Apr 25

Apr 25 Westin Wall Centre Vancouver Airport Review

Is living in a hotel good? I remember someone posting the question on reddit, and commentators offering perspectives on a variety of matters. Interested to see for myself, I decided to take a quick staycation at the Westin Wall Centre. Two of my friends rented out a place near the Westin Wall Centre, and were actually offered the opportunity to “buy” a membership at the Westin Wall Centre’s fitness facilities.

Overview

As someone who studied at UBC, I always wondered who Peter Wall, the namesake of the Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies, did. Turns out, like every great self made Vancouverite, the answer is Real Estate. The Westin Wall Centre opened in time for the Olympics, and has rode the real estate boom since.

First impressions are…not great given the area it was located in. That being said, there will be new condos going up nearby, so maybe in a couple years it will be a bit more vibrant.

To offset this, the hotel does offer free taxi vouchers to and from the airport. Speaking of that, Vancouver airport is a short 10 minute drive from there, so it is quite convenient. Moving closer, we can see that the building is a glass and steel construction. While I accept that type of design, I can see why others may claim it is “generic”.

Check In

The hotel’s guests reflected the hotel’s location: I saw quite a few people carrying large luggage bags, as well as a few flight attendants. I was almost distracted because at checkin, I was checked in by tallest agent I have ever seen. I dont even remember what he was wearing (Parks and Rec reference).

I was fortunate enough to have been upgraded to a Club level, Guest room, 1 King, City view, High floor. Only problem: The lounge was…closed. So all I have is bragging rights for the photo below.

Oh and the view as well. Although unfortunately, it wasn’t too special given it just overlooked more condos lol.

You can almost see my friend’s condo from here! The surrounding area is primarily residential, although close enough to public transit and Skytrain (Lansdowne and Richmond Bridgeport).

The Room

The muted tones / modern apartment vibes continued in the room.

The room was a bit small at 362 sq ft, which was interesting considering the hotel was in the middle of nowhere when it was originally built in 2010.

The full sized tub was quite appreciated - this tub is apparently present in all the guest rooms, which is obviously a welcome addition. Next to that is a…pretty generic desk to be honest that was wholly adequate, along with a TV that I never have used.

There was tea, coffee and bottled water. On the table was also several ads detailing Westin’s great fitness focus, except most of those facilities were closed lol.

Next up was the bed. Westin prides itself on it’s “Heavenly Beds”. While this was a good bed, I got my friend to test it as well, and we both concluded that the bed, while solid, is not outstanding.

The more interesting part of the room is the view! Now, I came on a rainy spring day, and so wasn’t treated to the full views that Vancouver is famous for.

The first picture is of the river and airport, while the other is of Richmond proper.

Amenities

The club lounge at the hotel was closed; however, if you see other reviews online, I was not missing much as the lounge only had cold cereals / fruits pre-COVID.

However, the fitness center was open! What a world we live in that saying this statement is abnormal. However, the trek to reach the centre was a bit…ominous. We went through several hallways, a few thick doors, and saw a fire exit ladder that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a bomb shelter.

The fitness center that we saw at the end somewhat justified the trek. I will say that the both size and variety of equipment at the fitness center exceeds your regular hotel gyms. Nevertheless, as my friend was offered a paid membership to the area, I consider it a letdown in terms of equipment if one were a full time resident.

There was also a heated pool, which again was larger than your average hotel sized pool, but not adequate enough for someone who was actually paying to visit the area.

Finally, there were several conference rooms that we passed by on the way to the gym. Again, nothing too notable, aside from the fact that free jams and sugar were left on the table.

Food

Given the hotel’s lounge was closed, the Westin Wall Centre kindly provided both an evening spread of food, as well as breakfast in the restaurant downstairs called the Apron.

The evening spread was chicken fingers, salad, fruits and a Nanaimo bar. They tasted alright, but nothing crazy given the spread. You will need to supplement it with food from Richmond’s vast plethora of restaurants, some of which I list here. Fortunately, breakfast was another story.

The Apron restaurant is quite nice, offering Cactus Club style (aka premium priced casual foods like burgers, bowls, sandwiches, pasta) food.

A kind associate let me know that I was able to order based on both myself and my friend, so indeed a feast was procured. Everything was quite tasty with one exception: I believe they used powdered egg whites as opposed to the real thing, so the eggs tasted plasticy. #firstworldproblems

However, the taste was even better given it was basically free!

Final Thoughts

Different hotels are designed for different audiences and purposes. The Westin Wall Centre can be construed as “boring”: a clean, modern glass and steel construction that despite being more than 10 years old was kept in tip top shape. However, from the perspective of its clientele, who are often frequent travelers from a wide variety of backgrounds, boring is alright. I would definitely recommend this over other Richmond Hotels (such as the Four Points), provided that the price point was similar.