A big move in the luxury hotel space in Vancouver as Hyatt has announced the rebranding of the Shangri-La Vancouver to the Hyatt Vancouver Downtown Alberni. As of today, one of only two Shangri-La hotels in Canada is no longer as it is now operating as a Hyatt. The hotel can already be booked for stays via Hyatt with cash, points+cash or points.
During its tenure as the Hyatt Vancouver Downtown Alberni, the hotel will undergo a multi-million-dollar redesign and in 2026 the hotel will rebrand as the Park Hyatt Vancouver. This will be the second Park Hyatt in Canada, with the other location being the Park Hyatt Toronto and the fifth Hyatt Hotel in British Columbia.
Category 7 Hotel in World of Hyatt
The hotel in its current form as the Hyatt Vancouver Downtown Alberni has been made a Category 7 hotel in the World of Hyatt program. This means free night awards will start at 25,000 points per night (Off peak), 30,000 (Standard) and 35,000 (Peak). This is a little surprising to have it placed in the second highest category considering it’s not even a Park Hyatt yet. I mean the Park Hyatt Toronto is a Category 6 hotel!
500 bonus points per night as a new hotel?
We are waiting to see if you will be able earn 500 bonus points per night over the next few months as this hotel should fall under World of Hyatt’s new hotel bonus points offer. It does not show up on the new hotel offers page yet but if and when it does we’ll pass that along to our readers.
Paying for your Hyatt stays
While World of Hyatt does not have co-branded credit card here in Canada you can still maximize your points earning on your Hyatt stays by utilizing a credit card that has a travel accelerator like The Platinum Card® from American Express or the BMO AscendTM World Elite®* Mastercard®*. You can also redeem the points earned on those credit cards against the hotel stay once the charge shows up on your statement, all the while still earning your World of Hyatt points on the actual stay.
Wrapping it up
The Hyatt brand continues its steady expansion here in Canada with the addition of the Hyatt Vancouver Downtown Alberni to their roster. There are now 26 Hyatt locations from coast to coast (Not including Mr & Mrs Smith locations) and several more due to be added this year including the Hyatt Place Whitehorse (Now set to open in late August)
Click here to learn more and to book the Hyatt Vancouver Downtown Alberni
