Fall is my favorite season for travel. The leaves are changing, the weather is perfect for cozy sweaters, and there’s nothing like a walk in the woods, a hike, or maybe a trip to an orchard to pick apples. My family celebrated fall foliage last week with our first trip to the Westin Trillium House, Blue Mountain near Collingwood, Ontario, and it was a fun escape with a view, fresh air, and a chance to explore Blue Mountain.
Celebrating the Apple Harvest Festival on the weekend, Blue Mountain has a lot going on, and their calendar is full of activities year-round. Whether you want to shop, try outdoor experiences, have a nice meal, or get a bit more adventurous, the area is a great escape for couples or families looking for more.
Westin Trillium House, Blue Mountain
The Westin Trillium House, Blue Mountain offers eight room types and 228 rooms for adventures any time of year. The one bedroom suite was perfect for my wife, daughter, and I, and included a full kitchen, dining table, a very comfortable sofa bed, a cozy queen bed, balcony looking out over the village, and a bathroom with a soaker tub and separate shower.
Standard suites are also available, in addition to two- and three-bedroom suites, not to mention the hotel’s 1,500 square foot Trillium Suite.
Driving up to the hotel entrance, the Westin looks like a classic chalet in the mountains. The Westin really stands out in the Blue Mountain Village, overlooking the village pond, and offering some of the best views in the area.
At the Westin, guests can go for a dip in the year-round outdoor heated pool or hot tub, or treat themselves to a meal at the exceptional Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill, and the hotel also features extensive meeting room space for events and weddings.
Guests at the hotel also have access to the 24-hour WestinWorkout Fitness Studio, the New Balance gear lending program, and next-door you’ll find the Plunge Aquatic Centre, which is open year-round, features a heated outdoor pool, an indoor and outdoor hot tub, as well slides and other activities for kids, plus a rope swing for adults.
Travellers who book the Apple Pie Trail package online receive a gift bag on check-in, which includes a map and guide for the region, two $10 vouchers that can be used towards local products at stops on the trail, and samples of products from the trail.
Blue Mountain Village & Activities
During our stay we explored the village, its shops, and we tried out three activities.
For fall, most of the summer activities are still running at Blue Mountain, so you can still enjoy mini-golf and the open-air gondola ride up the mountain, plus a range of other activities, like rock climbing, the Timber Challenge High Ropes, and Woodlot Low Ropes.
The 18-hole Cascade Putting Course at the foot of the mountain is a lot of fun to get a little competitive before lunch or dinner in the village.
For something a bit more fast-paced, Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster is a one-kilometer long roller coaster that lets you control how fast you rocket down the course, with a top speed of 42-kilometres per hour.
Or you can ride the open-air gondola up to the top of the mountain for a hike along the trail, and enjoying the scenic views that look down on the village, and across to Collingwood and the Georgian Bay.
We also painted pottery together at Crock A Doodle. Our four-year-old really loved getting messy and painting something special, and we enjoyed painting some things we’re going to put out for the holidays.
For supper, we enjoyed a meal at Copper Blues Seafood and Steak Restaurant, and the steak really was impressive. I had the “Touch of Each” from the menu, which features an 8oz New York Striploin with a skewer of jumbo garlic shrimp, and the meal was delicious. Great presentation, excellent food, and perfectly seasoned.
Fall Foliage at Marriott Hotels
Marriott Canada and Marriott International Hotels are celebrating fall by encouraging everyone to get out for fall foliage, and enjoy nature with cozy weekend getaways to some of their most picturesque properties.
Within Canada, and in addition to the Westin Trillium House, Blue Mountain, The Algonquin Resort St. Andrews by-the-Sea, Autograph Collection in New Brunswick is a beautiful hotel for a fall trip. The historic hotel offers whale watching, fall foliage, a local farmer’s market, and much more.
Starting in late-October in the United States, three of the most notable hotels worth exploring are The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, Le Méridien Philadelphia, and JW Marriott Essex House New York.
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