Just returned from a quick three day birthday trip to the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, and wanted to post some thoughts regarding our stay at the relatively newly opened West Tower.

Check In

My wife surprised me with one of the hotel Mercedes SUVs for our airport ride. This can be arranged for $45++ with the hotel, in comparison to $25 for a taxi. It's not a huge price discrepancy, but keep in mind the ride is a relatively short 10-15 minute commute.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by two "VIP managers" who escorted us to the check in desk. Check in was quick, and we were escorted to our room. This has never happened before at a Grand Hyatt property, and we thought it was a nice touch. 

Room

The West Tower, which is where the majority of World of Hyatt members are housed, was just recently opened in late November/early December. The color theme is blue, as opposed to the stark red of the East Tower. We used a TSU upgrade, and were given a suite. There is a small living room section with two chairs, a minibar and a small seat across from a TV. Honestly I did not think this was very useful space, especially the fact that there was only one seat across from the TV. 



The bedroom/bathroom is the same as the standard rooms in the West Tower. Large comfy bed, with a huge walk in shower that has a rain shower and hand-held faucet. Double sinks, but standard June Jacobs toiletries. Of note, there are no bathtubs in the West Tower (at least not that I saw). This was disappointing. Large balcony, though overlooking the back parking lot. No ocean view. 

Overall, a comfortable and nice room but I am not sure if the TSU was really worth it at this property. You end up with a standard room with a poorly designed living space, and not much else. I wish they added bathtubs, at least in the suites, to distinguish the rooms more. 

Service

Everyone we interacted with in person was amazing. The personnel in the Grand Club, particularly Kirkwood and Locksley, went above and beyond. Hosts in the Club were constantly roaming, refilling drinks, and asking guests how they were doing. Other hotel employees at the pool, restaurants, bars and casino were great as well. 

However, there were a few kinks that prevented our trip from being truly spectacular. 

My wife was in contact with Hyatt concierge prior to our trip to arrange a few surprises. She appreciated their speedy responses, and tried to set up our airport ride and a snorkerling trip through the concierge team. She thought everything was set to go. Two days before our trip, however, I received an email from the "VIP team", asking if there was anything that they could do. They also asked if I would like a SUV pick-up from the airport. Clearly, something was lost in communication because my wife had already booked an SUV for our trip. There was also some unclear prices regarding the inclusion of champagne on the SUV trip. When we arrived at the hotel, my wife also found out that our snokerling trip was actually not booked. This was ultimately not a huge deal as we were still able to go on the same snokerling trip, but it certainly felt like a customer service miss. 

There was one other point of concern. A few hours after checking in, a hotel employee entered our room, without knocking. We were a little startled, but she proceeded to ask if we had received our welcome amenity yet. Confused, we said no, and she said she would bring it right up. An hour and a half passes, and my wife and I were getting ready for dinner. We called down to the concierge to ask about the amenity, but they simply said it must not have been for us. Thirty minutes later, we hear a door opening, again without any knocking, and I check to see what was happening. A different hotel employee was delivering a bottle of champagne and simply said "Here's some champagne" before proceeding to close the door and walk out. My wife was in the bathroom and not dressed appropriately. We felt that this was really an intrusion of privacy that should not have happened. 

I think the good balanced out the bad throughout our stay, but there were just some things during our stay that really made us realize that this hotel was still relatively new. Service was friendly, but not fully polished around the edges yet. 

Dining

Grand Club: Highlight of the stay, especially for dinner. Amazing space. Largest club I have been too except Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. Great spread, good drink selection of beer, wine and liquor. Grand Club employees also happy to prepare mixed drinks. Breakfast - especially eggs - could use some work. By day three of breakfast, my wife and I were wanting something different to eat. 



Blue Note: Jazz bar with quality cocktails. Highly recommend a few here.

El Jefe: A Mexican "food truck" concept - lots of reviews about this place already online. Sopes are great.

Sandy Dogs: A hot dog "food truck" - tasted decent until I got food poisoining from a hot dog. 

Conch Shack: Made to order conch salads. Entertaining, good value for money. 

Katsuya: Fun restaurant with interesting interior design. Tried the $85 tasting menu, which was relatively good value for money. Solid, but not amazing Japanese cuisine. 

BOND: Nightclub, only open Friday and Saturdays from 11pm onward. Wife and I went Saturday, good dancing fun. However, mixed drinks were terrible. Almost undrinkable terrible, and we got very simple drinks. Advertised as "custom mixology" bar, but actually there were no custom drinks for sale at all. No drink menus anywhere to be seen.  

 

Location

It's the Bahamas! What is there to complain about? We did not go off resort very often at all. 



Pools were also a highlight, with a large variety and styles. Beach had fun floats in the ocean, and you can rent kayaks, paddleboards and snorkel gear. Bathrooms around the pools are very nice as well. 

Amenities

Gym: Very well equipped gym, with lots of cardio equipment. There is also a TRX section, and some other random CrossFit style stuff. Box jumps, tires, slam balls, rowers, outdoor spin bikes. There are also $10 fitness classes every day except Sunday.

Super Bowl: This was, by far, the most impressive part of our trip. The hotel set up a HUGE outdoor Super Bowl tailgate and party, with four outdoor TV screens. Food and drink options were available for purchase as well. Fun, well organized, and free for hotel guests to attend. 

Casino: Large casino with lots of slots. Good number of card tables, but minimum bets were relatively high at all tables. No tables under $25 a hand at night, which was difficult for us to pay for. We ended up playing cheap slots most of the time. 

Overall

I would give the hotel a 3.5/5. We had a perfectly enjoyable stay, and it is great to see Hyatt expanding more into the Caribbean. I appreciate the positive interactions we had with most of the hotel staff. Gym, Grand Club and Super Bowl party were all memorable.

However, there were a few rough edges. Champagne incident, food poisoining, and concierge team communications just soured our trip a little. 

The hotel has a very fun vibe, and party music is playing all the time. I think in three - five years this will be an amazing hotel property. The Rosewood has still not opened, and things still feel unfinished around the property. Supposedly the goal is to add a water park on property in two to three years. There is also an IMAX theater/bowling alley being built five minutes from the hotel. 

So yes, I can see the hotel's potential, but on our recent trip it is not quite ready for the big stage yet. At this point in time, I think the Andaz Papagayo is a better property for Hyatt beach-seekers. Still, for a quick trip, it is certainly worth the while.