As a manager in local government, I love meeting people from all walks of life. I love gadgets; goo...
As a manager in local government, I love meeting people from all walks of life. I love gadgets; good food, wine and a good read. I try and kid myself I eat healthily and exercise enough. We are planning our escape to France.
Member since:04.02.2006
Reviews:5
I am probably the only person in the world, who is fit and healthy, to spend a week in Whistler and not go up the mountain. Not strictly true - I went up, had a look and came back down again. Great views.
What makes it worse is that we stayed in a ski -to-door hotel. If fact we probably stayed in THE ski-to-door hotel. That may have been part of the problem. The comforts of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Hotel don't exactly encourage you to venture into the snowy outdoors. If you want great food and a superb spa this is the hotel for you, expecially if you enjoy hot bathing in the snow. We didn't mean to do nothing - we set of with every intention of spending the week skiing and in fact we travelled from the UK for the great skiing. One lazy day simply slid into another and before we knew it - time to go home.
If you don't want to go skiing or boarding and can't amuse yourself in the spa for the day, this probably isn't the holiday destination for you. Great Bars and nightlife, but as this is a purpose built resort there's nothing to really see out and about - or they keep it very well hidden.
If you're into boarding this is the place to be and it's worth the trip from the UK. In Feb/Mar there's normally a snowboarding fesitval but check the dates before booking. At this time, the town is full of boarders and there's a great atmosphere. On the down side, it can busier on the lifts.
Beware of the time that you travel as the Blackcombe mountain is closed in August.
If you've never boarded or skied in the USA or Canada you may find it a bit more relaxed and better organised than Europeanresorts and the lift queues are not quite so bad.
Food is more expensive than perhaps we're used to in the UK but there is loads of it ranging from Cafes to some very nice restarants. The Easter Sunday Buffet at the Fairmont is definately worth a trip, as is Sunday Lunch. Breakfast at the Westin is a more relaxed affair and with a full buffet for $22 dollars is not bad value.
The locals are incredibly friendly and helpful. As most of the business surrounds the tourist industry, they never forget how important visitors are to the economy of the town and you'll be made very welcome.
Some of the hotels run courtesy buses and if you pop into many of the shops, they'll call the hotel and get the bus sent round to collect you and take you back.
That said, nearly everything in the town is within walking distance so you won't be needing transport to get around. In fact the main car park is in the middle of the town and the main town is largely pedestrianised. Given the number of steps around the town, navigating could be tricky if you're wheelchair bound. It would be worth checking with the Tourist Board or your hotel about provisions for wheelchairs before booking.
Beware of flying times and make sure you leave enough days either side of travelling to sort out your jet lag. Most flights leave the UK in the morning, fly for about 9 hours and land in Vancouver around the same time as you left - leaving you with another day to get through before bed-time! There is a bus from Vancourver to Whistler which takes about 2 hours and can be prebooked.
If you're not doing snow sports, take the bath oil and a few good books! If you're doing boarding or skiing - you're going to have a great time.
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I went there for a day visit in the Fall when there was no snow!
alleycat01 06.12.2006 18:08
Good start, but more info would make it more helpful. alley x
duskmaiden 06.12.2006 13:15
This was a diffciult one to rate. as a non skier like me this is fairly useful but i feel skiers would wnt to know more about the facilities. The other thing would be to break the review up into smaller paragraphs. itis less dauntitng to read than one long block of text! I am sorry at the ratitng as i was torn between helpful and somewhat helpful
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Advantages: Two excellent mountains, plenty of snow, night life, wonderful people, wonderful food, excellent accomidation, plently of room on the slopes Disadvantages: Expensive, very long distance and traveling time
sonyduo 21.05.2006 (21.05.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Whistler, Ski Resort
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 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Whistler (Canada)
Dec 5th, 2006
(Dec 6th, 2006)
very helpful by (20%):
helpful by (60%):
somewhat helpful by (20%):
