TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I rarely write reviews but feel some things should be shared prior to traveling. I traveled to the Grand Hyatt Bahamas with my family and three other families from 3/30/24 - 4/7/24. I reserved an ocean view balcony with 2 queen beds via Amex Travel for my family and one of the families booked a 3-bedroom suite in-person while in the Bahamas. Prior to traveling, my friend's reservations were changed THREE times. Each time, the resort downgraded her room (ultimately to two regular rooms) and tried to charge her more money! It took an email to the general manager and innumerable phone calls and personal hours that she will never get back to have the issue resolved. Another family with 4 young children booked connecting rooms only to find out, their rooms were not connected and in fact were on opposite sides ends the floor. The issue was not corrected and the family had to separate for the week. The property itself is great for families as there are many pools, a beautiful beach, an amazing water park, shopping, sports courts and a casino. As with any getaway, the experience is enhanced by the quality of service and staff. I feel the property is lacking in this regard. Many staff members do not greet or smile at guests. In fact, some are downright rude. One hostess (Candace) at the restaurant Cinko just stopped talking and stared into space when I asked if she could place the two large tables in our party near one another. She asked why I did not come to the restaurant earlier in the day to make that request. I tried to explain that I had tried calling several times with no answer. Thankfully, our server Keisha was amazing (as was the food) and made up for the initial impression of the restaurant. We had breakfast at the Regatta buffet as a group every morning (15-18 people) and the staff that checked us in did not greet us and acted as though they never saw us. Thankfully, the manger Diana and several severing staff members, including Kjanna and Levan were incredible and made us feel welcome!! The restaurants overall had good quality food but getting reservations at a decent hour (5:30-7:30 PM) was difficult despite making reservations online over a month prior to our arrival. What's more disappointing is that the restaurants were not even at capacity. When asked about this, we were told that the restaurant did not have the staff to accommodate guests during peak hours. This seems crazy to me when traveling during spring break with children. Some of our friends had a great experience with housekeeping, however, our room was not cleaned until our 4th day there and was only cleaned for 3 days. We had to call for toilet paper, soap and additional towels. I will say that housekeeping was very responsive to the calls. When the room was cleaned, it was just before dinner time. There was a dried eye lens contact above our trash can that was there all week (no one in my family wears contacts) and a coffee/soda stain on a cabinet that was never cleaned. Of note, we only water in the rooms during our stay so that was there before our arrival. The resort is OVERLY expensive. We paid $6 for a can of water when at the pool, $9 for a bag of chips and $45/pizza. There was water available at the pool bars, but it had an aftertaste. The amazing Jalapeño margaritas at the taco truck are $20 each, which we gladly spent. When booking through Amex, I got two free breakfasts each morning. When I checked out, I was told those charges would be removed prior to billing my card but that did not happen and I was still charged. I have sent an email requesting those charges be refunded. I had booked cabanas or day beds daily and the staff had a hard time finding the reservations. Thankfully, I kept my email reservations and we never had an issue getting what we reserved. The same thing happened with our restaurant reservations as well....staff could not locate on the reservations quickly on their end. I guess the bottom line is that families and kids will have a great time because of the amenities but the overall experience is lacking due to the lack of friendliness, disorganization and access to dinner reservations. When spending a little over $1200/night for a hotel, I just expect more.

Baha Mar is a great resort with wonderful facilities and beach. Be aware though of the price of everything you buy. If you think of an expensive meal in NA, double it, for no reason. Bottle of wine that costs $10 , will cost you $100. Minimal lunch will cost you over $30 USD per person, while the food is medium at best. There are good restaurants for dinner / lunch, but the pricing is out of any proportion. We paid for hamburger with fries and one local beer can $55 USD. No fridge to use in the room but a bar, filled with items that the moment you take something out, you are charged. Be aware of not to use anything in room except for water and coffee. We took by mistake small chips box, that costs $2.5 in the airport (or $1 in a convivence store) and were charged $12.5. Make a note that 15% service is already included in your bill. Add more if you want. Other than that , you will very much enjoy the resort.

This has been one of the worst vacations I’ve taken with my family. I’ll be quick to highlight. Room when arrived had pills spilled all over bathroom floor. Glad I don’t have babies or really young kids who could have poisoned themselves with whatever the array of pills were. Furniture stained in room. Paid for balcony with ocean view but chair was missing so we couldn’t enjoy what we paid for. Asked for second chair 3 times in 3 days and never showed up. Casino people are rude. Told me I couldn’t play (empty tables) because they were closing in a moment. Come to find out they closed almost 2 hours later. After waiting 1hr for black coffee at Starbucks I asked for refund because I couldn’t wait any longer or I would miss my excursion. The girl rudely said “no you have to wait”. Lost money there. 1hr for black coffee. Constantly tried tipping people who helped at pool etc. unfortunately I fell for their scam numerous times. Twice I asked for change for $20 and they said they’d come back with change. Once they never came back and took my money. The other time the person left for 35 minutes only to return with $6 saying that’s all they could find. What!?!? Literally felt like I was being preyed upon everywhere I went at resort. I typically stay at Avon it properties like Ritz or Marriott. Looks like I’ll be heading back there. Love and learn.

Huge beachfront Resort with a spectactular Bahamian vibe! Check in experience needed a little improvement but things don't always happen as expected. Be prepared for high food prices and added taxes. The suite was spacious with fountain show views. Overall I enjoyed my stay and the Bahamas experience.

The art and sip teacher is Abazing! We will go back just because of her! Highly recommend! She had a whole bunch of wine to choose from including ice cold wine and champagne. She spoke about her upbringing and siblings and made ya get a real sense of where her super power came from all while teaching/showing you how to paint! Thanks! Kenny Ayers