A couple days ago Sydney of The Working Girl and I ventured up to Whistler to enjoy a couple days away (much like we did last year). Our girls trip began by checking into Nita Lake Lodge. It was my first time staying at Nita Lake and I was absolutely blown away. It’s about an 8 minute drive from the village and they have a complementary shuttle that runs every hour to assist with bringing you to and from Whistler village which is super handy if you’re wanting to grab dinner and drinks and not have to worry about driving home. We checked into our lake view room and when they say lake view, they’re not kidding. Literally a crystal clear picture of the entire lake right from our balcony. Our room had such a cozy-cottage feel with a big balcony, mountain decor, fireplace, and upstairs second bedroom. Another huge plus and a big reason I’m wanting to come back is that Nita Lake is DOGGIE FRIENDLY!!! This is a game changer. We spotted so many cute pups and I was tempted to just hang out with them the entire trip. They also have doggie beds around the property and there is a huge dog friendly trail right outside their doorstep. You can also bring your pup onto their private doc and enjoy the view or go for a dip in the summer.

Our day pressed on and 5 o’clock hit so it was the perfect opportunity to check out Nita Lake Lodge’s hand crafted cocktail bar and patio – Cure. We indulged in likely the most delicious cocktails I’ve ever had and yummy charcuterie. The cocktails are switched up every few months and are the creation of head bartender, Rhiannon. She comes up with different themes and seriously insane cocktails – these are from the upcoming Riddles theme, on the left was a beet juice and balsamic vinegar creation (sounds off but trust me it was to die for), the middle – an iced tea of sorts made with house made lavender infused honey and bourbon, and to the right – an on the rocks margarita with smoked rosemary. Even if I were to come back to Whistler and stay in the village, I would definitely come back to Cure to sip a new fun creation on the patio and people (dog) watch as they walk the trail.

After cocktails we visited the property’s lake side restaurant – Aura, where we indulged in a three course dinner featuring a fresh kale salad, linguine with braised short rib, sticky toffee pudding, and of course bubbly! Everything was delishhh. Also, here’s where I’ll get into why you need to go to Whistler during off-season. Not only is your stay going to be cheaper, all of the delicious, hard to get into restaurants, offer multiple course dinners at a fraction of their usual prices in order to drive customers. Over the course of our stay we had one at Aura and another at Araxi (if you have never been you MUST go). The three courses at Aura were $39, and Araxi hosts a 5 course dinner for $36! Such a steal and honestly the food is to die for with tons of choices.

Our second day consisted of a Whistler must – Scandinave Spa! I’ve visited a couple times before – it will likely be the most relaxing experience of your life. Not only can you enjoy their therapeutic pools, saunas, and steam rooms, but they offer various spa services. They don’t allow any phones which I have a love hate relationship with but once it’s gone you can really breathe deep and take in the entire experience and let go, which is really the whole point. The Spa is tucked into the forest and you spend the day in quiet, surrounded by tall evergreens, sipping herbal tea, cozied up in a bathrobe by the fire, or partaking in their heat therapy pools etc. Again back to the off-season benefits, we booked for right when the spa opened and were able to have I’d say a good 20 minutes all to ourselves before guests started to arrive. We had free run of the whole property to take in and enjoy, even if just for a moment.

The finalé of our trip was dinner at Araxi. Like I mentioned above, we seeeeriously indulged in a 5 course dinner all for only $36. When I got back to Vancouver I told a few friends about Araxi’s off season multiple course menu and their reaction was ‘5 courses? For $36? At Araxi?!’ it’s unheard of. From soup, to gomae, to risotto, to shortcake, everything was amazing. We even got to do a little private tour of the kitchen which was so sweet of our server to do.

Also wanted to give a shoutout to Landeau for gifting us likely the most gorgeous bouquets ever for our weekend away.

All in all Syd and I had the most amazing time as always. Whistler is always a great time but definitely off-season has it’s perks. Can’t wait to return asap with Danny and Gigi.

Lastly Sydney and I are SO excited to be giving away a one night stay at Nita Lake Lodge, dinner for two at Aura, and two passes to the Scandinave Spa heat therapy pools!! Check my instagram for more info on how to enter.

xx

Tessa

Thank you to Go Whistler for collaborating on this post.