Grand Hyatt Baha Mar

Oversubscribed services - couldn't get in a restaurant when we wanted. This place had a spring-break vibe 24x7. Even the beach was packed so tight you could barely get to the water. The ratio of children drawn to the water park made everything harder to enjoy. Terribly expensive. Mediocre food. While clearly part of the problem is that my business group chose a destination that didn't match my preferences, the Hyatt executed poorly for what it is. Read less

Hi. We did Spring Break 2024 here at this resort. Here is my recap on the good, the bad and the ugly. Let's start with the ugly so we can end on a good note. They have completely UNETHICAL billing practices. WARNING: Do not book any reservations on their portal SEVEN ROOMS.They are attempting to charge $100 per person for a no show for a reservation I never confirmed, nor did they ever disclose that policy.. Their website does not indicate this policy when you are scrolling the reservation times and booking it. Its too bad that instead of uploading photos of the beautiful beaches and pools, my images are screen shots of their SHADY booking practices. I can't believe Hyatt allows their brand to be tarnished like this. As far as the good, the resort is well appointed. I was worried at check in since there were high school seniors every where, but the rooms are really quiet. We had a beautiful view. Food options are great on the beach with the food trucks. Our favorite restaurant was Cafe Madeline- the french bistro. Never crowded, great service and great food. Also, don't miss the art gallery- amazing artists and a well curated collection. Pack super comfortable shoes, we logged at least 8000 steps every day since everything is super spread out. Read less

Baha Mar is a mix between a (1) Vegas Hotel; (2) Caribbean beach vacation; and (3) a water park. It’s good/very good at all of them, but great at none of them. We stayed at the Hyatt (West) from 4/19-4/26 as a family of 4 in a balcony view (two queen bed) overlooking the ocean. (Kids 7 & 10). Free breakfast for two adults – book your reservation through a Hyatt Prive travel agent. They can be found online and cost you nothing more to utilize. We got the same deal through the Prive travel agent we were able to find elsewhere, but only by using the travel agent, we got a free breakfast for two adult each day, which can be redeemed only at the hotel’s buffet (which opens at 7:30). This worked out to be a savings of around $100 per day. Prive travel agent also claims it comes with the potential for a free room upgrade and welcome gift (neither of which occurred). Nonetheless, the free breakfasts were a helpful savings at a resort where food and the seemingly endless taxes on it is expensive. The biggest drawback is the sheer size of the resort. There is no convenience in getting to/from the room to either the water park or the beach. It’s likely about a quarter of a mile from your room to the beach and/or water park, wherein you have to traverse multiple flights of stairs, and one or more elevators. Oddly, the waterpark entrance is accessed from the beach walkway. Even though the waterpark is relatively close to the hotel, they make you walk all the way to the beach in order to get in. Once you’re in, you then have to walk back in the direction of the hotel (but in the waterpark) in order to access the rides. I guess this is a built-in weight loss plan, as it certainly isn’t convenient or well thought out. It’s about a 5-10 minute trek to get from your hotel room to the first water park ride. While I have a very good sense of direction, you can easily get lost. For example, from Hyatt West, you actually take the elevator down to the 7th floor to get off and start your trek to the beach. Otherwise, you find yourself walking through the lobby, the casino, and SLS to get there. To access Starbucks, buffet, pizza place, or Stix (Asian noodle restaurant) from the Hyatt West, we cut through the Vineyard Vines store (which saves you from having to walk through the casino). Welcome Greeting = non-existent. We received effectively no guidance as to how to utilize the most out of Baha Mar. There was no introductory sit-downs (similar to a Beaches vacation). Once you’re there, it’s like any other hotel – you’re on your own. We went several times to Beaches in Turks & Caicos, where you cannot access your room until they sit down with you and tell you everything they have to offer for that week. That did not happen here. They do have a concierge desk, but they were not particularly helpful. Eating: Book your reservations now. We booked our trip about 3 weeks ahead of time. By that time, the reservations were largely all booked up. Again – book your reservations the second you book your trip. When you don’t have reservations, you’ll be left with limited options, including going to the pizza place, stix (Asian noodle place), or the buffet. All were good, but there were better options, which we couldn’t attend due to lack of reservations. How to Save Money: Besides booking through a prive travel agent, we stopped by the supermarket (Quality Markets) for some snacks and water for the week, and the liquor store (Westridge Wine & Spirts – which had High Noons, Heineken Silver, and a decent selection of wines). I brought a cooler loaded with drinks every day. You can bring drinks to the waterpark/beach/pools without issue (but there can be no glass containers in the waterpark (and they check)). Lunch cost about $25-30 per person; dinner at the restaurants above cost about $200-250 per family; and breakfast cost about $50 for both kids (as adult breakfast was free). Beach: The beach was crowded, but we were always able to find a seat (albeit, not always able to get an umbrella). Water was nice with some seaweed (non-issue). Waterpark: Very nice. We went during a busy week, yet lines were never longer than 10 minutes and often only a few minutes. There were a ton of lifeguards and our party witnessed two saves (apparently adults who cannot swim think it’s wise to jump into deep water). Cleanliness: Place was remarkably clean. On this, Baha Mar can only be commended. Whether the hotel room, the hotel itself, the restaurants, the beach, the waterpark, or any of the facilities—everything was immaculate. Hotel Room: Limited drawer space. There’s one dresser in the room, a few drawers in a closet – and that’s it. We largely lived out of our suitcases, where we prefer to unpack fully. The bathroom was not designed for a family of 4. There’s clear glass separating the toilet and shower and no lock on the bathroom door. Thus, you have to be on guard to ensure you have privacy. Car Rental: We rented a car because we thought we’d have to eat off property every night. Guest parking is pretty far away. It’s easiest to park the car closest to the convention center, then walk by the convention center to get back to the hotel (rather than the circuitous route to the lobby of the Hyatt). If you’re going to pick up your family, have them go to the SLS hotel lobby, rather than the Hyatt (as the Hyatt parking area is nearly always mobbed and congested). Best Day: We charted a 6 passenger boat to Rose Island. It included snorkeling at two spots, then hours at Rose Island at a restaurant called Foot Prints. The restaurant for lunch and drinks was fantastic. We used 4 Winds Fishing and Tours – 242-436-8376. They were great. That trip made our vacation. N25 (restaurant in Baha Bay) - I wish we never went. On our last day, we wanted to eat and appreciate the ocean at the same time. We sat at around 1:05-1:10. We ordered and did not receive our food until 2:10 p.m., and that's after I inquired whether they planed to serve us at around 2 p.m. The Manger, Tiko, was not particularly understanding/sympathetic that we were burning our vacation time sitting waiting for our food. Despite his cold attitude, he, unprompted, provided a 50% discount. That said, i'd rather have paid the full price for the food and had it in a normal period of time. Overall, there were a lot of positive aspects to Baha Mar. This trip was a lot of things, but it wasn’t a relaxing beach vacation. There was too much ground to cover from the room to the pool/beach/water park. While we were warned it was very expensive, it was still a few thousand less than the Beaches Turks And Caicos trips we took (where we stayed in the Italian Villa, poolside walkout). If we could do it all over again, we would have used one of the days for a day trip to Atlantis. It would have been nice to see their attractions. Read less

Pros: The pictures hold up - the property is beautiful. Our room at the Hyatt was incredible. We stayed on the property the whole time - there's so much to do between the casino, waterpark, pools, and beach. Cons: The staff were incredibly rude. There were a handful that were nice, but overwhelmingly the staff were unhelpful, barely acknowledged you, and clearly did not want to be there. Surprisingly, they treated the white patrons better than the black patrons. The food is very overpriced. Expect to pay a MINIMUM of $100 per meal for a party of 2, even breakfast. Lastly, the resort is very Americanized. All they serve is burgers, pizza, tacos, steaks - everything we eat here in the U.S. They have a Starbucks and the line was insane 24/7. You stand in line at the Starbucks in Detroit or wherever you're from; why would you stand in line at a Starbucks while on vacation in the Bahamas??? Not once did we get to eat Bahamian foods or get to hear Bahamian music. Again, if I wanted to eat American food and hear American music, I could have saved my $ and stayed for less at a resort in Florida. Read less