World Traveller 73 
Review: Delta Hotels Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
On a very occasional basis, work takes me to the central Canadian Prairie City of Regina, Saskatchewan. While this happens to be a regular stopover on the regular Canadian trans-continental driving trip, there aren’t many business hotels in the city that regularity cater to business travellers. My return to this primary business hotel in Regina, the “Delta Hotels Regina”, marked my stay for this particular trip. Read on to see what your Delta Hotel’s Regina experience would be like.
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Review: Delta Hotels by Marriott Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
“The Delta Hotels Regina offered a comfortable stay in Regina’s leading business hotel, with inspiring prairie landscape views from it’s skyscraper hotel rooms”
I had previously visited and stayed at this property several times over the past thirty years, mostly when it was flagged as a Ramada Renaissance hotel. My last stay was about fifteen years ago (in it’s current variation) as the Delta Hotel Regina. With a recent business trip to the city, I’d get the opportunity to return to a property that I had stayed at, almost thirty years ago.
The Delta Hotels Regina was built in the year 1988 and is attached to the Saskatchewan Trade and Convention Centre. Delta Hotels by Marriott are positioned within the Marriott portfolio’s business hotel brands. The Delta Hotels brand states that they are “Hotels Are Exactly Where You Want To Be For Business Trips or Getaways“.
With this description, the Delta Hotels Regina meets that mark. There isn’t a lot of business hotel inventory in downtown Regina. Aside from the more upscale Autograph Collection The Hotel Saskatchewan, there is a Double Tree by Hilton and a Wingate by Wyndham Regina, there aren’t a whole lot of choices in the central business district.
Booking The Delta Hotels Regina:
The room rates in Regina are highly dependent on if anything is happening in the city at the time. With few other business hotels, the hotel be had for a low as $169 CAD on the weekend or as high as $364 CAD on the most expensive weeknights.
During our spring visit in April, the rates on the Easter Long Weekend were pretty soft. We were able to get a room for approximately $254 CAD ($180 USD) for a weekend night stay.
It’s worth a mention that the hotel offers a nice corner room in both the standard and suite categories. This has always been my favourite room configuration as the hotel offers a double sided window that provides great views out of two angles of the room. As such, I always try to book a corner room whenever I stay.
As always, I booked through the Marriott Bonvoy website, which as a Marriott Titanium Member, entitled me to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, including select suites, and a complimentary late check out up to 4 PM.
Marriott Bonvoy Redemption Opportunities:
The Delta Hotels Regina Ottawa Marriott Hotel was a Marriott Bonvoy Category 4 prior to the move to variable pricing. As a result, rooms are typically approximately 15,000 – 22,500 points per night, with about 20,000 points a night as an average standard. The rates were pretty flat all year round and were lowest on Sunday nights.
If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at $0.008 a point, you’d have to spend more than $160 USD to come out ahead for a 20,000 point redemption. There might be some outsized value redeeming points on a room here if the rate is high during event or conventions in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Getting to The Delta Regina Hotel:
We arrived to Regina International Airport on an Air Canada Express flight from Vancouver. We had a Hertz Rental Car booked and self drove to the hotel in a Toyota Camry; with a complimentary Hertz President’s Circle Upgrade. The hotel was only ten minutes away from the airport. It was easy to access the hotel, with minimal traffic and stop lights.
The property is centrally located in the Regina Centra Business District. This part of town consists of some central business office towers, the centre for SGI insurance, the downtown Cornwall Centre Mall, and the occasionally exciting Casino Regina. While the downtown area is not super engaging outside of the regular work week, the hotel is centrally located to all corners of Regina.
The hotel is located off Saskatchewan Drive. We parked in the hotel loading zone and headed inside for our check in. The hotel loading zone it pretty small, and only has space for one row of vehicles.
It was easy and simple to get to the Delta Hotels Regina. As a result of its central location, it was centrally located to all parts of Regina.
Checking into the Delta Hotels Regina:
I walked into the lobby of the Delta Hotels Regina. The lobby offers a small seating area in front of the reception desk and the hotel elevators. The hotel elevators are also conveniently connected to the underground parking garage, which made it easy to transfer to the rooms.
The hotel is also part of the Saskatchewan Trade and Convention Centre. As part of this combination, the hotel offers a substantial amount of convention space available on it’s second floors. The convention level is easily accessed through double escalators from the lobby, which are surrounded by a bit of a dated, but relaxing feature fountain in a mall like atmopshere.
The front desk processed our check in. I had completed on line check in through the Marriott App. As a result, the check in process was really quick. I was thanked for my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Level loyalty and I was provided with a pre-completed parking pass for underground parking in the garage at $23 CAD per night.
Marriott Bonvoy Platinum / Titanium and Ambassador level members are offered a complimentary welcome gift, breakfast or one thousand Marriott Bonvoy points. It may have been training day at the front desk. When I asked if it was possible to select breakfast in the hotel restaurant as a Marriott Bonvoy Welcome Amenity, I was told that breakfast was limited to the hotel’s executive lounge. Despite this, I was also given two breakfast vouchers in my key folder.
During check in, I also found out that I had received a complimentary upgrade to a “suite”, courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Level status. This turned out to a multiple level category room upgrade from the base level “One Queen Bed – Guest Room“, to a “Suite – Club Room, Club Level, Executive Suite – 1 King, Sofa Bed.”
It’s always a great deal to get a suite upgrade for a room that’s several hundred dollars. However, it’s also worth pointing out that the premium for a suite was under a hundred dollars from the rate that we paid.
Lastly, a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium level 4 PM check out was offered without any hesitation or fighting. While it’s unusual to get a late night check out in a suite category these days, I was really happy with the Delta Hotels Regina for offering this benefit that’s consistent with the terms and conditions of the Marriott Bonvoy program.
The Room: Suite – Club Room, Club Level, Executive Suite – 1 King Sofa Bed.”
After checking in, I self parked the car in the underground garage which was only accessible through the hotel’s room key. I led myself and my luggage up to the suite. It’s worth mentioning that there are no hotel rooms between floors #3 and #9, as the hotel co-shares space with an office tower. I had been assigned suite #1110.
Our room was located close the Delta Executive Lounge located on the tenth floor. We proceeded to our room on the eleventh floor. From the triple elevator bank, we were a short walk to the room through a darker inside hallway.
The Living Room:
I entered inside the Suite – Club Room. I found myself immediately in a large angled living room with a sofa bed with occasional chair. The room also had a small coffee table with two additional tables and chairs. It was a perfect space for entertaining or gathering, if travelling with a group.
The sofa bed itself was more functional that comfortable for sitting on. This isn’t something that’ specific to this particular property. Rather, I’ve generally found that most suite sofa’s aren’t all that comfortable for longer term stays.
The hotel was set up in a rectangular octagon shape with eight sides to the building. As a result, the living room space had a number of angles to it that did not involve any right angles.
The living room space offered a rail desk, along with a suitcase storage platform.
The room also contained a mini refrigerator in the cupboards underneath the desk. As always, this was handy to make sure that our bottles of water were cold.
Along with our past experience with the Delta Vancouver Suites, the Delta Hotels Regina offered a rail bar for in room coffee. The Delta Hotels Regina offered the standard “no nonsense” drip coffee variety.
The Living Room coffee table offered us a surprising Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite welcome amenity. While it’s usually the exception rather than the rule that an “in room” welcome amenity is offered, I found an awesome bag of chips, a Marzen German Beer, a few granola bars and a “it’s time for a break” Kit Kat chocolate bar. This was a really nice touch on the part of the hotel.
The Bedroom:
Moving into the bedroom, the bedroom was separated from the living room by french doors. Being glass, these were transparent and didn’t have any opaqueness to them. If you were sharing with another couple, and you were looking for a completely private sleeping area, you’d be better off booking two separate and private rooms.
The bedroom featured a comfortable and standard King Bed. Consistent with being an older building, there was plenty of space on both sides of the bed itself to manoeuvre.
There wasn’t additional television in the bedroom, along with the usual Delta Hotels decor. There were also those flat prairie views that seemed to stretch on for miles.
The Bathroom:
The suite offered one single bathroom. The bathroom was located off the bedroom area. The bathroom offered a single vanity for one; perhaps the only negative aspect of the larger suite. With a bathroom so large and a room that potentially sleeps up to four people, it would have been handy to have a second vanity sink.
The Delta Hotels Regina Suite – 1 King offered I think what is possibly the largest shower that I’ve ever experienced in a Delta Suite and perhaps the whole Marriott Bonvoy chain. In a rectangular room formation, the shower was large enough to fit three people comfortably.
Room with a View:
There is a lot that can be said about Saskatchewan Hotel Views. Being in the middle of the Canadian Prairies, the views go on forever. Our North Eastern facing view over looked the Casino Regina, the city’s industrial area and the train yard that services freight East and West across Canada.
Unfortunately, the suite didn’t feature any kitchen or wet bar sink space that you sometimes find in the suite category. This was perhaps the only thing that was missing from the Delta Regina room configuration.
Getting to the sleep quality of the room, while the hotel hallways were mostly quiet, the neighbouring train yard was not as peaceful. Occasionally, there was some shunting train noise heard in the morning. While this wasn’t prevalent at night, it was heard around 9 AM in case you were planning on using the hotel for a long sleep in.
Overall, the rooms was a generous size for a single business traveller and would also be large enough for two (or even four) travelling together. The room is a perfect size for families and is a reasonable option instead of two separate rooms.
Around the Hotel Property:
The Delta Hotels Regina property contains all the features of a full service property. While it doesn’t offer more than expected, it will meet all your expectations for a city hotel.
Conference Centre:
The upper floors of the hotel offer a substantial amount of hotel conference space. It also offers heated walkway access to the Cornwall Centre Retail mall that’s located next door.
Business Centre:
The hotel offers a small business centre located on the main lobby floor, just adjacent to the front desk. The business centre was unmanned, and was accessed through your in room key card.
The business centre offered a single computer with internet access and a printer. I did use the business centre on my travels to print some documents and everything worked as expected.
Delta Signature Club:
The Delta Regina Hotel offered a Delta Signature Club lounge. As a reminder, Marriott Bonvoy members with Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite (top level status) have guaranteed access to Delta Hotels Lounges (resorts are excluded). At the Delta Hotels Regina, the Delta Signature Club was located on the tenth floor immediately after you got off the elevator.
The timings food breakfast and appetizers were posted on the door and varied over the weekend. Despite this, the lounge was open for access at all hours of the day and night. Unlike some other lounges, we were able to arrive after hours and help ourselves to beverage items outside of regular service hours.
The Delta Hotels Regina Signature Club was set up in a converted hotel room. It was slightly compact on space. It was perfectly fine if you happened to be the only ones visiting, but it quickly got more congested with others in the room.
The Delta Hotels Regina Signature Club Lounge was exceptionally well stocked with amenities. We were able to pick up wine glasses for the room, along with re-stocking of water and soda’s at all hours of the day.
We passed through the lounge during the evening appetizer hour. The lounge featured a lounge special of liquor, beer and wine at $7 CAD each, along with some light appetizers.
It was pretty handy and convenient to have the executive lounge at the hotel. It was a bit of a walk to other food and beverage outlets, such as the Casino Regina. As a result, it was nice to have something available nearby.
Pool:
The Delta Hotels Regina offered an indoor pool and waterslide. The indoor pool was perfect for winter guests who were travelling with families.
The pool area offered a small children’s pool, hot tub and waterslide landing pool.
The pool area at the Delta Hotels Regina complimented the needs of this property. The pool was about what I would expect for a hotel that features harsh winters and a short summer season.
Food and Beverage:
1919 Kitchen and Bar
Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Breakfast
The Delta Hotels Regina offered a single restaurant inside the hotel’s property. The hotel’s was open during breakfast hours and supper hours. It was closed during lunch hours.
The 1919 Kitchen and Bar was located off the main lobby. The restaurant also offered an in house take away coffee and bakery bar, which we didn’t happen to use. During our visit over a weekend, there wasn’t a lot of people using the restaurant.
The hotel offered full Marriott Bonvoy Platinum elite breakfast in the 1919 Kitchen and Bar. During the time of our stay, I’m really happy to report that the property offers it’s marriott elites access to the full breakfast buffet with hot and cold items, or any a – la -carte items ordered off the menu.
The breakfast buffet offered a medium amount of food. The buffet offered scrambled eggs, turkey sausages and bacon, along with sliced fruits, fresh orange juice and a pot of coffee served table side.
In our case, we ended up ordering off the 1919 Kitchen and Bar a – la – carte menu. We were able to order any item
I enjoyed the broken yolk BLT, with two over easy eggs, slab bacon, arugula, cured tomato, basil pesto aioli, onion loaf. It was really tasty and something a little different than the usual eggs and bacon that you typically find on the road.
MrsWT73 had the egg white omelette with all natural turkey, feta cheese, confit tomato, spinach and mushroom along with breakfast potatoes. MrsWT73 reported high marks for this dish, reporting it as tasty and filling.
The 1919 Kitchen and Bar was more than expected for a hotel breakfast restaurant. I really appreciated having the ability to choose between the faster ready made buffet, or the a – la – carte breakfast options.
Checking Out of The Delta Hotels Regina:
On departure day, I checked out at the front desk. The hotel reconfirmed the email address and sent an email folio to my account. There were no surprises on the bill with everything as expected.
My Marriott Bonvoy points posted to my account within 48 hours, as promised.
The Bottom Line: The Delta Hotel Regina
The Delta Hotels Regina is pretty much the only real business hotel in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Despite a somewhat dated building, the hotel offers everything that you’d expect for a business hotel.
The treatment as a Marriott Bonvoy Elite was much much better than I would have expected, and I enjoyed access to the Delta Signature Club Lounge, and also enjoyed a great breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant: 1919 Kitchen and Bar.
World Traveller 73 
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