I had some time off between work in Delhi and Mumbai and decided to head back to Goa, and this time booked 3 nights at the newly opened Grand Hyatt.
During the below stay report, where possible, I will try and reference a comparison between the facilities at this hotel and the Park Hyatt in Goa, where I stayed few weeks ago.

Executive Summary: The stay has been outstanding so far, and I will not hesitate in returning to this property again.


Details:

Airport to Hotel:
• I had booked airport transfers thru the hotel and the hotel rep was there in arrivals with the appropriate placard. Hotel provided (one of their two) spanking new BMW’s for the pickup.
• Grand Hyatt offers comp airport transfers for all Grand Club and suite guests. Park Hyatt, which is also much closer to the airport, offers it for all guests.
• The hotel is about a 30 minute drive from the airport.

Check-In:
• Conventional “business hotel type” check-in desks with one bearing a prominently placed sign showing “Priority check-in for diamond and platinum guests.”
• Park Hyatt has a more open-air resort style check-in with guests offered a seat in the open-air lobby and coconut water, and wait there until a rep comes to you. I did not see any queue/priority at the Park Hyatt check-in.
• The hotel still does not have maps/facility guide printed and the receptionist offered to explain the details verbally, and also told me to call guest services as and when I had questions.

Rooms/Suites:
• Base rate was just under US$ 200 per night, and I used a Diamond Suite Upgrade to confirm myself into a “Grand Suite”. The details of this suite can be found at: http://goa.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hot...cale=&start=12
• The hotel still has a significant number of rooms that are not ready. These include all the higher category suites upto and including the presidential suite.
• The base suite, i.e. the Grand Suite is currently the only available one.
• All Suites have a bay/sunset view. ^
• All Suites have a private Jacuzzi/whirpool in the balcony. ^ ^ ^ I spent yesterday evening watching the sunset over the bay/hill while sipping a very decent NZ Sauvignon Blanc. Bliss!
• The hotel is built much closer to the water as compared to a lot of other Goa hotels including the Park Hyatt. I would guess-timate that the walk from the closest room to the beach is about half that from the equivalent one at the Park Hyatt.
• The tea/coffee in room here is of the instant variety. Here the Park Hyatt clearly wins with the Nespresso machine they had in the suite I was in. However the Grand Club here offers all day fresh leaf teas and also “proper” coffees.
• Both Hyatts use “Forest Essentials” toiletries, an Indian Ayurvedic brand. The choice of scent I think is however different.
• The television in the suite bedroom is at a 90 degrees angle to the head of the bed. Makes for mildly uncomfortable viewing, but not a biggie.
• Beware of using the shower in the bathroom though, as the drainage seems slow and there is significant water accumulation over the bathroom floor. Very slippery!!

Grand Club / Diamond Recognition
• Diamond amenity was a bottle of Merlot (Indian, but still very drinkable) as well as three packets containing cashew nuts, candies and cookies. There was also a whole fruit basket with a reasonable selection. ^ ^ All in all, much superior to the Park Hyatt where the equivalent was three mini muffins!
• Grand Club is the “7th wing”. (My suite was also located in this wing, but there are suites in other wings too.) All suite guests anywhere in the hotel, and room guests in the 7th wing have club access.
• Breakfast is not currently served fully in the club. Only croissants and juices are laid out, in addition to hot drinks. But you can go the main dining restaurant for the full buffet instead. The main restaurant was a little busy, and it took two reminders to get the cappuccino I wanted.
• Grand Club service is outstanding however. Very friendly and professional staff who genuinely feel happy to be there and it shows. ^ ^
• Evening hors d’ouvers between 6-8pm are very well presented and off excellent variety and quality. There are printed menus with a list 5-6 cold savoury items, 4 hot items and 5-6 desserts, as well as a full cheese platter.
• For eg. Last night there was smoked salmon, crab cakes, chicken tikka, corn patties, samosas etc. Dessert included crème brulee, cakes, Indian sweets etc.
• Drinks included 4 wines (2 Indian, 1 NZ Sauvignon, 1 Chilean Chardonnay), 2 sparkling wines (1 Indian, 1 French) as well as whisky, rum, gin, beer etc. I didn’t notice all the brands, but the gin was Bombay Sapphire.

Internet
• Wifi in the room is very slow and only works in the living room and not the bedroom! The lounge wifi is fine though. You have the accept the charge and it will be reversed at check-out. The wired access (atleast in my room) doesn't work at all.

Spa
• Currently not open, but the soft opening (half of the 19 treatment rooms) should be this week, and it looks amazing! As a temporary solution, a limited number of treatments are offered in-room during the closure.

Beach/Pool
• Pool is quite large and spread out. The Pool side bar and grill is currently not open, and is one of the only remaining F&B outlets to be so.
• If you have kids, then I think you will really prefer the facilities at the Park Hyatt which are more kid friendly including huge shallow child pools as well as water slides etc. The kids camp also seemed very aggressively prompted at the Park, while Camp Hyatt here was always deserted.
• Do not go this hotel for the beach! The location of this hotel means that the beach actually suffers from getting the residue of the industrial port from which it is opposite. As the result the water is not ideal for swimming especially as it does not circulate.
• The Arrossim beach at the Park Hyatt is outstanding however and one of the best in Goa. Very fine sand, and very very well maintained by the hotel.
• However, if like me, you prefer to be near the beach and looking at the sea, as opposed to on the beach and in the sea, then you will love this place!
• The view here is much nicer here than the Park, thanks to the hill in the distance over which the sun sets, as well as the twinkling lights from the town on the other side of the bay in the evening. After dark, the Park Hyatt sea view, is just the blackness from the water.

Overall
• Well, I would certainly return to the property if they continue to keep up this level of service, especially in the Grand Club.
• After discussing the hotel with a couple of staff (as well as comparisons with the Intercon and Park Hyatt and Taj Exotica) bear in mind that is going to be a very convention focused hotel and is built from that perspective. In the short 3-4 months there have been almost 20 conventions already and several more are booked. The number of individual travelers & honeymooners is a relatively small percentage, especially so far, that the spa has not been open.
• Also, IMHO, this hotel will also be an excellent use of the Diamond Suite upgrade, given the private whirlpools in the balconies of all suites.
• However, if you are going with kids or if want to spend time on the beach, I would really recommend the Park Hyatt over the Grand. Me personally, you will find at the Grand over the Park!