Whistler Customer Reviews

Just come back from a week skiing in Whistler. It's a long way to go so you might want to try and go for 10 days. Great resort and fabulous ski facilities. I would recommend staying in Whistler Village, where most of the hotels are close to the lifts and you also have a better choice of restaurants. Be prepared, most of the restaurants are expensive. Typically $20-30 CAD for a main course. Some are worth it, (Araxi is stunning) others are not (The Brew House for example served terrible ribs at $36 CAD) Caramaba & The Spaghetti House are more family friendly and slightly cheaper. Great nachos and sandwiches at Monks Grill at the base of Blackcomb which is a nice spot for lunch.If you've only skied in Europe the colour system for the runs is slightly different. Greens (like Europe) are the easiest but often they are more like a European blue. Then there are blues which in places are more like reds, then diamonds and double diamonds which are like black runs. Excellent lift system. The Whistler Gondola gets busy between 9-11 am and it does take a good 15 minutes to get up the mountain. The Blackcomb Gondola tends to be quieter, although we actually preferred the runs on Blackcomb. The two mountains are linked by the Peak to Peak Gondola which has a stunning view, especially if you can get on the glass bottomed one. The other slopes are linked by a wide variety of chair lifts. Generally the slopes are well signed, but at some junctions it can get a bit confusing as to which slope you need so keep a piste map in your pocket. We had a really great holiday and think Whistler deserves it's title of one of the best ski resorts in the world.

March 1st to 11th 2010 - Whistler was still buzzing with Olympic atmosphere but as many people were staying away, there were hardly ever any lift queues, and the pistes were empty (apart from the weekends). We were not disappointed with the on-mountain restaurants, which "do what they say on the tin", i.e., serve wholesome food, quickly, at moderate prices. Especially liked the Chic Pea at the top of the garbanzo lift for something different. Best restaurant for us in the village was the Caramba, with excellent service and a good range of dishes. Disappointed in food in the Brewhouse restaurant, several dishes were off the menu and what we had was served on cold plates, although eating in the bar at the Brewhouse gets you a different menu, and is in our opinion better. Their in-house brewed beer however was very good. Also found Blacks bar served excellent apres-ski beers at much lower prices than Longhorns or the Dubh Linn Gate bar (the latter was extremely expensive). The Summit Lodge's restaurant (Elements) serves excellent breakfasts with a smile and as much coffee as you can drink. Best thrill of the whole holiday was the Snowmobiling (the Wilderness Experience) into the Callaghan Valley and up Sprout Mountain. The group leaders were fun, laid back but attentive. The views were great and the whole experience worth every penny (or dollar) - everyone should try it.

We're just back from the most amazing trip to Whistler. What made it so amazing? Firstly we picked the perfect time it appears. With the Olympics due to start everyone else seemed to have stayed away. We had whole pistes to ourselves and didn't have to queue once for a lift in the 10 days we skied there, it made for very tiring days with so much skiing. Secondly the organisation of our holiday was a dream. Ski Safari had everything covered which made getting there a breeze. Lift tickets were ready, ski rentals were easy, the accommodation was excellent, all in all I can't see how it could have been improved without the invention of a time machine to teleport me to the resort. Lastly we had perfect conditions. Powder on several mornings, not too cold but cold enough to keep the snow in perfect condition and Whistler's relaxed apres, perfect. We'll return to Whistler even though we know we'll never have the resort to ourselves in quite the same way again (we've been before) and we'll go with Ski Safari. Yes we could have put this holiday together ourselves but I don't think we would have saved a great deal and for the second time with Ski Safari everything went like a dream and that is worth paying for. If you've not been to Whistler you need to plan to go but don't be surprised when you want to go back every year instead of putting up with lift queues full of rude people in the Alps. It's the friendly people, the wide open spaces, the relaxed town and the perfect snow that put Whistler leaps and bounds ahead of the Alps.