Whistler’s reputation as one of the world’s great winter destinations continues to grow, especially with the IOC’s announcement that the city will play host to the Olympic Games in 2010. The two faces of this world-class ski destination, Whistler and Blackcomb, have long drawn tourists from across the globe to the serene beauty and luxury of this archetype mountain playground. But when the snow melted each spring, it seemed to take the tourists along with it, so much of the last 15 years has been spent establishing the town as a world-class four-season village. The golf accolades are now rolling in, and the tourist dollars are following on its heels. Inspired by the Arnold Palmer-designed Whistler Golf Club, three new courses have sprung up in the region, each of which has found a place in Score magazine’s biannual rankings of the Top 100 courses in the country. Recent inclusions in Conde Nast Traveler and Golf Digest’s top 50 world golf destinations is evidence enough that the spring thaw is no longer the end to the season; it’s the beginning of a new one.

A golf vacation in Whistler will take you to three premier courses in the area; the Bob Cupp-designed Big Sky Golf Club, the Golden Bear’s Nicklaus North Golf Course, and the Robert Trent Jones Jr. mountain masterpiece, the Chateau Whistler Golf Club. All within minutes of the bustling Whistler village center, the luxury of having the designs of Nicklaus, Cupp, and Trent Jones Jr. is such a confined and visually stunning space is a recipe for a wonderful golf vacation. Whistler village can best be described as eclectic and lively. With 93 bars and restaurants to go along with 207 shops, the post-golf experience is tremendously varied. The cobblestone downtown streets are constantly alive with street entertainment, from comedians to cultural groups and musicians from June through September.

For those looking for a day or an afternoon away from the course, Whistler offers a variety of summer activities including fishing, horseback and ATV tours, helicopter and gondola tours, paragliding, as well as hiking and biking trails. With such an endless list of activities in what was until recently considered ‘off-season,’ it is clear that Whistler's reputation as the world's finest playground is richly deserved.

And there is no better place to lay your head than the village’s most prominent resort, the stunning Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Located steps from the base of Blackcomb Mountain , and minutes from the downtown village center, the Fairmont gives you easy access to the charm and culture of Whistler, with the comfort, style, and class that has come to represent the Fairmont tradition. The edifice itself is a masterpiece. In the late 1980s, a consortium of leading architectural minds gathered, and determined that the mandate for the village’s new landmark hotel was to be inspired by the tradition of chateaux building that stretched back 100 years and thousands of miles across Canada ’s frontier heritage. The mélange of cultures, regions, and times are truly Canadian. Raw building materials and antiques were gathered locally on the West Coast, and from points as far off as Baffin Island and Nova Scotia , to create a grandeur and signature style that seamlessly blends the old and new together. An extensive renovation to the hotel in 1997, which saw the addition of the Vida Wellness Spa, stayed true to the original design ambitions, and today the 221-room hotel remains the most elegant accommodation in the village.

Standard guest rooms at the hotel feature stunning vistas of either dense, old-growth BC forest or Whistler Mountain , and are authentically decorated to provide simple comfort in a luxury hotel. The Fairmont room offers guests slighter more space than a standard guest room, including an additional business space and views of the village. Deluxe rooms at the Chateau Whistler offer enclosed sitting areas from which guests can take in the stunning views of Blackcomb Mountain and the Whistler Valley , and junior suites in the hotel provide a little more privacy, with a sitting area and parlour separate from the main bedroom. Suites ranging from 800 to 1,200 square feet are also available: no matter what your family or group dynamic, there is an accommodation option to suit your needs at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

The same can be said for your palates. If the charm and bustle of dining in downtown Whistler does not pique your interest, the hotel offers a host of restaurants with menus that accentuate the province’s regional cuisine. The Wildflower is likely the most popular choice here for dinner, as guests are seated in the shine of cherry wood wine cabinets and floor-to-ceiling windows offering clear and present views of majestic Whistler Mountain. In addition to a dinner menu highlighted by such specialties as pan-seared halibut with Quebec caviar garnish, wine tastings and Sunday brunch are also traditions at The Wildflower. The Portobello, located just off the hotel’s main lobby, serves up dishes like jumbo prawn and basil risotto in a more casual, family-oriented environment. In the summertime, few seats in the town can match those on the restaurant’s back patio, nestled on a perch above a natural flower bed. The Mallard Lounge is the place for an aperitif, a nightcap, or anything in between (nothing caps a fine meal quite like a Sullivan’s Best), and of course an in-room dining menu is available 24 hours a day, combining many of the flavours and textures featured in the main restaurants.

In keeping with the holistic spirit of the resort, the land, and the cuisine, the Fairmont Chateau’s Vida Wellness Spa fuses modern spa practices with the ancient Indian traditions of Ayurveda—‘the science of life’—deemed to be the most complete healing knowledge in the world, recorded some five millennia ago. Taking to heart some of the featured purposes of spiritual health and inner calm, the Ayurveda treatment program is designed to be tailored to the wishes of each specific guest. Massages boost circulation and blood flow, to stimulate moribund parts of the body, while various Abhyanga and Shirodhara treatments charge the body and epidermis with strength, health, and energy. Wraps, exfoliation treatments, facials, manicures, pedicures, waxes, and traditional physiotherapy treatments are also available, making the Vida Wellness Spa one of the most thorough health resorts anywhere. Naturally, guests wishing to heal their body and mind without denting their wallet can make use of the resort’s fully equipped fitness center and weight room.

In the world’s greatest mountain playground, an indoor gym might not be the most alluring attraction, but it is a testament to the Chateau. There is no luxury omitted, no option unavailable. At the Chateau Whistler, the old cliché holds water: you are the king (or queen) of your castle.