After covering Whistler Pride and doing travel articles for the past several years in Whistler, I finally was given the opportunity to check out what many people raved about: the Scandinave Spa Whistler. Every year, people would tell me that I must check it out, like I needed a hint that I need to relax and be quite for at least an hour or more.

I have never used a spa before. When I go to hotels I do make use of whatever facilities they have – whether it be hot tubs, steam room or dry saunas; but to go to a place dedicated to those things is a new venture for me. Also, the challenge for me to occupy a space quietly made me wonder could I do it?

They are serious about the concept of no talking. It needs to be as quite as possible for others to also relax and meditate. When I am at home and working away on magazine stuff, there is usually noise from computers, cats, roommates, phone calls I’m making, along with videos or music playing in the background. If I have a cup of coffee, expect the noise level, especially conversations, to increase exponentially for every cup I have.

So, it was planned for me to head on over to the spa from the hotel. I suggest to anyone wanting to do this using Whistler Transit, just don’t. Take a taxi or drive as even assuming you got on the correct bus (I didn’t), there’s still a good walk to get to the spa from the stop. I also had to be back at Whistler Village for the Adventure Group Snow Shoe tour after the spa, so the time I spent getting to the Scandinave reduced the amount of time that I could spend checking it out.

I did my best to relax knowing already that my mind was worrying about the rest of the day. From the main lobby, you have a great view of the different buildings and pools laid out at the Scandinave. There is a fence around the property, but with the facility being set up on different levels it makes it easy to see a great view of trees and mountains. The change rooms are very clean which impressed me since a lot of pool change rooms have dirty floors and questionable lockers.

Once you have changed into your swim wear, you can head to get a massage, or head outdoors and follow the pathways. They have lots of areas set up for you to experience which is great if you want to do a hot spa activity and then a cold spa activity. The recommended pattern for maximum relaxation is to alternate hot, cold, and relaxation activities then repeat as many times as you want, trying different areas as you go.

Hot features include the eucalyptus steam baths - an amazing and refreshing way to help clear out the sinuses. Next is the wood burning sauna. You could hear the crackle of the wood fire with the smell. It was a little too hot for me, but if you enjoy the heat you’d love it. There is also a Finnish sauna which is more like a high-end version of a sauna you would find at hotels. For those who enjoy hot tubs like I do, they do have hot baths which they are outdoors along the path way. My Zen moment is to hang out in a hot tub and relax while it lightly snows, yet sadly it was not snowing while I was there.

For the cold features, they have a Nordic Waterfall. I thought it was part of the décor and did not even know it was part of the experience until I saw others using it. After using a hot feature, you stand under the water fall to get a spray of cold water pouring down all over you. For those who don’t want to go into a pool, they can also use the Nordic Showers instead to cool down. Alternately, the Nordic waterfalls also have cold plunge baths.

The Scandinave has solariums where you can relax on large reclining chairs and just enjoy the view along with the sunlight. As these solariums are fully enclosed, you are also protected from the wind and temperature changes. For those more resistant to the cold, you can relax outdoors in front of fireplaces. They do have a yoga studio too, but I was unable to find it.

As I spent about a couple minutes in each of the areas, I can understand why there is no talking allowed. People totally tuned out the world around them. There is no Wi-Fi, there is no cell phones or devices of any kind that I saw. I was not allowed to take photos, with the Scandinave graciously providing me the photos for this article.

Leaving the phone behind was easy. Not being able to take my own photos was the hard part. At least I knew that I was getting something that helped me be at ease. The problem was turning my brain off. I kept thinking of the schedule that I had planned already for the day and for the rest of Whistler Pride, along with all the other tasks that I do daily for the magazine. If I had a complete day open where I could hang out, I think I could have relaxed and unwound.

There are no in and out privileges, but they do have an onsite bistro in the lobby which will take care of any cravings you might have. It’s a drug and alcohol free zone and open to only those 19 years and older.  My experience was only for the baths part, but they do have 60-minute massages. They do several different types of massage depending on what you need which you book in advance. With the baths, you can go in at anytime between 10am to 9pm and spend as much time as you like. They are open regardless of the weather conditions outside.

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Contributor Steve Polyak |

Locale British Columbia | Whistler |

Topic Travel | Whistler Pride |

Photo Gallery Travel |Whistler |