Adara Hotel
Whistler, British Columbia
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| KITSCH CORNER: Adara Hotel's main sitting area sports a snazzy, retro look. (J. Dear) |
ADARA HOTEL // Whistler, British Columbia
A few years back, when boutique hotelier John deC. Evans, owner of Vancouver's Opus Hotel, shifted his gaze 78 miles north to the town of Whistler, he saw an architectural muddle of generic "executive inns" and tired lodges. So he snapped up one of the latter properties, unleashed the sledgehammers, and forged a whole new mountain-town aesthetic. The Adara Hotel, which opened in January, is a high-end but cheeky 41-room jewel just a short walk from the gondola stations that funnel guests onto Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, which together comprise the continent's greatest year-round adventure playground.
ROOM & BOARD: The feel is modern, but the tone is playful, with in-room furnishings by contemporary Canadian and Pacific Northwest designers like Niels Bendtsen, Brent Comber, and Erich Ginder. Think "floating" wall-mounted fireplaces, faux-sable throws, plastic-resin "antler" coat hooks, wood-grain laminate paneling, and plush sleeping lofts equipped with iPod-compatible clock radios. There's no restaurant in the hotel, but Bearfoot Bistro, across the street, ranks among Whistler's top eateries, thanks to offerings as diverse as Vancouver Island black cod and wild arctic caribou loin, paired with mind-blowing, small-batch B.C. wines.
OUT THE BACK DOOR: Once you've had your fill cycling the 125 miles of trails at the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, strap into a harness and zip along a cable 100 feet above the temperate-rainforest floor with one of Whistler's two zip-line outfitters, ZipTrek EcoTours (www.ziptrek.com) or Cougar Mountain Skyline (www.cougarmountain.ca). Both send you careening over glacier-fed creeks and through thick stands of old-growth Douglas fir and hemlock at speeds topping 60 miles per hour.
DETAILS: Doubles, $174–$612; 866-502-3272, www.adarahotel.com
