If you’re traveling to Whistler in the winter and staying for an extended period of time, you’ll soon discover that hotel rates for overnight parking in Whistler push beyond $39/day. That’s ~$300 bucks for a week’s worth of parking you could otherwise spend eating waffles and feeding Whisky Jacks! Boooo!
Unfortunately, the cheaper day-lot Whistler parking options are just that: day only. There’s no overnight parking in the day lots from November 1 – March 31, as they need to be clear for plowing. Bummer. What to do?
There are two options for affordable overnight parking in Whistler:
- The Whistler Public Library
- The Whistler Conference Centre
Both options are in the heart of Whistler Village and totally walkable to most hotels.
I’m focusing on Whistler Conference Centre parking because that’s the option we selected. I assume the process is the same for Whistler Public Library parking, but I’m not 100% confident. Choose your own adventure and let me know if you’ve got any clarifications.
Location, Location, Location
The Whistler Conference Centre has an underground self-park garage located right off Whistler Way. At the time of this writing (1/2017), the overnight rate was $10 per 24 hours with a maximum of 7 days. (They also have an “evening rate” of $5, which, I believe is good from 5PM to 10AM.)
How does it work? Easy! You pull into the garage and park, then you walk over to the self-pay machine, select the number of days you need, and pay. The machine will print off a ticket for you to display on your dashboard. After that, you walk back to your hotel, wink at the valet driver, and go treat yourself to a beer or several as a reward for your efforts. Huzzah!
Frequent Questions:
What about the “monthly parking pass” I’ve read about?
The Whistler Conference Centre has a monthly parking option available. And it’s even more affordable! ($30/mo as of 1/2017) But unfortunately, the availability is limited, you have to purchase them in-person at Municipal Hall during regular business hours, and they sell out a month or two in advance. You can email the Resort Municipality of Whistler to inquire about availability. But again: they sell out early. The next two months after our trip had already sold out by the time I inquired.
Does the Whistler Conference Centre parking offer in and out privileges?
Yes! There’s no gate and no attendant, so as long as you have your ticket and a place to park, you should be good. And you should totally use the opportunity to drive over to Rim Rock Cafe for dinner! The only caution is that there’s no guarantee you’ll have a parking space when you return. As I mentioned, parking is a free for all. So use your judgment — if the garage looks empty, you shouldn’t have any troubles leaving and returning. If parking is tight, I’d hold my position.
Potential downsides:
1. It’s only good for a max of 7 days
Can you simply buy a new ticket? I don’t know if/how they police this. Based on what I saw, the setup is rather informal. There’s no staff around. I doubt they’d notice if you simply replaced your ticket on the 7th day. But, of course, I don’t know. If you’re worried, you could always try moving your car to another spot. Who knows. (If you do, please let me know.)
2. Parking is limited
We were there the first week of February and, although busy, we never had a problem finding a spot. I could easily see that it may fill up. But worst-case scenario, you could park at your hotel the first night, then try again the next day. There’s frequent turnover, so I doubt you’ll have much trouble.
3. It’s not the most convenient option for every hotel
We stayed at the Fairmont Chateau, which is outside the main Village, over at the base of Blackcomb. It wasn’t “far,” per se, but it took a good 15-20 mins to walk over to the car. That wasn’t a problem for us because we didn’t need access to our vehicle — we began our trip by unloading luggage/etc at the Fairmont and took everything with us before moving the car. If you need frequent access to your vehicle, you might prefer paying for the convenience of your hotel’s parking.
