Fairmont Chateau Whistler Resort

This hotel is beautiful, the rooms are wonderful, but the staff seems very uninterested in helping you. The concierge was friendly, just not the front desk.

This review is rated based on our experience for a hotel of this cost. I try to review based on what I expect for the price, vs other hotels. Given this is not a cheap place, this review is related to that, but might be a higher score for a cheaper hotel under these circumstances. None of these are show stoppers, but for the price, it should have been better. For the amount it costs to stay here, there were several issues we encountered. When we settled in, we tried the TV but the remote wasn't working. Earlier they said if you need anything, just dial 0. So we need a new remote (or batteries) and we go to dial 0. No dial tone, dead phone. So we had to go down. We say the phone doesn't work and we need new batteries or a new remote. A dude comes up and gets us a new remote (maintenance). Perfect but he isn't the guy for the phone, that's housekeeping. So we wait for house keeping, for the phone. He comes and gets us fixed up. They give you free bottles of water, which is nice. And if you run out, dial 0 and ask and they'll bring you more right away. We run out of water, so we dial 0 on our now working phone. They say they'll be right up. 30 min goes by...hmm, no water. Dial again, we ask and she says, oh I told them, I'll tell them again. 30 more minutes goes by...wtf, where's the water. So we call again, and ask, we're okay if it takes more than an hour for water, but you said right away, if it's an hour, we'll wait patiently, no worries. She says, no it should have been right away. So she says she'll tell them again. Finally after another 30 minutes the water arrives. Then, our sink stops up completely. It never drained well but then finally stopped. Maintenance comes to fix, and he just dug out the gross stuff and threw it into the toilet. It was all over the inside of the toilet, and outside the toilet. He didn't clean it, nor even flush the gross down the toilet. Then finally, while asking the front desk some questions about the resort fee and what's included, and how the billing worked etc, we had a lady behind the counter that really couldn't be arsed to help and was super annoyed and snappy at each question. To the point where if we had questions, we avoided her. I started giving this 2 stars only because again, these are a big deal but at this price, shouldn't be the case. We just had a bad room I guess. But, I added back one start (3 out of 5) because Kyle at the concierge desk was AMAZING and so helpful with other things. But given the price, I have to do 3 stars.

Our family spent a week vacationing in Whistler, British Columbia. Whenever possible, I always try and choose the Fairmont brand and was delighted to find the Chateau Whistler property. Our stay was absolutely spectacular from the time of check-in to the time we checked out. Joanne Lewandowski, Concierge, was absolutely wonderful in assisting us before our stay in setting up various reservations for activities and meals. Every single staff member we encountered, during our stay, from the Valet to the Bell Desk to the Main Reception to the Fairmont Gold Reception to the Vida Spa Therapists were all extraordinarily professional, uber-helpful and very, very friendly. Could not have asked for a better experience! Thank you!

We were able to enjoy the services as a gold member, the food in the lounge was amazing. We decided during our last visit it is better than any of the restaurants in the village so we took full advantage this time. Also as a gold guest there are several adventurer tours you can book. Many thanks to Jack at the adventure center for his hospitality and patience. Special thank you to Tani our yoga guide. It was my first time doing yoga and I was having some hip issues since I hadn’t been doing my normal work outs for a week. She was the perfect instructor/ guide. My whole family joined and it was both relaxing and super helpful to stretch out my hip flexors. I highly recommend the class to anyone who needs a bit of stretching to relax the body!

A big thank you to Ken Hall (GM), Jacqui W.(Supervisor, Gold Concierge), Ian I., Ai N., Kristen, Tabitha (& all staff in the Gold Executive Lounge), Jack @ Experience Whistler (part of Resort Experience Fee!), the events catering staff & housekeeping! My company hosted our National Sales Meeting here 100 people (& my wife & another couple joined me for an extended long weekend after the meetings). Ken Hall & Jacquie W. welcomed us with room upgrades & cheese/ nuts/ fruit tea tray. The national sales meeting was serviced well with good quality food, timely & organized service, great AV support. Well done & much appreciated! My wife & our friends enjoyed the Gold Lounge breakfasts, snacks, evening canapés in a quieter setting away from the throng of guests at the hotel that weekend. Staff at the Gold Lounge were so helpful— grabbing us special order cappuccinos (eg. coconut milk), giving us tips, accomodating special requests, etc. Our room was upgraded to a Jr. Suite for the entire week! It was very clean; large; had a tranquil view of Blackcomb Mtn/ towering evergreens ; comfortable bed; a well-appointed bar; well-stocked tea/ Nespresso coffee pods/ creamers/ honey; walk-in closet; double sink bathroom w separate toilet room; both sections of the suite had opening windows! Love the 2-sided fireplace! Ask for a mini-fridge (free) as the bar fridge is an automated one that bills you if you lift a bottle to make room for your own stuff! Concierge (Jacquie W. & Ian I.) were incredibly capable securing us last-minute dinner reservations for 4 ppl. @ high demand restaurants usually requiring 1-2months’ advance booking. Their walking dine-around tour recommendation with Whistler’s Finer Things Tasting Tour. The hiking activity to the Train Wreck was run by Jack. He was an excellent guide. Helpful, interesting, lots of history, took lots of “creative” pics of us. Gorgeous views. Manageable 2 hour hike w easy inclines/declines. Wildflower Restaurant on the main floor had great quality with a lovely view & a $49/person Fixed Price Menu. Upstairs was the Grill Room steakhouse (4-Diamond) which was pricier with an even nicer view ! The fitness facility was clean with a view of the mountains , outdoor pool, hot tubs. Needed one more weight pulley system because another guest hogged it while stopping to make his business calls! So rude! The indoor/ outdoor pool was the perfect temperature but a bit small when an entire Dance Competition event invaded the hotel for the weekend! The Clubhouse was also a lovely spot for a post-golf snack & drinks. Emma(?) humoured us by finding the ingredients & making us the best “Peppermint Patty” cocktail we’ve ever had! What initiative! Upon checkout, because we had split our booking into corporate & personal, the personal rate was not reflected accurately. Jacquie trusted me & adjusted the rate to price I told her we were quoted (for which I had to find the written proof). She went ahead & trusted me, adjusted the rate in our favour. On our return home I subsequently forwarded her the email from their Events Planner confirming the leisure rate we were quoted. We used the courtesy shuttle a few times. During the week they were very fast! However over the long weekend, staff were stretched thin as the hotel was almost at full capacity! Even getting our car from the valet took 30min. on the busy Saturday night! Fairmont Fit is a handy service for Accor members. But even they ran out of sizes that weekend. This resort also had the best location at the base of Blackcomb Mtn with ski valets at the base who store your ski gear! We’ve also never been to a resort where one could do all of these activities in a day: ski/snowboard top half of Blackcomb + mountain bike or hike the bottom half + kayak on a lake + golf + swim/ hot tub outdoors in the crisp fresh air + walk to & throughout Whistler Village (pedestrian only) from the hotel in a very safe, beautiful setting (unless you see a Black Bear w its cubs— which can happen!). Overall, we’ve travelled all over the world & there are very few large, full-service hotels like this one that can consistently deliver high service levels with a professional yet warm pleasant manner! And when things are not quite up to expectations, they are also practised as to how to apologize & make up for their minor misses. We found the Fairmont Chateau Whistler a good value given all the above, even at its higher price point! Suggestions for improvement: a different pilates instructor (!); provide Gold Lounge guests with advance menus for evening canapés for each day as some nights canapés were so good they were as filling as a dinner & we wished we didn’t have dinner reservations! 😁Until next time Whistler family….