Superb Service and Surprisingly Good Food: The Hyatt Regency Vancouver

The Hyatt Regency Vancouver is good value and has excellent service in a convenient location within central Vancouver, British Columbia.

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Booking

The Hyatt Regency Vancouver is a ~~Category 4 hotel~~ (now Category 5) in the World of Hyatt program. Category 4 hotels tend to be a sweet spot, given it’s fair easy to come by Category 1-4 free night certificates. If booking with points, you can expect Category 4 hotels to cost between 12,000 and 18,000 Hyatt points per night. I ended up using Hyatt points for this stay. I booked this stay using 36,000 Hyatt points total for two nights here.

If you instead wish to book using cash, expect to spend somewhere in the range of $450CA per night, though rates may vary significantly if there is something else going on in town. As of now, this is the only Hyatt hotel in the city, which just reinforces the fact that Hyatt has a much smaller footprint than the other large hotel chains.

Given we had a party of six on this trip, I needed to book two rooms. To ensure that I get Hyatt Globalist benefits on both rooms, I had Jenn book the second room using her account and sent her a Guest of Honor award that would bestow the benefits of Globalist to her room without her needing to qualify for the status herself.

I should also note that I have stayed here before, but that was all the way back in 2014. I was looking forward to seeing how my experience this time would differ from last time (ultimately, I recall it being just fine and a bit unmemorable).

Earning World of Hyatt points

Full disclosure: in this section are refer-a-friend links where I may earn some points for referring. There is no requirement to use the below referral links to apply but note your offer may differ when going directly to the card issuer.

Chase has a couple of cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points that can transfer to Hyatt at a 1:1 rate:

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card (refer-a-friend link) that offers 75,000 points for spending $5,000 in the first three months.
There is currently a limited-time offer (refer-a-friend link) on the Chase Ink Business Preferred that gives an excellent 100,000 points for spending $8,000 in the first three months.

The Hyatt personal credit card (not an affiliate link) offers a 30,000 point bonus when spending $3,000 in three months. On top of that, you get 2X earnings during the first six months until you reach $15,000 in spend. At most, this is a 45,000 card for spending $15,000–and most certainly not the 60,000 bonus it claims disingenuously claims. But, on the bright side, if that $15,000 spend happens within the same calendar year, you’ll also get six elite night credits and a Category 1-4 free night certificate.

The small business version of the Hyatt credit card (refer-a-friend link) offers a limited-time 80,000 point bonus when spending $10,000 in three months. The main appeal here is the easier path towards earning elite status (5 elite night credit for every $10,000 in spend per calendar year), but it also gives up to $100 back on Hyatt purchases.

Arrival and First Impressions

We left Vancouver (YVR) airport and took the light rail (kids are free!). While the hotel is immediately next to Burrard Station, there are no direct trains to the airport here (instead, it’s a good option if you wanted to go check out Science World). We took the Canada Line from the airport to the Vancouver City Centre stop, and then took a short walk of 5-10 minutes to get to the hotel.

*The hotel is immediately adjacent to a metro station*

Once we arrived at the hotel, we found it fairly empty. A couple of days before our stay, the hotel warned us that there may be employees on strike in and around the hotel due to a labor dispute, but thankfully we noticed no strikes while we were there. We made our way over to the front desk, where an extremely helpful agent checked us in both our rooms and made sure we were as close together as possible. The agent was also very apologetic that there were no open suites, but I appreciated the direct confirmation.

The Room

We made our way over to the elevators and up to the 22nd floor, where we found our room for this stay (2206). The other room wasn’t connecting, but it was a couple of rooms over and looked very similar, so I won’t go into detail on that room.

This room is a corner room, with a small hallway that leads over to the main room.

The room itself is just around the corner. I thought it was strange that the room itself seems to be underutilized. There is enough space here to add a few more features and consider it a small incremental upgrade over the typical room, but oh well.

Our room had two double beds, which was sufficient for our needs. While it would have been nice to have queen-sized beds, we didn’t truly need anything over doubles. I particularly liked the contrast between the bed headboards and the wallpaper pattern behind it.

In front of the bed is the TV and dresser. I thought it was a little odd that the placement of the dresser wasn’t aligned with the TV, but I suppose it still works with the style in the room.

Next to the TV is a functional desk with lamp. It worked for what I needed to do.

And just next to the beds and the window is a comfortable chair. The kids enjoyed sitting here.

Just off the hallway is where the closet and bathroom can be found. As evidence the room wasn’t being fully utilized properly, the room had a mini-fridge, but it wasn’t in the cutout for it. Instead, it was hidden in the cabinet, with some complimentary water for Hyatt elites.

*Mini-fridge and complimentary water (for Hyatt elites)*

The closet was plenty big, with a couple of robes (we didn’t use them).

Inside the bathroom, the vanity felt clean and modern, with a rather large mirror above it.

The shower was more of a bathtub. You could decide to either soak in the tub or if you want a shower, the only option was a rain shower. While the setup looks a bit odd, I actually have to admit it worked quite well. There was good shower pressure and plenty of volume.

Toiletries are the Hyatt Regency standard brand (Pharmacopia).

The view from the room was facing a nice courtyard across the street, or you could check out the other tall buildings.

One last thing about the room was the interaction we had with the housekeeper. Despite us having the do not disturb sign hanging on our door, we ran into her a couple of times during our stay, and each time she insisted on doing something to improve our room to make our stay more enjoyable. We ultimately agreed to just receiving a refresh of towels, but it was yet another positive experience with staff members here (really, it was a consistent trend all around).

Breakfast (Mosaic Grill)

Globalists can get their free breakfast at Mosaic Grill on the second floor, open from 6:30AM to 11:00AM (weekdays) or 11:30AM (weekends). We went around 7:30AM both mornings and there were no problems finding a seat. While you could opt for breakfast off the menu, we just kept things simple and went with the buffet. You could also get freshly-cooked eggs and omelets from the omelet station. Sometimes there is a line, but service is fairly quick.

Overall, the food was decently good, but it did take a little bit of time to get some items restocked (as you might be able to tell from the pictures below). We did notice some variety in the options between days, but much of it remained the same.

This is one of the reasons I aspire to be a Hyatt Globalist. Having breakfast charges covered, including tip, for two adults and two children per room makes travel a bit more affordable. Of course, if it weren’t included, I might have eaten elsewhere. So while it’s not fully accurate to say I saved over $123CA (plus whatever tip would be) on breakfast each day, but it’s also nice not having to worry about breakfast expenses with kids who can be quite hungry in the morning. And yes, breakfast charges were similarly waived on the second room (booked with that Guest of Honor certificate).

*Waived breakfast charges thanks to Hyatt Globalist status*

Dinner (Mosaic Grille)

Our first night in town, we wanted to keep things simple and just decided to have dinner at the hotel. If we end up touching down in a city in the afternoon, this feels like my usual default option. Why? Because I have some mild fears of irregular operations while traveling and the hotel restaurant tends not to be overbooked. Plus, with all the travel in the day, it’s comforting just to take a stroll downstairs without needing to worry about how to get places.

For the evening, we had an absolutely wonderful server, who took her time getting to know us all, offering us some local insights into Vancouver activities. Since we were only in time a short two nights before our cruise, we didn’t get a chance to check out what she recommended, but we’ll have to save our notes for next time we’re in town. Hands down, she was the friendliest and most personable hotel worker we’ve encountered in quite a while. We did run into her at breakfast on the morning we were leaving and got into a discussion with how things went in Vancouver.

We were presented with a couple of different menus: a standard dinner menu, a special pre fixe menu, and a kids menu.

Three of the adults opted for the pre fixe. We first received a small amuse bouche (cracker with cheese and marmalade).

The kids meals came out next. Alex ordered the cheese pizza, which was huge. While he could eat pizza every day, he had some trouble finishing this one given its size.

Char opted for the creamy alfredo, which came with giant chunks of shaved parmesan. She also had trouble finishing all of this meal.

The starter for the pre fixe was either the tuna tataki or the summer greens. Naturally we ordered both. I have to say that while the summer greens were quite refreshing, I thought the tuna tataki was a bit more satisfying with the delicious pieces of tuna.

For the main course, two of us ordered the Chilean sea bass, while I opted for the gnocchi al pomodoro. Yes, I have a weak spot for gnocchi, but I was also choosing something I thought the kids might enjoy in the event their meals weren’t sufficient (clearly not the case here). Both mains had plenty of flavor and were well-cooked. I was actually a big fan of all the broccolini found on the gnocchi.

One of the adults wanted to keep things simple and opted for the burger with fries.

Lastly, the pre fixe meals came with a dessert. We opted for the sorbet and two chocolate cakes. It doesn’t look like that hefty of a dessert course, but I was glad. There are plenty of carbs in the main course that we weren’t looking for much during the dessert course.

I’d say dinner here is actually a bit better than expected, partly because of the phenomenal service and partly the meals themselves. I don’t typically expect too much from a hotel restaurant, but the Mosaic Grille is a respectably decent place to choose for dinner.

Hotel Features

On the fourth floor, you’ll find a decent-sized gym. There are plenty of machines and it does get some natural lighting from the pool just outside.

The pool here is a popular choice for hotel guests, and we found it was typically occupied by a good number of families. Being in Vancouver, the sun tends to stay out fairly late into the evening during summer, which makes it a good spot to visit at the end of the day after lots of sightseeing and to burn off calories from dinner. There is a small hot tub just behind the pool and the kids kept running between the two pools (I don’t know how their bodies can handle the sudden swing of going from the hot tub to the regular pool).

On the first floor by the elevators is the Hyatt Nature Hike Challenge. It certainly caught our eyes as we wondered what it would be. Well, we did check it out…

There are some nice murals inside here, which make you think you’re in the middle of a forest…

But, at the end of the day, it is just a standard staircase. You can climb as high as you want (I only ventured up to the fifth floor). The fourth floor exit just dumps you out by the gym and pool area.

*You might want to exit at floor 4 unless you plan on walking all the way up to your room*

Odds and Ends

There were a couple of problems in our room. The first is the transition from the bathroom to the carpeted hallway where I felt some loose carpet staples in the floor. Thankfully, it was me finding out that problem and not one of the kids.

The other problem is unique to this corner room. There is a connecting door to the adjacent room, but the connecting door is right next to the main door to the guest room. To prevent the two doors from striking each other, they installed a metal door stopper in between the doors in the middle of the flooring. The problem is the color of the door stopper blends in quite well with the carpet, making it easy to overlook. This caused a rather painful experience for Jenn, who stubbed her toe on it.

*Wish it didn’t blend in with the carpet so well*

Recommendation: Yes

There is value to be had here at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. The hotel has excellent service, good dining, and clean rooms. It’s also found in a good part of town, close enough to Canada Place to be useful for cruisers (a short 10 minute walk away), and also nearby excellent dining and shopping. ~~Somewhat surprisingly, it also sits in that Category 4 sweet spot in the World of Hyatt program, making it accessible with those free night certificates.~~ It’s still a decent option at Category 5 but not quite as much of a sweet spot.

Ultimately, what surprised me the most was the overly positive experiences we had with employees here. I’ll admit that receiving an email from the hotel warning us of possible strike activity happening during our stay lowered my expectations, but the service here during our stay was something I expected from the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Well done!

For another hotel option in the city, check out the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver.

Have you stayed at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver before? What was your experience?

Author

Chris Wada

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experiencing the world via gastronomy with our children