Walper Hotel Review - A New Hyatt Hotel
The Walper Hotel joined Hyatt in May 2021 after a few years as an independent modern boutique hotel and over 100 years since originally opening as a hotel in the 1890s. Looking for a change during the long weekend, I took a trip to Kitchener to check out Canada’s latest Hyatt hotel and the most recent addition to Hyatt’s JdV by Hyatt brand (spoiler, I’m impressed)
The Trip
In March, I pointed out that we would all have access to vaccines by June and we would have a demand problem rather than a supply problem thus life would start to return to the new normal. In addition, I pointed out that Summer 2021 would be the return of Domestic travel and it looks like I’m right, as domestic hotel, rental car, and flight prices have exploded. That said, it makes this a perfect opportunity to use points to explore the country we live in. After spending the night in Niagara, my partner and I decided to check out the new Hyatt member, the Walper Hotel for a night.
Booking the Walper Hotel
The great thing about the Walper Hotel is that now a part of the Hyatt group, which means it’s available to book with points. Even better news, it’s a category 1, which means it’s only 5,000 Hyatt points a night. Additionally, Hyatt is offering a 25% JdV promo point rebate for Hyatt co-brand cardholders who redeem points at hotels at a JdV hotel. That brought my stay down to 3750 Hyatt points, which is not bad at all!
A hotel in Kitchener during a pandemic is not a particularly popular option during a global pandemic. All in, the Walper hotel is about $165 a night, which is not expensive for the rooms. It makes using points well worth a bit of a getaway.
The Hotel
We checked into the hotel late in the afternoon on a rainy Friday evening. The outside of the hotel wouldn’t be out of place in Chelsea, New York City.
NYC or Kitchener?
We entered the lobby to a friendly receptionist. She explained what the hotel had to offer, although it was limited as Kitchener was only in stage 1 (or gray or pink, who knows what stage it is at this point!) of reopening at the time.
We then went up to our room on the 4th floor, 420. Wow, what a room for a random hotel in Kitchener. The fact that the room brought to life the unique character of the hotel (in fact, no room is the same), including the hardwood floors, which I LOVE in hotels. But, let’s take a closer look.
The room was large, with a lot of empty space, which was quite nice, to be honest. In the corner, under the TV, was a desk with a simple (and not comfy for several work hours) chair.
The desk had a coffee machine, which provided decent Starbucks coffee (although since the stay, they have replaced this with Illy coffee). There were also two boxed waters, with one being in the fridge.
Coffee (check)
Additionally, there was a regional lookbook, a cute pencil (that I’m using to write notes right now) and a notepad.
Q
Looking towards the door, there was a wardrobe that contained the safe (not exciting, do people use those in Canada?) and the robes. While not 5-star quality (see the Bodrum EDITION), these were great!
Looking towards the comfy King bed, there were plenty of outlets and USB outlets. Importantly, there was also a clock/phone combo that had a charger + an aux cable, useful if you’re looking to jam out (the Samsung TV was impossible to mirror without a Samsung phone).
The bathroom was small but clean and sufficient for the stay.
HI!
The bathroom had large fixed bottles, which are better for the environment. The Vancouver-based Skoah products were great and I thought the Bucknaked Soap Company soap was a nice homely touch.
Facilities
During the pandemic, many hotels altered their offerings, closing restaurants and facilities. As a big Peloton fan (check out my referral here), I was glad to see they had one at the hotel, perfect for a quick 20-minute workout while traveling. That said, while the gym had decent dedicated space, it was a little bit barren. Additionally, there are bike rentals available for those of you who are interested.
Yay - a Peloton!
There were a lot of weddings going on at the Walper Hotel while we were there, which makes sense considering the facilities. Unfortunately, they were only able to hose small weddings at the time.
Dining
Unfortunately, I’m not a Globalist Hyatt member yet, so no free breakfast for me! Typically, breakfast would be offered in the Barrister's Lounge. Due to COVID-19, the lounge was closed. That said, the weekend menu is standard.
Additionally, the hotel also had a bar, called The Lokal, which was located on the second floor above the lobby. To be honest, this space was an awesome third space for a small hotel. Typically open every Wednesday through Saturday from 5pm-9pm. The most recent menu had some great-looking bites and drinks.
The Lokal @ The Walper Hotel
Finally, the TWH Social is the dinner venue for the hotel, where we ate dinner. Because of the rules, we weren’t able to check out the venue. The outdoor dining on the street was fine, although Kitchener doesn’t necessarily provide the best dining vistas.
TWH Social - Walper Hotel
For dinner, I had the burger, which was good, but not spectacular.
My partner had the Braised Beef Shortrib which was also good.
The dining experience was broken up by the rain, but we’re happy we tried the venue. By putting the bill onto our hotel bill I was able to get additional points by paying on my card.
The Point
The Walper Hotel is a great 4-star option to explore the KW area. With great facilities, cute rooms, if you’re going to be in the area, it’s likely your best choice for a place to stay at a reasonable price.
