The writer was hosted
It was the end of a long series of walks—press the keycard to the door, sigh in relief seeing the flashing green, and stepping into the corner room with towering snow-covered mountains as a picture on the wall.
Except that the picture on the wall is from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows at the Hyatt Regency. The snow-covered Wasatch Mountains towered over the downtown Salt Lake City buildings. The bright sunshine scene ran the entire length of this corner room, as it does in every room in the hotel.
Five stars for the view. Four+ for the hotel. Five for the things to do in Salt Lake City.
What to expect when arriving
From the welcoming valet parking kiosk to the professional and friendly check-in and smooth and rapid bell service, the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City was an excellent combination of business hotels and luxury destinations.
Opened in 2023, the Hyatt Regency, in the middle of Downtown Salt Lake City, connects directly to the Salt Palace, Utah’s primary convention center. Just past the front desk, the doors open into the convention center.
Utah worked for ten years to get a convention hotel, and the Hyatt Regency downtown is the result. Its convenient location makes it a short walk to a slew of things to do, places to eat, and sights to see.
Just a 15-minute ride from Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), the hotel boasts a contemporary lobby with a comfortable seating area and a high-top business center workspace featuring power, USB-powered ports, strong WiFi, the Salt Republic restaurant, a lobby bar, and a grab-and-go fast-casual area. The lobby area is comfortable for meeting with others, resting feet, or grabbing a snack.
Read More: Salt Lake City: How to Plan the Perfect Weekend Getaway
What are the Hyatt room types?
The hotel has multiple guest room types. Rooms are well-appointed with floor-to-ceiling picture windows, comfortable beds, functional workspaces, seating areas, and ultra-contemporary bathrooms stocked with basic toiletries—shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion.
Each room has a large, 65-inch flat-screen TV, open-air closet and storage area, in-room refrigerator, and coffee maker. It also has a digital climate system for controlling heating and air conditioning by setting the desired temperature.
Especially appreciated with the workspaces were the multiple desktop power outlets and USB ports. Wi-Fi was strong throughout the hotel.
What are the hotel’s accessibility features?
Accessible rooms offer a single king bed or two queen beds. There are accessible view rooms and a Regency suite. Options include either a tub or a roll-in shower.
Hyatt is committed to flexibility in accommodating all its guests.
What will a standard room be like?
Room choices include a single king bed or two queen beds. The rooms are 300 to 400 square feet and have sofas in the seating area.
Options include standard rooms, view rooms, rooms with access to the Regency Club, and a sofa bed. The hotel offers a choice of a walk-in shower or a tub.
What’s offered in a corner room?
Corner rooms are more spacious, topping 400 square feet, with windows. The rooms are not square corners but rounded, giving a more spacious feeling with the extra windows, nearly 180-degree view, and separate seating area.
The Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City is pet friendly—with a cleaning charge—allowing up to two maximum 50-pound pets per room.
What are the Hyatt suite options?
Like small apartments, the Hyatt Regency has three suite types ranging from almost 1,100 square feet with a separate bedroom to a house-sized suite of more than 1,700 square feet with separate sleeping, dining, and seating areas.
Does the Hyatt Regency have dining options and room service?
The hotel has three dining options, one of which incorporates room service. The two restaurants are quite good and offer casual and elegant dining experiences.
What to expect from the Northern Spanish flavors of Mar | Muntanya
On the sixth-floor rooftop, the sophisticated Mar | Muntanya serves the flavors of Northern Spain from the sea and the mountains with a Salt Lake City twist. One wouldn’t expect Spanish cuisine, let alone a taste of the Basque country, but Nevada and Utah have hosted Basque shepherds for generations.
The restaurant has indoor and outdoor dining. Outdoors for inclement weather, guests may sit in one of the glass dining bubbles with 360-degree views.
Combinations from the Catalonia and Basque regions inspired Chef Tyson Peterson’s creations. From the mountains, the Basque Style Chuletón, a ribeye steak, is fire-grilled and touched with sea salt for traditionalists. For those wanting more adventurous meat, the Campfire Elk Loin is served with potato purée, house-smoked Iberico bacon, and a blackberry jus and sage crumbs. Even those who are not fans of wild games will like this platter.
From the Catalonian coast, the Slow-Cooked Seabass sits on a sweet potato purée under a piquillo sauce with olives, brown butter, and almond crumbs. For the palate seeking unique flavors, the Grilled Octopus is surprisingly tasty, with its potato purée and chorizo complemented and flavored with garlic and lemon.
Various desserts will satisfy the craving to top off an elegant meal with something sweet.
Is Salt Republic open all day?
Located on the lobby level, the full-service restaurant Salt Republic serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is a more comfortable, contemporary, and casual setting than Mar | Muntanya. The Salt Republic offers traditional breakfast selections and a hefty buffet.
Lunch mixes healthy and hearty meals with local ingredients and a wood-fired oven. Its approach to the noontime meal is a choice of soups and salads interspersed with sandwiches that include a Wagyu Pastrami Smash Burger and a Blackened Lake Trout. Several entrées, including Steak & Frites and Fish’n’Chips, are available.
Dinner carries over many of the lunch selections, like the Wild Mushroom Cream soup and Smashburger, and adds a broad selection of entrées incorporating the lunch specialties and upping the ante with a Seafood Risotto and Short Rib Ragu.
Dessert is delicious anytime, and the show’s star is the Decadent Chocolate Layer Cake.
Does The Market serve food or grab-and-go?
Market Coffee & Fresh Goods, on the lobby level next to Salt Republic, is open 24 hours a day. It offers freshly brewed coffee and coffee barista-blended beverages, packaged snacks, fruits, and easy-to-eat meals and sandwiches made at the hotel. The Market also has a limited menu of foods that can be prepared to order.
The meals can be carried back to rooms or enjoyed at the tables around the lobby.
Market-To-Go is the hotel’s room service, and orders are delivered daily between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Is there a hotel bar or lounge?
Utah’s liquor laws are often misunderstood. They are based on a long conservative tradition dating back to the 19th century. Due to a locust invasion destroying crops, alcohol was banned to preserve corn for food during a famine. Until the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Utah’s liquor laws moved from banning mixed drinks, requiring club memberships, and putting glasses in paper bags to a more conventional approach.
Today, memberships are not required, paper bags are not used, and secret codes aren’t necessary to relax while enjoying a craft cocktail in the Contribution Cocktail Lounge. However, nearly all of the cocktails are also offered in spirit-free options.
Along with a wide array of craft and traditional cocktails, the lobby bar offers a limited menu of munchies, boards, and sweets.
Contribution’s traditional and uniquely named craft cocktails are the mainstay, but a spotlight is beamed on special drinks inspired by lounge team members. These unique offerings change monthly. Snuggled in the southeast corner of the hotel, Contribution is set up for couples or groups of friends and associates.
Is the Hyatt Regency good for business meetings?
As Salt Lake City’s official convention center hotel, the Hyatt offers multiple meeting spaces, event space, and meeting rooms encompassing over 60,000 square feet. Its 23,000-square-foot Regency Ballroom can hold nearly 3,000 people. The almost 15,000-square-foot Salt Lake Ballroom holds over 1,800 people.
In addition, the Hyatt Regency has 19 meeting venues with space for 10 to 90 guests. All rooms have Wi-Fi and the latest technology capacity for audio and video. Near the ballroom and meeting rooms, there is a lounge area for guests to relax or hold conversations with live streaming television of the main meeting events.
On the sixth-floor pool deck, the Sundance Terrace can host up to 600 guests plein aire with mountain views.
What other services does the Hyatt offer?
A full-service hotel, the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City offers concierge services to acquire admission passes and recommend restaurants outside the hotel.
Daily room cleaning services are efficient and ensure a ready welcome when returning at the end of the day. Laundry and dry cleaning can be arranged for guests.
On the sixth floor is a fitness center with expected machines, treadmills, and some free weights. The hotel business center offers services to support guests and meetings. Also on the sixth floor is the heated swimming pool and terrace. The hotel has no hot tub, so its rating is only four-plus, not five stars.
What is there to do in Downtown Salt Lake City?
There’s much walking in Salt Lake City, Utah. There’s the walk down the airport concourse, through the tunnel, and up to the next concourse. There’s the walk from the main concourse across the spacious airport lobby to ride-share pick-up. There’s the walk to the room from the elevator. Then there are the walks to truly enjoy Downtown Salt Lake City.
City Creek and City Creek Shopping Center
Just three blocks from the hotel is the City Creek Shopping Center. This multi-level indoor/outdoor shopping center is built around City Creek, the natural creek running from the Wasatch Mountains to the Great Salt Lake. A pleasant promenade and small waterfalls bisect the local shops and national chains, making for a nice place to walk between the hotel and Temple Square.
Temple Square and the Mormon Tabernacle
Temple Square, the spiritual and physical heart of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is undergoing significant renovations. It is still a beautiful and peaceful place to visit. The historic temple is shrouded in scaffolding as it’s being seismically retrofitted following damage from a March 2020 earthquake.
The 5.7-magnitude quake shook the trumpet out of the hand of the Angel Moroni. Just over four years later, on April 3, 2024, the golden statue with the trumpet was once again placed atop the Temple’s tallest spire.
Although a reopening of the Temple has yet to be set and several buildings are under construction, the historic Mormon Tabernacle, home of the world-famous choir, is open to the public.
Visiting Temple Square puts a visitor smack dab in the middle of Salt Lake City. Downtown shops and towering office buildings are to the south, and the state Capitol complex is to the north.
Utah State Capitol
The Utah State Capitol is another walkable destination from the Hyatt, with guided or self-guided tours to see its history, art, and artifacts. The State Capitol was modeled after the U.S. Capitol. Its hilltop setting is Instagram-able
Salt Lake City Library
The ultra-modern library with a rooftop terrace houses books and media and provides a respite for remote work, catching up on email, art exhibits, and sweeping city views.
Biking Salt Lake City
With its wide streets, numerous bike paths, and nearby mountain trails, riding a bike and heading for the hills is great exercise and a getaway experience. The hotel can help arrange the perfect bike for guests.
Can you get to ski areas from the Hyatt?
Utah ski areas are very close to Downtown Salt Lake City. In years past, ski resort authorities would guarantee that if your flight arrived before noon, you could still get in a couple of hours of skiing before dinner.
Why are Utah street names so confusing?
They can be confusing, but it all makes sense if you think like a local. Utah streets are named by numbers reflecting addresses. Knowing the cross-streets identifies the location and how far from the center of Salt Lake City a destination is located.
The center address is where the city’s north-south Main Street crosses the east-west North and South Temple streets. The two Temple streets mark the north and south sides of Temple Square. On the left is West Temple Street, and on the east is State Street, which runs up to the Capitol complex.
Then come the numbered streets, such as 100 West, 600 North, 1000 South, and 500 East. The names seem crazy until the system is understood. Locals refer to the numbered streets without the last two zeros. So, the four examples are “First West,” “Sixth North,” “Tenth South,” and “Fifth East.”
With eight blocks to the mile in Salt Lake City (most cities are six blocks to the mile), 800 North (“Eighth North”) is one mile north of Temple Square; 1600 East (16th East) is two miles east of the Temple.
The addresses are easy to pinpoint. The Hyatt is at South West Temple and 200 South (Second South). Although the address looks confusing, it tells you the hotel is on the west side of the same street as Temple Square and a quarter mile (two blocks) south of the Temple.
The Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City is 170 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101.
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