Roam+Board :: Mount Engadine Lodge

mt engadine lodge review

[trip style = active + adventure]

What Planted at the end of a gravel road, the scale of Mount Engadine Lodge isn't apparent until you step beyond its cabin-cozy interior. Stroll toward the wraparound deck, and BAM, it's like you've been hit over the head with an Ansel Adams photograph; it's just you and the Canadian Rockies. Nothing else.

Snowshoes and skis arranged in a crisscross position adorn the wooden walls. Antlers serves as hooks for the brooms. River rocks are the building blocks for the wood-burning fireplaces. And speaking of wood burning, there's also a sauna. A selection of travel and lifestyle magazines {that made me want to flip pages for hours} hang fireside. There's even a knitting station. Without even trying, the nine-room chalet oozes Canadiana from every corner.

Overlooking "moose meadow" deep in Alberta's Kananaskis Country, this off-the-grid chalet is a winter and summer retreat so close to the great outdoors, you can reach out and touch it. Trip Styler approved!

Trip Styler Tip :: If you're in the area hiking, snowshoeing or skiing, stop by for afternoon tea from 3-5pm daily during the lodge's "open season" described below.

Where Two hours from the Calgary {YYC} Airport, 45 minutes above Canmore.

When The lodge is open during the white of winter and the sizzle of summer: Summer: June 14, 2013 - October 13, 2013 Holiday: December 20, 2013 - January 5, 2014* Winter Season: January 24, 2014 - March 31, 2014* *Estimated dates. Please confirm with the website.

Who/Why You need a digi-getaway steeped in nature's purest brew. You're looking for a place where mountains, out-the-doorstep adventure and home-cooked cuisine sing in perfect harmony.

Cost Rates start at $390 per couple and include all food, parking and WiFi. Alcohol is extra. Fido can come for a steal of a deal: $20/stay. Two-night minimum. Children four years and under stay for free, while children from 5-12 years are $100 per night, when staying with adults in the Moose or Elk Suites on the hide-a-beds. Solo travelers deduct $100 from the nightly rate.

More Roam+BoardLava Lava Beach Club - Hawaii IslandAce Hotel - SeattleThe Wickaninnish Inn - TofinoThe Burrard – Vancouver Hotel de Glace – QuebecAlcazar Palm Springs – CaliforniaJumeirah Zabeel Saray – DubaiMakena Resort – Maui Find more R+B hotels featured here, plus our it list of worldwide hotel picks.

[photos taken by @tripstyler while visiting Mt Engadine Lodge with Travel Alberta]

Mid-Winter Break

[trip style = weekend getaway]

For the first year ever, my province {British Columbia} is observing Family Day; basically, a day off mid-winter, or our version of Presidents' Day.  YAY. After playing hopscotch across the globe jumping West to East and back again {aka Vancouver ---> SF ---> London ---> SF ---> Vancouver ---> Tofino ---> Vancouver ---> Quebec ---> Vancouver} over the past few weeks, I figured Trip Styler would take a break today too. See you on Wednesday.

In the spirit of the winter break, here's a photo {above} my friend Debbie took of me going down the Hotel De Glace's slick and quick ice luge.

Insider Tip :: If you go down the winding slide on your feet versus your behind, you go much faster.

Happy day off, and to our friends in the rest of Canada and the USA, your day off is coming soon. Ole!

Roam+Board :: Hotel de Glace

[trip style = adventure]

{Editor's Note: I'm currently in Eastern Canada for Carnaval de Quebec---the world's largest winter celebration---and part of the arctic experience is staying one night in the Hotel de Glace. See more photos on TS's Instagram!}

What Bucket list buffs, this stay's for you. Statuesque and stunning, the 44-room Hotel de Glace is an impressive structure on its own; add to this the fact that the entire thing---all 32,000 sf of it---is built and hand sculpted from ice and snow, and this frozen facade is by far the coolest stay around {pun intended}.

Open only during Quebec's most frosty season, it takes six weeks and 50 people working around the clock to manhandle this masterpiece. Once complete, the 1.2-metre walls and 5.4-metre arches are checked multiple times a day for stability {this assurance came in handy when I went to sleep in my candlelit room, and for some odd reason wondered if the walls would cave in.}

To say sipping a cocktail from an ice glass while mingling in an ice bar {capable of handling 400 people} is a novelty doesn't do the experience justice---it's otherworldly and, in many ways, represents the true reason we travel: to find inspiration and wonder.

Wonderstruck is the only word I can use to the describe my overnight stay in the arctic abode. Apparently it's not enough to build a giant igloo, e-v-e-r-y surface is styled {!}, and in a strange moment of travel bliss, all I wanted to do is hug my ice cocktail table and take my ice glass {carved from a 500-ton block} home as a souvenir. A picture will have to do.

Elsewhere on the snow-covered grounds there's a chapel---complete with deer fur-lined ice benches---designed in fairy tale proportions {I'm pretty sure Snow White would get hitched here}, a snowy spa to warm your core temperature before bed and an entire room devoted to an ice luge. Only in Canada.

Want more details? Check out the nitty-gritty below.

Where Fifteen minutes outside Quebec City, Canada by car.

When Hotel de Glace coincides with the region's winter wonderland and is usually open early January to mid March, weather permitting. This year's dates are January 5th - March 24th.

Who/Why Hotels made of wood or concrete are way too blasé for your tastes. Plus, against the white and clear backdrop, your faux-fur hat and Canada Goose jacket pop in photo shoots.

Cost Rates start at $199 per person, per night and include a welcome cocktail {served in an ice glass!}, a specialized minus 30 degree Celsius-rated sleeping bag, Wifi and breakfast.

FAQs 1. Did you sleep? No, but I tried really hard to. After two hours trying to warm my feet---the rest of me was warm---through vigorous movement and strange contortions, I retreated to the 24-hour inside space and found a corner to cuddle up. Note: I have very bad circulation; every other guest seemed to sleep well. 2. What do you sleep on? Your bed's base is a block of ice, followed by a wooden frame, and a foam mattress wrapped in a blanket. 3. Where do you go to the bathroom? There is a basic 24-hour indoor facility where you check in. In it, there's also lockers, a changing room, bathrooms, showers and hot bevvies. 4. What's the temperature? The temperature in the Hotel de Glace is a constant minus 5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit). 5. How should you dress? Dress warmer than you can even imagine, and then some. Think thermals, down and hand/toe warmers. And bring a scarf. Basically, cover every single inch of your body. A balaclava is not out of the question. 6. When should I visit the arctic spa? Visit the hot tubs and sauna before bed---it'll warm your body temperature prior to jumping into your sleeping bag. 7. Would you go back? YES. YOLO. Next time, I'll attach toe and hand warmers to my extremities or litter my sleep sac with thermal hot packs!

More R+B Alcazar Palm Springs – California Jumeirah Zabeel Saray – Dubai Makena Resort – Maui Nita Lake Lodge – Whistler Hester Creek Winery – Oliver, BC Fairmont Banff Springs – Banff Thompson – Beverly Hills The Sorrento Hotel – Seattle The LIT! Bangkok – Thailand Hotel De La Paix – Thailand From ice hotels to Anna Wintour’s steal-of-a-deal holiday escape, find all featured R+B properties here.

[photos taken by @tripstyler while staying as a guest of the hotel]

Jetset Jingles :: Après-Ski

[trip style = ski]

Jetset Jingles publishes once monthly. The ‘soundtrack’ is written, mixed and mastered by Nicole, amateur DJ by night and movie maven by day.

Along with the good fortune of living in the nature-y city that I do {Vancouver BC}, comes the privilege of being surrounded by ski hills. Minutes from the city you’ll find three local mountains {Cypress, Seymour and Grouse}, and an hour and half drive away there are two of the best slopes in North America, Whistler and Blackcomb.

I’ve been skiing for as long as I can remember, and one of my favorite things about a ski day is the infamous après-ski, or simply, après to enthusiasts. Gathering with friends on a patio, eating nachos and throwing back a cold beer is almost as good as shredding on the slopes!

But there’s a second kind of après, one that I like to call the après-après-ski. It takes place once you get back to your cabin. You peel off your bulky layers of cold-weather clothes, pour yourself a glass of Cabernet and relax on a bearskin rug, fireside of course. Ok, so this may seem like a scene out of a cheesy romance novel, but I think you get the picture, the goal of the après-après-ski is to relax and unwind after your long day navigating the mountain. And with this in mind, I’ve created the ultimate playlist for your next après-après-ski.

Happy listening….

Song List 1/ Champion Sound - Star of Love 2/ I Follow Rivers - Wounded Rhymes (Deluxe Version) 3/ High And Dry - Pointless Nostalgic 4/ Fiction - Coexist

Playlist {Can’t view the playlist?}

More Jetset Jingles TS Music Musts Pause And Reflect Gals’ Getaway Portlandia – The Mecca Of Indie Rock Palm Springs Rat Packin’

[photo by @tripstyler]

Second Look :: Dubai

[trip style = urban + active & adventure + sun + luxury]

Editor's Note: Following our first look at Dubai and our nonstop Emirates flight via Seattle, we wanted to dive deeper into the destination. In the New Year we'll showcase more marvels, but for now a picture's worth a thousand words...

I have SO MUCH to report on Dubai, I'm not even sure where to start. At the risk of taking up your entire morning with a 5,000-word essay, I've opted to be your tour guide through a city that juxtaposes modernism with tradition, sand with skyscrapers, souks with malls, and mega monuments with everyday structures.

An international hub of record-holding proportions, I give you Dubai in 30 photos.

The Burj Khalifa

At 160+ storeys high {nearing a kilometer in height}, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest structure in the world.

View from the top overlooking the Gulf Coast.

The Observation Deck, 124 floors up.

The elevator took one minute to soar skyward. Aside from your ears popping, you don't even feel the rapid elevation change. General admission tickets cost 100 Dirham {about $30 usd} and can be purchased online or at the entry desk in the Dubai Mall. Trips up to the Observation Deck sell out quickly, so if "The Burj" is a must-do, online ticketing is recommended. Immediate, VIP'ish entry costs 400 Dirham {about $110 usd} and will get you to the top tout suite.

Directly below are the world's largest mall {The Dubai Mall} and the world's largest dancing fountain {The Dubai Fountain}, a Bellagio-style musical water feature, but bigger, of course. With water propelled 150m {equivalent to a 50-storey building} into thin air, 25 color projectors and nearly 7,000 lights, the choreographed aqua extravaganza is best viewed at night.

Looking up another three dozen floors from the Burj Khalifa's observation deck.

The Spice and Gold Souks

About to take an abra {boat} across the Dubai Creek.

My abra captain.

Views from the creek.

Day-to-day life outside the Spice Souk.

Vendor at the Spice Souk. I purchased camel milk chocolate at this stall.

Scenes from the Souks.

Visiting the Jumeirah Mosque

Traditional homes outside of the mosque.

Skirting skyscraper shadows, the Jumeirah Mosque is the only mosque in Dubai open to non-Muslims. The tour guide joked {with more than an ounce of seriousness}: "Please take photos, we want to spread the word about Islam." Tours lasting approx 1.5hrs are available Sat, Sun, Tues and Thurs at 10am.

All women entering the mosque must wear headscarves and dress conservatively. I transitioned my everyday scarf---which you need in Dubai for the heavily air-conditioned interiors---to a head covering for the tour.

The intricate interior.

The Desert

Aside from dipping my toes into the Persian Gulf and scaling the Burj Khalifa like Tom Cruise {just kidding, I took the elevator}, venturing into the Arabian Desert was my top priority in Dubai. At once vast and voluptuous, the dunes---illuminated in magenta hues at sunset---are a sight to see and a treat to touch.

If you don't have a BFF in town to show you around, numerous tours and desert safaris can be booked through Emirates' on-the-ground tour operator, Arabian Adventures. The private dune and dinner safari is recommended for those who want to see the desert in {solo} style. *Sand dune drives can aggravate motion sickness; however, your driver can adjust the impact if you start to feel sick.

[Photos taken by @tripstyler while a guest of Emirates in Dubai. Note: all portraits taken with individual permission.]