holtju2

My *A ATW will take me to Dubai for three days in January. There seems to be three Hyatt's in town. The Regency and Grand are well covered on Flyertalk but I couldn't find any info about the Park Hyatt.

If everything works well I would be using FFN's.

Stewie Mac

Will be staying there for three nights next week (practically the cheapest place to stay in town, I guess they have special just-opened prices now) so will post a 'live' report.

EDIT: rates are going crazy now. I booked on Tuesday @hyatt.com price of 1125AED (Park King) against 1250AED prevailing rate. Looked this morning and hyatt.com rate was up to 2200AED, prevailing rate 2300AED
and this afternoon, only suites available at 3915AED

Stewie Mac

Okay, I’ve now been at the PH Dubai for a couple of days, and have time to give you a report…

Location: the PH is in the grounds of the Dubai Creek Golf Club, built right on the creek between the main clubhouse and the building housing Boardwalk and Aquarium. The website talks of all rooms having ‘marina’ views, as most of the hotel is built by the marina, but the southern wing actually just looks out on the creek (from my balcony, where I’m writing this, it’s +/- 20 yards to the water). Having been from here to Jebel Ali and City Towers, traffic is a b1tch but then I think that’s true for Dubai as a whole.

Construction: it’s advertised as a resort hotel in the city, which is reflected in the style – very low-rise and spread out, lots of courtyards and fountains. It doesn’t feel like there’s 220 rooms here. Feels very mediterranean to me, which probably means that it’s quite arabic . Nice pool / pool area, although not even close to being big enough for half the people that the hotel can take. Excellent gym (totally unused), big spa (no idea if it’s any good or not).

Room: Nice… whacky, but nice. It is open-plan between the bedroom and bathroom – twin basins on the shelf between the two, a freestanding tub with separate toilet and shower stalls. Sounds strange, but it works for me. There’s a brief report on tripadvisor with some pictures which sort of show the layout. Nice bed/bedding, good toiletries (Blaise Mautin, never heard of them but shampoo and soap seem nice), plasma screen on wall that doesn’t really swivel out quite far enough for viewing in bed. Alarm clock is a little battery operated Braun effort which runs +/- 30 minutes slow per day, and the alarm wouldn’t wake an insomniac [insert name of something which really doesn’t sleep very well here].

F&B. Café Arabique is regular b’fast/lunch choice. Haven’t had breakfast there yet (only 4 hours difference but it makes getting up in the morning soooo tricky), lunch is meze buffet, fine. Thai kitchen is thai (doh), traiteur is fancy french, the terrace is bar/resto down by the marina – would have gone there last night but it had a gathering of the BBG. There’s too many resto choices for the guest count, so would imagine that they will be trying to get on the Dubai places-to-go map – that hasn’t happened yet. The Dubai Creek golf club choices (Broadway, Aquarium, Legends, Qd’s) are all within a very easy walk along the creekfront.

Service. Where it’s obvious that it’s only been open for eight weeks. They’re trying hard (when I arrived at 8am, the receptionist unasked found me a vacant room so I could have a nap; I was okay lying by the pool ), but it seems like they haven’t quite got the hang of it yet. Out the front door to get a cab – eight guys standing around, but no-one quite sure who’s actually calling for the cab. They’re trying, and it’ll come.

Summary: Having driven past the Grand Hyatt today, this place is a complete contrast – it’s low-key, it’s discreet, it’s out of the way. If you get a great rate like AED 1125 pn, when the Regency was looking for 1300, then bite their hand off. Just don’t use the business centre for checking your email – 36 dirham (that's $10) for 15 minutes

Any questions, holler – I’m here until Friday early am.

Stewie

SanDiego1K

Stewie, that was a very helpful report. I've got a couple questions:

- Is there an executive lounge?

- How much is internet access in the room? Is it wireless?

- Did you use the hotel car to get there, or a taxi? If the hotel car, do you remember the charge?

If you had your choice of FFNs at any of the Hyatts in Dubai, which would you chose?

jkc22

Thanks for the review! Very detailed and sounds quite nice...I'm going to stay here for sure....

BTW, the Blaise Mautin Parfumeur has been commissioned to create "exclusive" scents for several Park Hyatt hotels, with the Vendome being the first. This line of products are found at Moscow, Madrid, Zurich, and Baku, in addition to Dubai and Paris. I am a fan of the lotion....

Guy Betsy

I almost went to the PH DXB in DEC. But after getting a bout of food poisoning in Paris, cancelled my trip and went home.

I have a couple of friends working at the PH DXB and he was already preparing a grand "Guy Betsy" welcome for me.. it helps knowing people from previous Hyatts worldwide.. He worked at the BKK Grand Hyatt previously and another from the then Hyatt Sujuana in KUL.

I didn't go as planned this time round.. but will do so later this year.. Will report on my experiences when I do go.

thesilb

We're off to Dubai for a week in a couple of months. After doing research here and on trip advisor etc., we chose the Grand Hyatt. The Park looked pretty good as well; hard to choose. Anyway, we would surely be interested to read more about the Park from those who have been / are going.

holtju2

I was there for three nights last month on FFN and got upgraded to Park Suite after I asked if there was a suite available.

No executive lounge

The Internet Access was wireless and the cost was somewhere around $20 to $25. They do filter the content so no access to some sites. The access was fast.

They have taxes at the front (without a taxi sign) that had meters. These meters, however, run a lot faster than if took a taxi with a taxi sign. I didn't like that they don't tell you this beforehand. I don't have a problem with "special" meters if it is disclosed.

tfung

I think most, if not all the hotels in Dubai are required by law to filter the internet...

holtju2

And then you go to any bar in Dubai and there are rows of lonely ladies looking for $$$'s for xxx.

Bit of hypocritical imho.

SanDiego1K

StewieMac did a great job of reviewing this hotel. I found what he said to be spot on. Here are a few triffles to add.

The staff is almost entirely international. Median age is between 25 and 30. They are delightful; however the one drawback is the lack of local knowledge. I was trying to find out where a couple things were in relation to each other; the people at the concierge desk (one from Morocco and one from Russia) were frantically looking for information on the internet.

As a Diamond, I was given a free continental breakfast in the Lounge. I was the ONLY person in the lounge each morning. The breakfast is quite luxurious in so far as continental breakfasts go, but you cannot use the credit toward a hot breakfast. It includes a bread basket, toast, a pot of yogurt, fresh squeezed juice, tea or coffee and a bowl of fresh fruit. The fruit includes sliced cantaloupe, pineapple, plum, peach and fig as well as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and currants.

The inroom amenity was a bottle of wine, a bowl of fruit, and a bowl of salted almonds. Two bottles of Evian are replenished twice daily.

Internet costs 18.75 dirhan/hour or 110 dirhans for 24 hours in the room. Do the math - you have to be online at least 6 hours/day for it to be worthwhile to buy the full day coverage. The business center charges something like 18 dirhans per 10 minutes.

The hotel uses Arabian Adventures for its tours. They are much better value than going out and about on your own. It cost me 40 dirhan one way for a taxi to the Heritage Village, whereas some excellent half day tours are 130 dirhans with hotel pick up/delivery.

The hotel is luxurious and quiet. There is not so much as a hotel shop on site. I wish they would add a dhow ride from their pier; it would be nice to have something to do without going off property. The restaurants are excellent, and the lounges were staffed with very prompt service.

Access to the hotel is via a long drive by villas that have been built as part of the same complex. The property is luxuriously landscaped. Friends walked over from the City Center Shopping Center across the road - but it looked to me as though it was about a 2 mile hike, given the long road in.

RMC500

I was at the Park Hyatt last month and would add the following comments. The property, IMO, is equivalent to a 5-star in the U.S. As a Diamond, both my wife and I received a free full buffet breakfast each morning in the virtually empty Cafe Arabesque (which would otherwise cost about $30 USD per person). Not sure why SanDiego 1K was limited to a continental. Also, you can select a free paper to be delivered to your room each day, such as USA Today or International Tribune, etc. As described by others on TripAdvisor, the rooms are designed in an unusal and impractical way in one respect- the bathrooms are virtually open to the other areas of the room - this was the one feature I did not like. Otherwise, they remind me in some respects to the Park Hyatt in Moscow. There are tons of staff on the premises, all of whom are friendly and helpful. Cost of computer in business center was 74 AEDs per 30 minutes - very expensive. Hotel is a short ride from airport (perhaps 10 minutes, even in heavy traffic). Ride is free, of course, in both directions if you fly in on Emirates. IMO, the best location is building one (I think there are 4 or 5 buildings in all), which is connected to restaurants, spa, swimming pool, lobby, etc, and try for the top floor (5th) facing north towards the yacht club and downtown Dubai. Great views. Views to the south of bldg. one, and to some degree from the others, are not as good or that appealing. You can see the Grand Hyatt several miles away to the south (on opposite side of creek) ; altho I haven't stayed at Grand, the Park seems to be in a much better location. As you might expect in Dubai, food, drinks (and the cost of the rooms) at this property are on the pricy side. However, I would still choose this property when I return on another trip.

SanDiego1K

An update on internet charges: I wanted to use one hour of wireless while waiting for my car to the airport. It is 110 dirhan!!! for ONE hour! I talked them into letting me into a guest room near the lobby, where it is 18.75 dirhan. (My own room is quite a hike from the lobby.)

I suspect that policy has changed re breakfast. I got a printed message signed by the manager saying that I was invited to have continental breakfast in the lounge as a Diamond member. I spoke to the staff and to the manager of the Cafe Arabesque, and they are diligently enforcing this. Still, if people express a preference to eat in the cafe, perhaps they will change the policy again.

The property really is lovely. At night they set out large candles inside globes to light all the halls and stairs. It is very romantic to walk down the outside stairs to the bar shown on the Dubai Park Hyatt website, overlooking the river and the boats.

dreamytraveller

Hi, the hotel sounds great, does anyone have experience of the bar, is it as stunning as it looks on the website? whats the service like and is it busy, can you get a seat? thanks

SanDiego1K

The bar is fantastic, every bit as nice as shown on the website. I was there both in the afternoon, having a long, lazy visit with friends, and in the evening. They serve light food in the evening, and it was quite busy. Service was quite good.