Hyatt Regency Lisbon in Portugal [In-Depth Hotel Review]

My wife and I spent 4 nights at the Hyatt Regency Lisbon in late February 2024, and we honestly considered rearranging our trip to stay longer. The hotel was that great.

The Hyatt Regency Lisbon is the first (and still only) Hyatt-branded property in Portugal; it opened in November 2022. Everything still feels new and works well, plus service was excellent at every step of the way. This is a property I would recommend to anyone.

Here’s what our 4-night stay was like, including a suite upgrade and other elite status perks.

Location

The Hyatt Regency Lisbon is not located near the historic city center. Instead, it’s along the road to Belém and near the convention center. Expect a 20-minute taxi ride from the airport.

However, numerous buses and trams run in front of the hotel, quickly taking you into the city center for less than $2 per adult. We found Google Maps to be very accurate when using the public transit option, telling us arrival times and routes without issues.

Booking

The Hyatt Regency Lisbon is a Category 4 property in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. The hotel used off-peak pricing during our stay, so standard rooms were available for 12,000 points each.

However, the cash rate was €150 (~$163) per night, and the hotel had a “book now, save 25%” offer that dropped our cost to roughly $122 per night. Redeeming 12,000 points would provide just 1.02 cents per point, and Hyatt points tend to be worth much more than that (1.5 cents each, according to our valuations).

After booking, I contacted My Hyatt Concierge (a Hyatt Milestone Rewards benefit when reaching 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 base points) and applied a Globalist suite upgrade award to our reservation. This moved us from a Standard 1 Queen Bed into a Deluxe Suite 1 Queen Bed, which would’ve cost 24,000 points per night (and over €440, looking ahead in the calendar).

Hot Tip:

Since this is a Category 4 property, you can book it with the free night award earned from The World of Hyatt Credit Card.

Pre-Arrival Email from Hotel

A week before arriving at the hotel, the Hyatt Regency Lisbon emailed me some offers to upgrade our stay.

Offers included paying for early check-in and late checkout, but these were expensive. Plus, these are benefits included with World of Hyatt’s elite status tiers.

We also could book extras like massages, wine with chocolate-covered strawberries, transportation from the airport, cheese trays, or a request for a high floor. Since the hotel has just 4 floors, the value of paying €20 (~$22) per day for this isn’t much. We also could pay to add breakfast to our stay, but I knew I’d get this for free as a Globalist status benefit.

Lastly, we could prebook group Pilates classes for €15 (~$16) each.

Checking In

Once we arrived at the hotel, the place was crawling. Due to an event that included the ambassador from Kuwait, security personnel outside greeted us and let us pass when we said we were checking in. Beyond this, we never saw hotel staff at this entrance, so don’t expect to be greeted by bellhops offering to help with your luggage.

There were steps up to the main entrance, but a ramp to the left made it easy to roll our luggage inside.

Once inside, we were surprised to see something other than the reception desk. Instead, we found a large seating area and something that looked like a conference table.

Turning left, we headed toward the many voices. Passing the elevators and following an L-shaped bend, we arrived at the reception desk.

Interestingly, the reception desk faces this walkway to the convention center. I assume more guests arrive by car on the street than walking over from the convention center, so it’s a confusing design choice to put the reception desk facing this entrance.

There was a short line at check-in, so we amused ourselves in the lobby until it was our turn. We found a table with plants and artwork near the elevators.

Along the windows to the main street was a seating area with chairs and tables.

And another seating area had sofas.

Once it was our turn, a friendly employee with a contagious smile welcomed us and set the tone for a great stay. She confirmed our suite upgrade and stay details and provided an overview of the hotel’s main amenities and locations. She also gave us a welcome packet with sightseeing information and a QR code to exchange WhatsApp messages with the hotel staff if we had any requests or questions.

The welcome letter also provided the hours for hotel amenities, including the restaurants, bar, gym, and spa.

Elite Benefits

As I hold Globalist status, the welcome packet also included a daily voucher for the Globalist happy hour, which included complimentary drinks and rotating snacks. “Don’t lose it,” the front desk agent warned, as we needed to present it daily to access the happy hour.

When we visited, the snack was beet hummus with toast. It sounded strange at first, but it was incredibly delicious.

The friendly employee explained that we wouldn’t need any voucher or ticket for breakfast, as a note on the reservation would remind staff not to charge us. A complimentary breakfast is a guaranteed benefit for World of Hyatt Globalists.

Finally, check-in ended with the duty manager greeting us by name and shaking our hands. He thanked us for our visit and loyalty to Hyatt and asked if we had any questions or wanted assistance with our luggage. I’m sure he was busy, and our suitcase had wheels, so we declined the offer. Still, he walked us to the elevator and wished us a pleasant stay.

Amenities

The Hyatt Regency Lisbon isn’t a beachfront resort crawling with activities, but it has a surprising amount of amenities.

Fitness Center

This wasn’t your ordinary hotel gym. True, it was set 1 floor below the reception, but forget about windowless hotel fitness centers with a bare-bones approach. The huge ACTIVE by Serenity gym offered numerous cardio machines, weight machines, free weights, punching bags, and more. It was open around the clock.

The fitness center also published a list of classes, typically offering 5 per day. These included spin classes, stretching, yoga, and more.

When the spacious rooms weren’t used for classes, you could openly access them. Pilates was the only class with a charge (€15 per person, roughly $16).

The hotel asked that you sign up by 7 p.m. the day before for any classes, though we were told that showing up without registering typically wasn’t a problem.

Spa and Pool

Also located 1 floor below reception, the Serenity Spa offers a full range of services such as massages, manicures, facials, and more.

The spa also has a long, skinny pool providing length for swimming laps for exercise, but not much space for social swimming. The hotel’s website advises that access to the pool is fee-based and for guests at least 16 years old.

A fair amount of seating and even bathrooms were between the elevator and the spa’s entrance.

An ATM was down here, and a spiral staircase led up to the lobby.

Courtyard

The hotel is built in a U-shape around a central courtyard, with tables and chairs and lots of afternoon sunlight.

There were signs around the courtyard to help you find your way, which was helpful.

Wi-Fi

Internet was fantastic throughout the Hyatt Regency Lisbon. We got download speeds of over 200 Mbps, and the upload speeds were even better: over 260 Mbps.

Parking

Self-parking was available at the hotel in an underground garage from €25 per day (~$27).

Meeting Facilities

The Hyatt Regency Lisbon offers 4 meeting rooms, with up to 2,798 square feet of event space in the largest room, Vista. This mezzanine space with large windows is located just off the lobby and inside the main restaurant entrance.

Laundry

On-site laundry facilities were available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Elevators

Owing to the hotel’s U-shaped design, elevators were available on both sides of the U to make life easy. The elevators were spacious and arrived quickly. Tapping your key card was necessary to access guest floors.

On guest floors, seating was available near the elevators, though we never waited long — despite the hotel being near capacity during the first 2 nights of our stay. The elevator areas on the public floors did not have seats.

Signs near the elevators indicated which floors had which amenities. Curiously, the main floor was 1, while the courtyard entrance and gym were on 0.

Concierge

The hotel had a concierge staff, including a desk near check-in, that could provide restaurant recommendations, tour information, and even help you book tickets. This can be handy; we wanted to take a tour of one of the soccer stadiums and attend a game during our visit, and the websites for these didn’t accept credit cards from outside Portugal.

Queen Suite

The hallways on the guest floors were very simple, with no decorations — just necessary signage. I also liked the simple color palette.

We stayed in room 319B, which shared an outer door from the hallway with 319A. A family could occupy both rooms, close the outer door, and leave the inner doors open to pass between the rooms without needing keys. Though I feared we’d hear the people next door coming and going or slamming the door, we never heard them. The sound insulation in the rooms was excellent.

Living Room

When we entered the room, we found a combined dining area and living room with lots of natural light. The wooden dining table had 6 chairs.

The living room had a sofa and chair, plus a coffee table in the middle.

The opposite wall had a large TV.

Beyond the living room was a large balcony with a table and chairs. The balcony was accessed through the sliding doors in the living room and bedroom.

Near the door to the hallway, we had this interesting piece of art hanging above a cupboard.

Inside, ample shelving was available for storage.

Next to the door and light switches, we had a digital thermostat.

Touching the lock symbol on this panel next to the door turned the symbol red. This functioned as the “do not disturb” sign for housekeeping. Also, the lights in the room only functioned when we had the key card in the slot next to the door.

Kitchen

Opposite the dining table, near the entrance, we had a kitchen. I was pretty surprised by the number of amenities it held.

The kitchen had a dishwasher, a washing machine for clothes, and the standard coffee machine and tea supplies.

We also found a small oven.

The kitchen had a large refrigerator and stovetop.

The cabinets contained a complete dish set, a toaster, storage containers, and a hot water kettle.

The drawers had a complete silverware set, a peeler, a bottle opener, and even cloth napkins.

Opposite the stove was a large wooden closet. Inside, I found an iron and ironing board. This wasn’t your average hotel room’s kitchen. It felt almost like an extended-stay property.

Bedroom

Down the hallway, the bedroom was on the left; the bathroom and a full-length mirror were on the right. The wooden doors at the end of the hallway were locked.

Thanks to the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, the large bedroom had tons of natural light.

Opposite the bed was a wooden table, stool, armchair, and TV.

Despite being called a “queen suite,” this was actually a king-size bed. The pillows looked fluffy but provided very little support, unfortunately. And the bed was a bit too soft for our liking.

Each side of the bed had a nightstand with a lamp, light switches, and charging outlets. Despite being a new hotel, there were no USB charging points or universal outlets, which surprised us. I was also surprised by how far this nightstand was from my side of the bed, so I moved it closer.

The table opposite the bed had a wireless charging point, a notepad, and a bottle of water.

Near the room’s door was a large wooden closet with a light that came on automatically when you opened the door. The back of the closet had a mirror and outlet.

Along with hangers and lots of storage space, the closet also had a few shelves and a small safe.

On the top shelf, we had 2 bath robes.

The room also had its own thermostat, which was a nice touch.

Bathroom

The bathroom was excellent. It had a sliding wooden door and was really spacious.

Behind the sink was a large mirror with lights on all sides. The sink counter held toiletries, tissues, washcloths, and drinking glasses. We were surprised to find our shower products (conditioner, shampoo, and body wash) here rather than in the shower.

The toiletries were Pharmacopia products, which my wife loves. No joke, she bought a gallon of this hand lotion recently. But we also had some surprising items, like a shoe mitt and a sanitary bag.

Shower caps were inside a jar.

A motion-activated light encircled this makeup mirror.

Under the sink, we found a trash bin, slippers, hair dryer, and towels.

The toilet (left) and shower (right) were each inside glass doors and felt spacious. The shower had both a handheld and rainfall option, and it was operated by a push-button system that avoided the normal guesswork required when figuring out a shower at a new place.

The opening of the door to the toilet was a bit awkward if someone was at the sink, but this wasn’t a major issue.

The bathtub was opposite the shower and toilet (no jets, unfortunately).

The water leaked from the control knobs when filling the tub, however.

And despite being a new property, we found rotted wood on the bathroom’s door frame.

Food and Beverage

There were several spots to eat and drink at during our stay. Let’s look at each.

Viseversa

Viseversa is the main restaurant on floor 1 near the reception desk. It had a large bar that operated during the evenings, while the bar’s counter held breakfast spreads during the morning buffet. Viseversa was open from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with breakfast running until 10:30 a.m. (extended to 11 a.m. on weekends).

The restaurant also had outside seating, but no one used it during our late February stay.

Breakfast options were abundant, including various foods from numerous countries to appeal to the hotel’s wide-ranging clientele.

Along with fruits, hash browns, breads, Indian dishes, and a rotating number of hot foods, there were abundant pastries. Moreover, staff took orders for cooked-to-order eggs (alternatively, you could get scrambled eggs on the buffet) and various coffee drinks. There were also 2 self-serve coffee machines at the ends of the buffet.

Icon Rooftop Bar

At the back of Viseversa was an elevator to the Icon Rooftop Bar. However, it was closed during our visit, as it’s only open from March to October.

Zest Juice Bar

Next to the gym, Zest offered juices, smoothies, and health-focused bowls like açaí, salads, and protein bowls. Zest was open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Room Service

Room service was available around the clock. Orders could be placed by phone or by scanning a QR code from the welcome packet. The QR code led to other options, including additional hotel information.

Service

Service excelled at every step of the way. In case you missed that sentence, service excelled at every step during our stay.

The agents at the front desk were fantastic during check-in, the one time we stopped by to ask for information about our sightseeing plans, and during checkout. My wife’s childhood friend is working in Lisbon, and she stopped by the hotel at one point but then forgot a gift we gave her. The staff were very accommodating of our request to hold it for her when checking out, despite her not being a guest at the hotel.

The staff at meals and in the gym were super friendly, and so were the housekeeping employees we encountered during our stay. We received a note under our door whenever they came by and saw our “do not disturb” sign.

I also appreciated the small service touches, like the duty manager greeting us on arrival and the casual friendliness of the staff at the Globalist happy hour. The continuous friendliness from the staff made us contemplate extending our stay by cutting other parts of our trip short.

Final Thoughts

This is a hotel I wholeheartedly recommend. From excellent service to a fantastic breakfast, quality facilities, and easy access to public transportation, the Hyatt Regency Lisbon is a winner. Not everything was perfect during our stay. To be clear, the wood rot and leaking bath knobs should be fixed. However, during our stay, these were tiny bumps in an otherwise smooth road. I would definitely stay here again.