OVERVIEW
Winter Season: November – April
Summer Season: May – October
Province: British Columbia
Accommodation: Yes
Ski Pass: A free season lift pass is not provided by The Fairmont Chateau Whistler. However, you will receive a wellness package which offers $1,000 for you to put towards your season ski pass which covers majority of the cost as the pass is $1,200.
Min Age: 19
Jobs: Room Attendant, Housekeeping Attendant, Steward (Dishwasher), Cook, Bellperson, Server, Server Assistant, Banquet Server, Golf Operations, Golf Maintenance, Gardener, Health Club, Steward/Dishwasher, Food and Bev Host, F & B Assistant, F & B Server, Banquets Houseperson, Royal Service Agent, Cooks
Interview Locations: Virtual interviews can be arranged anywhere in the world via Zoom or Microsoft Team
Known for its stunning vistas, incredible outdoor lifestyle and welcoming mountain community, Whistler offers endless adventure no matter what season you visit.
Voted #1 Resort in Canada by Conde Nast Traveller, Reader’s Choice Awards in 2021, Fairmont Chateau Whistler offers an incredible opportunity to gain valuable and credible work experience while enjoying all the exciting benefits that life in Whistler offers.
We want to help you have the best season possible while working with us, so we do our best to provide employee benefits that go above and beyond the standard. This includes, subsidized ski-in, ski-out staff accommodation directly on Whistler Blackcomb ski resort, a leisure benefit bonus of up to $1,000 per employee per season (to go towards a ski or golf pass), a complimentary meal per working day in our staff cafeteria, discounted travel at Fairmont and Accor properties in Canada and around the globe and so much more.
JOB VACANCIES
- Room Attendant
- Housekeeping Houseperson
- Door Attendant / Bell Attendant
- Food & Beverage Server
- Server Assistant
- Banquet Server
- Ski Valet (Winter only)
- Third Cook
- Groundsperson (Summer only)
- Gardener (Summer only)
- Golfer Services (Summer only)
- Health Club Attendant (limited roles)
- Steward/Dishwasher
- F&B Host
- F&B Server’s Assistant
- Banquets Houseperson
- Royal Service Agent
- Guest Services Agent
- First Cook
STAFF ACCOMMODATION
Quad Occupancy Apartments
We offer two-bedroom, ski-in ski-out units which are dorm-style, with an open concept kitchen and living room area. They may accommodate up to four people and include a private bathroom with tub/shower as well as a fully self-contained galley style kitchen with a fridge, stovetop, microwave, toaster oven, sink and cupboard space. The size of this unit is approximately 420sq. ft.
Cost: $12.75-$18.25/day per person based on unit occupancy
Colleague Facilities:
- Common Area
- Fitness Room (open 24hrs)
- Laundry Facilities (open 24hrs)
STAFF BENEFITS
- Subsidized staff accommodation that is ski-in-ski-out on Blackcomb Mountain ($400 a month, payroll deducted bi-weekly)
- Wellness Benefit valued at $1000 (money towards a ski pass)
- Extended Medical Benefits (ex. Physio and massages after a day on the mountain!)
- A free meal during each shift in our staff cafeteria
- Opportunities to work within numerous departments (Overtime available!)
- Access to a cheaper ski pass thru the Whistler Experience
About The Whistler Experience®
The Whistler Experience® is a suite of training courses, available online, on-demand, on your time. The Chamber, along with our resort partners, has a vision of training every frontline worker in Whistler, empowering them to create outstanding service experiences and uphold Whistler’s reputation for incredible customer service. Since its inception in 2014, the program has trained over 25,000 Whistlerites to plan for and deliver world class service by building powerful experiences for employees and customers.
The Spirit Pass & Your Whistler Experience®
We also want to invest in your Whistler Experience®. The Whistler Blackcomb Spirit Pass is just one of many benefits. Take any online training with the Whistler Experience Qualifier stamp and take advantage of the Spirit Pass, winter and summer activity benefits, the Spirit Transit Pass, the Gibbons Whistler Platinum Membership and more! The Whistler Experience® is the exclusive gateway to the Spirit Pass – which offers the same perks and benefits as the Whistler Blackcomb Unlimited Season Pass – and it’s the only pass available all season long and without price increases!
Helpful Statistics on The Fairmont Chateau Whistler
Situated: The Fairmont Chateau is located at the bottom of Blackcomb mountain within the town of Whistler. They are not owned by Vail (the company that owns Whistler Blackcomb) so this is a different employer altogether, in the same ski town.
Size of Hotel: This property boasts 519 rooms.
Staff Housing: Location comes with shared staff housing which is offsite and roughly a 4min drive or a 20min walk. This is generally located in Glacier Lodge which is one of the same locations for staff housing as Whistler Blackcomb (Vail). Most rooms are 2 people per room with 4 people sharing a 2 bedroom unit. Housing is allocated by The Fairmont, however you can put in any requests of who you want to share with once you have a job contract.
Nightlife: LOTS of nightlife with bars, clubs and extra curricular options
Aussie saturation: Saturation of Aussies is HIGH
Temperature: Given the location of this resort to the west coast, this is the warmest resort from all resorts, typically only suffering really cold temps (anything below -20 which usually lasts for a couple weeks)
Job Roles on offer: Predominantly housekeeping and back of house roles. There are limited front facing roles in the front of house for experienced hotel front desk applicants and a range of front and back of house food and beverage roles. The range and number of roles changes from season to season based on the number of returning staff.
Career progression: This employer is world renown so it will look great on your resume. For those looking to climb the management ladder, you will need to stick around for back to back seasons. Keep in mind Fairmont Chateau Whistler is part of the Accor group who operate various hotels around the world. Should your performance be outstanding you could transfer to an employer in your home country. Those wanting to start a career in hotels…our recommendation is start in Housekeeping. Why? Simply because when you get to be a front desk or hotel manager you will have complete appreciation and understanding of how the back of house operates. The Fairmont also has locations in Lake Louise, Banff & Jasper you can transfer to from season to season.
Ski Pass: This employer offers a ‘Wellness Package’ worth $1,000. This can be used for your ski or bike pass.
Location: Whistler is an easy 2 hours drive up the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver. Vancouver has a large international airport and is only an hour drive to the USA land border with Washington state.
Ongoing employment: The TWHC will assist with your first seasons contract. The ball is in your court – we help you get the job, you need to work hard to keep it. Ongoing extension of contracts are based on seasonal performance and at the determination of management, as is Housing. Fairmont Chateau Whistler operates year round and contracts will be extended based on performance.
Why go here? Whistler is the biggest and most well known ski town in North America! It’s usually where your mates have been or will recommend to go. Great night club and party action. With popularity, comes more crowds which can mean more lines for lifts etc. This resort will do over 35,000 skier visits in one day over the Christmas period so it gets VERY busy. There are 2 massive ski mountains in one place so the in-bounds skiing and riding is phenomenal and plentiful. So is the backcountry skiing. In the summer, if your a keen mountain biker, alpine hiker or love to climb…yep….this is your place!
Any reasons to avoid? It is absolutely packed to the eyeballs and super busy. Lots of staff do find Whistler expensive When you have more to do in terms of nightlife, bars, drinking and social activities you will generally find you may be spending more of your savings. Whistler has the biggest housing crisis out of any place in Canada. If you are not going through our programme to secure a bed or having a bed pre arranged, your chances of finding housing at the resort are next to none. They also don’t have any temporary accommodation so you would be paying top dollar to start in a hotel if you don’t have housing.
The snow here can be wet given its proximity to the coast. If your a powder hound – yes, there are killer days….but thats it, days! Other resorts that have powder skiing/riding on tap!