Spending a night at Whitepod had been on my bucket list for the longest time. What a sensational trip it was. Whitepod with kids is a once in a lifetime experience I would highly recommend. Having been to 108 countries and having stayed at many hotels worldwide, I find it to be a true privilege to still be blown away by a travel experience. 18 luxurious domes in the heart of the Alps, Whitepod was truly something else.
The Journey
We traveled to Whitepod after spending 2 nights in Leukerbad (Ilyas’ ex-favourite place in the world – now overtaken by Whitepod). It has been a very warm winter and temperatures in the mountains were above 10 Celsius.
We were told that the best time to visit Whitepod was in the winter as the abundance of snow makes the experience that much more special. Peter and I were worried. We had changed our booking from early April to early February to ensure we would have this (more expensive but) magical experience, yet there was no snow around us as we were heading up the mountain.
I remained positive. The GPS did say there was 9km to go and I did read that Whitepod was at an elevation above 1000m. Perhaps there will be snow somewhere up there. I silently continued to pray.
We saw more and more snow as we drove up the mountain. Phew, it was going to be alright after all.
The Arrival
When we arrived at the parking spot, we could only smile at the view of the mountains surrounding us. There were adults and kids sledging on a steep slope nearby. We woke the kids up and did the little walk in the deep snow towards the reception passing the crowd of people enjoying their drinks outdoors in the sun.
The check-in was smooth and a friendly experience. We were given a ten minute presentation covering various information on the pods, the walk we had to make to get there, the afternoon tea, dinner options, the breakfast, the pellet stove in our pod, Flacon the St Bernard dog, the Whitepod backpack filled with headlamps, binoculars and more, the sauna, the hiking trails,etc.
Peter got our Cabin Zero bags out and left them at reception where they’d later be delivered to our pod. We then made our journey up towards Whitepod. It was roughly a 20 minutes walk up from the reception to the pods. I was wearing baby Kion using our baby carrier. Luckily 4 year old Ilyas was able to walk by himself. Peter had Noah on his shoulders.
It was a gorgeous walk with tonnes of snow all around us. Funnily enough, Ilyas started singing a random Malay folk song Can Mali Can out of nowhere. The surrounding mountains were breathtaking. We walked past the Breakfast Hut where there were free sledges for guests to use.
We soon arrived at Pod number 5 and the views from our bed left me speechless.
The Experience – Whitepod with Kids
I could have taken hundreds of pictures and videos had there not been 3 kids to look after. The pod was spacious and the kids loved the children beds on the mezzanine despite it being a steep climb. I was impressed at how lovely the bathroom was.
We quickly made our way out towards the Breakfast Hut to have our afternoon tea. The kids loved the hot chocolate so much that Noah dubbed it the Hot Chocolate House. We enjoyed the cakes, muffins, coffee and apple juice on offer.
Afternoon tea complete, we headed out to play in the snow. Ilyas was happy to just slide down the mountain above our pod. He also tried sledging on his own and did very well. Alas I had a major parenting fail on this trip and forgot to bring shoes for baby Kion. His socks were all wet and Peter had to cut his outdoors time short because of this.
Everyone had a nice warm shower in the pod and was soon ready for the night indoors. We had brought some food (bread, donuts, chocolate croissants, crisps, yoghurt and potato salad from Migros in Leukerbad) with us and decided to stay in for dinner. Trekking down in the dark using headlamps with 3 kids ages 4 and below was simply not happening.
The lack of wifi and TV meant some hands-on time with the kids. We invented some games and snuggled under the thick warm duvets. The kids warmed their feet by the stove and truly enjoyed the entire experience. We all slept soundly that night.
The next morning, we got ourselves ready and headed over for breakfast at what Noah dubbed the Hot Chocolate House. Ilyas particularly loved the freshly squeezed orange juice and Peter was grateful for the gluten free bread readily available.
We spent more time in the snow afterwards and saw others sledging their way from their pods to breakfast – how fun!
A warm hot shower later and soon it was time to go.
We made our way down towards reception which took us just a little over 20 minutes with the many picture stops along the way. We met Flacon, signed the guestbook and said goodbye to Ilyas’ new favourite place in the world.
We cannot wait to return with our friends in the future. Thank you for having us Whitepod. It was truly a magical experience!
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