Paradox Vancouver — Hotel in Vancouver

NEVER AGAIN!!!

From the outset, I had high hopes. The rooms are modern and equipped with high-tech devices that allow guests to control everything from the lighting to housekeeping requests. However, my experience quickly soured due to a significant issue with their housekeeping policies.

I am particular about cleanliness and always request daily linen changes. Before leaving my room for the day, I activated the "clean room" option on the display panel. As I exited, I noticed a "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging on my door handle, which I promptly placed on the ground a short distance away. To my dismay, I soon received a message via WhatsApp from the hotel staff, expressing uncertainty about whether they should enter my room to clean due to the sign being found on the floor.

In a bid to resolve this miscommunication, I called the hotel and spoke with the self proclaimed manager, Dean. Instead of offering assistance, Dean was rude and dismissive, informing me that the housekeeping staff had already left for the day and that they could do nothing since they could not reach me. His condescending lecture about their internal policies regarding the "Do Not Disturb" sign was not only unhelpful but also infuriating.

When I pressed on whether the sign was in fact actually "on" my door, he refused to answer. I reiterated that the sign was not hanging and that I had activated the "clean room" button before leaving. Dean's response was to argue and stand firm, stating they could not enter the room due to uncertainty. Rather than apologizing or attempting to de-escalate the situation, he raised his voice and repeatedly argued about company policy regarding "do not disturb signs".

This complete lack of client empathy was astounding. A simple apology for the confusion or a gesture of goodwill — like a complimentary drink or food credit—could have transformed this negative situation into a positive one. Instead, Dean’s failure to acknowledge the confusion or offer any form of concession led to my immediate decision to cancel my upcoming 2 night stay, which I informed him was scheduled for the following week. Needless to say, he did not care. Furthermore, he even demanded confirmation that the staff would be allowed to enter the room at ANYTIME (even if the Do Not Disturb sign was on), in order to avoid this issue from happening again! What the.....?? Really???

The "nail in the coffin," came on my last day. I politely requested a late checkout until 1 PM, explaining that I needed the extra time to assist my very frail mother—something they were fully aware of since they had lent me a wheelchair a few days prior for this purpose. Instead of accommodating my request, they merely offered me a late checkout of 12:15 PM (my already weak mother had to rush). This half baked token gesture felt like yet another insult piled on top of the previous ones.

The sheer ineptitude and poor attitude from “Manager” Dean are inexcusable. Not only did he lose my business, but he also lost the potential for future visits from someone who typically stays in high-end hotels frequently. After this encounter, I promptly rebooked my accommodations literally across the street at the Shangri-La Hotel, where I was treated with the respect as a valued guest (they even offered a 2pm late checkout without any hesitation).

I urge potential guests to take caution and reconsider their choice of the Paradox Hotel when there are many other better choices in Vancouver. The modern aesthetic appeal is overshadowed by the highly unprofessional behavior of the "management". All it takes is for one bad apple (in this case, Dean) to ruin a hotel's reputation and earn a negative review.

This hotel can only "aspire" to be a luxury destination as it completely misses the mark in terms of guest services. My experience serves as a stark reminder that a hotel’s reputation is built not just on its facilities, but on the quality of service and most importantly, the respect and value it places on their guests. For me, it’s "Never Again" with the Paradox Hotel all...

For my husband's first trip to Vancouver, I wanted to book a nice hotel, so I booked Paradox Hotel based off the pictures and good reviews.

For our room, I booked the Paradox King Balcony, which felt super spacious and I loved the modern and stylish interior. Unfortunately for us, it was way too cold/rainy/windy to use the balcony to its full extent, haha. Also, we were on the seventh floor, and the direction we were facing wasn't the greatest in my opinion, as it didn't provide much of a view. The room had a super neat touch pad that controls everything from the shades and blinds, lighting, and temperature. Both nightstands also had options to control the shades, blinds, and lighting. On top of one of the nightstands was an iPad for us to borrow for general browsing/Netflix/etc. which I thought was SUPER nice of them to provide! The room also comes with a mini-fridge in case you wanted to chill your drinks or keep any snacks in there.

The bathroom was advertised as having "heated floors," but in our bathroom, maybe only 1/3 of the tiles were actually heated (not sure if that's a purposeful design thing or if some of the tiles no longer heat up correctly). The tiles that were actually heated, felt really nice after a cold day out or right after stepping out of the shower. We did really enjoy the rain shower, and the hotel has complimentary Fig+Yarrow shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. I really liked that these were wall-mounted, rather than coming in small, tiny bottles.

The only other downside of the room, is that the walls felt really thin, or at least not soundproofed well. Often at night, we could hear loud noises coming from upstairs, and if anyone is in the hallway talking, you could hear them loudly and clearly in our room. It wasn't a super big deal, but does take away the "luxury" feel of the room.

Amenities wise, the pool isn't much to look at. It's pretty small and not visually appealing. The fitness center is a little better, and they provide towels for your workout. The treadmills especially look very modern and updated, with all of them having large electronic screens. The gym isn't very big however, so the treadmills are placed very close together (just an observation).

Details about the room and amenities aside, the service here was phenomenal and unmatched to any prior hotels I've been at. You can stay in contact with them via text, and I was able to text them questions I had about the room as well as general questions about Vancouver. They were always courteous and replied promptly to any questions I had. The housekeepers did a fantastic job tidying our room, and even left a cute note after servicing the room! They were generous with supplying us with water bottles, especially after seeing how many we used up, and they even have a "turn-down" service, where they came around in the evening and gave us candies and more water bottles. They had umbrellas for us to use as we trekked around rainy Vancouver, and every person we encountered in the hotel was so kind and helpful! I seriously cannot commend the staff enough for the exceptional customer service we were provided, and I would stay here again solely because of how well we were treated here!

Is this hotel perfect? No. But the level and quality of service provided here more than make up for the downsides we encountered while staying at this hotel. Thank you Paradox Hotel for an fantastic experience and we hope to stay here again...

We stayed at the Paradox for a week, choosing the signature king room with balcony and bath. What I liked about the hotel includes how comfortable our room was which was a tablet-controlled smart room, the friendly housekeepers, the luxurious look of the place and the view of the Vancouver skyline and you can see a bit of the ocean and mountains.

They’ve also made an effort to establish an identity for itself distant to its previous identity. I also liked the toiletries and the lamp which doubled as a power source for electronic devices. The WiFi was also very fast allowing seamless streaming and working. Moreover, many major sights, restaurants, cafés and transport hubs are within short walking distance from the hotel. Overall, their main strengths lie in its convenient location and how automation can be used to control the room. Being pet-friendly is a major plus too.

In terms of more critical feedback, it will be a bit nitpicky with some namedropping but there are some areas the Paradox Hotel can improve on. For consistency and to align with other 4 – 5 stars, all towels and slippers should all be clearly branded with Paradox similar to how their bathrobes are branded. There should also be greater visibility on Paradox Hotel’s efforts as a green business and show greater support for local businesses while still staying on brand as a luxury hotel (e.g. Glenlo Abbey Hotel & Estate). Greenness in particular is very important these days in my view. They could also add little things like adding couches in waiting areas close to all elevators and free, complimentary light bites in the room (e.g. K Club).

We also noticed that they don’t seem to clean rooms as quickly and early as others. One day, we requested to have our room cleaned by phone as we forgot to remove the "do not disturb" signage on a day we went to a full-day tour and disappointingly for a 5-star, the housekeeping and reception teams seem to have miscommunicated since our room wasn't cleaned as requested. Also, the purpose of the iPad in the rooms wasn’t very clear.

Finally, other places also serve complimentary champagne or Prosecco during both check-in and check-out (e.g. Xara Palace) and we were offered neither at check-in (just water) and nothing was offered at check out.

Having said all of the above, overall, we were happy with the Paradox Hotel and we’d probably consider staying...