Postcard from Whistler BC - food and hotel review

November 10, 8:24 AMRomance Travel ExaminerCarlanne McCrystal

Previous Next

4 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Romance Travel Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Whistler-Blockcomb - site o 2010 Olympics  ©Carlanne McCrystal 2009

---

Related Articles

• Vancouver celebrated the 100 day countdown by lighting the new Olympic Rings
• Olympic & Paralympic Village Vancouver handover marked 100-day countdown celebration (slideshow)
• Tourism Victoria welcomed media from around the world to the 2010 Olympics Torch Relay celebrations

On the  tour of 2010 Olympics/Paralympics venues, our first stop as we pulled into Whistler Village was at the Whistler Brewhouse, a member of the Mark James Group of restaurants.   This is a great place to stop into for a hamburger and a pint.  I had the Brewhouse Beef Burger which came with Garlic mayo, BBQ sauce & mustard, served with french fries and cole slaw. The dessert, a creamy chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream, a strawberry and a cute chocolate "music note" was equally yummy.  MJG restaurants include Taylor's Crossing in  North Vancouver, Yaletown (at Yaletown), Dix (downtown), Big Ridge in Surrey and Flying Beaver in Richmond.

Tourism Whistler sponsored dinner at Earl’s in Whistler Village, which is an excellent choice for dinner while visiting Whistler. They serve many wines and are unique with their one-price wine list which priced the wines affordably. This made choosing a wine more about what one really likes, and less about worrying whether the pocketbook can afford a chosen bottle of wine.  The choice of a local wine was foremost in everyone’s mind, so we had the Cedar Creek Pinot Gris from Okanagan Valley, BC. It was clean, crisp and lively.  Dinner included a 7 ounce Certified Angus Beef® Top Sirloin, garlic mashed potatoes and fresh seasonal vegetables. Check out the menu.

There are approximately 90 restaurants in the Whistler area.  I wish we had been there long enough to sample more of them but this complete trip was only eight days long to cover a lot of territory.  So I had only 27 hours there with a lot of information, as well as food, to digest.

The Fairmont Whistler  is a great choice for a good night’s sleep.  The views are lovely, though I am sure more so once the slope is covered with snow.  For example, the room had a view of the slope of Blackcomb and one can ski right into the hotel.  

One of the things I most love about the Fairmont hotels is that they allow pets. (a resounding 10!) For someone who has to travel frequently without their pet, they can get a lot of “fur-fixes” from other people’s pets. And if they ever get to take their pets with them they know where to stay!

The hotel is older and very traditional in its looks.  In my usual travel journalist fashion, I take pictures as I walk into my room and of pretty much every inch of the room, including the view. (See the slide show below for detailed pictures.)  It was immaculate with delicious chocolate candy on a stone tray and an inuksuk (pronounced e-nook-shook) made of chocolate.  This inuksuk  was meant as a symbol of welcome.  All this was handmade by the pastry chef.  There was a bottle of sparkling water as well, the help lighten the thick chocolate in my mouth.

The bed linens and pillows, along with the firmness of the mattress got an 8.5 on my scale of 10.  I slept very well under the covers.  The heat/air conditioning control was rather old fashioned and just a little hard to control and maintain an even temperature.  Once again I found myself struggling to control the amount of coldness or warmth.  I would give it about a 6.5 on the 10 scale.  I had a tussle with the WiFi and had to agree to a $13.95 room charge to get internet access.  By filling out a President’s Club application  (sort of a frequent stay/points kind of thing) the fee was politely reversed at check out.  Give the WiFi experience s 5 but the reversal of the fee a 10.  Then I found an Ethernet cable in the desk drawer and the Ethernet port on the wall beside the desk, so I was on a wire and gained a much faster connectivity.  That was a definite 10 to me because I could then do a decent video chat with my family and see my dog.

The bathroom amenities were delightful, not so much in quantity but in quality.  The shampoo and conditioner smelled so yummy, I have to give them a 10.  The shower had great pressure and a massage showerhead which was very good (another 10), but the control of hot/cold water was almost worse than controlling the room temperature.  I seemed unable to find a happy medium between lukewarm verging on cool to so hot I could hardly stand under it.  I managed to eventually find a temperature that, while not as warm as I would have liked, was acceptable.  So I would give it a 7 on the 10 scale.

Breakfast this morning was a 10 all the way.  Everyone was in awe of how much excellent food was presented.  The Mallard Lounge  was the setting for the breakfast which is normally closed at breakfast time. 

At the breakfast Ms. Christina Smith, bronze medalist in the women’s bobsled competition in 2002 was in attendance.  She is an incredible athlete and promoter of the bobsled competition.  Check back for an article on her coming up.  She has a new website pending going live and when it is ready for the public to see she will be alerting me so I can introduce the website in the article.

I declined to go on the ZipTrek excursion  as my fear of heights is way stronger than my desire to be a part of the group and experience the scenery.  I explored more of Whistler Village, albeit braving the pouring rain, shopping the nearly empty stores.  After exhausting my loonies and toonies, I headed off to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center. 

Check back for my next article:  Visiting the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center. 

For more info: 
Tourism Whistler
Whistler Brewhouse
Earl’s in Whistler Village
Fairmont Whistler 
Whistler Village

Contact Carlanne via email:  romancetravelexaminer@gmail.com
To receive travel news and deals in your email inbox, go to the top of this article and click the “Subscribe” button next to the picture and enter your email address.  Your email address will not be shared.  To make this a favorite, click the "Fav" button at the top next to the picture of National Romance Travel Examiner, Carlanne.