Saturday Special: Grand Hyatt Dubai

Reason for Choosing

We’ve stay at the Grand Hyatt Dubai a few times now, including on our most recent trip around the world and every time it has been a short but fantastic stay.  It is close enough to the Dubai airport that you don’t feel like you are rushing to get out of the hotel to catch a flight.

Lobby and Check-in/Check-out Experience

The check-in and Check out happens in the lounge for diamond members. I think I’ve mentioned this before, where its a bit frustrating to get to the desk, only to be told to go upstairs to check-in. Here, a staff member escorts you, which makes it a more enjoyable experience.

Where the hotel stood out

Of the three times we’ve stayed at the Grand Hyatt Dubai, we had two standard rooms and the most recent time we had an Ambassador Suite. In this case, I’ll mostly review the Ambassador Suite, but will say that the standard rooms are more than sufficient and roomy, with wonderful bathrooms, with full size tubs, walk in showers and two sinks.

The Ambassador Suite has a separate sitting room (with a door), with plenty of room for a pull away or two, so I think it would be an excellent option for those traveling with kids. The bathroom was a good size connected to the bedroom, with an additional “powder room” off of the main room.

 

The hotel is kid friendly though it took us a couple trips to figure out how to get to the plethora of swimming pools.  Not including the one in the spa.

Where the hotel fell a little short

My wife and I can’t make up our minds on the lounge food.  For breakfast it was a very nice spread and dinner isn’t that bad but seemed to really lack meaningful proteins. The deserts made up for them though. From an #avgeek perspective, the lounge has a beautiful view of Dubai Airport, which, when its not too hazy, you can planespot.

Wrapping Up

We’ve always gotten a hotel for our long layovers in Dubai. It gives us that back-up option if we just want to rest. The Grand Hyatt Dubai is a bit pricey for just that purpose (although using the Hyatt Diamond My Elite rate helps). That said, If you do have a long layover and want a pool or three to lay out by, or just want a base with which to explore Dubai this is a great hotel.  Very easy to great around and a great view of the city. While you get convenience to the airport, I think its about a half hour drive into the city to places such as the Mall of the Emirates.