Whistler Lodge Hostel — Hotel in Whistler Resort Municipality

The good: I love how there is plenty of drying space for my ski gear: a drying room for boots, and gloves, a drying rack for towels and laundry, hooks by the bed, clothes line by the sauna. I also like the big lockers, they are huge and comes with a beefy combo lock. The building layout is super neat but a bit confusing. When I stayed there 15 years ago, there were two flights of stairs, instead of (the current) one, which made it easier to navigate. It serves as good entertainment though, as you walk through this little maze. Speaking of 15 years ago, the renovations that were done to the building are amazing. Calling it "rustic lodging" (on Google) is an understatement. The decor and furniture is basic, but modern; it almost feels like a boutique hotel/Ikea showroom. The hot tub area had good ambiance. There were individual baskets assigned to each bed for non-perishable food storage, which I liked: you don't have to bother finding a basket, labeling it, and then finding space for it, as with some other hostels. Labeling etc. still has to be done for food stored in the fridge, however. I also like the big locked portable they have in their parking lot for skis/snowboard/bike storage.

The bad: Smoking is allowed on the patio, which means that drift smoke entered into the lounge/sitting area. It is easy enough to escape the drift smoke by going to the dorm area due to the design of the building, but it meant I couldn't hang out in the kitchen and lounge area. The walk to the bus stop felt a little long with skis+boots+poles, plus backpack with one night worth of clothes. The women's showers lack a little privacy. The kitchen area is not as clean as the other hostels in Whistler, but it is still decent. The kitchen area is also a bit small if everyone who was staying there cooked. If you plan on making an elaborate meal, I'd recommend one of the other hostels in Whistler. If you are like me, and you went to Whistler for skiing and not cooking, it is fine.

Overall, this is a good hostel, but the smoke issue is a big one for me, which is why I only gave it 3 stars. If this isn't an issue for you, it is a...

Absolutely loved this place! Didn't even feel like a hostel, staff are fantastic, really helpful and know the area. Rooms are great bunk bed style with a curtain to add that extra bit of privacy. Large couch, chill area with a level pool table! I know you never get a level pool table in hostels. They have books to read, board games to play. The place was fully booked and there was still plenty of room to chill out, have a drink and some food. Large kitchen with every utensil you can think of, pots pans and everything you need to smash a good cook up and plenty of room to store food. One of the best parts of this hostel is the hot tub, after a hard day boarding and your muscles sore AF, just pop into the hot tub for a hour, that helped me relax and be ready for another day of boarding. It is not ski in ski out, but you can walk to the whistler gondola creek side which is about 10 min walk, or you can taxi into blackcomb which is less busy for about $10. You can walk to the shops in whistler Creekside, which restaurants, bottle shop and a super market that has all your food needs. This place has great washing and dryer machines that are big enough for all your gear and cost $2.50 each and you can buy washing aid from the desk for $1.00 Showers and toilets are keep very clean and the shower heads are actually really good here lots of pressure. Locker room is secure and extra large lockers that easily fit my big suitcase and backpack in. This one is for the girls which my wife would have loved, they have a hairdryer and hair straighteners with a large mirror for you to get ready. They have a couple of drying rooms which worked well to dry my gear before the next day.

Ok so now for the bad parts

#1 the pillows are very flat but you can ask for a extra pillow so it's not that bad #2 walking back from the shops or the Creekside gondola is uphill #3 that's all I could think of....

This place is such good value for money, great location for price, awesome staff and will definitely be staying here again...

I write this review from the perspective of someone older and who stayed at the lodge over 20 years ago. Back then. you could enjoy the company of professors and others from UBC who took advantage of the lodge. Today, the lodge is populated by a different demographic of users some staying in the lodge all season due to the lack of affordable housing in Whistler.

My first observation is the lack of staff. No one was on the front desk during the day or evening except for the window of 5pm to 7pm. Apparently, there is a manager but the only way I've been able to communicate with that person is by notes, text, and cell. I understand the lodge is undergoing a change of ownership and some big plans are in place to improve it. I'll likely be back next year to check it out.

My second comment is that the rules concerning noise past 11pm are ignored -- there is no one around to police them so why would anybody even try to restrain themselves. My room, unfortunately, was adjacent to the 'movie' room. Consequently, actions films could be heard well past 11pm and the general noise from the lounge area made it difficult to sleep.

Finally, perhaps this is simply a sign of the times and not a reflection on the lodge itself but the 'new' demographic now populating the lodge seems to be incapable of completing an English sentence without the use of some sort of foul language. The f-bomb is used like punctuation and the assortment of other vulgarities is surprising to me. It used to be that using that sort of language was an indicator of a lack of education and self-respect. Now it seems no one cares and even ladies can be heard using the same type of language.

Well, I did not want to turn this into a rant but perhaps it has. The lodge itself has an incredible history and tremendous future potential. I'll give it another chance in the coming years as nostalgia brings me back...