Vancouver hotel apologizes after staff denied Indigenous guest washroom access

The Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver is seen on Friday, March 10, 2023.

A Vancouver hotel has apologized to the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres after staff at the Hyatt Regency blocked an Indigenous guest’s access to a bathroom, causing him to lose control of his bladder in public.

On Thursday, the BCAAFC welcomed the apology from Patrick Gosselin, the hotel’s general manager, which included pledges to hire Indigenous staff and retain a cultural advisor.

“We deeply regret that the BCAAFC Cultural Advisor felt discriminated against at our hotel as this is not aligned with our purpose to care for people so they can be their best,” Gosselin wrote in an email to Leslie Varley, the executive director of BCAAFC, on Wednesday.

The cultural advisor and knowledge keeper was among members of the BCAAFC who attended a three-day meeting at the hotel in February.

Speaking at a March 10 news conference, Varley said the man was heading back to his hotel room one night after dinner when he felt an urgent need to relieve himself, but he was denied access to the closest available restaurant and ended up urinating in his pants in front of staff.

Only then was he allowed to use the washroom, and the hotel offered the man a breakfast voucher for what one assistant manager described as “an honest misunderstanding.”

“While the Hyatt Regency’s immediate response was disappointing and deeply troubling, we are grateful that the hotel is now taking steps to address this incident as seriously as it should,” reads the BCAAFC’s statement Thursday.

The group also acknowledges that the hotel reversed charges related to a since-cancelled contract between the Hyatt Regency and BCAAFC to host the 2023 Gathering Our Voices Indigenous Youth Leadership Training event.

The conference has a $2-million budget which had largely been committed in contracts with the Hyatt, but now BCAAFC says it plans to hold the event at other venues that have stepped forward—including the Fairmont Vancouver, Fairmont Waterfront, and Templeton Secondary School.

“Our hope is that this incident sparks discussion on how others can improve Indigenous cultural safety within their own circles,” the group wrote in its statement. “Exposing discriminatory and anti-social behaviour helps in preventing needless violence against our people.”

With files from CTV Vancouver's Ben Miljure.