This was published 1 year ago
Fairmont Chateau Whistler review, Canada: The world's most romantic snow getaway
By Anabel Dean
The grand dame of Whistler's hotels looks like a medieval Bavarian castle though it was only built in the 1980s.
CHECK-IN
It's an alpine fantasy arriving in a "newly-reimagined lifestyle hotel" at the bottom of Blackcomb Peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. Direct access to Whistler's ski slopes and only a 10-minute walk into the village that's a snow globe of Canadian good cheer. North America's largest ski resort is about two hours' drive along the spectacular Sea-to-Sky Highway from Vancouver.
THE LOOK
The grand dame of Whistler's hotels looks like a medieval Bavarian castle though it was only built in the 1980s. A multi-million-dollar investment has reinvigorated the monumental ensemble of guestrooms with an old-world feel designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates. The subtly elegant ski-lodge with vaulted ceilings, exposed stone walls and wooden beams extends into The Mallard Lounge, where live music fills the scented air from a commanding position with a huge stone fireplace. The revamped Fairmont Gold "hotel within a hotel" experience for upper-category rooms feels part members club, part gathering place, for happily unpretentious guests luxuriating on lounges with views of ice-buffed mountain peaks.
THE ROOM
Fairmont hotels are renowned for sophisticated, soul-soothing style and, from a distance, this one looks whoppingly grand but it's a welcoming retreat. Recent renovation reinterprets tradition in spacious rooms that are decorated in a modern alpine style with relaxed but tailored opulence. Natural tones are accented with blues, golds and greens in woven textiles teamed with dark wood, stone mantels, beamed ceilings and studded leather chairs. Throw open large windows to release fresh air while gawping at spectacular Whistler Blackcomb or Rainbow Mountain. My room is a peaceful box oozing class with silken sheets and scented toiletries in a newly-renovated bathroom. There are five-star in-room accoutrements: a Kuerig coffee maker, a teapot, a down-fillet duvet, a well-stocked mini-bar and a yoga mat. Upper-category rooms like mine have access to the Fairmont Gold Lounge, with an exclusive 8th-floor reception, and concierge to prioritise requests.
FOOD + DRINK
Ah civilization! Sink into a chair in the Fairmont Gold lounge, with a continual supply of culinary delectations from breakfast to cocktail hour and beyond, and you realise this is a forked road. Healthy or indulgent traveller? There are five restaurants to keep hunger at bay. At The Chalet, twinkling lights and a crackling fire make for a magical winter dining experience with European-inspired alpine cuisine that extends from charcuterie platters and cheese fondue (molten Emmenthal, Gruyere and white wine) followed by an after-dinner selection from the schnapps wagon. The Wildflower restaurant serves up West Coast-inspired cuisine while the casual Portobello, famous for its homemade doughnuts, offers made-to-order sandwiches and a smokehouse menu.
OUT + ABOUT
Venture out for the hotel's "Whistler Experience Guide" program of authentically local, guided outings for mild to wild adventurers. Excursions are exclusive to hotel guests and include hikes, ski tours, distillery tours, ice-skating, snowshoeing and more. There are winter wellness offerings – such as daily yoga and on-demand MIRROR classes – but it's hard to pass by the indoor/outdoor pools, steam rooms and sauna at the bottom of the slope arranged for restoration of mountain-weary bodies. It's technically possible to ski from the top of Blackcomb into a Fairmont hot tub after handing over ski clobber to the hotel valet who offers hot chocolate before the evening revelry begins.
THE VERDICT
You'd be hard pressed to find a more romance-inspiring getaway in a snow town. Fairmont Chateau Whistler is confident, calming and cosy as the ultimate "next level" luxury hotel for the discerning traveller while still being hospitable to children – and pets – who are pampered throughout their stay.
ESSENTIALS
Daily Winter Season room rates from $C699 ($756). 4599 Chateau Boulevard, Whistler, BC, V8E 0Z5, Canada.
Ph + 1 604 938 8000
OUR SCORE OUT OF FIVE
★★★★½
HIGHLIGHT
A top-notch ski-in, ski-out hotel with access to one of North America's premiere ski resorts. Whistler Blackcomb features 3277 hectares of skiable terrain, 16 alpine bowls, 3 glaciers, 200 + marked trails, and the record breaking 4.4-kilometre PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola connecting two mountains. Staff respond to all requests with apparently genuine interest and cheery offerings of advice.
LOWLIGHT
We are talking about lifestyle here, so it's a moot point, but the hotel's transformation doesn't seem to have extended to the guests who clatter and chatter noisily along corridors in pre- dawn hours.
The writer stayed as a guest of Destination Canada (keepexploring.com.au), Destination British Columbia (hellobc.com), Tourism Whistler and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.
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