The Fairmont Chateau Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
Some mountain resorts are all about one season. But if you love both winter and summer (and spring and fall!) and want to experience them in style, treat yourself to mountain luxury in any season at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.
Right at the base of Blackcomb Mountain in the Canadian resort community of Whistler, this luxury hotel is ideally placed for winter snow sports, but it’s also perfect for warm-weather visitors who come for hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, golf, and a host of other mountain adventures.
Here’s the scoop:
A standard guest room at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler
Guest Rooms and Amenities
Fairmont Chateau Whistler completed a significant update to its 519 guest rooms in 2022, redesigning the units with a calming “mountain-cabin” design that includes distinctive details like tree trunk-inspired headboards in the standard guest rooms. Most standard rooms measure a comparatively spacious 400 square feet.
Among the room amenities are down-filled duvets, thick cotton bathrobes, espresso machines, tea kettles, and safes. Each room comes with yoga mats that you can use for pre- or post-adventure stretches.
The Whistler Fairmont has replaced all single-use plastics that guests previously would have encountered, so no more little bottles of shampoo or body wash. The hotel still offers its signature Le Labo Rose 31 bath amenities, only now they’re stocked in full-size bottles that staff can refill.
The hotel also has a variety of suites, most with either one or two bedrooms. Some connect to standard rooms to accommodate larger families or groups of friends.
A Fairmont Gold room
Fairmont Gold
Located on the hotel’s higher floors, the upgraded Fairmont Gold rooms have a somewhat different design, with different carpet and artwork, plus fireplaces in the bedrooms and soaker tubs in the large bathrooms.
Unique to the Gold rooms are aromatherapy pods that you can add to your shower, infusing your wash with a choice of herbal scents.
The Fairmont Gold rooms have fireplaces
Fairmont Gold guests have access to a private lounge on the hotel’s 8th floor, which serves breakfast, afternoon appetizers, and evening snacks. Coffee, tea, and soft drinks are available all day; the lounge has an honor bar as well.
Gold guests check in directly at the lounge, bypassing the often-busy main lobby. The Gold staff can also assist with information or requests to enhance your stay.
A selection of après-ski snacks in the Fairmont Gold lounge
Dining and Drinking Options
You won’t go hungry at the Fairmont, even if you never leave the property.
Located in the lobby, the Wildflower Restaurant serves a lavish breakfast buffet, as well as a la carte options if you prefer a lighter start to your morning.
The Grill Room specializes in steaks, including a massive dry-aged Tomahawk, although you could make an excellent meal out of the vegetable side dishes, like grilled broccolini with braised onions, roasted beets with ricotta and hazelnuts, or a kale and romaine caesar salad.
Also on the lobby level is The Mallard Lounge, a popular spot for après ski drinks and light meals. While the mixologists will make you any number of classic cocktails, they also craft more unusual combinations, such as the Port Royal Daiquiri (rum, pineapple liqueur, and cinnamon smoke), the Old Boy (rye, scotch, fresh ginger, and a gojuchang-honey syrup), and the Fifty Shades of Blue, which starts with Hendricks gin infused with Gorgonzola cheese, served martini-style alongside a dish of port-soaked figs.
The Fifty Shades of Blue cocktail at the Mallard Lounge
The Fairmont has a more casual dining spot on its lower level, Portobello, serving breakfast bowls, waffles, and pastries to start the day, then smoked and barbecued meats at lunch and dinner. They also sell grab-and-go bites that you can pick up on the way to your adventures.
A fun — and delicious — winter experience is a fondue dinner under the twinkling lights at The Chalet, a short walk from the hotel, in the space that serves as the golf course clubhouse in summer. You can opt for fondue solo or choose a multi-course meal that includes a soup or salad to start, a simmering pot of gooey cheese paired with bread and housemade pickles, and a chocolate fondue dessert, with meringues, cubes of banana bread, and an assortment of fruits to dip and twirl in the warm chocolate.
A winter hike at Lost Lake with a Whistler Experience Guide
Whistler Experience Guides
All Fairmont Chateau Whistler guests can take advantage of the hotel’s “Whistler Experience Guide” program, joining staff on daily adventures.
Activities vary by the season and might include a guided introduction to Whistler Blackcomb for skiers or snowboarders, a variety of hikes or snowshoe excursions, and ice skating either on the rink at Whistler’s Olympic Plaza or on a nearby lake, when it’s sufficiently frozen.
There are tours of the Whistler Museum and of the excellent Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (run jointly by two First Nations), tastings at local craft breweries, and more.
The resort publishes a weekly schedule of activities. Most are free or available for a nominal fee.
The lap pool at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler during the warmer months
Fitness and Wellness Activities
The hotel offers regular yoga classes for guests and has a large fitness facility that includes Peloton bikes along with the more standard treadmills, elliptical trainers, and other workout equipment.
The Fairmont has one of the nicest pool facilities at Whistler, with a 60-foot-long heated outdoor lap pool, another pool where you can swim from the indoors to the outside, several whirlpool tubs, a dry sauna, and two eucalyptus steam rooms.
The hotel’s Vida Spa offers massages, facials, and an array of other wellness services.
Mountain and village views from the Fairmont Chateau Whistler
Still More to Do — In Any Season
As North America’s largest snow sports resort, Whistler has plenty to do in the colder months, from skiing and snowboarding to snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and more.
In the warmer seasons, you can ride the gondola to sightsee in the mountains, go hiking, or challenge an array of mountain biking trails. You can zip-line, try the Via Ferrata climbing course, or head for the Cloudraker Suspension Bridge, where you’ll feel like you’re on top of the world.
And on mild evenings, when you head outdoors at The Mallard Lounge for your after-dinner beverage, you may wonder which season is indeed best.
Rates
Double room rates at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler generally start at about CAD$329 per night and vary significantly depending on time of year and type of room. The hotel charges an additional CAD$20 per night resort fee. You check prices online at Booking.com to see if you can find a better rate.
If you’ve driven to Whistler, you can park your own car in the hotel garage for CAD$37/day, or let the valet take care of your vehicle for CAD$45/day. But consider leaving your car at home. You don’t need a car for most Whistler activities, and the Fairmont runs a complimentary shuttle around the village for hotel guests.
Hotel feature updated by Vancouver-based travel, food, and feature writer Carolyn B. Heller. Thanks to Jill K. Robinson for the original Hotel-Scoop review of this hotel.
Top photo courtesy of Fairmont Chateau Whistler, other photos © Carolyn B. Heller. Fairmont Chateau Whistler, with support from Tourism Whistler, hosted my recent Whistler visit.
