More recently, I put my parents up at the hotel when they were in town for a visit, which afforded me a chance to review a different room type.
This review has been updated to reflect both experiences.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Booking
World of Hyatt is one of the final hotel rewards programs to stick to a published award chart with prescribed points prices for hotels.
The Hyatt Regency Vancouver is now designated a Category 4 property within the World of Hyatt award chart. This means that a standard room redemption costs 12,000, 15,000, or 18,000 World of Hyatt points per night, for off-peak, standard, and peak pricing, respectively.
When my parents came for a visit, it wound up being a peak date, and I redeemed 18,000 World of Hyatt points for their stay.
During my first stay, the property was still a Category 3 property, and I’d redeemed just 9,000 points for the stay, which was a great deal.
Cash rates at the hotel tend to hover around $200–250 (CAD) in the off season, and rise to upwards of $450 (CAD) per night during peak demand. On average, expect to pay around $300–350 (CAD) for a stay at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.
Indeed, we value Hyatt points at 2 cents/point (CAD) , so redeeming Hyatt points, which you can transfer over from Chase Ultimate Rewards account, can certainly be the wiser choice whenever the cash rates run high.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Location
The hotel is centrally located in Downtown Vancouver at Burrard St and West Georgia St, next to many downtown restaurants, shops, and popular attractions. It’s certainly an unbeatable location for any first-time visit to Vancouver, or a business trip when you’ll be spending most of your time downtown.
More Vancouver Hotels
Review: Versante Hotel Richmond
Review: Shangri-La Vancouver
Review: Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver
Review: The DOUGLAS Vancouver, Marriott Autograph Collection
Review: JW Marriott Parq Vancouver
Review: Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre
Robson Street is just a short seven-minute stroll from the Hyatt Regency and has many luxury retail and boutique shops, while the Pacific Centre shopping mall is a four-minute walk away.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Exterior
For those who enjoy nature, Stanley Park is a 12-minute drive from the hotel or a three-minute walk to the bus stop at W Pender St and Burrard St. From there, you can hop on the #19 and arrive in 24 minutes.
Further afield, you’ll find the famous Gastown Clock and Rogers Arena, home of the Vancouver Canucks, both within a 20-minute walk.
Vancouver International Airport is situated relatively close to downtown compared to other major cities, accessible within 30 minutes by taxi or rideshare for around a $30 fare, or by taking the SkyTrain to Burrard Station right on the Hyatt Regency’s doorstep.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Check-in
The hotel has entrances on all three sides of the block: Burrard St, West Georgia St, and Melville St.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Pedestrian entrance
The Epic Rides bus to Whistler departs right from the Melville St entrance, and it just so happened that we’d take the bus back from Whistler just before checking into the first stay.
Even though I wasn’t aware of this at the time of booking, the location coincidentally turned out to be prime for our needs, since we could simply get off the Epic Rides bus and head straight up the escalators into the hotel lobby. For this reason, the Hyatt could be a great choice if you’re visiting Vancouver as a part of an overall trip to Whistler.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Vehicle entrance
During my first visit, we arrived around 6pm at the end of our bus ride. Although the hotel lobby was spacious with high ceilings, I found the interiors to be uninspiring in terms of décor.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Melville St entrance
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Lobby
The lobby felt very businesslike, with dark wood panelling and grey walls and flooring. The check-in desks also appeared fairly dated as we approached them for check-in.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Check-in desks
I had previously tried to “suite-talk” with the Hyatt Regency over text message, requesting an upgrade from our standard room with two double beds (which was the only room type bookable on points at the time).
I had requested a room with a king-sized bed or a suite upgrade if available, but the hotel had politely declined my request because they were full for the evening.
But to my surprise, upon arrival, I was told that we had in fact been upgraded to the hotel’s Discovery Suite on the 33rd floor, and that it was “quite large”. It would later turn out that the Discovery Suite is the Hyatt Regency Vancouver’s unpublished presidential suite, which isn’t even publicly listed on their website.
It was certainly very generous of the hotel to upgrade us to a top-tier suite, entirely unprompted. My sense was that no standard or premium suites were available given the high occupancy, but since I was a Hyatt Globalist member and the presidential suite was unoccupied, the hotel simply decided to give it to us for the night.
The front desk was also more than happy to extend a 3pm late checkout as a Globalist member, which is also quite generous when you consider that we were staying in the presidential suite. Yet again, Hyatt Globalist status had come through for me!
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Discovery Suite
Heading up to the 33rd floor, we stepped into Room 3308, and were pretty blown away by our surroundings.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Room 3308
As you enter the Discovery Suite, to the left is a half-bathroom with a large mirror and LED ring light and toilet.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Discovery Suite half-bathroom
In keeping with the rest of the hotel, the Discovery Suite has a businesslike colour palette of greys, soft blues, and red accents, with the patterned flooring and chairs also looking slightly dated.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Discovery Suite
The Discovery Suite has an open-concept sitting and dining area. The sitting area features a couch with a side table on each end, plus two armchairs with a coffee table in the centre.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Discovery Suite sitting area
Against the wall are a large desk and ergonomic work chair featuring an iMac computer. This was my first time encountering a full computer workstation within a suite; however, it was quite an older-generation iMac, and the hotel could certainly invest in some new gear from the Apple Store over at Pacific Centre down the road.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Discovery Suite iMac
This dining area has a sizeable eight-person table, a three-seater island, and a kitchen featuring a small sink, a Keurig coffee machine, and a microwave.
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Discovery Suite dining area
Hyatt Regency Vancouver – Discovery Suite dining table
My friend did note that the Keurig coffee machine in the kitchen was a bit below what he might’ve expected for a Downtown Vancouver presidential suite, and that Nespressos should be the minimum requirement for a residence of this calibre. Then again, he’s a bit of a coffee snob.
