Review: Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport (Vancouver, Canada)

Introduction: To Grub Steaks and Getting CX’d (Twice)
SkyTeam Lounge Hong Kong
Hong Kong Airport Midfield Terminal
Korean Air 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul
Korean Air 777 Business Class Seoul to Vancouver
Our Whistler Apartment: Pinnacle Ridge
Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort: My Thoughts
Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport
Plaza Premium Lounge Vancouver
Korean Air 777 Business Class Vancouver to Seoul
Korean Air 747 Business Class Seoul to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific A330 Economy Class Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur
The Boulevard by St. Giles Kuala Lumpur
Cathay Pacific A330 Economy Class Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong

As our flight back to Seoul was at 1 PM, I wanted to make sure the night before was as smooth as possible (i.e. we weren’t driving back to Vancouver at 5 AM on Sunday morning), so we got a room at the Westin Wall Center Vancouver for ~HK$1,200 a night. This came with free WiFi (no, actually, my dad went through Booking.com for no free WiFi and $500 more, but I’m not here to b@tch),

We arrived the Westin Wall Center at around 7 PM, where we bid the Whistler Wired driver farewell.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Exterior

The lobby isn’t exactly luxurious, but it is modern, which I kind of prefer. There’s a reason that 14-year-old me prefers W hotels over St. Regis’s.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Lobby

There was green ginger tea for free at the lobby, as is the norm for most Westin hotels. All of them seem to have an Asian influence, which is weird.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Green Ginger Tea with Lemon and Honey

The friendly agent checked us in for the night, and said that we had a club room on the top floor of the hotel, right across the club. Unfortunately neither of them offered free WiFi for the day.

We took the lift up to the 15th floor.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Hallway

We were assigned room 1520, which was, as promised, right across the lounge. The footprint of the hotel isn’t large, so although we were near the end of the hallway, that wasn’t as far as you might expect.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Entrance

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Floorplan

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport
Check-in: Saturday, February 13, 2016
Room Type: Club Queen
Room Number: 1520
Stay duration: 1 night
Check-out: Sunday, February 14, 2016

The room was comprised of an entryway leading to two queen beds and a full bathroom.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Entryway

While the room was generic in size, it’s undeniable that Westin Heavenly Beds are some of the best beds ever created. The room featured two of them, so my dad and I took turns throughout the night on the bed, while my sister and my mom slept together.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen

I thought I’d find it easy to oversleep, but fortunately, I made it up at about 4AM, so I just purchased some WiFi for myself and worked for the rest of the morning. However, the six hours prior was some of the best sleep I’ve had this year, only hindered by a particular someone snoring loudly on the sofa.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Bed

Speaking of which, the sofa/chaise longue was pretty comfortable too, although nothing to match with the bed.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Chaise Longue

Additionally, the room featured a desk and a flatscreen TV (not pictured, as it was hard with the lighting we had to not get the whole family in it).

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Desk

The room offered (presumably) free cable WiFi, which would have been great, if only my computer didn’t have a suitable plug.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Web Access Widget

The room also had a fridge with no drinks in it, which makes sense as I have free drinks right across the hallway (I’m assuming that entry level rooms have fridges stocked with priced drinks).

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Fridge

There was also a coffee maker, which we used. The coffee I managed to make was nothing short of weird, but whatever.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Coffee Maker

Lastly, the views didn’t face the airport, but we could occasionally see some aircraft passing by. The friendly receptionist said she couldn’t get us any rooms that faced the airport directly, so I wasn’t too sad about that.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen View

Now, onto the bathroom. I was fully expecting a bathroom that featured a shower/tub combo and a small sink. Yet, however, the bathroom was the area that surprised me the most during the stay.

It featured a sink, lots of space, and a separate tub and shower.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Bathroom Toilet

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Bathroom Tub

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Bathroom Sink

The bathroom featured White Tea toiletries, which were perfectly fine.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Club Queen Bathroom Toiletries

Overall, I found the room great, the views good, and the toilet amazing.

The club lounge was located across the hallway, so naturally we spent quite a bit of time in it. It featured a bit of seating, a computer with WiFi and a buffet. It was empty at very late night (1 AM), so I spent my time working mostly in here, as not to disturb the family.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Executive Club

The evening spread consisted of a couple of hot items, though the spread mostly consisted of bread. It was never full, but it sometimes got a little populated, presumably due to how cheap club rooms can be at the hotel.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Executive Club Dinner Spread

There were free drinks in the fridge – one consisted of the standard sodas, and the other was loaded with juices.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Executive Club Drinks

Along with the drinks, free coffee, tea and water remained throughout the night, which I really appreciated. Unfortunately that kept me awake for most of the night, which made me make the most of my sleep time on the plane the next day.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Executive Club Night Spread

The breakfast spread was mostly continental but featured a few unique items such as boiled eggs. Overall, at less than HK$200 more, I’d say that it was a nice deal over the standard room.

Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport Executive Club Breakfast Spread

So overall, the club lounge was by no means awesome, but was a good way to hang out and be productive over the night (especially because it was COMPLETELY deserted). It’s worth noting that you need a key card to access the lounge.

The next day, we bid the friendly staff farewell and hit the bus for the airport, which ran through the Sheraton among other airport hotels in the Richmond area.

Bottom Line

I found the Westin Wall Center a good stopover point. While I probably wouldn’t spend more than a night here given that the hotel was kind of “bare bones”, they had an amazing bed, they had an amazing bathroom and they had a decent club lounge, as well as, presumably, a gym. While free WiFi for all may have been great, that was our stupid mistake for paying an extra HK$500 for no WiFi.

For a night, I wouldn’t hesitate to return…though I can say that for just about every hotel I’ve stayed at. It was definitely on the upper end though, for sure.

Review: Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport (Vancouver, Canada)

Bottom Line

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