Dubai, in many ways, can be quite overwhelming at first glance. For starters, you have the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, towering over the entire cityscape. There are multiple man-made islands, shaped like palm trees and the world itself. The city also has the most diverse population that we’ve seen on our travels so far. We picked the Grand Hyatt Dubai to stay in because it serves as both an escape from the busy and fast pace of the city, and also as a resort destination with plenty of amenities to keep us happy, healthy and refreshed when we weren’t exploring the city.
The Resort
The Grand Hyatt, in true Dubai fashion, is the largest Grand Hyatt we’ve stayed in so far. The hotel lobby provides a welcoming atmosphere, with beautiful views of boat hulls mounted to the ceiling. Since we visited during the holidays, the entire hotel was decorated in a festive Christmas mood, with Santa Claus footsteps temptingly leading visitors from the lobby to the café and candy shop. And although the hotel provides a variety of food options within the main area, the true draw for us is the beautifully manicured gardens and grounds outdoors!
Walking along the hotel grounds leads to the pool area, which provided plenty of fun and entertainment for our whole family! There are several pools at the resort; from a large pool for all, to a splash pad to keep the kids busy. There are even two waterslides that we must have ridden dozens of times; we just couldn’t get enough of them!
Our room at the Grand Hyatt was a Grand Deluxe King. It contained two extremely comfortable king size beds, and a small partition into a living area with couches and a small round table. The bathroom had a separate tub and shower area, and all the accessories and amenities that you could think of. Overall, the room was the perfect size for our family and provided space for us to sleep as well as relax when we weren’t out and about.
To top it off, the Grand Hyatt Dubai also has a full-featured movie theater next door! We were able to treat Nora to a showing of Frozen 2 while snacking on popcorn, soda, and even hot snacks like chicken tenders. We truly could have spent our entire stay at the hotel; there’s simply that much to do and the staff works tirelessly to ensure you are taken care of.
Dubai Attractions
The Grand Hyatt Dubai is a quick taxi ride away from many of the attractions that the city has to offer. We spent our first day exploring the massive Dubai Mall, easily the largest mall we have ever visited. We walked around looking at all the shops for hours, and still only saw about 20% of all the stores (there are more than 1,000)! Outside the Dubai Mall there’s the Dubai Fountain, which has shows in the evening every half hour, and is a perfect place to gaze at the Burj Khalifa while indulging in an ice cream or other snack.
On a separate day, we were ready to hit the beach! We took a taxi (about 25 minutes) to Jumeirah Public Beach, where calm, clear water awaited us. It was a relaxing way to spend the afternoon and also get a nice view of the iconic Burj Al Arab, one of the world’s only 7 star hotels. We also spent a day on a guided tour of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which was a phenomenal way to learn about culture and religion in the UAE.
Ultimately, we wish we could have spent more time in Dubai and the Grand Hyatt! We would have loved to visit some of the many amusement parks and attractions in the city. We truly enjoyed our stay at the Grand Hyatt and look forward to returning to Dubai in the near future.
This post was created in partnership with the Grand Hyatt Dubai, whom hosted our stay for 4 nights. As always, all views and opinions are our own.
