I'm not in a position to comment on room rates (thanks again to Berts Electric) but we were certainly comfortable and the hotel proved pandemic conscious as things were spotless and hand sanitizer was readily available. Amazingly the pool was open but with social distancing measures which made the whole thing more complicated than we cared to endure. Still, for those fully invested, at least it was available.
Another new reality is the 2 person (or your family unit) per elevator rule which is sensible but means a bit of a wait sometimes. Be patient! BTW, while we're on the subject (and we're not really) I have become a little more religious about mask-wearing of late. Partly this is because I believe the medical professionals when they tell us it will help slow the spread of this thing and partly in order to set an example and make others comfortable. When I walk into a space and others are wearing masks, I feel less like a nerd and comfortable that there are like-minded people around me. Also, if masks provide protection to others more so than to ourselves, then so be it. The greatest joy in life comes from serving others so put mask-wearing under that heading. You can put tax-paying under that heading too if you feel like you are paying more than your fair share. Contrary to popular belief selflessness is not terrible.
After checking in, we did what one does in Whistler, namely, walk around. Soon we came upon the Audain Art Museum which I had completely forgotten about! At $20 per adult, this turned out to be my favourite thing that we did this weekend and an affordable cultural distraction. Our tour started with a visit to Michael Audain's mask connection which is more than a little impressive. You may have seen some of his masks at the Vancouver Art Gallery. We learned at Vancouver, that Michael talks to his masks but we didn't get the impression that it was problematic!
The next room housed a collection of more than 2 dozen Emily Carrs. I am far from an artist or even a connoisseur of art but I find myself able to look at some of her paintings with appreciation and admire her choices of subjects. I wanted to post some pictures of them here but I got worried that there might be some copyright stuff that I didn't know about. So you have to go!
The masks and the ECs are only the beginning. Allow a couple of hours if you can and go get cultured! Before long we found ourselves feeling peckish and went in search of comestibles! We ended up putting our name in at El Furniture Warehouse upon the recommendation of a fellow Berts person and having wandered past Vancouver locations of the same restaurant group. I admit a certain fascination with the all items $5.95 concept, being more than a bit of a cheap ass.
We got the text much sooner than we expected but had not wandered too far. We were seated inside which was preferable to out in the sun as far as we were concerned (I was getting burned a bit already wandering around being a pasty white guy!). I told our server that we intended to order too much food and we did so.
Everything arrived at once of course so we were suitably embarrassed about being pigs but we persevered! You get what you pay for is a familiar adage so we were prepared for mundanity but got some nice surprises.
The Crispy Salt and Pepper Wings were as advertised. Crispy and tasty! We added the blue cheese and veggies for a buck which was not a hardship wallet wise and hey!...you have to have blue cheese with your wings!
Definitely a very good Ceasar Salad, this one has a roasted corn salsa and avocado. If you want to add chicken or beef for a couple of bucks, you will have a whole meal here. We enjoyed this also.
We also got some pleasure out of the Warehouse Crispy Mac n Cheese. Sturdy cavatappi noodles and lots of cheese with some Alfredo sauce and other crispy stuff, this was great!
Slightly sliding downhill, the Calamari had completely missed the salting when it came out of the fryer step. If that had not happened, this would have been great also. It was served with tzatziki which saved the thing.
The Works Burger was not great. Definitely a frozen patty, we kind of got a 7-11 taste from the beef which could not be overcome by the bacon and cheese etc. We upgraded to Onion Rings for a couple of bucks which was a good move. They came with a Maple-Sriracha glaze. Very good. Avoid the burger, order the O rings.
We enjoyed our time at EFW despite the food up and downs. The music was thumping and we had the option of watching skateboard impressiveness on the tv monitors (and a few catastrophes). Social distancing was maintained with intermediate tables reserved for inflatable dolls (I know, right?) Our server was friendly but fairly busy also and a little distracted (all I wanted was water).
Food 3 out of 5
Service 3 out of 5
Comfort 4 out of 5 (just a fun place)
Eating in Whistler is a bit of a crapshoot. Of course, there are some great restaurants but not everyone wants to spend a fortune. There are decent prices to be found without resorting to McD's however. Do some research. After a little rest back at our Hilton, we went out for a walk in the beautiful evening and were proud of ourselves for not crashing out at 10 like we usually do. 
Stay tuned for Part 3 which is basically some more sightseeing and a wonderful lunch on the way home!
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