommodating and generous with her time. She reminded us to eat on our wedding day, set aside appetizers and champange for us so we could try those while having a moment to "take it all in" before our cocktail hour, and helped keep the night on track. We couldn't have done it without her.
The food is the best wedding food I've ever had. Every option at our tasting was delicious and the pastry chef even made a special dessert for us that we requested, even though it wasn't on the menu. The tasting was a private tasting which made us feel very taken care of and special.
The wait staff, bell men, and general hotel staff are also the friendliest I have ever encountered.
My parents got married at the venue 30 years before we did, and Carrow even arranged something special to honor them.
The honeymoon suite was decorated for us and had champagne and chocolate when we walked in. It was the perfect way to end the night.
I can't imagine having our wedding anywhere else. I don't have a single bad thing to say about the Fairmont!

We toured several venues before the Fairmont, and it sounds cheesy, but we knew we wanted to be married there as soon as we walked in. Really, I arrived a few minutes before my partner and texted him saying “This place was made for us.” The Colonnade Room is uniquely gorgeous; a circular ballroom with tall windows and a sweeping skylight, beautiful natural light, an elegant chandelier, and a center stage that gives every guest the best seat in the room. We worked with Senior Catering Manager, Carrow, and she is THE BEST. Kind, funny, friendly, experienced, and knowledgeable, she accommodated every request and answered all of our (probably millions) of questions. She made us feel so important and ensured every detail was perfect for our wedding day.
We were married in June 2018, and the Fairmont was our ceremony and reception venue, caterer, dessert/cake maker, and hotel block. From the moment we signed the contract until a month after our wedding, everyone was truly wonderful to work with. They did SO much for our wedding weekend and ensured our guests were well taken care of. The food and drinks were excellent, and we received many compliments from our guests. So many guests told me that the servers and bartenders were funny, skilled, and experienced. Carrow and the team worked with our planner to ensure we stuck to our itinerary and did everything to make our day special. It rained a bit on our wedding day, so Carrow seamlessly moved the cocktail hour from the outside patio to an inside area. My husband and I felt like royalty getting married there, and I cannot speak highly enough of the Fairmont.

We always knew we wanted to have our wedding in Washington, DC and planned on looking at some iconic DC hotels as possible venues. While we saw a few different places, the Fairmont was the first and it had us captured from the moment we walked in the door. Our wedding was in May and Carrow was our Fairmont wedding coordinator. Carrow and the Fairmont helped create the wedding of our dreams. We had the ceremony in the Colonnade, the cocktail hour in the courtyard/loggia lounge space. The reception was held in the Grand Ballroom.No detail was forgotten by Carrow and the amazing staff at the Fairmont. Carrow made the planning process effortless and extremely personalized as she noticeably took a vested interest in our wedding being perfect.

The spaces used for the wedding were perfect for a wedding of about 225. The staff was extremely attentive to any guest’s needs. We are still getting guests talking about how amazing the hotel staff was. On a different level was the food. Wedding food can sometimes be bland and not well done because it is made for the masses. The food at our wedding was unbelievably amazing. People loved the mac and cheese bar during the cocktail hour. They raved over the hors d’oeuvres as well as the dinner and dessert. The wedding cake was beautiful and exactly what we wanted.

Carrow and the hotel really did everything in their power not only to make the entire weekend amazing for us but for all of our guests, whether they were staying at the hotel or not.

We could go on and on about how amazing The Fairmont Washington, D.C. and our wedding coordinator Carrow were. If you are looking for a venue please consider the Fairmont Washington, D.C. They will create the magical wedding you are looking for.

Everyone we worked with was exceptional. Our point of contact took care of everything. All I needed to do was really give him our vendors contact info and pick out the menu. The catering was magnificent. Our guests couldn't stop commenting on how great the food was. The service was spectacular. We were given a suite and there were even rose petals set out on our bed and a bottle of champagne in a bucket.

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the Fairmont. We chose it because it was so beautiful, and had an outdoor courtyard which not many DC venues have. We are so glad we did! We did both our ceremony and wedding there, which I'd recommend because they transitioned the room beautifully and it was much easier for our guests and us to have the whole event in one place. This is really a 5 star experience, they know what they are doing. We worked with Bob who was great. The whole day went off perfectly and he took care of everything. The food was excellent and all the guests commented on how beautiful it was. They've also recently done a renovation so all of the guest rooms and the lobby are beautiful as well. Highly recommend!

This venue was beautiful, period. There's nowhere else like it in DC. But besides that, working with Jill was a delight - she was completely professional and knew all of my vendors already, and she took care of every detail. The food was also incredible - everyone was talking about it for a month!

Jill Bagga and the staff at the Fairmont truly made our wedding dreams come to life. Being full-time medical students living in FL made wedding planning a bit challenging, but Jill was phenomenal. She was so organized and on-top of everything, my type-A / OCD personality was completely at ease, trusting her and her team to make our vision a reality. We planned the entire wedding in 8 months, with 220 guests attending. If I could get married all over again, with an unlimited budget and no restraints on location, I would still have it at the Fairmont in Georgetown. I felt like a princess and our families were pampered to the fullest. I wish we could relive it!

We had our daughter's wedding reception at the Fairmont, and it was wonderful! The location is great and the hotel itself is beautiful. The food was delicious as well. I think the service deserves special praise. Everyone at the hotel contributed to making all of us feel so well cared for - from the doorman, to the front desk people, to Mark Medrick who oversaw the whole event with warmth and expert attention to detail. They are such a professional team who really know what they are doing and showed great care for us and our guests. We also hosted a brunch there the following day for out of town guests, and that was also beautiful. They are real pros!
The hotel also gave a very good rate for overnight guests, though the overnight parking charge is steep.
All in all, it was a wonderful place to host our wedding and we would recommend it highly.

We held our wedding at the Fairmont Hotel's Colonnade room and it was truly magical. The room is full of natural light, which makes it such a pretty venue - much more so than a hotel ballroom, in our opinion. The hotel's service, food, and cake were also outstanding.

We started looking for venues around the Northern Virginia and Washington, DC area. I made several appointments to look at hotels in the area. The Fairmont was the first hotel I visited, and I met with Mark Medrick. He showed my sister and I the Colonnade Room, and we stopped searching for a venue then; I canceled my other appointments. (The ceremony was at a local church, we only had the reception at the Fairmont.)

The Colonnade Room is a uniquely beautiful space in the city. It is gorgeous, with the elevated dance floor in the middle. Originally, I did not want a hotel wedding because it did not seem like 'us' as a couple, but the Colonnade Room is a beautiful open space with flowers surrounding the Courtyard. The Fairmont itself is also gorgeous. The staff was great (guests commented on this as well) and the rooms luxurious.

I tried to write a full review of my experience, but Wedding Wire won't give me enough room. (I can't say enough good things about the Fairmont.) Let me just say that Mark was awesome throughout the whole process, from beginning, to the tasting and week prior to the wedding, to the day of and night of the wedding. Mark is SUPER organized in terms of responding to your emails, his timeline and the team's execution of the timeline the wedding night. Things could not have gone more smoothly, his team could not be more awesome and professional. I did not hire an outside wedding planner, and there was no need to have one.

After the wedding, I was extremely pleased. Everything went PERFECTLY, and the guests commented on this as well. My relatives said that my wedding set the bar for all weddings in the family. It was an AWESOME experience, I just wish it hadn't gone by so quickly.

You'll fall in love with The Colonade room the second you step into it. We decided to pick The Fairmont hotel as our venue not only for the beautiful space, but for the Catering Sales Manager, Eric Horovitz. I consider myself to be very detailed and organized, so it was wonderful to have worked with someone who was just as detailed and organized as myself. Eric was extremely responsive to all of my phone calls and emails. He truly cared in wanting to a special day for my now husband and I. We met our Banquet Manager the day of our tasting, so we were in great hands the entire night. The food is fabulous and the pastry chef is amazing. All of our guests raved about our cake! Our wedding was truly magically and The Fairmont helped create it for us. You'll be in great hands with the entire staff! From the valet, the front desk, banquet manager, chef, wait staff, catering sales manager, you can't go wrong with The Fairmont!

Eric was the shining star of all my wedding planning. We had the best time together food tasting, cake tasting and picking out all the little details the Fairmont had to offer. My reception was grander than I could have ever imagined and it is all because of the hard work Eric and the rest of his staff put in. I was ver insistent on bringing in a lot of my own DIY decor and the Fairmont helped make my dream come true. They were so flexible and pretty much let me do whatever I wanted in terms of decor. I couldn't have asked for a better wedding day! Thank you so much to all of our friends at The Fairmont!

The Fairmont Washington, DC could not have been a better venue for our son and new daughter’s wedding. It is a gracious room full of light and an intimacy that exists for every guest. On top of it all, from the first moment we walked in to the Colonnade Room until the moment all our guests had checked out of the hotel after the wedding, we were treated with the utmost of professionalism and courtesy. Every single staff member went out of his or her way to be helpful. Driving home from the event we talked about how everything was PERFECT – no glitches, no problems, no disappointments. Every detail was considered and accomplished and every guest felt pampered. Eric Horovitz was incredible. At every point in the process his response time was minutes from when a question was asked. He was never flustered – even by our last minute flurry of questions and requests. He was a calming influence and helped us create and produce a truly magical event. We give the Fairmont an A+++!

WOW! Is all I can say! As soon as I walked into the venue I knew that was the room I wanted to have my reception in! We had our reception in The Colonnade room and it was breathtaking! The staff is fabulous and super helpful! Everyone responds to your emails really fast and they all make sure to accommodate your needs. The room is gorgeous and the hotel rooms are beautiful as well. We will be recommending them to all of our friends!! If you go make sure you ask for Eric H. He is phenomenal and will make your wedding experience SO easy! No need for a wedding planner when you have him :)

Amazing venue! Mark is amazing!

This rating scale cannot go high enough to express our satisfaction with this venue. The wedding was exquisite. The planner in charge of our wedding was available 24/7 if we needed him over the nine months of planning, and the "night of" was no exception. Every dollar spent was worth the unparalleled beauty, delicious food, and attentiveness to guests that was provided.

We have received wonderful comments from our guests about our wedding at the Fairmont in DC. They thought it was the best wedding they've been to. The venue is gorgeous! We got married and held our reception in the Colonnade room which is breathtaking. The courtyard area is unlike any other in the city.

One of the important things to my parents and me was the food. The Fairmont did not disappoint. The quality of food at your tasting session is the same quality you get on the day of your wedding. Unbelievably good. Everyone thought the food was amazing!

Mark Medrick was fantastic to work with. He helps coordinate all the details so on the day of my wedding the only thing I had to worry about was having fun and enjoying the festivities. He helps you plan the timeline from the begining of the ceremony to the end of the reception. His staff is wonderful too.

It is not cheap, though nothing in DC is, but I believe what you get is well worth the price.

Please be sure to put the Fairmont on your list of venues to check out before you make your decision.

After looking at nearly every hotel in DC for our wedding, my now-husband and I found the Fairmont. As soon as we saw the Colonnade room and the courtyard we booked it--it is, in our opinion, the most beautiful and unique venue available in DC. The planning process was seamless. We worked with Bob and there was never an email or call that was not answered within hours, if not minutes. We never even considered hiring a professional wedding planner because we were so confident that Bob and the Fairmont team had everything under control. They coordinated with our vendors about details so that was not something we had to stress over in the final weeks leading up to the wedding. On our wedding weekend, we (and our parents) were treated like royalty. Before our ceremony, there was a not-so-small hiccup (our officiant had not showed up five minutes before go time), and Bob fixed the situation and got everything started right on time. After everything began, my husband and I really were awestruck at how beautiful everything was. The Colonnade room is absolutely stunning at night (especially in the late fall/winter when the twinkle lights are up). It was the best night of our lives and this was largely due to the attentiveness and professionalism of the hotel staff. I'm not exaggerating when I say that nearly every guest came up to us at some point during the night and said that ours was the most classy, beautiful, fun wedding they had ever been to. Who could ask for more?

One additional note--it made us nervous at other venues (like the Willard) that there could be two weddings competing with each other at the hotel on the same night. There did end up being another wedding on our date in the downstairs ballroom at the Fairmont and there was absolutely no overlap in the two events and we never felt like we were competing for the staff's attention.

When my husband and I began searching for a wedding venue, I was adamant that I did not want a hotel. I had been to enough hotel receptions and didn’t want ours to simply fall in line. So when we included the Fairmont in our shortlist of venues to visit, I did not expect to like it.
We fell in love with it instantly. It’s a beautiful, elegant hotel to be sure, but the ambience sold us. The Fairmont has a classy, upscale feel without the stuffiness or austerity. The level of service is unmatched. From the moment you pull up to the front doors, you are treated like the most important guest they will ever have. Our decision was sealed almost immediately.
Throughout the rest of the planning process, the Fairmont did not disappoint. From the impeccable professionalism of the catering director (Bob Mikolitch) and his staff, to the incredible menu tasting, to the seamless wedding ceremony and reception, we were continually amazed.
Bob was, as I’ve said, the consummate professional and accommodated every request we had. The rest of the catering team jumped to help in any way needed throughout the year.
When our wedding weekend arrived, we had about 110 guests staying at the Fairmont, 160 attending the wedding. Not one guest missed the opportunity to rave to my husband and me about the fantastic weekend they had at the Fairmont. They talked about the quality of service and accommodations, and the elegance of the affair for weeks after. Many hadn’t been to DC in years and this was a wonderful re-introduction for them.
When the event finally arrived, it was perfect. Our ceremony and reception were both held in the lovely Colonnade room, where we had the most beautiful wedding I, in all my bias, have seen. But the true testament was from our guests. We were flooded with emails and texts in the days that followed, all proclaiming that none had been to a lovelier or more elegant wedding. If you choose to have your wedding here, you will not regret a moment.

My husband and I still get comments from our guests that our wedding was one of the best that they had ever attended and I know Bob Mikolitch and his staff at the Fairmont Hotel is a huge reason for that. When we first began planning, we knew that finding the perfect reception venue would set the tone for the entire event. We had never been to the Fairmont Hotel before our appointment but I had seen their fabulous reviews on WeddingWire and their endorsement in the Washingtonian Bride & Groom. We met with Bob and he escorted us into the Colonnade Room and I got tingles. The Colonnade is absolutely stunning. The elegant room is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows that gaze out on their beautiful garden courtyard, which is lit at nighttime by twinkling lights and a beautiful fountain.

Bob was so wonderful during the entire planning process. He was extremely responsive to the many many MANY emails my mom and I plied him with over those months. He was so patient with our questions and requests. Our menu tasting appointment was fabulous! The chefs and wait staff treated us like royalty and their food was beyond spectacular. I think that was one of my favorite parts of wedding planning! The Fairmont pastry chef decorated our cake and designed it exactly as we requested. It was truly beautiful and tasted wonderful! We had one guest stop us after tasting the dessert trio to tell us it was one of the best she has ever tasted.

The entire evening was flawless. Their attention to detail was impeccable and the service was outstanding and respectful. They ensured that the flow of the evening was perfect. It felt like every guest had their own wait staff handling their every need! The sweet touches that Bob left in our bridal suite that evening capped off the most perfect day of our lives. I highly recommend the Fairmont Hotel to every bride and groom looking for excellence. It's well worth the money and there's not a single detail I would have changed. Thank you, Bob!