Hotel Review: Grand Hyatt Dubai (1 Bedroom Grand Suite)

After landing in Dubai having had an awesome experience flying First Class on Emirates, we headed straight to our hotel – the Grand Hyatt Dubai.

There were tons of great hotel options to pick from in Dubai, but I primarily focused on Hyatt properties as I have their top tier Globalist status. That provides all kinds of benefits, one of which is the ability to apply a suite upgrade award so that you can book the cheapest room but be guaranteed a suite ahead of time.

That’s exactly what I did and it meant we were upgraded ahead of time to a 1 Bedroom Grand Suite with Garden View. That was just one thing that ensured we had an amazing stay, along with friendly staff, great amenities, delicious food and more.

Here’s a complete review of our eight night stay at the Grand Hyatt Dubai.

Check-In

We arrived at the hotel at about 8pm and the bellman took our suitcases while we went inside to check in. The check-in process was very quick and so it only took a few minutes before we had our keys and headed up to our suite.

In the photo about you can see a marble table just in front of the front desk. That carries a scale model of the hotel so that you can get a general idea of the layout outside.

Suite

As mentioned earlier, we were upgraded from a standard King room to a 1 Bedroom Grand Suite with Garden View. When entering the suite, the powder room was off to the left, the living room was straight ahead and the bedroom and bathroom were through a door to the left of the TV in the photo below.

Living Room

The living room was a very good size and was beautifully decorated. There was a purple theme throughout the room which gave nice splashes of color without being garish to go alongside the creams and dark wood throughout.

At the far end of the living room there was a large corner sofa with a couple of ottomans, a couple of coffee tables and an armchair.

At the opposite end of the living room there was a dining table and chairs, with a welcome amenity of several pieces of fruit in a bowl on the table.

Opposite the dining table was a credenza which was useful for storing snacks and drinks on top of.

Bedroom

The living room was the largest room in the suite, but the bedroom was much larger than I’d been expecting too. The king bed was extremely comfortable and the blackout curtains did a great job keeping the room dark.

On both sides of the bed were controls for the lights, along with a power outlet and USB outlets to charge our phones overnight.

Dubai uses the same type of three-pronged plugs that the UK uses, so you’ll need an adapter if you’re traveling to Dubai from a non-UK country. If you’re from the US, be aware that these power outlets provide 240v of power which will fry some electronics. Generally speaking, laptops are fine because they have a power converter built in to their cord, but other electronics like hair straighteners will need a power converter (which adjusts the voltage being fed through) rather than just a power adapter. It was no issue charging our phones via the USB ports though.

To the right of the bed was a curved couch, a higher coffee table and a cabinet containing the mini bar.

In the open section of the cabinet was a coffee maker along with coffee and tea items and some bottles of complimentary water.

In the first drawer there was a teapot, tea and espresso cups and some glasses.

The second drawer down contained the mini bar. The pricing for these items was on a menu on the top section of the cabinet.

Opposite the bed was a large screen TV, but I forgot to take a photo of that I’m afraid. Below the TV were several more bottles of water and a couple of drinking glasses.

Off to the side of the bedroom was a walk-in closet which led through to the bathroom. This had a long, built-in luggage rack with drawers, along with a railing to hang your clothes, several more drawers and an iron and ironing board.

The cupboard in the photo above contained a large safe which was probably large enough to store a laptop if needed.

The view from our living room and bedroom was nice enough, although it didn’t provide a view of downtown Dubai seeing as it was a suite with a garden view.

The living room and bedroom had separate thermostats, so we could adjust the temperature of each room accordingly. The suite didn’t have noisy air-conditioning units, nor did it blow icy cold air directly on you; instead it just maintained the rooms at a nice, cool temperature which was much needed seeing as we visited in August 2021 when it was ~110° F (43° C) outside at times.

Bathroom

Not only were the living room and bedroom large, but the bathroom was too. There were double sinks along with a small make-up mirror, table and chair to the left of that. The mirrors in both the bathroom and the powder room were heated, so they never fogged up.

The countertop had toiletries along with other bathroom items.

There was a nice, deep bathtub, although you need to make sure the water is very hot beforehand as it cools fairly quickly.

To the left of the bathtub was a walk-in shower. My only slight quibble with this is that it would’ve been nice for it to be a bit larger seeing as there was only room to have one person in there comfortably. There was both a rainfall shower head and a handheld shower head.

To the left of the shower was a separate room with a door containing the toilet and a bidet.

A couple of comfortable bath robes were also provided.

Powder Room

Back by the suite’s entrance was a powder room which contained both a toilet and a bidet.

We really loved our suite and are so glad we were able to use a suite upgrade award from my Globalist status in order to get one. It was an incredibly spacious suite (~950 sq ft) which was beautifully decorated, it was quiet and everything was just right, from how comfortable the bed and sofa were to how many water bottles were provided each day and more.

Breakfast

The Grand Hyatt Dubai has 13 restaurants as well as a Club Lounge. However, due to COVID these weren’t all operating as normal during our visit. The Club Lounge was closed the entire time which we’d normally have had access to thanks to having Globalist status. To make up for it, the hotel offered complimentary breakfast in the Market Café restaurant each morning, as well as an additional restaurant when that became too busy.

We ate breakfast at Market Café most mornings, although the last couple of mornings we ended up at Andiamo! due to how busy it was at breakfast. Andiamo! is usually an Italian restaurant, but it was a lovely setting for our last couple of mornings.

Breakfast in both settings was buffet-style, although it was served by Grand Hyatt Dubai staff rather than it being self-serve. There was a vast selection of breakfast items, so you weren’t stuck eating the same thing every day if you didn’t want. Some sections were the same each day, such as the pancake/waffle area and the egg stations where you could get your eggs cooked to order.

Other areas were used for the same thing each day, although a few of their options changed. For example, there was a fruit and cheese station, but the fruits changed each day.

The breads and pastries section had some items that were the same each day, but some of the pastries were changed up.

There were all kinds of hot options too. There were Western-style items like chicken sausage, hash browns, etc., along with Asian and Middle Eastern dishes like noodles, curry, etc. The potato curry with paratha (flat bread) was particularly delicious and so I got that every morning that it was available.

The only breakfast item I wouldn’t recommend would be the egg muffins (pictured below). These looked a little like fried eggs in a partial tortilla/flat bread, but the eggs were dry and rubbery. That might’ve been due to them sitting under a heater for too long and so perhaps they’re better when fresh, but go to the egg station instead and get something cooked to order as the egg muffins were all pre-prepared.

Here are just some of the other breakfast combinations we had.

Dinner

During non-COVID times dinner would’ve been available for us in the Club Lounge. Seeing as that was closed, complimentary dinner was provided for Globalist members at Market Café or one of the other restaurants at the Grand Hyatt Dubai (the alternative restaurant differed each night). That seemed to include complimentary beer and wine too. If you don’t have Globalist status, I’m assuming there was a set charge for dinner each night, but I don’t know how much that cost.

Dinner was served in a similar way to breakfast – it was buffet-style, but served by hotel staff. The options differed every night, although there were usually curry options, rice, several types of meat, salad, Western dishes (pizza, chicken nuggets, etc.) and more.

The dinner venues also had a dessert station. This included fresh fruit, all kinds of bite-sized desserts along with other options.

Other Restaurants & Stores

Although the hotel’s restaurants weren’t all open like normal due to COVID, some of them did still seem to be operating as normal. One of them was called Panini and sold cakes, pastries, etc.

Outside there was the Poolside Restaurant. This had outdoor seating available if you wanted, but you could also order from the menu when laying in your lounger by the pool.

Here’s the Poolside Restaurant menu. For reference, 50 AED is about US$13.50.

If you need to cool down when enjoying the outdoor pools, there’s also the Ice Cream Shack.

Inside the hotel there’s a pharmacy and a fabric store selling rugs, pashminas and other types of clothing.

Amenities

The Grand Hyatt Dubai has a fantastic fitness room, although a combination of jet lag and laziness meant I didn’t end up using it myself. To her credit, Shae used it several times during our stay and apparently it was kept nice and cool.

The fitness room’s location in the hotel is where Ahasees Spa & Club is based. Here’s the cost of spa treatments, although the fitness room is free for all guests.

Also in the general spa area is the indoor swimming pool and whirlpool which is free for guest use too.

To get to the outdoor swimming pools, enter the general spa area and exit out of the doors on the left which lead you outdoors.

Follow the path to the right for about 100 yards and you’ll come to the outdoor swimming pool. When you arrive, grab a towel from the towel station; they’ll ask for your room number, but there’s no charge.

There are two sections of the main outdoor pool – a smaller, shallower area and a deeper area beyond the bridge. The deeper section (shown in the photo below) is about 7-8 feet deep for the entire area with no ledges around the edge to stand on, so be aware of that if you’re not a strong swimmer; you can hold on to the edge though.

All the pools – both outdoor and indoor – are temperature controlled. Goldilocks would approve of them as the temperature was just right – not too hot and not too cold.

Back to the right of the swimming pool is a splash pool for much younger children. I didn’t want to look like a creeper though and so didn’t take a photo there.

There are sun loungers all around the pool that are first come, first served. Pool attendants will bring a much-needed shade if it’s not already shaded where you sit. They’ll also bring you drinks or food from the Poolside Restaurant menu if you need refreshment or nourishment.

You’ll likely see birds that look like they’re very put out when you don’t share your drinks and snacks.

Be sure to look up when wandering around outside as you’ll see some date palms (we had no idea this is how dates are grown).

It was way too hot to take advantage of these activities while we were there, but there’s a jogging track around the hotel, along with tennis courts.

The hotel has a business center, but that was closed during our stay.

If you need any assistance during your stay, there’s a Concierge desk in the lobby. They can also print off any documents you need if the business center is still closed when you visit.

Another service the hotel provides right now is the ability to get PCR tests conducted on-site if you need them before a flight. These cost 250 AED per person (~US$68) and can be charged to your room. There’s a hospital nearby where you can get them done for 150 AED (~$40), but when factoring in the time, hassle and cost of a taxi there and back, we decided to pay a little extra for the convenience of getting our tests conducted in our hotel room.

This was a great decision. We were able to schedule our test for 10am on August 13 with our flight being at 4pm the following day. Promptly at 10am, a doctor arrived to swab the inside of both nostrils for each of us. The process took no more than 5-10 minutes, so far more convenient than having to head out to the hospital. We received the results the following morning, so in plenty of time for our afternoon flight.

Decor

The Grand Hyatt Dubai is decorated beautifully throughout the property, so I wanted to share a few photos from around the property.

Special Occasions

We celebrated both Shae’s 40th birthday and our 17th anniversary during our stay at the Grand Hyatt Dubai. I’d let my Hyatt concierge (a Globalist benefit) know this ahead of time, so shortly after we arrived they brought up a slice of chocolate cake and a bottle of wine for our anniversary.

Shae’s 40th birthday was a little later in our stay. I’d planned an activity for that day, so before we left for that I asked the hotel’s concierge if we could have another slice of cake brought up. When we returned that evening, that cake had been left in our room for us which we appreciated.

The night before we left, we got chatting to one of the restaurant staff members and mentioned we were leaving the next day. She was working in the restaurant the following morning and brought us a small brownie slice with ‘Bon Voyage’ written in chocolate which was a lovely touch.

Parking

We used an Emirates chauffeur to get to the hotel and then used taxis to get around, so we didn’t have a rental car. If you do have a car though, one of the nice things about staying at the Grand Hyatt Dubai is that they offer free parking including complimentary valet service.

Service

Service at the Grand Hyatt Dubai was excellent. The restaurants were all very well staffed, so there weren’t long lines for the various buffet sections even when it was busy. All of the restaurant staff members were unfailingly kind and helpful; we didn’t get names for everyone as there were so many, but Rizan and Jenny in particular were lovely.

The housekeeping staff members were also very nice whenever we saw them. Housekeeping seemed to come at least two or three times per day to restock drinks, etc., but we didn’t always need full service. It took a couple of days for us to notice that by the entrance of our suite there was a switch you can turn on which indicates to housekeeping that you don’t need anything as it turns on a light outside the room.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is free at the hotel and the connection and speed was excellent. Dubai itself had excellent coverage on our phones too (we’re on Google Fi). Both in the hotel and even when we were out in the desert, we always had 4G LTE service.

Check-In & Check-Out Times

The check-in time at the Grand Hyatt Dubai is 2pm and check-out is at 12pm. Our flight the day we checked out wasn’t until the afternoon, so we were able to take advantage of a 4pm late checkout thanks to my Globalist status.

Location

The Grand Hyatt Dubai is next to a part of Dubai known as Healthcare City due to the number of hospitals in that area. It’s about halfway between the airport and downtown Dubai, so it’s not really within walking distance of anything tourist-wise. However, taxis are plentiful and cheap; it tended to cost 25-30 AED (~US$7-8) to get from the hotel to the Dubai Mall which is also where the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building) is located.

There were always taxis available outside the hotel – there’s a lane to the left as you come out of the hotel’s entrance, so you can hail one from there. The taxis have meters, so there’s no need to negotiate the cost up-front – the cost is what it is. I always brought up our destination in Google Maps to make sure we weren’t being driven in circles so that they could charge extra, but I needn’t have done that as it was never an issue.

Cost

The cost for a room at the Grand Hyatt Dubai can vary greatly depending on the room type. It presumably also varies a lot based on the time of year and other factors; the fact that we booked in the summer when it’s 105-110° each day and COVID is still affecting people’s ability and willingness to travel likely resulted in prices being cheaper when we visited.

The standard king room we booked cost $151.48 per night including tax. The rate before tax was ~$120, but Dubai charges ~25% in various taxes and fees. Considering that included full breakfast and dinner thanks to my status, that was excellent value.

It got better though thanks to the suite upgrade award I was able to apply to our stay in order to get the upgrade to the 1 Bedroom Grand Suite with Garden View. I checked the price of that when initially booking our stay and it would’ve cost $490.28 per night. Having that suite made a huge difference to how enjoyable our stay was, so getting that extra value for free was immense.

Final Thoughts

We had such an incredible stay at the Grand Hyatt Dubai. Our 1 bedroom suite was beautiful and spacious, the food was delicious, the staff were all extremely friendly and the property itself was lovely including the well-equipped fitness room, temperature controlled pools and its tasteful decor.

I can’t think of any flaws in our stay beyond some pre-cooked eggs being rubbery and that I would’ve preferred our walk-in shower to be larger, both of which are obviously just nit-picking at this point. It was a simply wonderful experience staying there and I think it’s been my favorite ever hotel stay.

Our Rating

Room = 4.8 / 5
Hotel Amenities = 4.8 / 5
Food = 4.9 / 5
Location = 4.5 / 5
Service = 4.8 / 5
Overall Value = 4.8 / 5

Total = 4.77

Address

Grand Hyatt Dubai, Riyadh Street, Sheikh Rashid Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Check Out All The Posts From Our Dubai/Egypt/Jordan Trip

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• Flight Review: Emirates First Class – Chicago (ORD) To Dubai (DXB)
• Hotel Review: Grand Hyatt Dubai (1 Bedroom Grand Suite)
• Awesome Dubai Desert Safari For Shae’s 40th Birthday
• 1 Week In Dubai: Here’s What We Did
• Hotel Review: Ramses Hilton In Cairo, Egypt
• Exploring Babylon Fortress In Old Cairo, Egypt
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• 6 Days In Cairo, Egypt – Here’s What We Did
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• Hotel Review: Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa, Jordan
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• Visiting Petra In Jordan – One Of The New 7 Wonders Of The World
• Hotel Review: Petra Marriott, Jordan
• 1 Week In Jordan – Here’s What We Did
• Flight Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class – Istanbul (IST) To Chicago (ORD)
• Hotel Review: Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, IL
• Spending Breakdown: 3 Weeks In Dubai, Egypt & Jordan – Here’s What It Cost