New trend effective, according to two of Whistler’s newest batch of seasonal workers

Tim Page knew that it was going to be almost impossible to find accommodation in Whistler.

House Hunter Kristian Waller takes out an ad for accommodation on a stroll last week, and finds a place to live. Photo by Erin Littlewood

For the past two years, the Australian citizen heard rumours about Whistler’s difficult housing market. People worldwide were talking about it. If you are going to come to Whistler, he was told, you’ve got to be really lucky.

So when he finally arrived in Whistler two weeks ago, he decided to get creative with his housing search. Instead using more traditional venues — local newspapers and Craigslist listings — Page made a “seeking accommodation” ad out of cardboard, taped it to his body, and began walking through Whistler Village.

“I was originally going to use (the cardboard sign) as a last resort, but then I thought ‘Why?’ so I put it on straight away,” said Page, 23.

Even though Page was a bit embarrassed about the sign, his unusual method worked. Within one day, he and his girlfriend had a found a place to lay their head for the winter season, for about $1,100 a month.

“I went to a notice board at a café, and I was standing looking at it, when someone saw my sign and approached me,” recounts Page.

“He said ‘Are you looking for a room?’ and I said ‘Yes’, so I sat down and had breakfast with him. He told me to come up and see the room at four o’clock that afternoon. I did, and he said yes straight away.” (more…)

While summer is still here, autumn and fall are just around the corner. While many people from arounnd the globe, and locals from British Columbia travel to Whistler, BC, Canada for the summer vacation season (and of course for winter), Fall time I find is a sureal time to visit this beautiful city.

The city of Whistler all season long is a perfect vacation away from home. Anytime of season you can find some activities to do - whether its skiing, snowboarding, river rafting, mountain biking, etc., Whistler vacation offers all the outdoor amenities you could want. And yes, for those who not so activity-inclined, you have all the shopping, restaurants and simply the perfect place for some rest and relaxation while lounging in a hot tub on a clear night with a fine glass of wine of a tasty home cooked of fine dining meal.

Fall offers tourists in Whistler a beautiful panoramic view. While the trees begin to change to their autumn colours, leaves line the hiking trails and paths on your mountainside hiking trip, and the perfect crisp air to fill the lungs is like jump start for your health. 

Those travelers to Whistler BC this 2009 season will find the opportunity to travel from mountain to mountain on Whistlers new Peak to Peak Gondola, the longest free-ride gondola in the world.  This is Whistler Blackcomb’s award-winning (more…)

Location, location, location! Ever taken a vacation or rented an accommodation that you later found was not the ideal location and not exactly as it had seem in the travel brochure? We have, and now you can find and view your Whistler and 2010 Olympic accommodation before you book.

Whistler-Accommodations.org offers an cool Web 2.0 for the Whistler rental accommodation market for owners who rent their homes, condos and trophy cottages to the public or corporations. Through this website, you can view the actual location of the accommodation through Google Maps. This cool little feature allows you to not just view the location, but also zoom in/out to see whats around the area, but also pan around the city of Whistler and view a real satellite view of the city and the accommodation.
Once you’ve played around a little, click on an accommodation and you’ll get a snap shot view and details of the accommodation, including rental costs, photos and more.

Tools like this will help save the headaches travelers the trouble of guestimating their rental location to the area they’re staying. And with the Whistler 2010 winter Olympics approaching, this way of searching for an accommodations by location will help you find the perfect place close to your favourite Olympic events…who knows, maybe even close enough to watch the event from your rental’s patio while lounging in the hot tub.

Invited to a friends cottage or accommodation in Whistler, BC, Canada this summer? Below are a few tips when staying at a friends place of Whistler lodging over the summer holidays.  

I don’t own a cottage or a cabin, but several of my friends do and I am one of those lucky people who get invited up for a weekend.

Now, anyone can get invited up once, the trick is getting invited back. Here are some tips to guarantee that your weekend at a cottage won’t be a fleeting memory in your past.

Food Tips:

– Ask what the host would like you to bring. If they say “Nothing” they’re lying. Every host wants you to bring something, they just don’t want to sound like they want you to bring something, but believe me, they want you to bring something, unless they’re independently wealthy and they love (more…)

Already we’re 1 1/2 years away from the monumental 2010 Olympic winter games in Whistler and Vancouver and the locals are finally waking up to vacate their homes over the Olympic weeks and put their accommodations up for rent to the vast number of foreign travellers anticipated to visit the city.

Speaking with a few locals in Vancouver and Whistler, its not too surprising to hear individuals wanting to position their vacations around the time of the Olympics. They general consensious is they just don’t want to deal with the crowds and traffic during this time…and hey, why not make a buck while I’m at it.

2010 Olympic accommodations in Whistler and Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics are now ranging on the market from three to (more…)