Four Seasons Whistler

Booked a Premier room at the Virtuoso rate of $325 which included continental breakfast (or $18 CAD to choose from the a la carte menu). I was also given 30% off one massage treatment which was part of the 2005 Virtuoso rate but not offered for 2006. However, since this was still in the GDS by mistake it was offered to me.

We were upgraded to a Four Seasons Executive Suite (Room #616) which is about 800 sq. ft. with a separate living room with sofabed and fireplace, a spacious bathroom with separate WC, double vanities, deep soaking tub and the usual lovely FS stall shower. My usual preference of Bulgari toiletries was unavailable so the hotel stocked the bathroom with Acca Cappa, an italian brand, which is also stocked in the "Big Ten" suites.

The bedroom had a king bed with the largest balcony of all the rooms and suites. We were on the corner with views of Blackcomb in the distance, nice wooded area directly in front of us and the Fairmont Chateau Whistler in the mid-ground. It was very quiet and serene.

We received a welcome letter from the GM along with bottles of water and an assorted dried fruit plate which was very tasty. The room temperature was set to 21 Celcius -- just the way I like it.

We were shown around the hotel and escorted to our room by the Assistant Resort Manager. Michael, who ensured we had a wonderful stay. We were granted early check-in of 11:00am and a late check-out of 2:30pm.

Before heading out for dinner we stopped by the hotel's lounge part of the restaurant, FiftyTwo 80. The room is a bit art deco but with plenty of natural stone and wood to remind you that you are in Whistler. In high season, the FS has a DJ spinning tunes in the Lounge area and is quite the attraction for the young, sleek, and well heeled.

As one would expect the furnishings are of high quality and the chairs and sofas are very plush and comfortable. There is an outdoor terrace for al fresco dining which must be spectacular during a nice summer evening.

The lounge menu is compact but well selected and prepared. The drink list is fairly extensive with unique cocktails and martinis plus the usual suspects. Prices, like all other Four Seasons', are on the high side but the quality is beyond reproach. We ordered the prawn tempura roll and the short ribs with foie gras mini burgers.

The prawn tempura roll is not what I thought it would be. I was expecting a dynamite roll with the prawn tempura inside the sushi roll. Here, the whole sushi roll is dipped into tempura batter and then flash fried, and is served withgari(the pickled ginger), wasabi, and a vast quantity of soya sauce. Simply remarkable!! My sister liked them so much we duelled chopsticks for the last one...... of course, chivalrous as I am, I relented and gave her the last one!!

The short rib and foie gras mini burgers were simply decadent. There were amongst the best snack food I have had. The shallot jam nicely complements the foie gras and short ribs. My only complaint was that the mini-buns were a tad tough -- I am still undecided if their size makes them dry out faster or if this bunch was not "perfect." My sister and I decided that we like the appetizers so much we would be willing to drive to Whistler to have them!! The Prawn roll was $10.00 and the Mini-burgers $16 or so.

To accompany this I had a Mojito which was very very good; one of the better ones I have had.

The only sour point was the service. I felt that, overall, the F&B service was lacking. Took awhile for the server to greet us and give us menu's, rarely came back to check up on us, no Manager presence, staff often talking amongst themselves when they could be attending to guests...... the service oddly reminded me of the Westin when I stayed there in November.

For dinner, we went to Ric's Grill, a chain steakhouse. The dinner was laughably forgettable much to the surprise of all the Four Seasons staff. However, the highlight for us was being driven to the restaurant in the hotel's Cadillac Escalade. Returning to the hotel was simple as we just had to go to the nearest FS hotel shuttle drop off/pick up point. In fact, we skipped dessert at Ric's and went back to FiftyTwo 80 for dessert. My sister had the Trio of Creme Brulee (coffee, kahlua, and regular) and I had the New York Cheesecake. Absolutely stunning desserts. The fresh berries which accompanied the cheese cake was exactly what I had hoped for and the cake was nice and moist, good flavour, light, and not too sweet. My sister's spanish coffee was generous in size, potent, and completely satisfying for her. The food is definitely outstanding at this property.

Next: Breakfast and Take-away boxed lunch

The breakfast at 5280 is very nice. The restaurant does not offer a buffet at all times, only during periods of higher occupancy. When we were there a buffet was set up and had a good selection of high quality items. There are the usual hot items: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, pancakes, hash browns, oatmeal and a made to order omelette station. There is a good selection of fruit, cold cuts, wonderful smoked salmon, cereals, breads and a small selection of cute mini-muffins, croissants, etc. The croissants are the best I have seen in a hotel in Canada; actual flaky, crispy on the outside, soft in the inside, with the layers of pastry dough evident throughout -- in other words, a REAL croissant and not a crescent shaped bread. Oddly, the danishes had VERY cold center fillings which made me wonder if those were actually baked that morning...... also available on request are wonderful pain au chocolat which come close to the version at 5 Senses (Thomas Haas) in Vancouver....

Service is okay but a little spotty. A very good breakfast though certainly not cheap, but standard for hotels of this calibre, $29. Was happy to have it included in our rate.

We decided to order the hotel's take out lunch boxes for the trip home. A sandwich, drink and accompaniment (fruit, vegetables, etc) is $14 and is not a bad value. We ordered two for the road, one with house smoked salmon in a bagel with cream cheese; potato chips, and water; the second with chicken salad sandwich, vegetable crudites and diet coke. The smoked salmon was excellent and provided for in very generous portions. The chips were a whole can of regular Pringles (I was expecting a small bag of Kettle chips). The chicken salad was also very good but the smoked salmon is a better value.

My only complaint is that room service delivers these boxes to your room before check-out. There is no option to pick them up at Reception at check-out. As a result, you are assessed the $4 delivery charge (which, in and of itself I can grudgingly accept) but was also charged 7% GST AND the 17% Service charge on top of the $4 delivery charge, which, I must admit, made me quite livid. This $4 charge does not seem to be a result of a collective bargaining agreement, as in NYC, where all those charges are part of the CBA) and to see this at a Four Seasons is quite disappointing. While I did mention my displeasure at this practice at check-out, I did not ask for the charge to be removed, afterall, it is a hotel policy which I happen to disagree with. In typical Four Seasons fashion, the $4 charge was removed from my folio by the hotel proactively.

The hotel pool is free form and is a good size. There are cabana's and two jacuzzis. The pool area was undergoing renovation as we were checking out. The Fitness room is compact but with very high quality equipment. There are only a few weight machines but about a dozen treadmills, stairmasters and bikes. The Spa looks wonderful while I was unable to make use of it this time around.

Valet parking is $30 and is excellent. At check-out the doormen stocked our car with cold bottles of water for the trip home which was a nice touch. The car was brought to us very quickly whenever we needed it.

One final thing is that there is no standard mini-bar in the fridge anymore. There is a menu in which you can have your mini-bar customised to your preferences but at ridiculous amounts: e.g. $15 CAD for a 6 pack of Coke. Fortunately, there is a IGA Marketplace not far from the hotel in which you can stock up!!

I think, overall, that this property is in the upper tier of FS Hotels worldwide. The physical plant is top notch and the property itself is beautiful -- without a doubt in my mind the finest hotel in Whistler. It is a fairly large property but it feels much more intimate than it looks.

I feel that the Hotel side of the operation is what one typically expects of a Four Seasons property. Friendly, unpretentious, and efficient service where staff do their best to anticipate guest needs and to try to exceed expectations and go above and beyond. However, I felt that the Food & Beverage side of the operation, in terms of service, needs some fine tuning. The service is fairly good but a few notches below what I expect of Four Seasons. A chilled out Whistler factor and a transient workforce likely have a role in this but I am confident that management will straighten this out in due course.

The Food and Beverage itself is outstanding and the food at Fifty Two 80 is phenomenal. The Short Ribs and Foie Gras mini-burgers with shallot jam were simply outstanding, despite the mini-buns being a little on the hard side. The tempura shrimp sushi roll (where the whole sushi roll is dipped in tempura batter and flash deep fried) was also outstanding.

We were taken on a tour of the property and I was able to view the Moderate, Superior, Premier rooms and the Deluxe FS Executive Suite, 2 BR Deluxe Suite and the Presidential Suite. All rooms are generous in size with very large bathrooms, featuring double vanity, bath and separate shower. The suites are stunning!

A couple pet peeves:

Internet access in the Business Centre is free for the first 15 minutes with every 15 minutes thereafter charged at $5. I just feel that this is nickel and diming given that Canary Wharf and Paris offer free internet access in the Business Centre and Tokyo Chinzan-So offer complimentary internet access in the rooms and public areas.

There is a $4 delivery charge on room service orders which reminds me more of a Hilton, Starwood, or Inter-Con property than a Four Seasons. I think what is worse, however, is that the 17% gratuity, as well as the 7% GST, is charged on the $4 delivery charge. This effectively takes a $9 cheesecake to just over $16......