Hyatt Regency Vancouver

Hotel Stay Details 
Hotel: Hyatt Regency Vancouver
Dates: May 19-22, 2013
Rate Paid: $224/night (by Company)
Points Earned: 5,392 Hyatt Points

Despite all the great Hyatt experiences we've had in 2013, my father is actively trying to shift his hotel stays to Starwood, because he has a better shot at making top tier SPG Platinum in 2014 than he does re-qualifying for top tier Hyatt Diamond next year.

That's largely due to the fact that Starwood counts free night award stays as eligible for status qualification, whereas Hyatt only counts cash paid nights. And because of our month long Thailand adventure, all those hotel nights using Cash & Points count to hitting the 50 night requirement.

But based on his scheduled 2013 trips and vacations, he'll be pretty close to hitting 50 nights at Starwood by the end of December, so he decided to book our 3 night stay in downtown Vancouver at the Hyatt Regency on Burrard Street (instead of the two Starwood options, Sheraton or Westin). Using his AAA membership, he was able to book a discounted special refundable rate, saving about $25-30 per night.

Why Hyatt?

The compelling reason to book Hyatt this time was three fold:

1. He has 3 remaining Hyatt Suite Upgrade certificates for becoming a Hyatt Diamond member this year and could only use them on paid stays through Feb 2014. As it turned out, the rest of our Hyatt stays this year are on points, so this would be the only chance to use the upgrade certificates.

2. The best parts of earning Diamond status are the benefits for staying at a Hyatt while you have the status. No point in going through the pain to earn status if you won't be using it. So might as well get some more benefits in 2013 while he's a Diamond.

3. Hyatt Vancouver was a better property in a better location at a better price point than the Westin (too expensive during the week and a bit further from his meetings) and Sheraton (not as nice as the Hyatt).

Check In

We checked in around 5PM on Sunday May 19th. We were immediately thanked for being Hyatt Diamond members and offered a choice of welcome amenity: 1,000 Hyatt points or a food & beverage gift.

We had enough Hyatt points to last us a while so we picked the food & beverage option, a bottle of wine and a charcuterie plate. Unfortunately, the wine and food never came, so we had to call a few times. After calling the second time and waiting another hour (it was 730PM), we told them to just bring it the next day because we were heading for dinner.

Room

The certificate guaranteed us a suite upgrade at booking. While we could have not used the certificate and just taken our chances as a Diamond member, we didn't have any reason to save the certificates that were going to expire in February.

We were in both Rooms 2412 and 2414. The 2414 room was the actual hotel room (bed, bath, tv and desk) with its own balcony. It had a door connecting it to Room 2412 which was just a living room with a couch and another TV, desk and full bathroom. After I looked closely, however, I saw that Room 2412 was actually just another regular hotel room but with the bed swapped out for a couch to be a "suite." Clever, Hyatt, very clever.

Our suite (aka two rooms) occupied the corner of the building so we had sweeping northern and western views of downtown Vancouver and the mountains in the distance peeking between the skyscrapers. It also meant that all these people in the nearby office buildings had direct views into our hotel room.

When we arrived, I asked the bellman for a separate crib to be brought up to our room so that I could give my parents some alone time this week. Lord knows they could use it.

But instead of a crib, they must have seen how mature I was because they brought me a twin bed instead and had it set up in the living room. I tried sleeping on it the first night, but I've actually gotten used to sleeping in the same room as my parents. So this big bed experiment didn't work out so well, because not because of me. I could hear my mother crying for me in the other room, so I went over and crawled into bed with them. I think she's addicted to snuggling with me.

Amenities

The hotel has an outdoor heated pool and hot tub. We could see it from our balcony and it seemed like there were quite a few guests enjoying themselves there. While it was a nice 70 degrees while we were here, I really didn't think it was great weather for swimming so we passed on the pool this time.

Additionally, we had free access to the Club Lounge for being Diamonds. Every few hours, they'd have a different serving (breakfast, coffee/tea, h'orderves, evening cocktails, etc.). If we were really trying to save money, we could have eaten all of our meals here and not spent an additional dime.

If you're not a Diamond, you can always pay a little bit more to get Club Lounge access. In addition to the free snacks and drinks (soft and hard), you can access the free wifi and business computer/printer station. Definitely something I'll make my parents consider when our Diamond status runs out next February.

The hotel also has Mosaic Grille as the primary hotel restaurant as well as the Grain Cocktail Bar and a full Starbucks in the lobby. Furthermore, the restaurant menu has a lot of kid options, because Hyatt has a program here called For Kids By Kids where the organic kids menu is designed by Alice Waters and her kids for "a fresh, healthy and fun dining experience."

The wifi, however, was pretty mediocre. Yes it worked, but they gave you the slow internet connection for free and offered the "fast internet" connection for a small fee. No thanks, Hyatt.

Vancouver in Photos

Unlike last time we were in Vancouver a few weeks ago, we had a 3 days this trip to walk around the city a bit more. Since we had already checked out Downtown, Yaletown and Granville Island, we decided to spend more time checking out the West End and Coal Harbor.

Since my father hasn't eaten Korean fried chicken a long while, I took him to a place called Zabu Chicken in the West End neighborhood on Robson Street.

The Korean fried chicken was fine, but the pieces were definitely smaller than in the United States. Not worth going out of your way for, but would stop by again if we were in the area.

 
But that was only a little afternoon snack to tide us over until Happy Hour started at 5:30PM at the Japanese small plates restaurant, Hapa Izakaya a few blocks up Robson Street. They had about 10 of their items for 50% off from 5:30-6:30PM every evening. My parents got a "bamboo" of sake, but I made sure to get my own bamboo shot glass for my water. Then I tried my chopstick skills, because you know the first thing an Asian kid gets asked in Kindergarden: "Do you eat with chop sticks?" Either that or "Do you know karate?"

After our early dinner, we decided to walk back to our hotel along the Coal Harbor neighborhood.

And later tonight, we're flying back on the redeye Air Canada flight to NYC (via Toronto) for a 1 day layover before we go on real vacation. Let's hope I can get some rest on the flight. Otherwise, it's going to be quite painful for everyone on board.

SoCal Saturday

Hotel Stay Details 
Hotel: Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel
Dates: May 18-19, 2013
Rate Paid: $206/night (by Company) 
Points Earned: 1,253 SPG Points 

After a long weekend in Southern California, we were on our way back to the Pacific Northwest for another few days before we'd finally head back to New York City.

We had decided that since we'd be flying out of LAX Airport, that we'd check out of the Terranea Resort 1 day early and stay over at the Sheraton Gateway LAX Airport Hotel on Saturday night so that we could just wake up and hop a shuttle to catch our flight.

But before we'd check into the Sheraton, we wanted to enjoy a little of LA's finest food, Korean BBQ. Yes, I realize that you can get good Korean BBQ in New York, but given the high concentration of Asians in greater Los Angeles, there's something better about the Korean food here.

My mother and father originally wanted to find an "all you can eat" place that would serve mountains of seasoned BBQ meats (~$20/person for a two hour feeding frenzy). But they ended up picking a regular place called SooWon Galbi on South Vermont off West 8th Street in a strip mall next to a coin laundromat based on some some Yelp reviews they read on their smart phones.

Despite the lack of ambiance, the food was quite excellent and the bonchons (Korean appetizers) were plentiful. The special galbi (ribeye steak) was $33 and the samgyupsal (pork belly) was $20. Not overly expensive but not very cheap either. But if you're ever in LA Koreatown and are looking for a super tasty lunch while you do your own laundry, this is an amazing choice.

After the indulgent lunch, we decided to drive west and check out the beaches. Unfortunately, LA traffic ate up a few hours of our day, but that was our own fault for taking the Sunset Strip and driving through Beverly Hills / Rodeo Drive.

We finally made it to the famous Venice Beach boardwalk around 4PM and got super lucky finding parking on the street for just $2 where the lots were charging $20.

I wanted to take my parents for a walk along the boardwalk and check out the skateboard park, the basketball courts and of course, Muscle Beach. I didn't see any real body builders, but plenty of regular guys who seemed to enjoy being stared at like animals in a zoo. I love zoos.

After a while, we noticed that we were being stared at by everyone walking by us like we were the freaks. I'm not sure why, but my mother thought we stood out for wearing our crazy East Coast clothes. I just assumed it was because I was so cute.

Nevertheless, we decided to head over to the Sheraton and return our Thrifty rental car. As we drove past LAX, one of the arriving planes flew right over us as it approached its landing strip.

The Sheraton airport hotel was actually quite nice for what it was. Location was the key attraction, but they did have 2 decent restaurants and a lively bar scene downstairs.

We were on the Club Floor (15th floor) so we had access to the Club Lounge for free evening snacks (chips, veggies, soft drinks) as well as free continental breakfast (cereals, pastries, fruit). The offerings were fine but definitely not worth going out of your way to get Club Lounge access.

Later that night, after I passed out for the evening, my father's high school friend Ray came over to visit and say hello. After growing up in New Jersey, Ray's been living in Los Angeles since 1997. My father and he don't get to meet up often, but they try to whenever my father's in town so they can talk about the glory days of the 1993-1997 high school varsity math teams. I'm just really glad I was asleep for that part.

The Westin Grand Vancouver

Hotel Stay Details
Hotel: The Westin Grand Vancouver
Dates: May 3-4, 2013 
Room Rate: $239/night (incl. tax) 
Points Earned: 1,035 SPG points

After a long hiatus away from Starwood, we've returned. This time, we stayed at The Westin Grand in downtown Vancouver.

Based on my father's analysis, he was more likely to get to Starwood Platinum Status this year than he was Hyatt Diamond Status.

Both require 25 stays or 50 nights at their properties, but because of our Thailand adventure, we already had 14 stays / 30 nights with Starwood for the year. We only had 8 stays / 12 nights with Hyatt and even with our upcoming 11 night stay in Boise's Hyatt Place hotel, we'd still be woefully short of the 25 stay / 50 night requirement to maintain Diamond for 2014.

The "suite" we we reserved was actually just a small 1 bedroom unit like the kind you find in Manhattan starter apartments. It was only 380 sq feet of space, but the views of downtown through the floor to ceiling windows really made the room.


The "suite" had a door to close off the small bedroom (that just fit in a queen mattress and a flat screen TV) so that one of my parents could stay up late watching television while the harder working other one went to bed.

The bathroom was quite spacious and clean. We had a tub as well as a shower, which is always a nice plus when I'm staying at a hotel because it can double as a swimming pool.

The interesting feature, however, was that they had a kitchenette in the closet so you could have access to a sink, microwave and some dishware in addition to the standard mini-fridge.


Since we were only here for less than 24 hours, we didn't really use much of the other hotel amenities which included a gym and a heated outdoor swimming pool.

But we did enjoy a nice breakfast downstairs at their restaurant Hidden. In addition to a la carte menu items (standard fare), they had a small brunch buffet offering as well.

We generally don't eat enough to make the buffets worth our while, so we elected for the Smart Heart Breakfast ($16 CAD) and the Hidden Breakfast ($16 CAD). The food was well presented and tasty but nothing uniquely Canadian about it.

The service, however, was quite polished and noticeably great. Everyone we encountered seemed to be truly happy to work there and made you feel like a VIP. Perhaps that was a Canadian culture thing but I think it's more that this Westin has very high standards and good training for all staff.

Overall a pleasant stay though probably a bit on the pricier side given there are some other downtown alternatives like the Four Seasons, Fairmont, Hyatt Regency and Sheraton.

Lunch in Vancouver

As I mentioned yesterday, I spent all Wednesday in transit making our way from New York City to Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia (Canada).

Along the way, we had a 7 hour layover in Vancouver Airport (YVR), so we decided to spend most of it in beautiful downtown Vancouver instead of the mediocre Air Canada airport lounge.

Getting from the airport to the city center was remarkably easy. We could have taken a taxi (about $35-40 one way), but we had checked my car seat all the way through to Prince Rupert. Besides, adding $75-80 in cab fare to your lunch makes it one very expensive meal!

But luckily, Canada is very green and social-minded, so the Airport had a shuttle SkyTrain that took you to the Vancouver Waterfront in about 30 minutes for C$8.75 (or about $9 USD) per person each way.

However, because Canadians are such amazingly friendly & helpful people, a few of them gave us a tip before we bought SkyTrain tickets.

Apparently, if you head down to the 1st floor (Gates are 3rd floor and Baggage Claim/Exit is on the 2nd floor), you'll find a 7-11. Inside, you can purchase a SkyTrain Day Pass for only $9.75/person that will let you ride the metro all day for as much as you want.

So instead of spending ~$80 for a roundtrip taxi ride or $36 for a roundtrip SkyTrain shuttle, we bought 2 Day Passes for less than $20 total. You know how my parents love  to save money! Having such a cheap way of going into Vancouver for lunch made eating overpriced restaurant sandwiches that much more attractive.

But when we arrived to the station, we found that the gates didn't have anywhere to swipe the passes. In fact, the gates were wide open allowing anyone to just walk through. Maybe they were all broken, but more than likely I suspected that these Canadians had some sort of Honor Code thing going on.

But we were told that you had to (A) validate your Day Pass at one of the machines so the "24 hr clock would start" and (B) hang onto our Day Pass while on the train in case the police started checking you while on board.

So after getting off at Waterfront station, we started to walk around aimlessly looking for what my father would call a "local Vancouver favorite" place to eat. Unfortunately, our Verizon international roaming data package was expensive enough to limit my father's blackberry usage so we were a bit lost.

Again, the friendly Canadians come to the rescue. As soon as we opened our map, we had no less than 2 older gentlemen rush up to my father to see how they could offer help. That's exactly what happens in our home city, right New Yorkers?

The first elderly man shoo'ed away the 2nd elderly man. The stranger was nice enough, but his good intentions overshadowed his ability to give us a solid recommendation. Despite my father clearly looking Asian, the man suggested we go for Asian food, claiming Vancouver food was very Asian-centric.

My father hung his head a little in disappointment, because he was hoping Vancouver had it's own special food. He loves eating the local food wherever he goes (ribs in Memphis, chili in Cincinnati, gumbo in New Orleans, TexMex in Texas, lobster in Maine), but doesn't care for generic food that he can easily find in NYC. After hearing the gentlemen rattle off some Chinese/Sushi/Thai options, my father thanked him and started walking towards the water.

After taking a few photos, we turned around and head back to the busy street we walked up when low and behold, the grandfatherly gentleman saw us and smiled. He said he was happy to run into us again, because he remembered a "very Vancouver" restaurant called Cactus Club Cafe. He raved about the salmon dish (even though salmon harvest isn't for another month or so).

We were getting hungry, so we decided to go to Cactus Club Cafe. The man said there was one near the Vancouver Convention Center by the water (D on the map below). My parents thanked him and started heading in that general vicinity, but then my father opened up his Google Maps on his Blackberry and found another location in the other direction (A on the map).


I didn't have anything, but my parents said the food was indeed pretty good. Overall, it reminded me of a Houston's (aka Hillstone for my NYC friends). My father had the Soy Dijon Ocean Wise Salmon and my mother had a BBQ Duck Clubhouse Sandwich & fries. The salmon tasted quite fresh, and the pieces just fell off your fork. The tangy sauce really complimented the fish and made for quite a flavorful taste. My mother's savory duck sandwich was excellent as well. It was so tasty that my father tried a bite even though the bread had raisins in it (one of his ultimate food enemies).

As we left, I started to think about why my father made us go to the Cactus Club Cafe on Burrard St instead of at the Convention Center. He didn't really explain why, but I surmised that it was to avoid having the now creepy old man know where we'd be eating.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles...and Ferries

Wow, I'm exhausted.

As I mentioned yesterday, we were starting another month long trip starting with British Columbia, Canada.

The town we were going to (Prince Rupert) was so remote that it took a full day to get there given the inconvenient flight schedules from NYC.

While I did enjoy seeing a little of Vancouver this afternoon, being in transit for so long really took it out of my 18 month old body.

So here was our Wednesday (all times Eastern).

3:30AM - Wake up

4:30AM - Car pick up to take us to Newark Airport

5:00AM - Arrive at EWR and check in, but the Air Canada lounge was closed (ugh)


6:30AM - Board our flight to Vancouver

1:00PM - Land in Vancouver Airport and get interrogated by Canadian Immigration

2:00PM - Rest up in the Air Canada Lounge

3:00PM - Take Canada SkyTrain into Downtown to get a late lunch

6:00PM - Head back to Vancouver Airport

7:00PM - Returned to Air Canada Lounge

8:00PM - Board our flight to Prince Rupert



11:00PM - Land in Prince Rupert Airport (which is on another island from the actual town)

12:00AM - Board a bus that goes onto a ferry to Kaien Island

12:30AM - Check into our hotel

1:00AM - Have room service for dinner

So yeah, long day.