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I love going to Exuma in The Bahamas. The house that I usually rent was not available, so we decided to try out a resort in Nassau. I had heard good things about the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar and wanted to check out the property. The property opened in 2017 and is one of three luxury hotels housed within a massive complex. SLS Baha Mar and Rosewood Baha Mar are the other two resorts here.
Anthony’s Take: The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar delivers on being a massive resort that mostly caters to a crowd from New Jersey and New York. It honestly felt like being back in the Tri-State area and not always in a good way. The people aside, the resort is humungous and decorated in an over-the-top gaudy way. It feels more like it belongs in Las Vegas than The Bahamas, but it delivers just about everything you could want on property. The food showcases a crazy selection of cuisines (with 45 food and beverage outlets) and the suite we had was comfortable. The resort is expensive, but offers a pretty luxe experience.
Booking
I booked a One-Bedroom Fountain View Residence with One King Bed (East Tower) through Hyatt Privé for $749 per night plus taxes and fees. It was the same rate as booking a Member Rate on Hyatt.com. The resort fees are high here and I would have paid $74 plus tax per night if I was not a Globalist member and had it waived. A daily service charge of $21.78 (tax included) is also added. This apparently goes to the staff. If you want to get the benefits offered through Hyatt Privé, I can help with reservations. Just email me at anthony.losanno@fora.travel. The hotel is classified as a Category 7 property and requires between 25,000 and 35,000 per night for a standard room.
Transportation to/from the Hotel
We took a taxi to the hotel from Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS). It took around 11 minutes for the 6.2-mile ride and cost $30. When we left, we went back to the airport, which also cost $30 for the taxi.
Location
The resort complex is pretty huge. There are lots of restaurants and shops throughout the property as well as a large casino and all of the recreational activities you could want including a casino, eight pools, and the beach. There are restaurants and shops outside of the property, but we did not check those out during our short two-night stay.
The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar is one of three properties housed together. Make sure that you are dropped off at the right hotel or you’ll have a lengthy walk ahead of you.
After entering, we passed by the main check-in area and went to The Reserve area. I booked us a suite here and this area has some other offerings in addition to what is offered in the rest of the hotel.
Fruit-flavored water was on offer.
It’s a hike from reception to The Reserve area. There are some high-end stores on the way.
The resort definitely feels like something you would find in Las Vegas.
Check-In
We arrived around 4:00 PM and our suite was ready. The agent explained that the hotel was fully booked and that no additional upgrades were possible. I requested a 1:00 PM late checkout and this was granted (it’s a resort so this was a nice gesture). Since I was booked on a Hyatt Privé rate, I was given breakfast for two (which we only took advantage of one day) and the following:
- $100 hotel credit
- Upgrade one room category (based on availability)
- Early check-in and late checkout (based on availability)
- Complimentary Premium Wi-Fi
We were then handed glasses of Champagne.
I was also handed a voucher for two free drinks based upon my Globalist status.
As mentioned, a daily resort fee of $74 (subject to change) is applied to each room. This includes:
- Daily access to Baha Bay Luxury Beachfront Waterpark for all registered guests
- Non-motorized water sports:
- Single & Double Kayaks
- Stand Up Paddle Boards
- Water hammocks
- Water mats
- ESPA fitness center access
- Unlimited local calls
- 2 branded refillable bottles
- Sunscreen at all Hyatt towel huts
- Hyatt beach and pool setup and seating with umbrellas
- Daily Flamingo Ambassador Parade
- Aviary Sanctuary hands on experience
- Basketball, Bocce Ball, Croquet courts
Elevators are located nearby.
The elevator lobby and hallways were all clean and in good repair (and very red).
One-Bedroom Fountain View Residence with One King Bed (East Tower) (2234)
The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar has 1,800 rooms including 230 suites and residences.
The suite opened with a small foyer.
A half bath was to the left. It held a vanity with a single sink and toilet.
A bar of BALMAIN soap was on the counter.
The toilet was well spaced in the room.
A dining table for four was nearby.
A minbar area was also found here. An empty refrigerator was on a shelf.
A Keurig, coffee, condiments, and more were also found in this area. Reusable metal water bottles were also provided. These can be taken home.
The living room area was across the room. This offered a couch, chairs, and several tables.
A TV was mounted to the wall.
A desk and chair were also found here.
The views were gorgeous from the living room when looking from the Juliette balcony.
The bedroom was off of the living room. It included a king-sized bed, chair, table, TV, and two nightstands.
The TV was mounted across from the bed.
One closet held a luggage rack, robes, an iron, and an ironing board.
The other closet contained the safe.
The master bathroom was to the left. It offered a vanity with two sinks, a large tub, and separate rooms for the shower and toilet.
The vanity was large with lots of counter space.
It offered more BALMAIN branded toiletries.
The tub across from it was deep.
More toiletries were also found here.
I liked that the toilet was in a separate room.
The shower was large and included a bench. Water temperature and pressure were both fine.
BALMAIN branded shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were on the shelf of the shower.
The Reserve Lounge
A special lounge for guests of The Reserve is found across from reception. We had breakfast and snacks here throughout our stay.
There was always plenty of seating.
The space offers breakfast from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, cookies from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and light bites from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
There are coffee machines available for guest use throughout the day.
Fresh fruit is also always available.
Flavored water and cookies were available when we arrived.
The cookies were quite good.
The evening light bites were a nice addition.
The evening spread included some charcuterie.
Canapés and pasta salad were also offered.
Desserts were on a cart across the room.
The breakfast served here was rather limited. It was continental and included the croissant and pain au chocolat above.
Fruit, chia seed pudding, and yogurt parfaits were included.
Muffins and pastries
Juice
Breakfast
While we ate in The Reserve Lounge, we also used the breakfast credit at Cafe Madeleine (more below) for Breakfast Sandwiches on the second day.
Lunch
We used part of the $100 resort credit granted through the Hyatt Privé booking for lunch at Cafe Madeleine.
The cute French cafe offers salads and sandwiches for lunch.
It has both outdoor and indoor seating.
We had two cocktails.
We also ordered a Croque Monsieur and a Cordon Bleu Sandwich. Everything was tasty.
The views outdoors were also nice.
Dinner
We had dinner one night at Regatta, which is the international buffet. I do not recommend it as the quality was mediocre at best. People were also watching videos on their phones without headphones and quite loud in general.
The second night, we dined at Pizza Lab. Here we had Fried Calamari, Rigatoni Bolognese, and Penne a la Vodka. It was all fine.
Reflections Pool Cabana
I always want our own space and saw that cabanas could be rented. I chose the adults only pool called “Reflections.” It was nice to have a private cabana to settle into for the day.
We were in Cabana 1 (there are eight total). It offered two outdoor lounge chairs.
Inside was a couch, TV, refrigerator, and towels.
The refrigerator had water and fruit inside.
We used our drink voucher here.
I liked that it was adults only and accessible just for those who paid for cabana rentals.
The path to our cabana was closest to the hotel.
Public Areas & Amenities
The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar offers beach access, multiple pools, a fitness center, beautiful grounds, a spa, some shops, tons of restaurants, and more.
Several of the pools flow together. These ended up closed one day because someone defecated in the pool.
The grounds are well manicured.
Lawn games
Several food trucks were near the beach. We did not try any of these.
The beach was too windy and was not open during our stay.
An outdoor shower was just off the beach.
The spa is 30,000 square feet and offers 24 private rooms. We did not use the spa during our stay, but it looks quite nice.
The fitness center was a good size, but not massive considering the number of rooms in the hotel. Towels and water were both provided.
A large casino takes up a lot of the lobby.
I love animals and Flamingo Cay was a nice addition. This was not as cool as the private island inhabited by flamingos that the Renaissance Wind Creek Resort (review here) offers in Aruba, but it was cool to see them hanging out and marching in a parade twice a day.
Overall Impression:
I’m not a fan of mega resorts, but I would pick this over the Atlantis in The Bahamas if you’re looking for an upscale choice. It’s huge and you will not want for restaurants or activities.
(Spa and Casino Image Credits: Hyatt.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
