Whistler is a place we usually end up going to once or twice a year. It’s close to Seattle and my husband and I grew up in the suburbs of Vancouver BC so we know it really well. It’s usually an easy road trip from Seattle and over the years we’ve stayed at many of the hotels in the Whistler area. My usual go-to the Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside is no longer an option for us because we now bring our pup when we travel. And we can’t go to this Whistler hotel that has a few rooms with their own hot tubs anymore because of the pup either. So this summer when we were looking for a way to have a socially distanced driving holiday near Seattle I remembered the Four Seasons Whistler pool that I’d seen all over social media. And when I found out that the Four Seasons Whistler is also dog-friendly too, I was convinced that we needed to go.
A few years ago I stayed at the Four Seasons Whistler because of media trip. (This was one of the most amazing media trips I’ve been on because we flew into Whistler from Richmond BC on a seaplane. I never imagined you could fly to Whistler in a seaplane.) Back then they were talking about the renovations that the rooms would go through and it was neat to see the changes from the room in 2019 to what our renovated room looked like in 2021.
What are the rooms like at the Four Seasons Whistler hotel?
On our recent trip we booked connecting rooms for our family because we just wanted to sprawl in our rooms and have something that felt like a socially distanced staycation with a change of scenery. We could have easily stayed in one room with the pull out couch but since the kids are getting bigger they appreciate having a real bed rather than a sofa and I loved not having to share a bathroom with the kids too. The dog fee was a onetime fee of 65 dollars and we appreciated that it was a one time fee especially because Scout is tinier than most human babies and doesn’t even shed. And it was so nice not to get a designated dog room that felt like a designated dog room. (We’ve had to stay in lots of these since Scout joined our family and some of them have not been our favorite.). I absolutely loved how comfortable our rooms felt.
But I wish the patios at restaurants in Whistler were more dog-friendly so we could have eaten outside in a little more relaxed way as well. We tried to eat dinner on the patio at the restaurant at the hotel but the dog had to sit too far away from our table so it didn’t work out. Our back up was room service in our room but it wasn’t as dreamy looking as I imagined it would be so I don’t have pictures but we enjoyed the food and it was a treat to be able to eat food on real plates outside of our own home nonetheless. For other meals we took out from nearby restaurants and cafes and this worked out just fine. One of our favorite breakfast places is the Portobello Restaurant at the Fairmont and it is a really close walk so it was a easy breakfast too.
Outdoor spaces to hang out in at the Four Seasons Whistler
There is a really adorable outdoor space at this hotel where there is hot chocolate and apres in the winter and s’mores by the fire. In the summer the little trailer in the outdoor space has free snow cones in the afternoon and there is also a wine tasting nearby so this was a really nice thing put on by the hotel. (We also love Lucia Gelato that is locally made in Whistler and we found it in the Upper Village Market that is a short walk from the hotel just in case you are someone who also lives for dessert.) There is also a covered area where there is life-sized chess and a ping pong table where my kids liked playing a lot too.
But you are probably wanting to hear about the Four Seasons Whistler pool
It is such a perfect pool. We went early in the morning when it opened and had it all to ourselves. One morning was a little chilly but the pool is heated and warm. The kids could have played in the pool for hours. And there are even a couple hot tubs and a cute little outdoor sauna here too. When we were there, there was a time limit of 3 hours on busy days but midweek in the summer it was not very busy. And I am not usually a sit by the pool fan but this pool was spacious, peaceful and warm it made us feel like we were on vacation even though we weren’t very far away from home. The hardest part was one of us had to stay with the dog when the other three of us were at the pool but the room was comfortable and I brought lots of books to read for when it was my turn.
Because the sole purpose of this trip was to stay pretty much stay in one spot and relax (and to limit our interactions with others), the pool made this the absolutely most perfect place to stay with two active kids and a dog who wanted a trip but still needed to stay close to home. (Next time they are here the guys are hoping to ski or try bobsledding….and we are all hoping that things become more normal again soon)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)