Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Review: Solid Rooms with Amazing Views

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Review

The Hyatt Regency Mission Bay is a resort located in the heart of Mission Bay and about 15 minutes from Downtown San Diego. This is a hotel I’ve been to about 5 times, and although there are some things I didn’t like, I overall had a great stay.

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Review – Booking

The cash price for our stay was around $350, and then parking was another $45, meaning that on paper we achieved a value of 4.6 cents per point. Not bad at all! This hotel is a Category 3 in the World of Hyatt program, costing 9,000, 12,000, and 15,000 points for off-peak, standard, and peak, respectively. About a day after booking the room, I called to see if we could be upgraded. Since I was Guest of Honored, we were upgraded to a King Corner Oceanview suite. Score!

I would also note that there is a very cool feature in some rooms at this hotel: firepits. We stayed at one when I was 7, and it felt great during the chilly San Diego evenings.

If you are booking with cash, the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay participates in Hyatt Privé. This program allows you to get extra benefits, including free breakfast, a $100 property credit, and early check-in. There is no extra fee, but it is the price of the best flexible rate. If you need help booking this, I am happy to help. My email is john.ryan@fora.travel.

Issues with Booking Hyatt Regency Mission Bay

I booked this about 2 weeks out, but it wasn’t the easiest. For most hotels, you can simply go to Hyatt’s website or the Hyatt app and find availability. But, this hotel only has award availability for ~4% of the year. Because of this, I emailed the hotel’s reservation manager to book it. I was also Guest of Honored by a friend, which complicated things further. He responded and said I should call reservations. After doing that, he had the customer service agent call the hotel and he then opened up the space.

Overall, this isn’t as easy as booking it online, which is very helpful in case you want to speculatively book a hotel. Plus, I wish this hotel was more transparent about award availability, as there is no way that this hotel has standard rooms booked up to 97% of the year. A Hyatt agent told me it was likely because of the many holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, College/High School Graduation, etc., but that’s nonsense if you ask me.

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Review – Location

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay is located on Quivira Road, but it is also located on Mission Bay Drive and about 3/4’s of a mile from Belmont Park. This is my favorite area of San Diego to stay, as there is so much to do, and it also holds a special place in my heart because it is where my dad went to high school. I also enjoy the area because there is an endless number of paths to walk or bike on. There aren’t that many restaurants in the immediate vicinity of the hotel, but 10 minutes away, there are endless options in Pacific Beach.

During previous stays, there was some on-street parking around the hotel, but there is now no overnight parking between 2 and 4 AM, making this not a viable option.

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay – Check-in

We came in from Palm Springs and arrived around noon, and we were told our room wouldn’t be ready until later in the day. Since we were being treated as Globalists, I was a bit surprised. In the end, the room wasn’t ready until 3. I called at around 1:30, but the front desk agent said that she didn’t know when the room wouldn’t be ready, which I found a bit strange.

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Review –  The Room

We were assigned 902, a corner room on the 9th floor. This corner suite has an entryway where on the left, there is a bathroom, a cabinet with a minibar, coffee maker, and safe, a closet with pullout couch bedding, and an ironing board.

Further down, there is a king bed with a plug and USB port on either side of the bed. Across from it, there is a tv, and to the right, there is a north-facing window with views of Mission Bay. To the left of the bed, there is a large table, and across from that, there is a pullout couch. Finally, across from that, there is a balcony facing west, with amazing views of the pool below, and the ocean straight ahead.

Overall, I found the room to be great. There was a ton of space, and everything was in great shape. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a suite, but it is close to that.

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Review – Amenities

The Hyatt Regency has excellent amenities. The gym is located on the marina and has a large variety of equipment from Life Fitness. The pool is also great. There is a hot tub, two large waterslides, one smaller slide, and two pools. When I was 6, I remember I used to love these slides, and this was one of the reasons I liked this hotel so much. My only criticism of the pool area is the hot tub. Since it gets quite cold in San Diego at night, the hot tub is packed with people, and when I went, there were 18 people. I left after about 10 minutes.

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Review – Food and Beverage

There are 3 restaurants at this hotel: Pelicans on the Bay, Red Marlin, and Market Deli.  Red Marlin is where breakfast is usually served, but because of construction, during my stay it was moved to a ballroom below the main tower. We went at around 10 AM, and I found it to be quite good. The buffet spread was large and everything looked great quality.

But, I did find service to be quite slow. We ordered orange juice, which wasn’t delivered for about 10 minutes. However, everyone was quite friendly. We were then given a bill, which came out to $64. Since a friend Guest of Honored me, this was no problem, but considering the slow service and it being a buffet, an 18% service charge seemed like a bit much.

Pelicans on the Bay is located in the pool area and is open from 7 AM to 10 PM daily. This is the hotel’s all-day restaurant.

Market Deli is a small coffee shop located on the marina that is next to the fitness center. During my last stay, this was an Einstein Bros. Bagel store, but this seems to have changed. The hours vary throughout the week, but on most days it closes at 3 PM.

Service

Overall, the service at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay was fine. It wasn’t anything special, but I found the front desk agents to be quite friendly. As mentioned above, service was slow at the restaurant, but this was the closest thing to a “hiccup” that we experienced.

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Review – Final Thoughts

Although my stay wasn’t perfect, I had an excellent stay at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay. Our room was excellent, I found the location to be excellent, and the amenities great. I would love to visit this hotel again, and I highly recommend it.

What are your thoughts on the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay? Let me know in the comments below!