Victoria, Vancouver, and Whistler report
 

I just returned from two weeks in Victoria, Vancouver, and Whistler. Wouldn't you know we hit a heat wave most of the time! Victoria was fairly cool, but the other two had temps in the 90s!

We stayed at the Victoria Regent Hotel in Victoria and loved it! Koren and I shared a large two bedroom, two baths with kitchen, really nice living room and huge deck with a 180 degree view of the harbor. A continental breakfast came with it and the staff was just great. It's a great price for an upscale hotel.

We loved having dinner at the Matisse restaurant just a block away. The French menu was so good that we ate there twice! Highly recommended. Tell owner/jack of all trades John hello from ScubaMom - he's a peach and dashs around making sure everyone has a perfect experience.

We stayed at the Coast Plaza Hotel near Stanley Park and the beach in West End. Very nice mid-range hotel with a nice two bedroom suite with fabulous city views. HOWEVER, don't stay here if it is hot. They told me that it was air-conditioned and only the living room had a tiny little box cooler that huffed and puffed. We sweltered in the bedrooms. It is in a great location and a good place to stay when it is cool.

If you like luxury B&Bs, stay at the West End Guest House. We stayed there a couple years ago and really enjoyed it... I stopped by on this trip and it's still gorgeous.

Our favorite dinners were at the Fish House in Stanley Park (always good!), the Parkside Restaurant in the Buchan Hotel on Haro Street and Le Gavroche. Delilah's is always fun too.

Whistler now has the Four Seasons Resort on Blackcomb - a small but stunning hotel. I think it beats the Chateau and Weston hands down. I liked the smaller size since the others looked like "convention city" every time I've been in them.

The Delta is turning into a Hilton and the old Weston has been completely overhauled and turned into the new Sundial Boutique Hotel. I toured it and it is really nice. Some of the suites have a big deck with hot tub.

Our favorite dinner was at Trattoria de Umberto which is always good. Araxi was a little "off" this trip as were Val d'sere and Zeuski's. Maybe the good chefs take the summer off? <grin> I tried the Bavarian restaurant and loved their German beer on tap and fondues. Dubh Linn Gate Pub continues to be my favorite lunch spot.

I've done a full review at www.scubamom.com/travels/whistler/summer/ if you want to see our zillion photos that we took and more detail on our trip.

All in all, other than the hot weather, we had a great trip!

Funny I just posted a question about Whistler on another thread.
ScubaMom, next summer we plan to stay in Vancouver a week. We've been to Victoria and don't care to go back. But never been to Whistler. How long do you think we should stay up there? A night or two? We'll be spending a lot of time in the Banff area before that.

I thoroughly enjoyed your trip report and photos, ScubaMom, and glad to hear the Regent Hotel worked out.

If you like outdoor activities, then you'd enjoy Whistler. It has every type imaginable. Lots of biking trails (you can rent them), hiking trails both around the valley and up the mountain, white water rafting, horseback riding, etc. You could easily spend a week and not run out of things to do.

It takes 2 hours on the bus or driving from Vancouver to Whistler and it's a very pretty drive!

If you want to just go and have a quick look around and visit, then I'd say two nights and a full day.

April, oddly enough after I'd booked the Victoria Regent, we found that good friends of ours had stayed there last fall. They had one of the one bedroom Penthouse suites with full views, fireplace, and lots of room - rates are really a deal in fall and spring. They loved it too.