anyone stayed at Whistler Pinnacle Hotel, Whistler

A snowHead

we are looking at returning to Whistler this year for about 10 days in March and had a quote for Whistler Pinnacle Hotel, Whistler.
Sounds good but would value peoples views and feedback.
thanks
Rob and Sharon

A snowHead

This comes with the health warning that it is a few years since I stayed there.

Guessing, I would put the hotel as something between what I would describe as a 3 and 4 star.

The rooms were fine. Usual type of TV with the usual free and pay channels, including movies. Comfy bed. There were I recall some cooking facilities including a small fridge, microwave, toaster etc. That was fine for me as I was only interested in getting breakfast. Otherwise I ate out. There was a big hot tub/jacuzzi in the room. I think that all rooms had these tubs. Good for aching limbs after a days skiing.

Not much in the way of facilities in the hotel. Small reception. No restaurant (but loads nearby).No lounge. No bar (there is one across the road in the Delta Suites). There was also a hot tub (outdoor) which I didnt use.

There was a communal washer dryer facility which took coins. It was quite busy as I recall.

Location is good. Next to the new Library, across the road from the Delta Suites, an easy walk to the Brewhouse (another bar) and the Market Square with the supermarket and liquor store. Loads of restaurants within a stones throw (in any direction) of the hotel. Also an easy walk to/from the lifts and the main village. Go up via the Village Loop and through the walkway next to the bookshop into the square.

If you get the bus from YVR it drops and picks up at the Delta Suites so it is virtually door to door service for the Pinnacle as well.

I have kept an eye on the prices for the Pinnacle and they have stayed pretty constant since I was there, usually between $170 and $200 plus tax per night. Now I tend to go self catering via Allura and you can get a studio apartment or a 1 bedroom apartment in the same general area for a lot less than that. OK you have to make your own bed and you dont get the in room jacuzzi but then you pay less and you will get more room and better kitchen facilities. Depends what is important to you.

If the price was right I would go back but, at the above rates, I will stick with Allura

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks for the feedback on this. Have stayed in the Delta and know the Brew house
Allura is not covered by Uk travel agents.
cheers
sharon and rob

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Sorry not been to the Pinnacle but thought you should know we got a very good deal with Virgin for the Delta so maybe worth looking at. Way better than Ski Independence we normally use.

Sister stayed at the Listel and that was good and reasonable price, tucked away but very handy for lifts.

Looking forward to going back to the Brew House too.

I looked at Allura myself and yes the places are good but you can't make the price stack up with the airfares as the TO must get them soo cheap.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

As a matter of interest, what deal did you get with Virgin. It is a while since I have used a tour op but the days of the cheap airfare seem to be past, so I may have to think again. KLM used to be reliable for a cheap deal but they seem to be as expensive as BA and AC now

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malcolm1,

Likewise, we've Allura'd for the last few years (and are again, this year), but the air fares are beginning to bite: using BA this year rather than KLM because of the introduction of the KLM ski carriage charge (we booked early enough to miss this, last year).

I'd also be interested in knowing what sort of TO deals that might be competitive against our DIY options.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

it is an issue, especially if you fly from a regional airport and dont want to go for 7/14 days as both of those tend to rule out any charter flights that might be available.

What makes it a bigger pain is that the Allura rates, if anything, are coming down in dollar terms (though the exchange rate is still pants so it does cost more than a few years ago) I reckon that the property owners are hurting because the US dollar has tanked against the CDN dollar and that may be impacting adversely on US visitor numbers, which is by far their biggest foreign market

After all it is free

We got £3504 for 3 in Delta 2 be suite (sleeps 6 so always expensive but we like the space) we have to have 2 bathrooms! Flying with Air Canada (better arrival time and more sure that they will be flying as school holidays) with transfer. Regional airport dont make me laugh. We drive down to Heathrow 5hrs (we are in Yorkshire too Acacia) and over night stop/parking. Used to use Zoom from Manchester but that went bye bye a couple of years ago. Even this whilst direct did stop in Glasgow for the other half of the plane to fill up!

This was similar price to last Easter although this year Easter is it seems spread over 6 weeks high rate.

We have always gone with Ski Independence before and even though they have a "we will match any quote" they did not want to match this. They were over £500 more.

I read the Pique Newsmag from Whistler and they seem to think that price are falling over there as people chase full occupancy. I had to tell them that this was not true for us at all, and with out this deal we would not have been going. As you note the exchange rate is not helping either. So if one took a chance and booked the flights I guess Allura would have some good last minute deals if you were not too bothered where you were staying.

Total estimated budget is £6000 for the 3 of us for the week. Booked the skis and lifts before the November discounts finished. Just hope we get some great skiing.

Our friends, who go for 2 weeks, booked in July and managed to get the deal for £400 a head cheaper than their Easter trip last year.

We stayed at the Pinnacle when we were last there in 2007. I'd recommend it - big studio apartment, basic but useable kitchen (with a hob and microwave but no oven, I think), clean and pleasantly decorated, decent location. There's a good Italian restaurant right next door and a branch of Affinity Rentals around the corner from reception.

There isn't a hot tub in every room - a friend of ours had a slightly cheaper room without one - but that aside they're all broadly the same.

If you're especially lazy it's probably a 10 minute walk to the lifts in ski boots so other places are closer; otherwise I couldn't fault it.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

For those who want to compare prices I got an airfare with British Midland for roughly £555 in their summer sale. This is British Midland from Edinburgh to London and then Air Canada from Heathrow to Vancouver and the same back.

10 nights in an Allura 1 bedroom apartment in Deer Lodge (as it happens, across the library square from the Pinnacle Hotel) for £995 and I still have to book the bus but it looks as if it will be about £70 return so that is coming in at about £1600.

Lift tickets and ski hire still to be organised as well. No meals included but breakfast will be home made, lunch is on the mountain so it is only the evening meal to look at and some of that will be takeaway/store bought (I tend to find staying awake after 9pm a serious challenge so long slow evening meals are not usually part of the ski holiday experience, except maybe towards the end, when the time change is being coped with)

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malcolm1, Ah but what price is a village centre apartment from Allura with 2 bathrooms. You obviously do not have 2 women (and yourself) in your party. You can do it about the same price if you are happy with somewhere that needs a bus in but we like to walk to the village and lifts. Deer Lodge is right opposite Delta I seem to remember - we had to keep asking for the outside dining music to be turned down.

ajrduff, Same issue we need 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms so we could do a hotel with 2 double rooms, but we like the suite concept where we have a lounge/kitchen/dinner to see each other for breakfast.

So yes I know its expensive from what it is possible to get as the max occupancy is 6 - we like the Delta so we just pay. I thought it was "cheap" because all the other TOs we charging a lot more. This was also much more that last year which as they say prices are going down just does not stack up. In addition last year we went on the Easter holidays and this year it is not actually the bank holidays so I thought it would be cheaper.

Any how I seem to be well off the the topic of what is the Pinnacle like so I hope I have answered all the questions.

snow reports

So this year our air fare (BA: MAN>>LHR>>YVR) is just over £1.5k for the two of us, and the apartment we rent through Allura is £1.3K (14 days). Lift Tix were another 1K.

Meals we prepare ourselves. Other costs include parking at Manchester airport, transport to and from YVR to Whistler (we usually get the bus back, but splash out on a taxi on arrival - less hassle, and somehow the bus timetable never seems to match the flight arrival times). Also, this year, purchase of a double ski bag, to use as one of our allowed checked bags (which is why we're using BA this year instead of KLM).

You know it makes sense.

OK, well the deal we've got is just over 3,100 for 10 days at the Pinnacle including lift passes (for two people).
This seems to stack up better than other deals we've seen so here's hoping the Pinnacle is OK. Very Happy

This is from Frontier Travel if anyone is interested (with Ski Club discount).

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Sounds a great price with the lift tickets in too.

The skiing will be great and all you really need is a bed so it can't be a problem its not like you get any services as such from the hotel.

A snowHead

Following the above mention of Ridebooker I used them for my Whistler trip. Based on that one experience I would certainly use them again.

We flew Air Canada from Heathrow (for the first time) and that worked well also. No delays and arrived bang on 3pm, the scheduled arrival time. A modest wait at Immigration as another flight was in just before and by the time I was at the carousel my luggage was there as well. Just about the first person I saw outside the secure area was the rep with my name on a board. Once we located maybe 5 other groups off the same flight (which took about 15-20 mins) we were off in a modern coach up to Whistler. I reckon we left the airport at about 4.15pm which is not at all bad for a 3pm touchdown

We hit some rush hour traffic crossing Vancouver but that was not their fault obviously. We were in Whistler about 6.30ish. Since I fell asleep just as we were leaving Vancouver and woke up just as were arrivng in Whistler, the trip was over pretty quickly for me.

Less good was British Midlands performance as they provided the flight to Heathrow. I was meant to leave at 8.55 to arrive Heathrow at 10.30 for a 1pm flight on Air Canada. BMI cancelled that flight a few weeks ago and put me on the 6.45 so I had the joys of nearly 5 hours at T3.

Worth pointing out that nobody ie airline or Ebookers from whom I bought the flight told me about the change and, indeed, the reminder I got from Ebookers 48hours before travel still had the original times on it. In fact I knew of the change because I had found out about it myself but that lack of info could have been disastrous.The moral is, look after yourself because you cant rely on others to do it for you.

Help!!

anyone stayed at Whistler Pinnacle Hotel, Whistler

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