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I recently returned from a stay in Vancouver, the final stop of several throughout Canada (see also: Delta Hotels Downtown Toronto Bottom Line Review). I’ve been coming to Vancouver for years and have watched the prices of downtown hotels steadily creep up, especially during the Summer. But the Hyatt Regency is still a Hyatt Category 3, making it (for now) an excellent antidote to the soaring cash prices downtown.
The Hyatt Regency Vancouver has a great location a few blocks from the waterfront and about a 5 minute walk from the Canada Line train to the airport. As per usual for the brand, it’s a massive hotel geared towards convention business. The public areas are, overall, quite nice and the views from the guest rooms are terrific. Although the club lounge is still closed (unlike the other Canadian hotels I was at), they provide a very good breakfast at the restaurant and some attractive afternoon drink options. The hotel isn’t perfect and needs a little TLC here and there, but as a points/free night certificate option in downtown Vancouver, it’s tough to beat.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver Bottom Line Review
Bottom line: A very nice, if not spectacular, hotel. This shines as a points redemption, however, since cash rates in downtown Vancouver are approaching the stratosphere. It’s got a marvelous location, good views and is a great use of a category 1-4 certificate.
- Points Price: Category 3, 9,000-15,000 points per night. Bookable using a Category 1-4 Certificate from the Chase Hyatt Card.
- Cash Price: There is some seasonal variation. The nights that I was there, it was CA$500 (~$400), in other times it can drop down to as low as CA$250-300 ($200-$240).
- Points Value: Most of the time, it’s an excellent value for a points redemption or a category 1-4 cert. Rates are often $300+, making the point value well above our reasonable redemption value of 1.6 CPP.
- Resort Fee: None.
- Parking: Valet is CA$52/day (~$42) per night with in & out privileges. Self-parking in the attached garage is available for CA$41.66/day and includes in & out privileges as well (~$31.50).
- Turndown service: None.
- Housekeeping: Everyday for all guests.
- Internet: Very good. Able to stream, cast and zoom throughout the property
- Dining:
- Breakfast: There is a sizeable buffet breakfast with an egg station and numerous hot and cold items served from 7am-11am at Mosaic Bar and Grille. Cost is CA$40 including tax and gratuity (~$32). There is an a la carte menu as well as an in-house Starbucks with the usual array of breakfast sandwiches.
- Lunch: Mosaic Bar and Grille serves lunch M-F from 11:30am-2pm (midnight on Saturday). On weekends, there is a brunch menu from 10:30-2pm.
- Dinner: Mosaic Bar and Grille serves a small bite “appetizer” menu daily from 4pm-5:30pm and then a full dinner menu from 5:30pm-10pm (midnight on Saturday). There is also a cocktail bar in the main lobby called “Grain Tasting Bar” that has good happy hour from 3-5pm Monday-Friday and serves small bites and drinks from 5pm-11pm (12am Thursday- Saturday.
- Spa: None. There is an outdoor pool attached to the fitness room on the 4th floor.
- Fitness Room:There is a nice-sized fitness room on the 4th floor. It has an assortment of weight machines and free weights alongside 20 or so cardio machines (treadmills, and ellipticals)
- Hyatt Globalist Elite Benefits: Suite Upgrade: I booked a standard room and was upgraded into a huge, “Deluxe” 1-bedroom suite on the 30th floor. This is actually a premium suite, which would exclude it from being eligible for a Globalist upgrade. The property was sold out of standard suites, so provided the deluxe suite at their own, which was very kind.
- Club Lounge: Currently closed.
- Free Breakfast: Since the club lounge is closed, free breakfast is served daily at Mosaic Bar and Grille. Overall, both the a la carte and buffet items were high quality.
- 4PM Late Checkout: Applied automatically without asking.
- Free Parking: I didn’t have a car, but there is free valet parking on award stays.
- Would I stay again? Absolutely, especially if booking an award stay. This is a very well-located property right by the downtown waterfront and, given hotel prices in Downtown Vancouver, it’s a steal as a category 3.
- Hyatt Regency Vancouver pros:
- Great location in Downtown Vancouver, just a few blocks from the Waterfront.
- Guest rooms don’t start until the 5th floor, so there’s good city views from many of them.
- Good elite recognition.
- Overall, very efficient service.
- Excellent points/certificate value the majority of the year.
- Hyatt Regency Vancouver cons:
- Property is somewhat dated.
- Outside of getting a room on a high floor, there’s no way to experience the views (like a lounge or patio)
- The F&B options, outside of the good-value happy hour, are fairly expensive (albeit so is Vancouver).
- Standard rooms are on the smallish side at 380 square feet.
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Sadly, the Regency Club has been permanently closed. Another COVID-loss revenue victim I was told by the Front Desk. Staying here right now – 2nd stay for a couple of nights (we live in the Seattle area) for about $180 US a night. Used a certificate for a Suite Upgrade to the One Bedroom – great room and stayed in one last time. Has a balcony (2214/12) on the 22nd floor. Tired to get upgraded to the Executive Suite which was not booked and while this is always at the discretion of the hotel, the MOD shared that the DoR instructed to collect an additional fee for any upgrade. 1st time as a Globalist I was asked to pay for an upgrade. I was told, ironically, that if the hotel was almost sold out, it would have been a complimentary upgrade, but the Dir of Revenue instructed staff they need $$ so do not upgrade for free if there’s a chance to grab that revenue. We will be a frequent guest as we liked the property, location, heated room, rooms are refreshed with newer furniture and we travel with a small dog and they are highly accommodating. Whistler Ski bus picks up right next to the hotel where the Metro station is. So train to hotel is a breeze as well. We drove and the parking garage has warning signs everywhere. Tip: go to the garage 1st – no ticket to park – Front Desk will enter your license plate on check-in. Solid service but a lot of new faces as that seems to be the case everywhere these days.
Too bad about the Regency Club…that was great. Thanks for the update!
That foto is not of the Hyatt in Vancouver Canada, the Entrance looks very Different here trust me been there
There’s several entrances. This is one on the corner of Burrard and Melville behind the in-house Starbucks. Perhaps you’re thinking of a different one?
I’ve stayed there and agree with every aspect of your review. The hotel is geographically well-located for downtown Vancouver, has great Elite recognition, is dated looking but is generally a good value compared to other downtown Vancouver properties, especially on points. Pre-Covid the lounge was great both as to views and food.
One thing that is worth mentioning is that the garage is not dedicated to the hotel. It serves a mall and office building as well, it has multiple entrances, and it does not have adequate security (or it didn’t when we visited pre-Covid.) We were overnighting on our way to Whistler, and had all our ski gear. We were advised to remove everything from our car so as to avoid having windows smashed, so that was a pain to do, although the hotel gave us luggage carts to help us. I know of another guest that experienced having their car windows smashed while parked overnight in the garage. So that is something to be aware of if you plan to stay with a car. I do not know whether the valet parking has a dedicated secure area, but self-parking was definitely not secure.
I agree with the review. This is a good hotel in an excellent location, and a really good value on points. My recollection is that the club lounge, when open, is on a very high floor with a nice view, including an outdoor balcony space to sit down.
Yes, the club lounge looked awesome…would love to visit it when it’s open again. I didn’t know it had an outdoor balcony…even better!
I recently stayed there. There was no option for dinner other than the fairmount across the street… Which I enjoyed… A nice hotel but if you have a restaurant why not open it for dinner…???
Ah, when did it become cat4? It was still cat3 when I stayed in 2019, and it was surely one of the best cat3 values at the time. Great property, love the direct-to-your-floor elevators.
Lol, you’re absolutely right, I had it listed as the wrong category on my Hyatt spreadsheet. It’s an even better value than I realized! 🙂
Totally agree on the elevators. I wish that more hotels would use that system (although I’m assuming a retrofit isn’t cheap), it’s so much more efficient.
We stayed here a few years ago before our Alaska cruise. I love the points price and the proximity to the cruise port.
Your link to the Delta Hotel review is for Toronto. Is there also one for Vancouver? Thanks.
Sorry, that’s a mistake on my part. I fixed it.