REVIEW | Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre

In May and June 2023, we travelled from east to west across Canada. From Halifax in Nova Scotia to Montreal in Quebec, to Toronto in Ontario, to Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia. Along the way some night trains and commuter trains, the Niagara Falls and – imagine this – a bus journey. A true Trans-Canada Train Trek.

To escape the high hotel prices of Vancouver and see another different part of Canada we decided to stay one night in the mountain resort town of Whistler. Here we selected the Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre as it provided a good location for a fair price.

Upon arrival we were assisted by the manager on duty Oleksandra. It appeared she really didn’t like us being there. The rooms weren’t ready yet and she didn’t feel like doing an effort to see if there might be a solution. Luckily one of her colleagues stepped in and told her that she could already give us one of our rooms when she did ‘something’ on the computer.

She then reluctantly gave us the keys to the bigger of both rooms. We also enquired about breakfast as it was included in the room rate but she hadn’t mentioned anything about it. Than it appeared that the hotel didn’t offer breakfast anymore but that we would be given a CAD 30 credit per room to consume in the restaurant of the neighbouring hotel the Pan Pacific Mountainside. I mentioned that CAD 30 for three persons is rather low so she then budged to change it into CAD15 per person, so one room CAD 30 and the other CAD 45.

When we then went to eat breakfast at the neighbouring hotel the next morning at around 9 AM (which in my opinion is very acceptable breakfast hour) the restaurant there was closed. It didn’t open until 10 AM (which is quite late for breakfast, especially if you want to do something with your day), yet Oleksandra had failed to mention that the day before.

We felt that with a check-out time of 11 AM waiting for the restaurant to open would be cutting it close, especially considering we were at the other side of town. While I get that stuff happens that you can’t offer breakfast, just make sure you have an adequate solution.

The way it was handled we felt really ripped off as the hotel didn’t quite deliver on the promise of the included breakfast but decided to make short time win by ripping us of and cashing in on the money we paid for a breakfast we didn’t receive. If we were told at check-in the day before that breakfast would only be at 10 AM we could have either arranged for a later check-out or made sure we were ready to go by 10, now we were caught by surprise which was a less than stellar experience.

The rooms themselves where nicely appointed and spacious. With a nice living room with a kitchen and even an outside terrace.

The two bedrooms where at either side of the living room. The master bedroom had a king-size bed with an ensuite bathroom. The second bedroom had a queen-size bed and its bathroom was connected to the living room instead. Next to the beds on the bedside tables there where alarm clocks that featured USB-A, USB-C and induction charging, something more hotels should offer.

The bathrooms where nice and spacious, with a full size bathtub, a walk-in shower, a toilet and a big washbasin. Plenty of individual toiletries where offered.

The hotel also offered a nice outside pool and hot tubs, of which we made use in the afternoon. It used to have its own gym but that area was redeveloped into the spa and the guests have to make use of the gym in the Pan Pacific Mountainside.

The Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre has everything that it needs to make it an exceptional property, most staff we encountered was very friendly and professional. Unfortunately the way we were treated by the manager on duty, Oleksandra, left nothing but a sour taste in our mouth. Her “don’t care” attitude ruined our experience and we will never set foot in a Pan Pacific property again.