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This is part of the Around the World 2015 Mega Trip

• Etihad Business and First Class Lounge Washington DC
• Etihad Business Studio – IAD to AUH
• Review: Etihad Arrivals lounge and Etihad Chauffeur experience
• Grand Hyatt Dubai
• Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi
• Etihad Business and First Class Lounge Abu Dhabi, AUH
• Etihad Pearl Business Class – AUH to JNB
• Intercontinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers
• Blue Train Johannesburg to Cape Town
• Queen Victoria Cape Town
• Chitwa Chitwa Sabi Sands Luxury Game Reserve Kruger National Park
• Royal Chundu Zambezi River Lodge – Victoria Falls
• Intercontinental Johannesburg Airport
• Review: S(h)ongololo Lounge JNB
• Cathay Pacific Business Class – JNB to HKG to HND
• Ritz Carlton Tokyo
• Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo, NRT
• American Air Flagship First Class – NRT to LAX

 

Review: Grand Hyatt Dubai – Grand Suite/Grand Club

After having a flipping unbelievable flight from IAD to AUH on Etihad Business Studio ( if you missed, you should defos check out) we arrived at the Grand Hyatt Dubai. Pretty sure Etihad should start spelling their brand name L-U-X-U-R-Y. 😛 😛 And Miles was STOKED to be here. He loves the Suite Life.

The Deets:

• When – June 17-19th
• How much – $205+ Tax + 6000 points
• Category Room – Grand Club Suite, Grand Club Twin
• Other benefits – Free breakfast at The Market Cafe
• Total Value – $967 + tax + $30/breakfast ( $120) = ~$1100
• Savings from points – nearly $900

It’s situated near the Dubai Creek and, after arriving, we realized that even though it’s not really walking distance to any of the sights, its location worked great for us.

We booked into the Grand Hyatt for a Hyatt Daily Rate on night 1 with a Daily Rate of $205 plus 6,000 points for a suite upgrade. We wanted to see what a Grand Suite looked like and also what kind of offerings the Grand Club would provide. This secured both of those curiosities for only 6000 points. At that time, the Suite was going for roughly 600 bucks or a $400 premium. $0.066/point – not too shabby.

Booking the suite for night one we hoped we’d be keeping the suite for the nights we backended with two Chase Hyatt Credit Card free. Unfortunately this isn’t what happened; however, we were allowed to stay on the club floor. Which, if you drink alcohol, proved to be worth a significant savings. Booze in the U.A.E. is priced at a huge premium, not Vegas, Miami, or London club premiums, but in relation to everything else it’s very pricey. Employing the upgrade 1st night strategy ended up being a value earning strategy.

 

When we arrived at The Grand Hyatt it was late, nearly 10pm, and once the porters had our bags we went to the platinum/diamond desk for check-in. I think we were both excited to be in this balmy city we’d heard so much about and had a slight exhausted enthusiasm. Since we were staying in a suite on the club floor we were asked if we’d rather check-in there. Boom, bam bing – we were upstairs and checking in!! The Club itself is ENORMOUS. Because it was Ramadan, certain areas of the club were partitioned off so that non-Muslims could eat and not be in front of Ramadan adhering guests. It’s certainly an interesting dichotomy of co-existence in Dubai. The western and middle eastern cultures pass like two ships in the day: each sort of acknowledging the other without ever signaling.

  Lemme just tell you, the suite was HUGE! 88sqm or 947 sq ft and with both of us on slightly different jet-lag schedules it proved worthwhile having a living room separate from the bedroom. I know a lot of people who travel in friend groups or as couples and invariably it happens that one person can’t sleep, needs to do some work, or just wants to watch a movie and it causes some friction. Jet-lag is awful and everyone kinda reacts differently to it.

Using points to upgrade to a suite so each person can adjust at their own pace is, in my opinion, an outstanding usage.

That, and premium cabin airline travel. A vacation is meant to be an enjoyable experience, not misery endured til destination found.

Here are a few photos during the day…

 

The suite and the rest of our stay gave us club level privileges, but with it being Ramadan,they weren’t hosting breakfast in the club lounge. This little tidbit was amazing because it gave us buffet breakfast downstairs at the Market Cafe. Here’s a few shots of what we were so fortunate and gluttonously allowed to feast upon. However, this whole scene seen below was partitioned off from the rest of the hotel by screens and foliage growing in the hotel. Was cool and weird at the same time.

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It was fantastic and completely free.

The club level was definitely odd given the time of the year. While I found being in the U.A.E. during Ramadan a really cool experience for a westerner, and certainly the best time to visit some sights due to decreased demand, it made the club level feel very divided and slightly confusing as to what was acceptable and what was not. For instance, I didn’t really feel right carrying my food back to the room for fear that it was insulting or inappropriate and there were areas of the club where you couldn’t consume food or beverage. At the end of the day it didn’t really matter.

And the evening offerings

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The food presented in the evening was certainly portioned for appetizers and not making a meal, but having a couple beers or wine or whiskey or baileys or… probably saves a minimum of $10-15 a drink. So if you’re in the mood for some grown up beveraging…the club may be exactly what you want. I found the space to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest of any club lounge I’ve ever visited. It’s on both sides of a hallway, accessible to two floors, and had multiple sitting areas on viewing both sides of the hotel.

Grand Club Twin

After our first night of the hotel we moved into a grand club twin room. Needless to say it was a dramatic downgrade from our Suite.

The room was very nice, but it did not feel like the 39sqm/420sqft as advertised. We felt wedged into the room, but it’s probably just because we were so spoiled by the suite the first night. It was WELL worth the 6000 points.

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Ultimately we only spent 1 night in each room because we made last minute changes to our itinerary. We made that decision at 6pm on what would have been our third night.

We sat down with a rep in the club lounge and told him that our plans had changed and we needed to check out early. Without even asking he redeposited the award night.

I was honestly shocked. We were way past check-out ( even as a platinum it’s 2pm) and made the changes thinking we’d just forfeit the night. Now that is the kind of customer service that keeps me frequenting the hotel chain.

The hotel was a a bit of a ghost land while we were there. I’d love to come back at another point during the year when things aren’t as subdued.

I’d definitely stay at the Grand Hyatt Dubai again and would recommend it to anyone making their way through that part of the world, especially if you were flying in and out of Dubai and not Abu Dhabi.

In terms of the other parts ot the hotel: We made use of the spa facilities, gym and indoor pool, but I ultimately didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures. If you’d like to see what everything looks like check out the official site. Their pics are very good representations of the product. It was just too hot to be outside without water so unfortunately we didn’t make use of their outdoor pool, however it does look incredibly fun and beautiful.

For what amounted to $250 bucks at check out, we stayed on a club floor for 2 nights and 3 days, had 2 buffet breakfasts, free food an drink at night, a night in a suite and one in a club room. A great deal in my opinion and clutch way of using points and a free night certificate.