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My friend and I recently took a quick trip to Toronto so I could experience two things for the first time: flying on Porter Airlines and staying at the Park Hyatt — we also crossed some only-in-Canada moments off our list, like trying craft beer, gazing out at Niagara Falls and taking a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Here’s how it went down at the Park Hyatt, located in the city’s posh Yorkville neighborhood and about a 15-minute Uber ride from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ).
In This Post
Booking
We booked this room in kind of a roundabout way. As a World of Hyatt Globalist, I receive four suite upgrades per year, which I can use to upgrade to a base suite for an entire stay of up to seven nights — use them wisely, and you could end up with a maximum of 28 suite nights in a year since all paid bookings or Points+Cash bookings should be eligible. Note that these upgrades do expire — the most recent ones were issued on March 1, 2016, and needed to be redeemed for stays that began on or before February 28, 2017, so the timing was perfect for our trip. Since we already had a ton of travel booked through February 2017 and we wouldn’t be able to use all the upgrades before they expired, we wanted to find a hotel where we could use at least one of them, so we landed on the Park Hyatt. I have to admit, because suite upgrades can be used for seven-night stays and ours was only going to be for one night, this wasn’t really an ideal use of the certificate. However, faced with the possibility of letting the upgrades expire altogether, we went for it anyway.
We booked a Park King room and immediately called Hyatt to apply the upgrade, which resulted in us getting bumped up to a Park Suite. Using Points + Cash, the total came to $81 plus 7,500 World of Hyatt points — worth about $135 at 1.8 cents per point based on TPG’s most recent valuations. We paid with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, which lets you earn 3x points on travel and dining purchases worldwide, earning 243 Ultimate Rewards points in the process.
Check-In
Since we were landing at 10:30am and knew we had a suite — in other words, we couldn’t just be placed in the first available Standard room — we requested an early check-in using the Hyatt app. The hotel had great curb appeal, if a somewhat small lobby.
We found the in-person check-in process to be easy and fast. Our room wasn’t quite ready at the time, but the agent instead placed us in an even bigger Park Suite on a higher floor in the meantime and we were on our way in about 10 minutes.
The Room
The Park Suite was spacious, with great views of the CN Tower and downtown Toronto. Just to the left of the door was a half-bathroom and small closet, while directly in front of the door was the sitting room with a couch, coffee table and chair.
Although I’m a big fan of having a separate work space (and I especially liked that the desk was spacious enough for multiple computers), the room seemed to have an awkward layout. There were no — as in zero — outlets near the desk, and the closest outlet was directly behind the armoire (with the TV and minibar). The outlets near the couch did accommodate multiple chargers, but this was annoying and meant having to remember to charge electronics away from where I was using them. Lesson learned: always travel with a power brick.
The mini-bar was located directly below the TV in the sitting room.
The bedroom was located just beyond that, complete with another TV, a small vanity with an Illy coffee maker and a reading nook with a chair by the window.
The king-size bed was very comfortable.
Tucked in to the left of the vanity was a small hallway with another closet that led to the full bathroom.
The bathroom was one of my favorite parts of the whole room. It contained a double vanity, plenty of towels and toiletries by Le Labo. I loved the space, but the bathtub was definitely dated.
And, of course, there were great views of the city around us.
Amenities
Since we were in Toronto for a mix of work and play, we were happy to see an easy Wi-Fi sign-on process — just click on Hyatt Wi-Fi and that’s it, no reconnections or sign-ins needed. While not lightning-fast, it was usable for standard work needs and checking emails.
We were happy to see a free shoe shine offered for guests, which we took advantage of. The service was fast and competent. We simply hung shoes in the hotel’s shoe bag on a hook outside the door and let the front desk know on our way out that we wanted them back before dinner. They were hanging on our door by the time we returned around 4:00pm.
Another advantage of being a World of Hyatt Globalist: The hotel sent up a welcome amenity of cheese and fruit with a bottle of wine — definitely a nice touch, though a standard welcome amenity. It was a lovely snack to enjoy as the sun set and we caught the city views.
Though we didn’t have time to order room service, in-room dining is available 24/7 and Globalists get free breakfast, which you can enjoy at the hotel’s Annona Restaurant or in your room — just order from the menu, and the bill is zeroed out.
We didn’t get a chance to try out the gym this time around, but there is a solid fitness center located inside the property’s Stillwater Spa.
The gym had plenty of treadmills, bikes and a separate area for free weights. The hotel also offers the Stay Fit Concierge, so you can grab exercise mats, weights and GPS wristbands for your own personal workouts anytime.
Overall Impression
The Park Hyatt is a solid hotel option when staying in Toronto. The suite was spacious with great views of the city, and the amenities were consistent and thoughtful. The hotel is a little farther away from the heart of downtown — though public transportation is readily available and Yorkville is a beautiful neighborhood worth checking out — and could use a few updates, especially in the bathroom. Overall, we’d be happy to return for another stay.
Source: thepointsguy.com