Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen, Mexico - REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
 

We just checked in today. Check-in was handled in the Grand Club with a welcome drink. The club is beautiful, we haven't had a chance to try any of the food yet. The rooms, grounds, pool are absolutely beautiful. They did a great job with everything, it feels very modern while still having a natural look to it. The pool furniture is very high quality and the staff is very attentive. If anyone has specific questions I am more than happy to try and find the answers while I am here.

Is the Spa open? Did you transfer via CUN, if so, how? Diamond recognition, upgrade if any?

The spa is open, prices on the website are accurate with some new opening specials.
We used Amstar for our transfer, they were excellent. https://www.amstardmc.com
Was thanked for being diamond, asked what I wanted for my amenity (the staff in the club are excellent and well trained). I took points, didn't ask what the alternate was.
We were upgraded from the basic King room to a partial ocean view. I think they are short on availability until July 1. It shows the hotel sold out but then every room type available on the 1st. It is definitely not sold out so I think they are just finishing a few rooms right now. All of the rooms are angled to look towards the ocean and the green courtyard area. The grand club food was very good quality in the evening and for breakfast. It also has an outdoor patio to dine on and overlooks the water from a distance. Overall the hotel has exceeded our expectations and we really like PDC. This our first time here and it is a great little town.

Thank you, heading there in a few days, not sure if I want to burn a DSU for the short amount of time we'll be there. Hopefully they'll be finished with the rooms by then.

1. How much is parking?
2. Are there restaurants within walking distance or are you locked into this property?

Enjoy your visit - I am trying to book for NYE.

90 pesos (around $7USD)
There are a ton of restaurants nearby. We've had some great meals outside of the hotel. The hotel is only one block from 5th avenue with all of the restaurants, everything is within a 5-10 minute walk.

So Grand Club is for Diamond only and they serve breakfast and snack all day?
Thanks!

A few more updates:

Yes the club is open all day for snacks, breakfast was until 11am if I remember correctly and the evening snacks were 6-9 I think. Same rules for entry as other clubs. There was beer accessible all day as well.

We used Happy Shuttle Cancun on the way back to the airport, it was $75 and they had the Hyatt on the drop down online so it was easy to book digitally. No issues at all with their service, they arrived right on time. The staff in the club mentioned they just set up a contract with a company that has Mercedes Benz service, it was $120 one way to the airport. I saw several Lincoln Navigators from Lomas Travel on the way to the airport, so if you are looking for a more luxurious option you can check them out.

They are still doing some construction and tweaks to the hotel. Nothing that was disruptive, but there is some work still being done.

Outside of the hotel I recommend TacoTenedor for tacos (they have mainly seafood tacos) and good margaritas. Also, Kaxapa Factory has some great Argentinian cuisine. Plank is a good grillhouse/seafood option.

Pool rooms
 

Any thoughts/reviews of the pool rooms (either "pool access" or plunge pool suite)?

The hotel is set up in a U-shape. The open end of the U is the pool, there is a "wing" that connects the top of the U over the pool. That is the 5th floor and has most of the suites I believe. The plunge pool rooms are closer to the base of the U and only have views of the mangroves. They aren't individual plunge pools, but a larger pool that connects all of those rooms. It is separate from the main pool. I only saw them from afar, they were still working on the pool portion. I think it comes down to your preference of a pool versus ocean view.

At this property I would recommend if you want a completely unobstructed ocean view then you should reserve that. Most of the rooms are partial ocean views with some view of the mangrove area of the hotel. The view is still great and I had no complaints, but If you only want to see the ocean there aren't nearly as many of those rooms.

Thanks for the review!

How is the breakfast in the Grand club? If we want to go to the
restaurant to have breakfast, how much would it cost?

La Cocina serves all three meals and had buffets set up. I think they also had an a la carte menu, but we never ate in there so I am not sure on prices. Grill 1 26 served only dinner and looked really nice, again we only ate outside of the hotel so I am not sure on prices. They also have a 2 or 3 "kiosks" set up from the entrance down to the pool that serve smaller meals like tacos, coffee, a bar, etc. I thought the grand club breakfast was above average. They had some type of egg dish each morning, pastries, cold cuts, fruit, fresh juices, coffee, yogurts, cold cereal, oatmeal. It was enough for us and the quality was good.

Thank you for the information!

I just got back from a quick trip. Drive is about 40+ minutes from CUN airport. As a diamond we got upgraded to a partial ocean view room. The room was in the back near the lounge. Most rooms are partial ocean view, the direct pool access rooms are on the first floor, they do not have access to the main pools. We had breakfast in the lounge which consisted of scrambled eggs, various breads and pastries and some cereal. We had also had cocktails/canapés in the lounge after 6pm. They usually had one special dish, first night was gazpacho, second night they had chicken tostatdas. They also had a self service bar (although you could order margaritas) along with various wines. We did not eat in the on-site restaurants, but instead snacked in the paseo on site. There is a coffee bar with sweets (think starbucks), a taco/torta stand and then a raw bar/sushi stand nearer to the pool. We only had the taco stand as we weren't terribly hungry.

A tip if you want to hang around the pool, try going nearer to the right side of the hotel, the bar is closer and there is more chance of being served via one of the staff. The pool to the left had an on site DJ while we were there and was quite loud. It sounded like they were still working on the hotel while we were there.

How's the beach and beach access here?