RTWSTARALLIANCE

Preface: Flew into DXB on EK in F using DL points. Need a place to hand out for two nights.

Rate: Used points to confirm room on Club.

Transportation: Complimentary from DXB when flying into DXB on EK in F or C. Upon exiting customs bear hard left for transport office.

Took a cab to Mall of the Emirates. 36 AED going and 38 coming back to Hotel. Must be based upon distance travel because the return took twice as long. You have to see the Mall and Ski Dubai.

The Hotel provides a shuttle to Wafi City (Mall) at the top of the hour and return at the bottom per the Guest Relations staff.

Also. According to the list of services for Club guests you are entitled to transfer to/from DXB.

Check-in: My flight arrived nearly an hour early and I was at the Hotel by 8:15 AM. The front desk staff and Club staff did a great job to get me into a room asap. 45 minutes tops. Escorted by front desk staff to Club on 14. Then escorted to room by Club staff and met along the way by a member of the Guest Relations staff who introduced herself and presented her card. I received a call later in the afternoon from the front desk appologizing for the delay in getting me into a room. Nice touches.

Perks: As noted above. The Clubs are something. I say Clubs as there is a Family Club room for use with kids. I had the morning buffet which has everything but hot items. The late evening spread had hold over stuff from the evening spread along with dessert items.

Shortly after arriving into my room a member of the staff appeared with- a plate of fresh fruit, bottle of white wine iced with glasses and a corkscrew, treat from Bateel (figs I think), treat from Panini, fresh flowers in a glass bowl and to explain the bottles of water are complimentary. When I returned this evening the bottle water I left in the ice bucket had fresh ice and was chilled.

Room: You enter onto carpet. The room has a walk-in closet with safe, a large bathroom has beautiful tile work with different types of marble making the border. The bathroom has a large tub, separate shower room nicely tiled, double basin and toilet room with bidet. Very nice. The room has a nice king bed with night stands with lamps on each side. A sitting chair with ottoman. Beautiful wood desk with side console which contains a printer. You have two plugs but will need an adaptor if coming from US. Also note voltage. There is an extra chair by the desk. You have a standard tv with lots of channels. The frig is one of those automatic things which barely fit my bottled water. A very nice set up. Only downside is the AC which runs constant and not necessarily temp control. I have a side view to the City.

Communications: HSIA for a 24 hour period is 121 AED all in. I bought two 20 AED phone cards at DXB in the Duty Free shop. To dial abroad to the US say dial 001 xxx xxx xxxx#. FYI. Your HSIA fee allows you to use wireless in public areas.

Parking: ?

Gym: ?

Spa: I had a treatment at the Spa located on the Atrium level. Very good. Not cheap.

Eating venues: ?

Local markets: Somewhere there is a small shop in the complex.

Local: Pretty well centered.

Negatives: None from me.

Closing: A very nice Hotel. Definitely should be on the list. Regards from DXB.

peter42

We had kind of bad experiences there last week.

Arrived at 9a.m., room wasn't ready until 4p.m. and were first assigned a smoking room, eventhough we asked for a non smoking one.

Telefone call handling by the reception was really bad, callers were told, that were are not staying at the hotel several times, the reception just hang up several times too. We complained, but all what happened was a lukewarm appology.

westers

RTWSTARALLIANCE, glad you are enjoying the GH DXB

I have stayed at the GH 6 times now and think the hotel and service have slipped dramatically over my last 2 stays(9/2005,6/2006). I will only use the hotel now if i have a morning flight from DXB and can use stay certificates. I used to recommend this hotel to everyone but now only recommend the Madinat.

RTWSTARALLIANCE

I had breakfast in the Club this morning when it opened. There was already a irate guy there waiting for his room. Shortly thereafter another gentleman appeared who just walked himself from the Park Hyatt after spending $3000 US. The duty manager was on him. You can bet he got a room first.

Upon check-out told it was not necessary to leave they could extend my late check-out even more. Escorted downstairs and greeted off.

I am now at the Hyatt Regency Dubai having just had a Club sandwich. Will write a report. Nothing at all like the GH. Prices are lots cheaper for room service and calls. About 33% less. Not the HSIA. Regards from DXB

RTWSTARALLIANCE

I took the shuttle from the Hotel to Wafi. The bus leaves from the Convention Center entrance at the top of the hour. Returns at the bottom. Upon exiting ask for a discount card. Many of the merchants participate. The shuttle does make a stop at the Grand Cineplex on the way. So if you want a movie this is also an opportunity. No pay per view at the Hotel. This all being said the Wafi was a huge disappointment. After the Mall of the Emirates I guess everything would be. So disappointing I took a cab back. Yes I paid to get back to the GH.

Upon check-out I was escorted downstairs to start my journey to the HR. I was charged for local calls which was not much. This was supposed to be comp if you are on a Club floor according to info..

cdsilva

Responses to the OP:

1. For EK limo service, turn "right" after customs.

2. Check the plug near the counter above the fridge, and there should be a plug adapter there.

3. Gym is nice, with jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, and cold plunge.

4. Restaurants are good: about 9-10 different places to choose from. Peppercrab has excellent seafood. Marketplace has a wide variety of international cuisine.

BEYFlyer

I think the last time I was in Dubai was back in 2004. I stayed at the Grand Hyatt; great hotel and excellent experience. A 7-series BMW was waiting at the airport to pick me up and take me to the hotel (a 10-minute drive as I recall). Inside the car, there was a cold bottle of water and a nice cold towel waiting for me in a mini-fridge in the armrest. Otherwise, the experience at the hotel was "grand". Great club floor with some really nice views (of the airport too IIRC). There was a private lift on the club floor(s) too that went down to the gym/pool area (very adequate areas too). I do not recall dining at the hotel (except for club snacks and drinks and maybe some tea/coffee in the afternoon). Overall, I had a good time at GH Dubai.

thesilb

RTWSTARALLIANCE, thank you very much for this trip report, Mrs. TheSilb, BabySilb and I will be arriving in a few weeks to stay here for a week. We paid 900 dirhams per night for our room (1050 for 2 of the nights) and used the 6,000 points upgrade (x2 for 7 nights) to guarantee the suite. Based on your review and others, we are very much looking forward to the stay.

thesilb

Background

We just completed a 7 night stay at the Grand Hyatt Dubai. In short: completely excellent, placing this property easily into my “Hyatt Top 10” list. Despite the fact that Dubai is not as scenic as, say, Kauai, the hotel’s physical plant and especially the service well made this a truly outstanding stay. I would not hesitate to return nor would I hesitate to recommend this property without reservation.

A little background. In September, 2005 we took a round the world first class trip entirely in British Airways first class visiting Japan, Mauritius, Italy and the UK. Regretfully, this trip coincided with the Heathrow Gate Gourmet catering strike, and we did not receive full first class catering on all our flights. British Airways really stepped it up, offering two free first class systemwide tickets plus an additional $1200 credit. However these items were strictly valid for only one year after their issuance, and strictly non-transferable. On our RTW, my wife got pregnant and so by the time the aforementioned freebies were to expire, our daughter Hannah was just turning 5 months old. Nevertheless, as the “minimum” distance to go was London, from SFO, and these were valid systemwide, we decided to trod along to Dubai and check it out. Rationale was nice weather, resorts and full F service all the way there and back.

As Hyatt is so good to us, we generally like to give our business to Hyatt where we can. Here we did think a little bit about staying at one of the Gulf beach resorts, but decided as long as there was a great pool, we’d be happy. Therefore we narrowed down to the Park or the Grand. We ended up choosing the Grand because of the huge physical plant – with the baby we were to be more or less fixed in location for the week, so the presence of a huge variety of restaurants was particularly of appeal to us. We did, though, hear a lot of great things about the Park, and would certainly give it a try in the right circumstances.

Our Suite

Huge hint: This may be one of the best Hyatt’s in the world at which to redeem the 6,000 point per four night suite award. We were able to book a “rack rate” of 900 DHS per night (plus 20% in service & taxes, so about $280 US a night in total) and upgrade to a suite off this rate for 12,000 points (two blocks of “four night” suite award). Why do I say a great deal? (1) The “lowest available rate” was 850 DHS (so not like Kauai where you pay a $400-500 premium just to get up to the rack rate of the lowest available rate); (2) the suites here are really nice in terms of size; (3) the suites include club access which includes limo transfers both ways from the airport; (4) the minibar is free in suites and in restocked once a day – including with French champagne!

We were placed into suite 619, which is a typical “double room” suite – i.e. not a purpose built suite but rather a suite constructed from two regular rooms. I tend to like purpose built suites more, however with a child, I am noticing that “double room” suites are really nice because the soundproofing and control of light as between the two areas tends to be better, thus allowing the couple to still be up & enjoying themselves as the child sleeps in the other section of the suite.

The room had a great view out over the river, and, looking down, to the pools. It also faced out towards the airport in the distance, and while you can hear a little airport noise, it is nothing severe at all. There are a variety of photos from our trip here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&x=0&y=-oqhzbp

The Service

If anything stood out about this property, it was the service. About 200 yards off our plane, well before immigration, we were met by a Hyatt representative with a sign with our name, who helped us through immigration, with our luggage and into our courtesy limo. In addition then in the limo was a Grand Club representative who offered us cold towels & bottled water for the 5 minute ride to the hotel. We were escorted directly to our suite for in-room check in.

This is the kind of place where small kindnesses abound. For example my morning routine would call for a swim in the spa pool followed by a Jacuzzi, steam, sauna and shower. I always did this right at 6am when they opened (jet lag; 5 month old baby…) and was for 7 times the ONLY person in the pool or spa at this time (other than people in the workout room). The attendants were “setting up” and busy, but nevertheless would go out of their way to be helpful. For example, every day the gentleman in the spa would come into the steam room behind me and place a sachet of aromatic herbs into the steamer.

Kindnesses were not limited to the spa. A few times cleaning people in the huge atrium would drop what they were doing to help my wife and I get the stroller up or down a small set of stairs. People smiled. They routinely said hello. In the Grand Club nothing we needed was too much trouble. By the pool they circulate with cold towels, slices of cucumber for the eyes, and offer help with towels and setting up your lounge chairs. Likely a combination of culture and local economics, the service in Dubai is clearly in a different league than say Hawaii. It was highly impressive how kind everyone was. This includes the property’s GM, who responded to an email in advance and helped to arrange for some nice anniversary touches for my wife, like a huge bouquet of fresh roses in the room, and a cake sent the next night.

The Restaurants

We managed to eat in every restaurant over the course of the week. The diversity here is amazing. One note: the Indochine Vietnamese restaurant is closed and being reconstructed into something new – not sure what. As a general comment, the food was great. And not extremely expensive although one thing which is terribly expensive throughout Dubai, no exception here, is wine. Knowing I can get a bottle of Fetzer sundial chardonnay at the grocery for $6, it is hard to pay $30 a glass for it. Don’t let this pricing fool you – food is not that bad. Nor is beer. Nor is liquor. For some reason though, wine is really over the top.

The two “fancy” restaurants are Manhattan Grill, a steakhouse, and the Lebanese restaurant Awtar. Both meals were very good, though I would not call either outstanding. At Manhattan Grill I had a Nebraska corn fed filet on the bone; Maggie had lamb, in each case preceded by a Caesar. We ordered a variety of small sides. Everything was correctly prepared, and tasty, but did not blow us away. The service was good, and although our server did not know much about the wines by the glass, he sent over the sommelier who was quite knowledgeable. At Awtar, we had a variety of small dishes as is typical with a Lebanese meal, and a huge plate of a variety of grilled meats including several types of interestingly marinated lamb. They brought a huge tower of uncooked vegetable to much on for free. The fresh pressed juices were delicious.

My favorite restaurants were the ones lower in formality. The Italian restaurant Andiamo offered perhaps the best cuisine of our stay. A taglioline with fresh scallops and a light cream sauce was to die for. King prawns were grilled to perfection. The salads were crisp and fresh, and the wine pairings offered were spot on. Peppercrab was also outstanding. Though not strictly Singaporean, the curried jumbo prawns were out of this world, as was some of the other seafood. Again here, nice job recommending wines. That leaves Wox, an inexpensive Asian fusion place where we enjoyed our very affordable meal and Sushi, a…well…you get it. The fish was fresh & good (and, two nights a week, funneled up to the Grand Club for the evening snacks – placing this & the Grand Hyatt Bangkok as the only two places I have found with FREE SUSHI!).

The Grounds

This is a beautiful hotel; as other have mentioned, an “urban resort”. You can pretty much forget you are in the middle of a city when you are down here. It is a ton of acres; although there are roads around you do not hear traffic from the rooms or grounds; and you do not see traffic from the grounds although from upper rooms you can look out and realize you are in the city. Nor is this hotel in really the “downtown” part of the city; even though it is an urban resort the density around the hotel is pretty low.

The grounds are immaculately manicured. There is a nice jogging trail around the perimeter of the grounds and you will find ample lawns, gardens, tennis courts and of course a huge pool area with hundreds of chaises and multiple cabanas (no extra charge). Full resort style pool service, with alcohol available from noon and food all day. The pools don’t have a ton of fantasy water features (think the Maui waterfall, etc.), however, there is a nice “island” in the middle of the main pool with a couple chaises and some palm tress. There is a giant kids pool with a climb aboard play structure and two waterslides for the kiddies; there is also a cabana-covered infant pool which looks like its own mini-beach. In short, there is enough pool area, by size, to keep things very interesting for everyone.

A particular highlight, as mentioned above, is the spa. Very tranquil, and very clean. Maggie had two treatments – a 90 minute massage and a facial, the total for both with tip about US$180. So quite a reasonable deal compared to Western resorts. She said the service was great. There is a large gym and a couple of squash court. Just for hanging out, I really enjoyed the spa as the lap pool (which features underwater speakers with light jazz), sauna and steam rooms and showers are all very nice, very relaxing. A nice quiet place to go in the morning or evening or any time in between to relax.

Final Thoughts

In summary, really nice stay at a really nice place. A place to easily relax for a week or even longer and explore surrounding Dubai. You can be somewhat in the middle of things in terms of day trips and sights, and also close to the airport, while simultaneously loosing yourself in a huge mega-resort with plenty of resort amenities. The great food, abundant facilities and endless kindness of the staff were the icing on the cake – a great stay. Ten out of ten – thanks Hyatt!

Mary2e

Wow... what a wonderful trip. Thanks for the review.

I can't believe Hannah is 5 months old already! Wasn't she born just yesterday? She is absolutely adorable!

gregorygrady

Great trip report. And it's always nice to see pics of some of these places, sure makes me want to go there!!!!

kevino

Great report, pics, and tips. Thank you.

It looks like you were the only ones at the hotel! Everyone was working for you!

holtju2

When I was staying at the Park Hyatt in Dubai using FFN's (where I got one of the suites) I also had a quick tour of the GH and had few drinks at the bar.

The GH seemed to be rather huge where the PH is lot smaller and more intimate. There seemed to be definitely more action at the GH going on.

Is the bottle on the OP's picture really champagne or rather non alco version that I happened to get at the PH.

thesilb

Nonalcoholic sparkling date juice...but there was plenty of free French champage restocked daily to the minibar (minibar = free in suites).

BEYFlyer

After the summer season is over, you will be hard pressed to find a "cheap" hotel room in one of the decent hotels in Dubai.