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SHOPPING > Travel > North America > Canada > Other Destinations in Canada > Canada Experience > Whistler (Canada) > Reviews

Whistler (Canada)

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Show all Reviews for Whistler (Canada)

Don't forget Whistler in the summertime.

Feb 9th, 2005

Advantages:
Excellent resturants, outdoor activities

Disadvantages:
A bit busy in the village

Recommendable Yes:

Detailed rating:

Value for Money

Shopping

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Family Friendly

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Member since:27.01.2005

Reviews:60

Members who trust:37

Summary
Whistler is a purpose built resort for having fun, lots of summer activities are avaliable in August and the hotels are of a good quality. Resturants are sparse, but the quality is very good. I highly recommend the 'Araxi', but if you are on a budget 'The Spaghetti factory' is the place for you. Just remmber to book either before you go.

General information

I had heard about Whistler as a ski resort, so when my wife and I where planning our honeymoon to Canada in the summer we missed out Whistler. However our travel agent said our journey from Clearwater to Vancouver would be a killer so we should stop off at Whistler. We agreed and I think we had the best two days of the hoilday here.

Whistler is situated about a two hour drive north of Vancouver, nestled into the mountains it is mainly a resort for skiing. The dude and dudette's of Canada have seen to it that Whistler is also a great place to be in the summer as well as the winter.

The arrival

We arrived in the afternoon, hot and bothered after travelling over six hours from Clearwater. The travel agent was right, the twisting roads south through the mountains to Whistler were a real struggle, it was the only journey in Canada that caused me stress. Getting into the town was a little difficult as there are few roads, but this makes walking around the centre much more enjoyable. I disposed of the car in the hotels multi-storey and we crashed out in the hotel room.

The hotel

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in the middle of Whistler, the rooms were a little on the small side for Canada, but standard for us Europeans. Also there were some building works going on next door for the 2006 Winter Olympic games, but in general the hotel was nicely positioned and clean.
The room had Satelite TV, a bathroom with shower, toilet and a bath with built in hot tub. The room was well equipped with a kitchenette consiting of a cooker, fridge, microwave and a dinning table. The double bed was a super-king size and we slept soundly the two night we were in Whistler.

The place

Whistler is a very compact place, the hotels and other buildings are tightly packed together. This could be viewed as being too crowded, but I thought it was just busy enough without being too overbearing. If you walked away from the main pedestrian areas you would soon find yourself under the pine trees and I thought the whole place was very well designed and managed.

Activities

In August the snow was a bit thin on the ground, but there were still many people around, as there are summer activities to do. Mountain biking is the top recreational activity, with many dudes taking a ride up Whistler mountain and coming down the ski slopes like bats out of hell. Hiking and walking come next, but my wife was more happy to sight-see. So we took a ride in the gondola to the top of Whistler mountain and we had a short walk to the Whistler glacier.
I cannot really remember what other activities were available as we really used Whistler as a rest place before we hit Vancouver, but I think Canoeing and Nature trails are available, there may even be a few flights over the mountains, but don't really remember if it was a summer or winter activity.

Other Facilites

Whistler was the home to one of our favourite resturants during our time in Canada. Canadian service is always good, but the Araxi resturant in Whistler was the best service of the whole trip. The food was also very good, the tables outside were great, the only down side was the end bill. It was the most expensive resturant, but sometimes it is nice to pay more and have great meal than, pay a average and have a poor meal. The Spaghetti factory is worth a look if you are running on a tight budget.

Conclusion

I cannot comment on the winter skiing side of things, but if you are in Vancouver and want to view the mountain resorts without having to travel over to Banff in Alberta, then take a two hour drive to Whistler. It real surprised me that a winter resort had a summer face to it as well.

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Comments about this review »

SIMONSD25 24.08.2005 08:23

Excellent review

Andy0304 12.03.2005 15:17

Sounds lovely, great review, Andy

purplelynne 03.03.2005 20:26

I'd love to go. It sounds wonderful. Lx

read all comments

More reviews »

Whistler (Canada) - review by arnoldhenryrufus

Advantages: Spectacular scenery, something to suit everyones tastes
Disadvantages: It is a bit far to go from Shropshire

arnoldhenryrufus 13.08.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Whistler (Canada)

Whistler (Canada) - review by NoLogoGirl

Advantages: Beautiful, affordable, great skiing snow
Disadvantages: Not a lot else outside of the village

NoLogoGirl 24.08.2001 (24.08.2001) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Whistler (Canada)

Whistler (Canada) - review by Helenp59

Advantages: Friendly, informative, good snow, excellent skiing, cheap meals, quick moving queues
Disadvantages: long journey and price of flight, we had to get a bus to the lifts

Helenp59 13.02.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Whistler (Canada)

Whistler (Canada) - review by picasso

Advantages: great facilities, usually lots of snow
Disadvantages: pristine image is tainted

picasso 21.11.2000 (21.11.2000) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Whistler (Canada)

Whistler (Canada) - review by BigCheese

Advantages: Great skiing, Good atmosphere, Great for kids
Disadvantages: Long trip requires two weeks to make the most of the cost.

BigCheese 26.06.2000 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Whistler (Canada)

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Whistler (Canada)

Don't forget Whistler in the summertime.

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