I’ve got a lot of hobbies, and some I decided to give up when I had a baby. Don’t feel too bad for me; it was a conscious decision to focus on the things I really liked, and to get rid of those extracurriculars that I didn’t really have the free time for anymore. Plus I found some of those hobbies were taking up some of my dinner and drinks nights, so a few things had to go! One of the things I gave up was snowboarding. I’m sure I will go snowboarding again if a fun trip comes up or something, but I realized even before I had a child I hardly went. I sold all of my gear and haven’t been in a couple years now, but in the winter I did miss heading out to Blue Mountain to go boarding, and more importantly hanging out in the Blue Mountain Village to shop, eat, and to keep warm!
This year I started to look into what Blue Mountain had to offer for the summer, and I was surprised how much was going on. We decided to head to Blue Mountain for a couple days with our son to check out The Westin Trillium Blue Mountain resort.
We decided to stay at The Westin Trillium House. The cost per night was not horrible (our rate was $199 per night), and they stated on the website that they had cribs as well. After I booked our room I called the hotel to ensure there would be a crib in our room as I requested, and I was informed that they were available on a first-come first-serve basis, and they would not reserve one for me. This was a little annoying as I was calling to reserve a bed – couldn’t I reserve a crib as well? We were told the best we could do is call the day of our arrival and ensure there was one available. We automatically decided then to bring our pack and play instead. When we arrived we were told our crib was already in our room which was nice, but because we had totally forgotten to call about the crib it didn’t really matter anymore.
Our room was just a deluxe Guestroom but had lots of space and included a kitchenette, sofa, coffee table and chairs. The room was very clean and roomy! I think I would have gotten a different room next time though with a separate bedroom so my son could go to bed at a different time than us.
The Westin Trillium House advertises the Westin Kids Club, where upon arrival your child is given a complimentary welcome bag with treats to keep them entertained during their stay at the hotel. We actually didn’t receive this (to be fair, we also didn’t ask for it). They also had a Kids at Blue Discovery Room at the hotel as well which had some fun toys and books to play with, but it was so nice outside we really didn’t play in there. The hotel also offers babysitting services, and a Kids Specialist who entertains kids in the Discovery Room.
After checking in went went straight to Plunge! Aquatic Centre which is attached to The Westin Trillium House. Our room was on the third floor which was where the entrance was to the water park – awesome. Children under the age of 3 were free, and the rest of the rates were for a 3 hour period, a full day, or for 3 days. We did the 3 hour option and it cost my husband and I $30.00.
They had indoor and outdoor pools, an indoor water playground, hot tubs, a rope swing, and slides. Our son loved it – the children that were enjoying it were aged toddlers to teenagers. A towel was included, and although we enjoyed it, it was a little expensive.
The Westin Trillium House has an Oliver and Bonacini restaurant in the hotel which we ate at for lunch. The had a great kids menu which had the option of cute kids appetizers like veggies and dip. Our kid felt pretty grown up when his appetizer arrived. They had high chairs and a great kids menu, but there weren’t a lot of kids eating at the restaurant so we were trying to keep the toddler fun to a minimum. It was a little stressful, but he was on some pretty good behaviour.
The Blue Mountain Village itself had lots of restaurants to eat at that were kid friendly, or they also have lots to choose from with more of a romantic vibe. There were lots of options! The village is only a super short walk on a path from the hotel, and there were lots of cute shops like a Columbia Kids store, and an all year-round Christmas shop. For activities there were paddle boat rentals, a volleyball court, power wheel courses for kids, Segway rentals, zip lining, a ropes course, mini golfing, the mountain coaster, and the gondola ride to name the major ones.
There was actually a lot to do! We tried a few activities, but our son really liked the gondola. It was very safe and had a great view at the top of the mountain.
If you could show proof you were staying at The Westin Trillium House you could receive a discount on some of the activities, including the gondola.
At night there was a movie under the stars set up at the base of Blue Mountain which we loved – I took advantage of the Beavertail hut and Starbucks nearby!
Overall we found the area very kid friendly with lots of fun activities, and we felt the hotel was very accommodating to children as well. The Oliver and Bonacini was good, but in the morning we couldn’t even get seated because there was literally no staff to do so and we had to go elsewhere. As I mentioned the Village is only a couple minutes away so we could easily go somewhere else for our meals.
Parking at the hotel was $20.00 for valet and $15.00 for regular parking which we didn’t see coming, and you really have no choice but to use their parking.
The hotel also had a great park and play structure, and a section where kids could catch frogs for fun.
I thought The Westin Trillium House was very picturesque, in a great location near Blue Mountain Village, and there were lots of activities for our toddler to enjoy.
www.westinbluemountain.com
