One of the differences between European and Canadian ski resorts is the incidence of large chalets with 8 or more bedrooms. Older European resorts are full of chalets for rent which are perfect for large groups; these are buildings that used to be smaller hotels or large homes from the days when homes came with rooms for half a dozen servants. However, come to a newer resort like Whistler in Canada, and you will struggle to find any home that can sleep more than 12 people in comfort. Why is this? Well, for a start, the municipality enforces strict regulations aimed at preventing the construction of homes with more than 4 bedrooms. The few larger homes that exist are ones that managed to slip past the rules or were built before the regulations came into effect.

This makes finding a large rental home in Whistler very tricky. Over 85% of the rental inventory is in the one and two-bedroom category and another 10% has three bedrooms. This leaves less than 5% of rental homes with four or more bedrooms. This is a problem because many people like to vacation with their friends, and finding homes that are large enough becomes very challenging. One agency that is well-represented in the large home category is Holiday Whistler, which offers a wide choice of 5 and 6 bedroom homes, but also has one 7 bedroom home and, uniquely for the resort, a 10-bedroom 10-bathroom chalet. The Taluswood Ridge Chalet is a standalone chalet right on the edge of the piste, and includes a sauna, steam room and a spectacular media room. Its 7 bedrooms will hold up to 15 people, which makes it the largest capacity ski-in, ski-out home in the resort. However, if you have even more friends you should check out the Cay Heights Chalet, whose 10 bedrooms plus den will sleep 24 people in comfort. Its not ski-in, ski-out, but it offers only a short walk to the Village, and is the only place in town where such a large group can all stay together. They can also play together, since the house has a large billiard room with a full-size table.

So if you want the European ski-ing experience with friends and extended family all under one roof, but dont want to miss the fantastic Whistler terrain, it can be done.