Hotel Revival Baltimore, Joie de Vivre (Hyatt). Bottom Line Review

December 13, 2020

The Hotel Revival Baltimore is part of Hyatt’s Joie de Vivre brand. We were rebooked there for one night as the Hyatt Regency Baltimore we were staying at got taken over by the NFL for the recent Ravens vs Cowboys game in order to keep the players in a bubble.

It was a hotel we’d been considering before booking the Hyatt Regency, so I’m glad we got a chance to stay there. It’s a nice hotel in a great neighborhood and could be excellent value using points seeing as it’s a category 2 Hyatt property.

Hotel Revival Baltimore Joie de Vivre Hyatt — Hotel Revival Baltimore

We didn’t get a true taste of the hotel for COVID-related reasons. They have a rooftop bar up top and a karaoke bar below, but I think both were closed during our stay. They were also doing some renovations on lower floors (including where the fitness room is located) which made sense seeing as occupancy is much lower than normal.

Despite that, we enjoyed our one night stay and the Hotel Revival would be a serious consideration if we visit Baltimore again in the future.

Hotel Revival Baltimore Bottom Line Review

If you’d rather redeem Hyatt points for a stay in an artsy neighborhood with great food options than in the Inner Harbor, the Hotel Revival is the place for you.

Points Price: Category 2, 8K points per night
Cash Price: If we’d booked the upgraded suite we received with cash, it would’ve cost $222.64.
Points Value: Potentially great value. We’d originally considered a longer paid stay as rates were sub-$100, but if room rates were more expensive then 8k points per night could be decent value.
Room: Very good. My Globalist status meant we got an upgrade to a Junior Suite Deluxe 1 King Bed at check-in which is the second-highest room type. There’s no separate bedroom and living room, but the room size was satisfactory and nicely designed. Our Hyatt stays tend to be at Hyatt Places, so it was lovely staying somewhere a little more fancy but which wasn’t pretentious. We were placed on the 10th floor to help ensure we didn’t hear construction on lower floors.
Parking: The hotel normally offers valet parking for $38 per night with full in/out privileges. Valet parking was suspended due to COVID, but you can self-park in their enclosed garage a couple of blocks away. I’m assuming the cost is the same for self parking, but it was waived due to my Globalist status.
Pet Policy: It’s a pet-friendly hotel and they don’t charge a pet fee – one of the only Hyatt properties I’ve come across that doesn’t charge a fee.
Service: Pretty good overall. The Hyatt Regency had neglected to inform the Hotel Revival we were being moved there for the night (we were originally being moved to the Sheraton next door before the Hotel Revival was offered), so it took about 10 minutes to get checked in. The front desk agent was friendly though and immediately recognized my Globalist status after a quick phone call to the Hyatt Regency and gave us an upgraded room. The benefit of not having a reservation already in place is that she had to create a standard reservation for me which I earned points on despite the Hyatt Regency presumably covering the stay, plus it meant Joie de Vivre was added to my list of Brand Explorer brands I’ve stayed at, getting me closer to another free category 1-4 certificate.
Turndown service: None that we were offered. It might be offered during normal times, but it’s possibly been suspended due to the pandemic.
Breakfast: COVID meant no cooked breakfast, but they had continental breakfast boxes they brought to our room.
Hyatt Elite Benefits: My Globalist status meant we got the following:
- Suite upgrade: This was automatically provided when checking in and we were upgraded to the second-highest suite type of suite.
- Free breakfast: This was provided for the two of us, albeit a COVID-friendly continental breakfast rather than their standard breakfast offering.
- Free parking: We had to park our car ourselves as valet parking was suspended, but it was free.
- 4PM late check-out: We could have taken advantage of this, but we had plans that afternoon and so moved back to the Hyatt Regency at midday.
COVID Notes: Masks were required and staff wore them, as did we. The hotel was very quiet during our stay and we didn’t see any other guests, so I’ve no idea how well the mask policy would’ve been enforced.
Would I stay again? I’d certainly consider it, especially seeing as my Globalist status meant we received free parking. Pretty much all hotels I’d looked at in downtown Baltimore charged $30-$40 per night for parking, so being able to get that waived with status is more enticing than a slightly cheaper rate elsewhere but where you have to pay for parking. 8k points per night is decent value too, especially if redeeming at the time of publishing this post as you get a 15% points rebate, or 25% for Hyatt cardholders.