The first thing that stands about First Tracks Lodge, and Whistler overall at the end of August, is how quiet it is! Checking in at the Legends hotel takes minutes, and as you walk across the way to the First Tracks Lodge, you wonder where everyone is. I’d only been to Whistler once before, and like most people who’ve visited it was during the winter. Being there in the summer months is interestingly confusing. Everything looks so familiar, yet without the snow cover it takes longer to find your bearings again.
I was at Whistler as part of a film crew for a one-day shoot. Our team consisted of around 25-30 people, and everyone in the group raved about the accommodations. Whilst most people shared a two-bedroom suite, the layout afforded ample room for everyone so you can guarantee a happy workforce by staying at First Tracks.
Whilst the lodge itself is self-contained, with no staff on-site, you can call or walk across to the 24-hour front desk at Legends, which is literally next door. We called late one evening for help with Internet connection and someone came by within ten minutes to help us out. Around the same time we realised that our kitchen was missing an all-important corkscrew so after a speedy hook-up to the Internet, we were promptly delivered a corkscrew. For us at least I can say that this off-site arrangement is not a detriment.
I shared with a colleague and we had a two-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment with living room, dining room and kitchen. My guess is that it slept 6 people in all and it was certainly adequately sized for that number. The rooms came with cable TV, DVD, patio area, washer and dryer, and a fully equipped kitchen. All rooms were extremely clean and quiet and the beds were incredibly comfortable. One person on our crew announced that she was going to give up her own home and move in to First Tracks permanently!
In addition to the room amenities, the lodge has outdoor hot tubs and a heated swimming pool. However one of my colleagues complained that the hot tubs were somewhat tepid, making for a far less comfortable and satisfactory experience. We didn’t have time to query this with the front desk but it may be worth checking the temperature before you leap in!
One feature that was a real bonus to our crew was the secure underground parking. We had hired a Budget van in Vancouver to transport grip, lighting, and camera equipment, and we were delighted to discover that the garage height allowed us to park the vehicle underground. It was a great help not having to unload and re-load all of our equipment on the shoot day.