The hotel is nothing too special in terms of rooms and comfort level but the location is simply one of the best in Whistler. It's next to the Blackcomb ski lift in a nice and quieter area of the village. The main village is way too busy. We also considered the four seasons which looked nice walking through and eating dinner there but the location is not as good and when we looked up prices four seasons was too high.

The restaurant was very good. The pool, not as good as I thought it would be and a little too crowded.

As long as the prices are reasonable, which they were when we booked, I would stay here again.

A few weeks back I decided to book a ski holiday for the family in Canada. As I was not familiar with the area I decided to use a specialist tour company.

Neilson Holidays promote themselves as experts and after speaking to one of their reps I felt comfortable in using them, I was happy with the price and the accommodation which I’d chosen which included 6 days skiing in Whistler and a 2 day stay in Vancouver staying at Fairmount hotels in both locations. The only thing left for me to do was to run this by my husband and 2 teenagers.

As we were all happy with my choice I called Neilson the next day only to find the price had increased by almost £1800 when asked why they told me the flights had gone up in price, I told them at the new price I would leave it. An hour or so later they came back with a lower price, albeit a £1000 more than originally quoted.

On the day of the holiday we checked in with our luggage and ski bags plus one extra for the boots only to be advised by BA that we had to pay an additional £40 for the first bag then an additional £90 for the other 3, this was for one way only making it another £310 on top of the £8000 we had already paid to Neilson. I’m guessing it will be another 300+ on the way home.

On arrival in Vancouver we were collected and driven to the Fairmount Chateau in Whistler. We were greeted by friendly staff and shown to our rooms on the forth floor. The rooms are comfortable with a nice selection of bathroom products. The king size beds are large and very comfortable A downside is the WIFI which we both had to pay for as we had our own individual computers. The gym is smallish but has most of the equipment you would expect for a good workout, although it can get a little crowded at times. My 18 year old daughter had a session with one of the personal trainers which she found very enjoyable and informative, the trainer also told her that she would email her more information to progress her workout on her return home.

The spa was a lovely experience and we had a number of treatments during our stay. The spa was relaxing and the staff knowledgeable.

We’ve enjoyed dining in both of the restaurants and found the food was of a high quality in both. The wine room restaurant was a little extra special. Breakfast time has everything you would expect and more, just what you need before a days skiing.

What really makes this hotel is the staff, they are extremely friendly and go out of their way to be helpful - they even located a spray tan booth in the village for my daughter (apparently a must for the return home). The hotel has a real mix of people all treating the place like a home from home. Whether you want to grab a quick coffee or sit and relax and watch people pass on by this place has it all. A lovely friendly atmosphere.

The location is second to none. A real ski in ski out place. A few steps out the back door after collecting your stored equipment and your on your way up the slopes to enjoy all that this resort can offer.

There is plenty to do in Whistler from cross country skiing which as a non skier I really enjoyed to heli - skiing and bunjee jumping for the more daring ones in my family. The village has nice shops and bars all within easy walking distance of the hotel.

So given all this we didn’t want to leave and decided to extend our stay here and this is where Neilson Travel proved to be one of the worst companies in the tourist industry I’ve ever come across.

We were due to leave Whistler on the Monday and travel to the Fairmount in Vancouver. As everyone was having such a great time we decided to call Neilson Travel on the Friday to see if we could extend the stay in Fairmount Chateau Whistler. They advised us that the UK office could no longer help us as we were now overseas and we should to talk to the Rep in Canada who’s details had been passed to us on arrival.

We contacted Pam our contact in Canada on the Friday and asked her if it would be possible for us to change the booking to extend the stay in Whistler. She said she needed to make a few calls and would get back to us. A couple of hours later she called the room and she said she had contacted the hotel in Vancouver and there would be a no cancellation fee and the hotel we were in Whistler could accommodate the extra days which we wanted to stay on for. All she needed to do was to sort this out with her boss in Sweden and the office in the UK as we would need to pay the difference in price and she couldn’t take payment. She told me she couldn’t give me the amount as she only had the contract price, but she told us not to worry and that she would send the relevant parties an email and they would get back to her overnight because of the time difference.

We heard nothing from Pam on the Saturday so I called her up again on the Sunday. She advised me that she had heard nothing back but not to worry, she asked if we defiantly wanted to stay on as she would cancel the transfer for the Monday and rebook for the Wednesday. I told her yes we defiantly wanted to stay on. She told us everything would be fine and all we needed to do was pay the difference in the two hotels rates as Whistler was more expensive. I then re confirmed everything would be ok and she said yes, she asked what time I would be available from the following day and I said from 7.30 am. On the Monday we purchased the extra ski passes and my family went off for the day. I decided to wait on to give my credit card details, as I knew the UK office would be closing. At 9am I tried calling Pam but her phone was off and the office was on ansaphone. I called the UK office and explained the situation and that no one had got back to Pam over the weekend they told me that they could not change the hotels and this was stated in the contract, I told her that Pam had said it could be done and I wouldn’t have bought the ski passes etc if Id been advised differently. The UK said there was nothing they could do to help me.

I then checked with the hotel and they knew nothing of the extended stay and had already booked someone into our rooms as they thought we were leaving. I spoke to the reception and explained our situation. They called the Hotel in Vancover and passed them over to me. What a difference, they were very curt and told me the non cancellation policy did not apply as it had been booked by Neilson through a system that doesn’t allow cancellations. She was not sympathetic to our situation even though we were staying in one of their group of hotels.

Again I tried calling Pam to no avail she was not picking up my calls. I left a message and asked her to call me. I’m still waiting!!

As my family had now purchased passes and were intent on skiing we had no option but to pay an additional $199 per night per room making a total of $796 on top of the price we had paid. In addition to this Pam did cancel the transfer but left no details on the pickup for the Wednesday.

I contacted the UK office again and told them I’d booked the hotel for the additional nights but I needed to know what I could do about the transfer. They told me they couldn’t help as I was now overseas and I would need to speak to Pam. I told them Pam wasn’t picking up my calls and she apologised and said there was nothing the UK office could do I needed to speak to Pam. I asked if I could have the name of the transfer company so I could contact the transfer company myself and again they couldn’t help as that information needed to come from Pam.

So it looks as though we will have to pay more money to get back to the airport as Pam has disappeared of the face of the earth and the UK office that gladly took my £8000 doesn’t give a damm.

We are planning to return here next year, as the hotel and resort have been superb. But next time I will book direct – costly lesson learnt courtesy of Neilson Travel