Aug 24

Aug 24 Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport Review

On my socially distanced trip to Vancouver I wanted to spend a day getting some admin work done for my job as a Management Consultant along with some work on my blog. Traditionally hotels in Vancouver and the area are very expensive, especially during peak seasons, but as COVID-19 has ravaged the tourism industry, hotels have had to get creative to get rooms filled. Enter, StayVancouver and StayRichmond programs, that encourage hotel stays by providing giftcards for those who book those hotels. Importantly, these bookings qualify for points and status benefits for major hotels chains. In the end, I booked the Westin Wall Centre through the StayRichmond website.

Booking

As I mentioned, I booked my hotel through the StayRichmond website. The StayRichmond program, available for bookings made before September 4th for stays before September 13th, provides Amex Gift Cards of up to $125 per night. For example, for my stay at the Westin Wall Centre, I received $125 in AMEX gift card for a one-night stay and I would have received an additional $50 per night if I booked additional nights (up to 5 nights total). If I was going to stay an additional night, I would have booked a different hotel, in order to be eligible for an additional $125 gift card. After booking through the StayRichmond website, you can add your hotel loyalty number by phoning the hotel a few hours later after they have processed your booking. That meant that this stay qualified for an Elite Night, in addition to breakfast for platinum members, all for roughly $50 out of pocket! (Editors note: AMEX gift cards are received at check out, you’re able to use them to settle up the bill if you would like)

The Hotel

I had phoned several hotels in advance to understand what was offered during modified COVID service. (Editors note: OMAAT covered the new service that Marriott has on their website, see updated facilites for the Westin Wall Centre here)Although the gym wasn’t open, the Westin Wall Centre offered breakfast with an outdoor dining space, which is why I chose the hotel. The hotel was operating at about 25% occupancy when I was there, much less than normal, as this hotel would be full at this time of the year. Normally the hotel would offer an airport shuttle, but because of COVID this has been replaced by taxi reimbursements from the airport up to $20. I took an Uber to the hotel, which cost about $12 and after emailing the hotel, it was removed off my final bill. They also offered a taxi back to the airport paid by the hotel.

That being said, the hotel was about 15-minute walk to the Skytrain, which is a bit longer than I like, which may make me consider other options in the future.

Checking into the hotel was almost spooky, as this normally busy airport hotel was entirely dead, with no valet to be seen.

There was this sign at the front desk which dictated the service changes that were occurring.

The front desk lady was friendly, she proceeded to upgrade me to a large corner room, and she explained that basically everything was closed in the hotel, along with some of the COVID restrictions. Some of the changes included:

No cleaning of guest rooms until departure. Bedding and towels are available on demand.
In-room dining is offering a limited menu in to-go packaging
Valet parking is not offered
Maximum 2 guests per elevator
Fitness Centre and Pool are closed until further notice
The Club Lounge is closed until further notice

The list was a combination of necessary COVID-19 related changes and pure cost reductions on their part.

As I went up to my room, there were several COVID signs around the lobby and elevators. The hallway was clean and rather refreshing, which is why I much prefer Westin’s compared to the more dreary Marriott hotels.

My room was located at the end of the hallway, room 1221, which I highly recommend for #avgeeks as I was able to plane watch. The real gem was seeing Air Tahiti Nui’s colourful livery land in Canada, which is being operated for COVID reasons.

Air Tahiti Nui 787 Dreamliner landing at YVR (from the Westin Wall Centre Vancouver Airport)

Besides the view, the room was fairly typical, although different from the Punta Cana Westin that I stayed at last Winter, with the Westin Heavenly bed prominently featured in the middle.

Unlike the Best Western in Belleville, there were numerous COVID related process and amenities laid out for guests. including a PPE pack, which I thought was a decent touch.

The bathroom was big and very clean. Overall, there were no complaints about the cleanliness of the hotel. That being said, toiletries were not included in the room, and you had to ad-hoc order them from the front desk when needed, which I think is a bit of an annoying process.

Breakfast

As a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Member, I was able to eat breakfast in the apron restaurant, on the main floor. It’s my understanding that normally breakfast is served in the lounge, but that was closed due to COVID.

The restaurant was tiny, but it was sufficient for the empty hotel. Even better, there was an outdoor seating area, which was part of what I was looking for to return to travel.

The menu was as follows:

I had the eggs benedict and a coffee. Personally, I think the coffee that Westin uses is crap, so I had another one after. The eggs were fine, and better than a typical buffet breakfast.

The view was awesome, as I was able to #avgeek out during breakfast. We saw an Air Canada flight go around at the last minute.

And we saw China Southern’s A380 landing, a rarity for 2020!

Amenities

As I mentioned, The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport’s amenities were closed for the duration of our stay.

The Point.

The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport is a great airport option, especially when you can leverage the StayRichmond promo. If you’re looking for a clean, safe hotel near the airport with friendly staff, I can recommend the Westin Wall Centre.