In fact the suites would be near perfect if it wasn't for a curious lack of hooks on which to hang ski gear.Freebies: Aveda bathroom products, Belgian chocolates and organic fair trade coffee. When the hotel claims it is just a "snowball's throw" from both the Blackcomb and Whistler mountain gondolas, it does not mean you have to be an Olympic athlete to hit the target. It genuinely is a mere few yards from the lifts, a bonus for anyone who loathes long, tortuous treks in ski boots.Time from international airport: Whistler is two-and-a-half hours along the spectacular "Sea to Sky" Highway 99 from Vancouver airport, with eleven Whistler Express buses scheduled every day in winter.COMFORTABLE?The hotel has 49 genuinely spacious one or two-bedroom suites which include bathrooms with generous soak tubs and underfloor heating, and well-equipped kitchens.If the cooking facilities fail to inspire the culinary beast within, the hotel can arrange for a gourmet chef to provide private fireside meals.Eight suites have spa pools, while other guests can use the new rooftop hot tub. And if the hot tubs and fireplaces fail to soothe away those skiing aches, there is always the Vital Spirit rejuvenating spa.LOCATIONSundial Boutique Hotel, 4340 Sundial Crescent, Whistler, British Columbia (00 1 604 932 2321; www.sundialhotel ). The only owner-operated hotel in what is often said to be Canada's - if not North America's - best ski resort, the Sundial reflects owner David Demer's drive for a more intimate hostelry, luxurious without being pretentious. It has recently undergone a major overhaul and now offers a series of West Coast-style suites, decorated in rich autumnal hues with cosy gas fires. The hotel lives up to its promise of flexible, personalised service and its unfailingly cheerful staff do not disappoint - doing everything from grabbing your skis for storage the moment you stagger back through the door to arranging for your groceries to be delivered or your pet to be groomed.
Should anyone ever pen the definitive guide to the world's most divine ski resort hot spots, I would venture that the private spa pool on the balcony outside suite 303 of Whistler's Sundial Boutique Hotel merits a mention. A glass of sauvignon blanc in hand, it proved the perfect place to soothe those aching limbs, peering through the steam at the snowy majesty of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains beyond. Of this, GPs had the biggest burden of costs at £3.5bn, while hospital admissions cost £900m.. The cost to health services increased by 60 per cent during the outbreak in Ontario. "That gives an indication of the kind of cost you might have from a pandemic," Professor Troop said.It was difficult to calculate exactly what impact it would have on the NHS because the pandemic strain could be mild and people would recover quickly, or it might be more severe and raise health costs.Professor Troop was speaking at the launch of a report, Understanding the Burden of Disease, that estimates the total cost of treating infectious disease in England at £6bn a year. Sainsbury's said that sales of poultry and eggs were still "robust" and consumer confidence remained high while Tesco and Asda said that sales had dipped earlier in the week but had recovered.A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "Should people really go off turkey and not want it on Christmas Day, we are seeing what other meat people might want.
The Government ordered 14.6m courses of Tamiflu in March.Yesterday, leading supermarkets said they were looking at how to source extra supplies of beef and lamb in case customers no longer wanted turkey at Christmas because of fears about bird flu. Family doctors could face demand for more than one million extra consultations from patients with respiratory illnesses in the event of a flu pandemic, according to the head of Britain's public health service. Professor Pat Troop, the chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, warned that a pandemic would impose severe pressures on the NHS were it to strike the UK. Costs would "hugely multiply" and careful planning was essential, she said.Professor Troop was speaking as the Government confirmed that stockpiles of anti-viral bird flu treatment courses should reach 2.5 million next week. Post-mortem studies of the brains of people with dyslexia showed that many neurons were in the wrong place.Difficulties with words* The word dyslexia comes from the Greek, meaning"difficulty with words".* Around 4 per cent of the population is severely dyslexic, and up to a further 13 per cent suffer mild problems.* The condition affects people from all backgrounds and of all abilities, from those with a rudimentary education to those with university degrees.* It causes hesitant reading, difficulty with sequences such as getting dates in order, poor organisation and erratic spelling.* People with dyslexia may also be innovative thinkers, good trouble shooters, intuitive problem solvers and lateral thinkers.* Successful dyslexics include the physicist and Nobel Prize- winner Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill and the author Hans Christian Andersen.. Tailoring programmes to fit the needs of these children will enhance their success in school."The researchers say other genes yet to be identified are involved in dyslexia. Brain scans carried out by researchers from the UK Dyslexia Research Trust have shown that people with dyslexia have underactive brains in areas associated with reading and vocal word formation.However, other research indicates that dyslexia may also be a neurological condition. The gene is expressed in reading centres of the brain where it modulates migration of neurons.