Recently I had the chance to take my mom on a little trip to the Bahamas (Bahama with my Mama, if you will) at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar. We were looking for somewhere warm and beautiful to relax for a few days, and since neither of us had been to The Bahamas, we decided to check it out. As a funny little soap-box to go with this blog post, I would just like to encourage one on one travel with a parent or sibling or child. It was so lovely to spend uninterrupted time with a loved one – an opportunity we rarely get in our hectic lives.
We do most of our travel by maximizing points and miles, which has really opened a world of opportunity I previously didn’t consider available to us. I would say the particular travel perspective we take is one of optimizing budget, having some adventures, typically bringing family, and enjoying some tastes of luxury where we can find them. So, my opinion of Baha Mar is not coming from someone who typically vacations at the Four Seasons. In fact, the only reason I get to relax at fancier resorts is because of the world that credit card points have opened up for me. Throwing that out there as my POV.
First Impressions
Upon arrival, we noticed right away that the grounds leading up to the entrance were beautiful and that the resort was massive. Check-in was smooth and easy. We arrived around noon and the room was available even though check-in is 4PM. This was most likely because we had applied a Hyatt Guest of Honor award to this stay, which grants you Hyatt’s top-tier member benefits for a stay of up to seven days. Those benefits include priority access to your room, complimentary breakfast, room upgrades, free parking, and late check-out. I saw many other guests waiting around the pool for their rooms, so this was a great perk.
Next, stepping from the check-in area to the lobby, we were greeted by the casino. Depending on your personal orientation to casinos, this is where there will be haters and lovers. Not the gambling type myself, this detracted from the experience for me. We grew accustomed to walking through the casino floor every time we ventured out of our room, but I would not consider this a good thing. You might. I will say, even though the lobby is a casino, the resort still somehow pulls off an overall very family-friendly vibe.
Overall Impressions for us gets 4 out of 5 stars.
Rooms
On to the room. I was very pleased with our room. It was clean, the beds and bedding were comfortable, and we had a partial ocean view. I really appreciated the many USBC charging and outlet options on the night stand. We also were glad to each acquire a new complimentary Hyatt water bottle, and were able to fill it up at various places on property. The water provided at the filling stations tasted fine – sometimes this is a concern that people have. I had also read on another site that the rooms don’t have mini-fridges and you have to rent them. That information might be outdated because our room came with a mini fridge.
I had hoped when we applied the GOH to it, we might be upgraded to a room with a full balcony rather than the Juliet balcony that we got. Not so, this time. This hotel is huge, busy, and often operating at full capacity. Additionally, it was March – spring break season. I had come into the trip not expecting much on the room upgrade front, and you’d probably want to set a similar expectation for this property. I am guessing the upgrade we received was simply that we got a room at noon and you could see the ocean from it.
The room was a comfortable retreat for us, and gets 4 out of 5 stars
Beach
I really, really enjoyed the beach at this resort. We’ve been to string of lovely beach-side resorts where the beaches are actually not that great – often due to painful rocks and coral or dangerous surf. This resort has a long, sandy beach-front with the calm, clear water that beckons tourists to the Bahamas. Another piece of outdated information I found prior to the trip was that the general beach area was small and that they had a pay-to-enter beach club with more amenities. This was not the case for our stay, and all of the beach area in front of the Hyatt was available to Hyatt guests at no additional charge.
We were able to get chairs and umbrellas each day of our stay. There are attendants who can help you find a chair and set up an umbrella, as well as lifeguards on duty. During the first part of our trip, there was a large conference happening, and things felt a lot more crowded and busy. Despite this, we were still able to find space and enjoy ourselves.
There are several food trucks right along the beach and restrooms right there as well. Additionally, at the towel hut, you can fill your water bottle with cold water and grab more sunscreen from a dispenser if needed. There is also a place to take out complimentary floats and kayaks to use in the water. While perhaps there aren’t people bringing food and beverages to you, the set-up made spending a day at the beach very easy and pleasant.
We give the beach experience 5 out of 5 stars.
Pools
Ok, ok, admittedly, we enjoyed the same pool three days in a row – the central Fortune Pool. We fell into a routine of finding a lounger in the shade, which the Fortune pool had aplenty, eventually getting into the pool, acquiring our free pina colada (another of the GOH perks) at the pool bar and drinking it in the pool, then sitting in the hot tub. We could not break this immaculate routine. But pools are the place where the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar shines, and yes, this should have been an area that I explored a little more depth!
We did look at Dean’s Blue Hole, which is arguably the best pool for families. This one is a series of small pools and has a waterfall with a big aquarium behind it. If I had brought younger kids, this would have been the routine pool for sure. Additionally, there is the large Drift pool that seemed to be in more direct sun, and two adults-only pools that are comprised completely cabana rentals – a great option if you want to splurge a little and ensure a quieter atmosphere. It looked as though you could book a cabana or daybed throughout the resort for as little as $99 to as much as $499 for the day.
Also, we can’t forget the full water park. If I had gone with my family, this would have been a huge bonus. We walked through but did not partake. It had many slides, a lazy river, and a wave pool – everything you could possibly want in a water park, and 100% complimentary with your stay. The Baha Bay Beach Club is also located in the water park. For $159+ for the day you can gain access to a quieter infinity pool with more amenities and some food and beverages included.
Pools for sure get 5 out of 5 stars. No notes.
Food!
Now to the food. Let’s start by saying that like nearly every island paradise, the food is expensive. In the Bahamas they are relying heavily on imports and so costs stay pretty high. Additionally, the Value Added Tax (VAT) is a 10% tax added to all imported goods and services, and then an additional 15% gratuity is automatically added. This 25% definitely was a little shock to the system on top of what was already generally over-priced resort food.
Here’s what was good: the quick service food-truck locations near the beach served extremely large portions that were pretty tasty. We shared a flatbread at Knosh one day and an order of supreme nachos at El Jefe on another day. We could not finish either between the two of us and had leftovers. I would keep this in mind if you are trying to cut down on the cost of some of your food – sharing can definitely work at some of these places – and I even have a healthy appetite and don’t like to share!
We were also really thankful for our GOH which gave us access to the $55/person breakfast buffet for free each day. I don’t know that we would have spend $110 to eat here, but it really was quite good when thinking of it as a free perk. There was more or less every type of breakfast item you could think of, and I enjoyed taking a homemade tropical popsicle to go every morning when we left. If you have a friend who’s willing to gift you or even sell you a Guest of Honor award, it could cut down on food costs significantly.
We splurged on a nice dinner at Marcus, which is the most upscale restaurant at Baha Mar. We both enjoyed our dinner and honestly could have split an entree here, the portions were much larger than you expect in the fine dining world. I was happy to try the conch fritters and the Bahamian Catch was quite good. We shared a passion fruit creme brulee for dessert and thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn’t bad in any sense and the atmosphere was pleasant. All of these things are good, of course, but this restaurant really didn’t “wow” me. We have such incredible restaurants in Pittsburgh with creative menus – I think I’ve come to expect a $300 meal for two to have a certain gravitas that this just didn’t have. I’m not saying don’t go there, I’m just being honest.
We had dinner our first night at the Flying Pig, a typical bar restaurant. This was the only spot left with a reservation at a normal dinner time on our arrival day, and we were happy to have somewhere to go eat. It was loud and the food was just ok. I’d skip this one unless like us you find yourself hungry with nowhere else to go. I would definitely look ahead and make some reservations – the restaurants can all get rather busy in the evenings.
The food gets 3 out of 5 stars. If you are planning to spend time off property, you may want to plan some of your meals out and about.
Activities
You certainly could spend your days as we did – bouncing between the beach and pool and if desired, using the complimentary water park – and that would be a trip! However, there are a few other free things that add value to the trip, and there are many additional paid activities you could add on.
If you are traveling with younger kids, there is a daily flamingo parade each day that is a fun animal encounter. Another nice touch is the nightly fountain show that is out in front of the property. As I mentioned before, there are complimentary paddle boards and kayaks you could sign out at the beach, and there are also basketball, bocce, pickle ball, and tennis courts. If you’re looking to get a workout in, the gym is quite large and has everything you would need (take note that it’s on the 7th floor so you don’t wander around the lobby like I did. You can probably read maps and signs, though, unlike me). These things alone could keep you busy for no additional cost.
While not entirely “free” because you must order at least two menu items per person, we thoroughly enjoyed an evening at Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club. There was a local band and singer playing some jazz classics the evening we were there. Throughout the resort they also often have Bahamian Junkanoo band performances which are fun to watch.
Now, if you feel like a splurge, you can schedule boat tours right from the dock on property. There’s also a stingray encounter for an additional charge that some kids might love. There is a full spa with all of the services you’d expect to find there. You can also take racquet sports classes if your goal for your trip is to come back as a pickleball pro. This is by no means an exhaustive list – there are many other paid activities to add on to your trip if you wish.
I give the on property activities 4 out of 5 stars – there’s a lot to do, but many things include up-charges that are expensive.
Location and Other Odds and Ends
The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar is located outside of the frey of Nassau, kind of off on its own. If you want to venture off property, there’s not a lot in the immediate area you can walk to. This was a downside for me, because I love to walk and explore. If you decide to venture off property, there are taxis at the entrance to the hotel that are easy to get. Definitely take note that there are no rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft on the island. Taxis are plentiful but also tend to vary in quality and price. It seems the standard fare to get to and from the airport for two with luggage is around $40, and to get into the heart of Nassau or to Paradise Island seems to be around $30 each way. These are very much tourist prices, as both of these locations are within five miles from the resort.
If you want to venture out but keep your costs lower, you could try to use the jitney buses. We did not end up doing this as mom’s knee was acting up and she didn’t want to end up walking more than she should, but I researched it in case we wanted to go into town. There isn’t a single public transportation service on New Providence, but there are many companies that run these van services that essentially act like buses. The fare is $1.25, and the buses seem to run regularly. Route 10 is the one that will take you from Cable Beach to downtown and back. When I took my daily runs on the road I saw them going by and stopping at the stops. There are two stops I noticed on the road in front of the Baha Mar. One you will find if you walk directly out the front entrance, down the driveway, and turn right on the road. If you walk down about 100 yards, you’ll find it there. The other is on the same road but best reached if you walk to the right through the water park parking lot and past the small straw market at the edge of the lot.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the airport has US Cutoms on site, so you will take care of all of that before taking off for home. Downloading the mobile passport app saved us time in that line. Security is actually run by US TSA – so if you have pre-check it will work on the Bahama side. The lines were crazy when we went, so pre-check would have come in handy (mom didn’t have it). We were cutting in close even with giving ourselves two hours to get through. Additionally, you can pay for most things with the US dollar.
Location gets 3 out of 5 stars for walkability, but 100 out of 5 stars for being on blue, blue water.
So, was the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar worth it? I’ll be really honest – this resort grew on me, and I can see myself going back when I’m looking for an easy, beautiful beach vacation that isn’t far away. If I were paying cash for the room and flights, then no, this particular vacation would not have been worth it to me. However, for 105,000 Hyatt points and 40,000 American Airlines points, I was happy to make these memories and treat my mom to a gorgeous getaway.
