Normally we stay as timeshare owners at the Horsethief condos at the Panorama resort, but due to a last minute decision, we could only find lodging after Christmas at the Pine Inn. We'd stayed there over 10 years ago as students, but didn't realize just how bad things had gotten until this most recent stay with our two toddlers.

It's unfortunate that Intrawest has allowed this property, as well as the other facilities at Panorama, to slide downhill. We arrived at the resort and promptly checked in with staff - who were all quite nice.

The first thing we saw was the dank fluorescent lighting from the one bulb in the room. Lighting was no better, and rather hazardous, in the washroom - the overhead vanity light wasn't working, so they'd taken a bedside lamp, removed the shade, and plugged it in next to the sink. Nice.

The sheets were worn thin on the beds, with no blanket save for the ugly bedspread. The pillows, without exception, all appeared clean but smelled so strongly of mildew that in the morning all of our hair smelled like a dirty shower stall.

The carpet was atrocious, and I forbade the children to walk barefoot on it.

The real icing on the cake was when a drunken college-kid mistakenly came through the sliding glass doors that led through to the exterior at ground level - only then did we realize that they did not (and would not) lock. A very nice maintenenance guy came by and provided us with a 2X4 to prevent further surprises. The track of the door was still filled with old cigarette ashes and old nut shells. Delightful.

The quality of the food has gone downhill at all of the restaurants on-hill, which is a shame.

The mountain, however, still has a fabulous ski hill, and as previously mentioned, the staff were all very nice and as understanding as they could be. I think they are all aware of the derelict conditions of the Pine Inn but can't disparage the resort as they are staff.

You'd be better off pitching a tent at the base of the ski lift than staying at the Pine Inn. It was truly one of the most vile hotels I've ever stayed at. Run away!

I've actually been to Panorama in 2005 and 2007. The first year was a bit of a fiasco, but the resort compensated us well. We had specifically booked a condo by the nightskiing hill and put an extra deposit on a specific one. To make a long story short, it was unavailable so they bumped us up to gold lodging and discounted our stay by quite a bit. We also couldn't check in for about 3 hours past the check in time, but again, they bought us supper to compensate (still an inconvenience when you have two little kids after travelling all day, but it happens).

2007 we stayed at Tayton lodge, not a bad place to stay, but you can't beat the convenience. Make sure you bring your own towels, sugar for coffee, coffee filters (they lacked in that department ).

The best part about Panorama is the ski school. It is absolutely wonderful for small kids. They take the kids all day so the parents can actually have a ski holiday, too. I've always started my kids at age 4 (even though they say they have to be 5)! My daughter can't wait to go back to "her ski school". The skiing is also very good when they have lots of snow - (the first year was very icy.)
Happy skiing
Dana in Saskatoon

We were in the Panorama Mountain Village during September, and there are a lot of good qualities about this village.

The first thing that we observed was the fact that this village is very environmentally friendly concious. If you are there less than 3 days, then they will just freshen the stuff when you're there but they will not actually change the linen or the towels without a specific request.

Central Check In -- This is the location where you go to check in. All or most of the property that is in this mountain resort, is privately owned. This area handles all of the buildings for these owners, and this is a very good way of doing it, and then it is fair.

Pine Inn -- This is the part of the village that we stayed in. We found it very clean and a good value for the stay. Mind you it is before the ski season, so it could be more during the ski season. There are several stairs along this location. It is also is the building that has some of the various facilities in it. This is the location of the Sol Spa, Conference Centers, Laundry facilities, Ski Locker facilities, Exercise room. It is also within walking distance of the pool and restaurants and stores.

Sol Spa-- we took advantage of the weekly deal that they had here which was the facial and massage for 105$ and that was a really good deal. If you're sore, or need to relax, then this is the place for you to come during your visit at the mountain village. Check the website for the most current promotion, or call them or even drop in and visit them when you're up there.

Restaurants -- Crazy Horse Saloon (Night life) Open daily 4:30 to 11:00. They have really good food at this location. Moderately priced, but it is well worth the price. The staff is really friendly at this restaurant as well. PICNIC or Deli (Day Life) approx 730-4p.m. They sell some snack items, and also breakfast and lunch items. They are able to do some picnics to be taken away for the day as well. Some examples of places that were not open when we were there are the following: Luigi's Cappacino, Mile High Pizza, Summit Cabin, Elk Cabin, and some of the other locations on located on the mountain during skiing season. Jack Pine pub is generally where the staff retreat too, and there is no food down at that location, just drinks.

Stores-- Some examples of stores that are in the village are Babins Cabin (glass blowing), Pano Kids, Can Ski are just a few of the stores that are up in this village.

Pools -- Water slides and cool pool is closed until the summer seasons. The hot pools, sauna and hot tubs are open during the winter months.

Lower and Upper Village -- They have many stairs, gondolas when they are functioning between the two villages. The lower village has the general store, and adventure store in it.

Adventure/Activities -- During the summer months there are ATV tours, Grey Wolf Golfing, Tennis, Mini Golf, Wolves Education Center, Kids Adventure Camps, Senic Chair lift rides, and much more. During the winter months there is skiing of course, snow mobiling, and wolf education center.

Hiking -- there are a number of hiking areas within this pristine wilderness environment. There is up the mountain, or ther are lots of areas out of the village too. It is usually recommended though that if you're going out of the village to make sure that you're with more than 2 people as wildlife encounters are a lot higher.

All the staff who are working at this location are very friendly. Even the residents are very friendly as well.

This is our second time to Panorama this year and chose to stay during August (high season) on Toby Creek in a section of condos referred to as Riverbend. Our corner condo #33 had two bathrooms, (one full, one master en suite), a king in the master bedroom and two twin beds in another room, a great fireplace and the best part was the walkout from the mainfloor (we didn't have to negotiate all stairs like some other ones) to Toby Creek. It's on a hill to provide some privacy. We also liked that the gondola lift to the main village was about 40' feet from the front door, so we didn't get the noise of the lift, but had the convenience. The scenery was simply terrific. The coffeebook table was left with a 'welcome" note in it, which reminded me that we are not a Four Seasons hotel, but somebody's private property. Nice touch.
Unlike the previous stay, the accommodation was spotless. We found the staff were very friendly but got a sense many of them were overworked as the season came to a close.
Some not so great observations were that the sheets were torn on the king bed and we had a challenge trying to figure out the DVD player (push PLAY you get mute, push FFWD and the volume increases).
We'd be happy to stay there again.