I spent Thanksgiving at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa, a resort property in Orange County, California. The sprawling resort, built in 2003, has 517 rooms in a four story building with five wings. On the property are a number of restaurants, a spa, three pool areas (including an adults only jacuzzi area), shops and a conference center. The beach is across the street.
The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach is a Category 6 property, meaning a points stay will cost 21,000, 25,000, or 29,000 points per night. I paid the cash rate; which over the holiday weekend was $284/night plus tax of $40.62. Resort fees for the property are $42/night plus tax, but are waived on free nights and for Globalists.
Location
The property is located across Pacific Coast Highway from the beach and just under a mile from the Huntington Beach Pier. The center of Huntington Beach is located near the pier and there is a wide beach path that you can walk on from the property.
The closest airport is John Wayne Orange County (SNA), located 13 miles away. Disneyland is about 22 miles away.
Check In
I arrived around 2:30pm on Thanksgiving and only had to wait a minute to be helped. As it was a busy holiday weekend, I checked the website and knew that there were no suites available. I booked the lowest level room and was upgraded to a mid-tier 1 King Bed Partial Ocean View room on the fourth (top) floor.
I was told as a Globalist that I had breakfast in the Watertable restaurant and would also receive a $25 credit to the onsite grocery store. Shortly after check in a bottle of sparkling white wine and a box with three types of snacks was delivered to my room.
The lobby is well maintained but could use an update. To me it felt like one of the most dated portions of the property.
Room
I was assigned room 4133.
Each wing, starting with the northern most, is numbered 1 to 5. So room 41XX would be top floor in the northern most wing, while room 45XX would be top floor in the southern most wing. The now permanently closed Regency Club is located on the fourth floor between wings 1 & 2. The space is still there but most signage has been removed.
As you enter the room, there is a small table followed by the closet on the left and the bathroom is on the right.
The closet has a safe and two robes for use on property.
Just beyond the bathroom is a nook with coffee maker and a mini fridge. The room comes with two bottles of Path water that were restocked on my third day. There are chilled, filtered water stations on each floor to refill your bottles.
The main part of the room contains the king bed that faces a wall mounted TV over the dresser. The rooms have been updated and feel well maintained and modern.
Against the sliding door to the balcony is a table with two chairs and an arm chair with footstool.
The curtains do a good job at overlapping so as not to let light in through the middle section; however there is light that enters at the bottom of the curtains.
The balcony has two chairs and a small table. From the balcony you can see down into the courtyard and across the Pacific Coast Highway and parking lot you see the beach and ocean.
As the property is on the Pacific Coast Highway, there is a good amount of road noise that hits the property. It is also a family resort so there is also going to be kid noise. Neither bothered me, but this isn’t going to be a quiet and peaceful resort.
These photos are taken from across the courtyard back towards my room.
Bathroom
The bathrooms have also received minor updates, but there is still a lot that is clearly original from 2003. It reminds me of the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort. A pocket door with no lock slides to give some privacy in the bathroom.
There is a single vanity under a lit mirror. The countertop is brown stone. The combo shower and tub has only a wall mounted shower head (with low water pressure).
The toilet is opposite the tub.
The bath products are Regency standard Pharmacopia brand in wall mounted bottles.
While the bathroom is not luxury, it is clean and well maintained.
Pools
There are three pool areas at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach. Each pool area is separated by a wing of the hotel, so they are unique independent areas.
The first is the family lagoon style pool that has a large pool, hot tub, and Mankota’s snack bar.
Next is the adults only Spa Grotto with three hot tubs.
The third area is the family friendly Slyders Water Playground with pools and water slides as well as a casual restaurant — Slyders Bar and Café.
The public beach is located across a pedestrian bridge that directly connects onto the property. The hotel offers beach chairs, towels, and umbrellas for guest use at the beach.
Gym and Spa
The gym and Pacific Waters Spa are located in a courtyard at the southeast side of the property.
The gym is large with standard hotel equipment.
The spa offers various spa services as well as locker rooms with steam room, sauna, and jacuzzi tub. Globalists get free day passes to use the spa facilities.
Restaurants
The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach has seven dining options onsite.
The main restaurant is Watertable located just off the lobby (and directly under my room) with indoor and outdoor seating. It is open for breakfast and dinner. This is where Globalists get breakfast. I found the food to be very good and the hotel is generous with their Globalist breakfast benefit.
I tried the huevos rancheros, the stuffed French toast, and the classic eggs on separate days. They were all delicious.
I ate both lunch and dinner at Pete’s Sunset Grill which is located in the courtyard between the lobby and conference center (where you can also find the grocery store, the shops, and the pizza place).
Tower 15 Pizzeria offers slices as well as whole pizzas for order.
Additionally there is Shor which is located on the beach that offers lunch and snacks on the weekends.
The grocery store onsite offers some breakfast items as well as ice cream, grab and go meals and cold beverages. As a Globalist I received a $25 credit to the grocery store.
Overall
While the property is now 20 years old, the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach is well maintained and has received updates to most of the spaces. It is definitely a Regency resort though; it is a large property with lots of families and/or conferences. It is not the height of relaxation or luxury, nor is it a boutique property. The highway out front is loud and ugly. But it does what it does well. The staff were all very friendly. Housekeeping did a good job but one day came at 8:30am and the next day came at 2:30pm; hard to predict when they would stop by. The Globalist benefits are good (wonderful breakfast, $25 credit to the grocery store, free parking, waived resort fee, welcome gift) but don’t expect a suite during peak times.
Being a Category 6 property, you won’t find the best deals for stays with points, though it may be beneficial to avoid the hefty $42/night resort fee and high taxes. Make sure you accurately price it out to see the better deal.
I would not hesitate to return to the property. The location on the beach and only 20 minutes from John Wayne Orange County Airport make it a wonderful vacation spot. If you have kids, it is pretty ideal.
Have you visited the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach? What did you think of the property?
