updated on November 1st, 2023
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The Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City celebrated its Grand Opening Celebration on November 2nd, 2022. This $336 million, 26-story, 700-room glass-laden construction is Utah’s newest luxury hotel. We’ve kept an eager eye on this new Utah Hyatt, especially as downtown Salt Lake City is a bit lacking in the luxury hotel space (in our opinion). After seeing several less-than-stellar reviews shortly after opening, we held off on staying while they ironed out the details. After two months, we booked a room and figured the wrinkles would be sorted.
The hotel is impressive with its glass facade. It boasts three restaurants, a sixth-floor pool terrace, sweeping views of the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains, and art installations by various US artists. For the traveler looking to get outdoors, the Salt Lake City Hyatt Regency is a 35-minute drive to Utah’s world-class ski resorts. The hotel has oodles of meeting space and is literally attached to the Salt Palace Convention Center. All in all, the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City has a lot going for it.
There are just a few luxury hotels in downtown Salt Lake City. Here’s how our recent stay stacked up.
Booking
Booking the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City was straightforward through the Hyatt App. As this was to be a quick overnight stay during our anniversary, we wanted something a bit above a standard room and went for a One Bedroom King Suite View, one of 33 suites in the hotel.
The World of Hyatt members rate for the night was $466. The best redemption value for this room type, at the time of our stay, was the Hyatt’s cash plus points option, spending 9,000 Hyatt points and $229- a solid 2.6 cent redemption as TPG values them at 1.7 cents currently. https://thepointsguy.com/guide/monthly-valuations/
Check-In
We entered the lobby from the elevators on the east side of the hotel and were greeted by large concrete pillars on marble floors, chic sitting areas, and bold art-laden walls. The Salt Republic, one of the hotel’s three restaurants, was nestled in the corner next to their grab-and-go Market. A quick walk through the lobby past the cocktail lounge, Contribution, and we were at the check-in desk.
Checking in was quick and straightforward. The concierge greeted us upon arriving at the line where there was only one guest ahead of us. We moved through quickly, were welcomed as elite members, and were given our keys. The staff was very friendly and eager to invite us to the property. There was some confusion about access to the Regency Lounge, but I’ll cover that later.
The Room
The King Suite View or Premium King Suite (I’ve seen it called both) is claimed to be between 695 and 752 square feet. They all offer “mountain” and city views, though rooms on the southeast will have the best views of the Wasatch. Rooms on the southwest will have a nice view of the Salt Lake Valley and the Oquirrh Mountains. The north-facing rooms will share a peek at the Utah Capitol Building. Northwest rooms in the hotel have a great view of the Great Salt Lake and northeast rooms look towards Capitol Hill and Temple Square.
Our King Suite View was on the 11th floor. It appears many of the suites are in the curved portion of the hotel, although we did not confirm this. We faced the southeast. The room opened to a short hallway that led into the living room with the bedroom and bathroom breaking off to a side hall. Being just two months old, the room looked great with no signs of wear and was extremely clean.
It was well decorated with nice art pieces, mirrors, and vases. We were a bit confused with a stone bowl that looked to have a handful of rocks dumped into it. If I’m missing the point of this art piece, do let me know.
The living room table dubbed a “work desk”, was large and could seat six. It could provide a working area for a small team with a covered power compartment accessing outlets and USB ports, a nice touch. The table can also just be a spacious dining table, our use. There was a small refrigerator under the wall countertop for drinks. The pull-out queen sofa sleeper in couch mode was quite comfortable while watching the 65” TV.
Heading towards the bedroom, there is a swinging door that can be shut. There was the in-room safe, a K-cup coffee maker, and closet space. Across from this was the bathroom. I appreciate some progressive design, but I’m not quite sure about the functionality of the frosted glass half-wall enclosing the toilet. A flimsy partial piece of glass will not live up to everyone’s privacy hopes.
Aside from the strange toilet wall, the bathroom was nicely appointed and the shower was lovely with Pharmacopia toiletries and a shower head that provided some solid water pressure. The Electric Mirror-branded bathroom mirror provided great lighting with a digital clock in the bottom corner. The time hadn’t been adjusted for daylight savings and despite our best attempts, we couldn’t figure out how to set the time. It was a very cool mirror, though.
The bedroom has a large sliding door to separate itself from the hallway. It had another 65” TV, a small desk with a chair, and a very comfortable king-size bed. I enjoy a tall pillow and hotels never have quite the height and firmness I prefer, but these weren’t bad. Two stacked for propping myself up in bed and one to sleep on was good enough to sleep well.
The suite felt spacious and comfortable with all the standard amenities. The real show stopper was the views from the floor-to-ceiling windows that wrapped every inch of the outside wall. I’m always a sucker for a good view and this room did not disappoint!
Pool & Sundance Terrace
The pool deck on the 6th floor was sadly closed for the winter. With the hotel’s grand opening on November 2nd and our stay just two months later, I don’t think it has even been open to the public yet. Interestingly, the pool was uncovered, filled, and obviously heated with some steam coming off it. I’m still looking forward to making it back in the warmer months to enjoy the pool and the views.
The Sundance Terrace is the Hyatt’s rooftop event space. It is adjacent to the pool and accessed just next to the Mar | Muntanya restaurant. The doors were unlocked and we were able to walk the shoveled path amongst the hotel’s Christmas decorations. It was quite cold so we took some photos before hustling inside. From the hotel’s website, this terrace has “mountain views,” but as Salt Lake City residents, we knew this wasn’t true.
The views you want are blocked by the hotel. In addition, the space is currently fully walled-off. They may be removing some of these walls in the coming months, but right now there are no views to speak of. However, lounging on this terrace will probably be very enjoyable in the warmer months, although without the “mountain views,” they advertise.
Gym
The Gym at the SLC Hyatt Regency contains Peloton stationary bikes, Precor brand ellipticals, treadmills, and recumbent bikes. There were also Assault Fitness treadmills. On the backside, an open area with Precor weight training machines, some free weights, yoga mats, and exercise balls. The view while working out is phenomenal.
Restaurants & Dining
There are three restaurants located in the hotel and one market where you can grab coffee, snacks, small baked goods, and various toiletries. The restaurant pricing seemed just a bit more than reasonable to us. We opted to skip dinner at the hotel and walked across the street to J. Wong’s Thai and Chinese Bistro and were happy with that decision.
Mar | Muntanya
Sea and Mountain. This is the Hyatt Regency’s bougie and upscale restaurant. The restaurant advertises that its inspiration comes from the Basque and Catalonia regions of Northern Spain. We passed on dining here as there were no vegetarian main options, and the prices just seemed a bit higher than we were after. This was unfortunate because the restaurant did look very inviting.
After dinner elsewhere, we called from our room and ordered dessert. We had the Sour Cream Cheesecake and the Lemon Natilla. We had to walk down and pick up the order from the restaurant. They were ready in about 10 minutes and packaged up nicely for the walk back to the room. The portions were perfect, just enough to satisfy an after-dinner sugar craving.
The Salt Republic
The Salt Republic is a less formal dining option located in the lobby. Their main draw is the rotisserie. You can choose from four proteins like rib eye or trout, a sauce, and three salts to accompany it. If you decide against the rotisserie, there are only four other dinner entree options. Two are vegetarian, including a Beyond burger. They also offer a staple of Utah cuisine, funeral potatoes.
Contribution Cocktail Lounge
The Contribution Lounge is a chic lobby lounge bar with an extensive selection of spirits, craft beers, wines, and both booze-free and full-strength cocktails. They also offer shareable plates that looked delicious. The space is meant to be a gathering place after meetings, sightseeing, or skiing. Contribution looks like the perfect spot to grab a beverage, some prime rib sliders, and watch the world go by out the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Market Coffee & Fresh Goods
The Hyatt Regency’s grab-and-go market also includes various pastries and quick bites. If you’re after a coffee and muffin, this is your spot. If you don’t have access to the Regency Club, the market will get you by. Grab a breakfast burrito and an Americano in the morning for $13 ($10 and $3) or a pepperoni flatbread and a Pepsi in the afternoon for $20 ($15 and $5). Take your food on the go or post up in the lobby, the chairs are actually quite comfy.
Room Service
Room Service at the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City consists of room delivery from the lobby Market and is available from 6 AM to 10 PM. They tack on a $5 delivery and a 20% service charge to each order. The Hyatt website advertises room service at this location, but it is not the type of full room service we were expecting.
You can find the whole menu and prices here: https://qrco.de/bdaREG
Regency Club
The Regency Club is located on the 5th floor at the south end of the hotel. Typically, I’m a fan of having club access in a hotel. A quick continental breakfast in the morning and available snacks and drinks throughout the day is an easy way to save some money on dining out or overpaying for goodies in hotel grab-and-go markets.
I’m not sure how I scored club access for this booking as I’m not a Hyatt Globalist and I didn’t have any club vouchers available. When asking the front desk about access at check-in I was told there was a voucher attached to my stay. I didn’t argue with them.
The Regency Club at the Hyatt in Salt Lake City was pretty standard, but we ran into some frustration. It’s open for continental breakfast from 6:30 AM to 10 AM. It’s then open for mid-day snacks from 11 AM to 4 PM. After 4 PM, the club is closed for the day. Guess what time check-in is? 4 PM. We were surprised that the Regency Club did not offer any evening reception, as is standard in most hotels. Perhaps this has something to do with Utah’s strange liquor laws. However, being able to access a bottle of water and some snacks in the evening is a big perk to having club access and a reason we would have paid extra for a club-level room. We would have been disappointed had we spent money on this.
If you’re planning on grabbing some snacks and a beverage upon arrival, best have an early check-in. The club was closed when we got to the hotel and ended up spending $35 in their lobby market for a soda, a small bag of chips, some chapstick, and an indulgent bag of chocolate chex mix.
The club breakfast is standard fare, with pastries, fruit, yogurt, and coffee. There is bottled soda, water, and juice available. We were not impressed when we discovered our bottled juice had expired. While bottled juice is unlikely to cause any harm if it’s past the expiration date, it is not something you would expect in a Regency Club.
Parking
Both valet and self-parking are available at the SLC Hyatt Regency. Valet is $36 a night and self-park is either $25 and paid at the hotel if you want in-and-out privileges or $20 paid at the parking exit with no in-and-out.
The valet location is obvious and located on the south of the hotel, entered from 200 South. Self-parking is also available from 200 South but is a little tricky to spot. The entrance is further west down 200 South and is via the Salt Palace parking garage entrance.
To enter the hotel from self-park, walk east into the connected Hyatt valet and ADA parking area. There are elevators available. It is a very short walk and an easy way to save cash if you don’t want to use the valet.
Location
The Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City is located at 170 South West Temple. Generally, a pretty great location for activities in downtown SLC. If you’re attending a convention at The Salt Palace, you can’t find a better location as this hotel is literally attached.
Getting to or from Salt Lake City International Airport is straightforward. Trax is Salt Lake City’s light rail line and is easy to use. The Green Line will take you from the airport to the Temple Square Station stop on South Temple. A two-block walk south on West Temple will get you right to the hotel. You can also get off at the Gallivan Plaza station and walk a block and a half west on 200 S.
Salt Lake City has a decent public transit system, and Trax also shuttles passengers to the University of Utah and further south into the Salt Lake Valley. There is also a bus station directly outside the hotel.
For shopping, the City Creek Mall is also a short walk from the hotel. Walk the block to Main St. and then head north towards Temple Square for a block. City Creek Mall has many upscale stores and dining options.
There are plenty of dining options near the hotel including steak houses, sushi, Mexican food, gastro-pubs, and more, all within walking distance.
Final thoughts
The Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City is a great addition to both the SLC skyline and to the higher-end hotel offerings downtown. All of the on-site staff we interacted with were extremely friendly and accommodating. There are plenty of dining options with even more if you’re up for heading out of the hotel. The pool will likely be quite crowded in the summer months when it’s open because the views are just that good. I’m still looking forward to coming back, taking a dip, and lounging poolside.
While we really enjoyed the King Suite View room, I do think if you’re paying straight cash for the reservation, the pricing is a bit high. We would probably opt to stay at the Grand America or Hotel Monaco if we were considering spending suite-level money in downtown Salt Lake City again. Standard rooms, however, do look to fall more in line with typical rates.
The Regency is suited to a business clientele and does not offer a spa. It’s directly attached to the Salt Palace Convention Center, which will keep the hotel bustling year-round.. If a convention is what brings you to Salt Lake, then you will be hard-pressed to find better lodging. If you’re on vacation or looking for something a bit more romantic, we might recommend taking a look at the other available luxury hotels.
