- A Different Kind Of Trip Report: Introduction
- Review: Emirates Lounge Dallas DFW Airport
- A First Timer’s Thoughts On Emirates First Class
- The World’s Most Over The Top Afternoon Tea
- Review: Emirates A380 First Class Dallas To Dubai
- Our Late Night Las Vegas Experience In Dubai
- Review: Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Room
- EK17 To Manchester: Having The Best Time And Keeping It Green While Ben Goes Amber
- Review: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai B Concourse
- Oh MAN…
- Arlanda Express: Speedy Transport For Dummies
- Should A Few Instances Of Bad Service Spoil Overall Perceptions Of A Hotel?
- Review: Emirates A380 First Class Dubai To Manchester
- Review: Hilton Manchester Deansgate
- First Time In Lufthansa First (With Two Celebrities): Review Of The First Class Terminal In Frankfurt
- Review: British Airways Lounge Manchester
- Review: British Airways Galleries First Lounge London Heathrow
- Review: Sheraton Stockholm Hotel
- First Time In Lufthansa First (With Two Celebrities): Review Of LH450 from Frankfurt to Los Angeles
- Review: Aurora Lounge Stockholm Arlanda Airport
- Review: Grand Hyatt Berlin
- Review: Airberlin Lounge Berlin Airport
- Review: Park Hyatt Vienna
- Review: Austrian HON Circle & First Class Lounge Vienna Airport
- Review: Austrian A320 Business Class Vienna To Frankfurt
- Review: Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt
- Review: Lufthansa 747-8 First Class Frankfurt To Newark
Dubai has tons of chain hotels. For example, outside of New York, Dubai is the city with the most Starwood properties. So if you’re a Starwood or Hyatt loyalist like me, you have over 20 choices of places to stay in Dubai.
In this case we were arriving in Dubai at 12PM, and departing two days later at 7AM (and as it turned out, we had even less time than that in the city). So in this case location was a very important factor in deciding where to stay.
Given that, we decided to stay at the Park Hyatt Dubai. This is a property I’ve reviewed before, most recently on a trip with my dad where we stayed in a Park Suite.
Why do I like the Park Hyatt Dubai so much?
- I love the location, as it’s just 10 minutes from the airport, downtown, the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, and the old town; I far prefer the location to being near the Dubai Marina, like where the Grosvenor House is located (which is otherwise my favorite SPG property) — it’s convenient for visiting the Mall of the Emirates, the Burj Khalifa, and the dive bars frequented by Emirates crews, but otherwise pretty inconvenient
- It really feels like more of a resort than a city hotel, given that it’s located on Dubai Creek, which makes for a very relaxing environment; it also boasts great views of the Dubai skyline
Since we were traveling in summer, paid rates were quite low, as is the norm in the UAE in summer. The paid rate was ~$200 per night, and we booked through Virtuoso, which got us the following perks:
- Upgrade to next room category on arrival,
- subject to availability
- Continental breakfast daily, for up to two in room guests
- $100 USD Equivalent Resort or Hotel credit,
- to be utilized during stay (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full)
- Early check-in/late check-out
- subject to availability
Since I’ve reviewed the Park Hyatt before I’ll make this review a bit more brief, and instead focus mostly on the room type — a Park Deluxe Twin — which I haven’t previously reviewed.
Anyway, we arrived at the Park Hyatt shortly after 1PM. The exterior of the hotel looks rather Moroccan, and that theme continues in the lobby.
Park Hyatt Dubai lobby
I know he was well intentioned, but I think I may have had the pushiest bellmen ever. He immediately grabbed my bags as we pulled up, and then when I said “oh thanks, but I got it,” he responded with “no, let me,” and literally grabbed the bags out of my hands and rolled them for me. I said “please, I can do it,” and he responded “no, that’s fine.” Alrighty then! Fortunately he just insisted on taking my bags as far as the check-in counter. Like I said, I know he was well intentioned, but…
The check-in process was a bit odd as well. As a special summer promotion they were offering 480AED (~$130) suite upgrades, which I might have otherwise considered. That being said, in this case we weren’t going to actually spend much time in the hotel, so it didn’t seem worth it. Besides, I was excited to review a new room type.
Park Hyatt Dubai lobby
The associate presented us with a letter explaining the Virtuoso benefits, which included a $100 food & beverage credit. What I wasn’t previously aware of is that the Virtuoso rate also came with a $100 spa credit. That’s nice, though we didn’t end up using it. I’m not sure if that’s just a benefit in summer when occupancy is low, or what, but it was nice nonetheless.
Park Hyatt Virtuoso welcome letter
We were also offered our choice of Diamond amenity, between 1,000 Gold Passport points or a food & beverage amenity.
Upon the completion of check-in the associate explained that our room would be ready in about 10 minutes. He invited us to have a drink at the lobby lounge, which I thought was a really nice touch. We were there well before published check-in time, so being offered a drink was unnecessary.
Park Hyatt Dubai lobby lounge
I had a coffee, while Matt had some watermelon juice. Much to my surprise, the room was actually ready within about 10 minutes.
Park Hyatt Dubai welcome drinks
The associate offered to walk us to our room, though that didn’t seem necessary. The Park Hyatt does have an outrageously complicated layout, so I can appreciate that service for a first time guest. But otherwise I don’t really get much value out of the service.
On our way to the room we passed the pool. It sort of amazes me that people just lay outside when it’s ~115 degrees. Brave souls!
Park Hyatt Dubai pool
We were assigned room 1413. That’s located in the first section of the hotel (hence the “1” in the room number), on the fourth floor.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room entrance
Park Hyatt Dubai floorplan
The room was a good size. It featured an entryway with a somewhat “open” bathroom layout to the left.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room entryway
The room had two twin beds, which were firm but comfortable.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room
Across from the beds were a flat screen TV, the desk, and a Nespresso machine.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room desk
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room Nespresso coffee machine
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room Nespresso coffee machine
Back near the window were two seats as well.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room seating area
As you can see below, the bathroom has shutters separating it from the bedroom, which I appreciate — it makes the room feel more spacious, but at the same time they can be closed for privacy.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room
The bathroom was quite large and for the most part nicely partitioned off. In the center part of the bathroom were double sinks and a soaking tub.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room bathroom
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room double sinks
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room soaking tub
Then on the right side was a shower with both a rainforest shower head and a handheld one.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room shower
The toiletries are hotel branded, which I find a bit odd. They’re decent, though not among my favorites.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room toiletries
The one thing I didn’t really like was the toilet setup. On one hand I appreciated that it was in a separate room, though on the other hand I was a bit puzzled by the see-through, glass shield. You’d think they’d at least frost it, or something.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room toilet
The toilet also had a bidet, as you’d expect.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Twin Room toilet
One of my favorite things about this resort are the views. The room had a balcony with two chairs.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Room balcony
The room overlooked both the resort and Dubai Creek, which is also where the seaplane tours of Dubai leave from. So it makes for some good #AvGeek watching.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Room balcony view
Hyatt’s footprint in Dubai is sort of hilarious. Within half a mile of one another they have three mega hotels. From our balcony at the Park Hyatt we could see the Grand Hyatt (on the left) and the new Hyatt Regency (on the right). When the weather is nice you also have a great view of the skyline, though it was so damn hot when we were in Dubai that visibility was severely limited.
Park Hyatt Dubai Park Deluxe Room balcony view
At check-in we had selected the mezze plate and lemon mint juice as the welcome amenity, in lieu of 1,000 points. After the mezze we had on Emirates, I found it rather underwhelming. Not only in terms of quantity, but the pita was tasteless and soggy as could be.
Park Hyatt Dubai Diamond welcome amenity
We were also offered a bottle of red wine, some snack mix, and fresh fruit, which I think is a standard amenity at this hotel.
Park Hyatt Dubai Diamond welcome amenity
We really didn’t use many facilities at the hotel otherwise, other than having breakfast at Cafe Arabesque one morning, which is the hotel’s main breakfast restaurant (there’s also an excellent Thai restaurant on property, but they don’t serve breakfast).
While I usually love sitting outside at Cafe Arabesque, I figured it was a bit warm to do that in this instance.
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque
Breakfast at Cafe Arabesque consists of a buffet, and then you can order additional items off the menu. The breakfast menu read as follows:
For me the buffet is plenty, especially since I love food from the region. It’s a great spread for sure.
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast buffet
I didn’t want to overeat too much, so stuck mostly with local items, especially since it would be our only breakfast in the Middle East.
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast
Matt had the poached eggs, which he said were quite good.
Park Hyatt Dubai Cafe Arabesque breakfast poached eggs
Service in the restaurant was excellent this time around, and we were offered multiple coffee refills… which hasn’t been my experience here in the past.
As Matt explained, we ended up leaving the Park Hyatt quite early on our last day. While our flight was only after 7AM, we left for the airport closer to 1AM.
Park Hyatt Dubai bottom line
The Park Hyatt Dubai isn’t my favorite hotel in the world — I doubt any hotel in the UAE could be, given that service is generally lackluster — but it is my “go to” property in Dubai. I love the location, given that it’s in close proximity to so many of the places I want to be. And I love how it feels so secluded, and not like a city property.
Our stay at the Park Hyatt was pretty flawless, about as good as I’ve had here. I’ll be checking out a new property the next time I stay in Dubai, but given that it was Matt’s first time and that our time was limited, this seemed like the best option.
Do you have a favorite hotel in Dubai?
With reference to @Chad's question above, I'm also curious to know a bit more about booking through Virtuoso rather than a direct booking yourself (wouldn't that warrant more points than going through a 3rd party?). Is it a trade off due to the perks granted or do you get full rewards still?
Being a resident of Dubai and live very close to Park Hyatt.
I love driving into the complex where Park Hyatt is. We play golf there as well as frequent many of the different restaurants with great views (on a clear day ) of Dubai.
I would say that the Grand Hyatt is a better hotel, better lobby and restaurants.
Emirates supply a car for all business and 1st class passengers to...
Being a resident of Dubai and live very close to Park Hyatt.
I love driving into the complex where Park Hyatt is. We play golf there as well as frequent many of the different restaurants with great views (on a clear day ) of Dubai.
I would say that the Grand Hyatt is a better hotel, better lobby and restaurants.
Emirates supply a car for all business and 1st class passengers to your accommodation.
Le Meridien is also great and has the best Friday Brunch in Dubai. (Yalumba)
We had the opportunity to go many years ago for our anniversary also in the month of August, because of the price. It was that hot, but laying outside next to the pool and spending time in the pool was soooo nice. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton, no we don't have a lot of money, but the package deal we got was sooo amazing we couldn't pass it up and stayed on the club...
We had the opportunity to go many years ago for our anniversary also in the month of August, because of the price. It was that hot, but laying outside next to the pool and spending time in the pool was soooo nice. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton, no we don't have a lot of money, but the package deal we got was sooo amazing we couldn't pass it up and stayed on the club floor. This has to be the best service I have EVER had. I hope you will give this hotel a shot sometime and let me know what you think. I hop to go again one day and fly an airline with an amazing level of service....never done that either...but some day!
Hey Ben, those aren't "seats" in your hotel room, they're "chairs"...... airplanes have seats.
;)
Ben, so I still get Hyatt points if I book through that other website you mention? I need to make sure I get stay credit.
Thanks
"It sort of amazes me that people just lay outside when it’s ~115 degrees. Brave souls!"
People sit around in saunas that are almost that hot to relax.
As for me, I'd ask for a snorkel and nap under water in the pool python style.
Actually, I've been out hiking at 45º in the sun. I didn't plan it that way, but on a five-day backcountry trek in the desert, you have to be prepared...
"It sort of amazes me that people just lay outside when it’s ~115 degrees. Brave souls!"
People sit around in saunas that are almost that hot to relax.
As for me, I'd ask for a snorkel and nap under water in the pool python style.
Actually, I've been out hiking at 45º in the sun. I didn't plan it that way, but on a five-day backcountry trek in the desert, you have to be prepared for any kind of weather. It softened and melted the rubber on my shoes and burned my feet inside my shoes and wool socks until I couldn't stand. I had to dig my feet under the shade of a rock to stand up. Aside from that and the constant hunt for 15 liters of drinkable water a day from springs and seeps, it wasn't so bad -- just like hiking in a sauna. There was a little vomiting from minor heat exhaustion the first day before we got the hang of it.
So probably it was a lot like your trip, but without needing liquor to make us sick.
Love the views of Dubai Creek. Is there any good ocean swimming in Dubai?
Detailed and great review as always Ben. I will be staying at LE MERIDIEN DUBAI HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTRE this coming trip back to Dubai and keen to see how it is. The property looks super and three mega pools they have are beautiful, same with the installations. I was surprised when I got an email recently from the hotel willing to book my chauffeur service from the hotel to the airport, nice touch from them by arranging that already!!
Thanks for review. I'd like to try next time before my Hyatt Diamond expires early next year. I initially booked that hotel this summer (about $140-150 after Hyatt BRG 20% discount) but as my father preferred to stay in downtown, I changed it to Conrad Dubai (I am Hilton Diamond, paid about $100 per night after getting Hilton BRG approved). Conrad Dubai stay was quite fantastic and in the end I think Conrad Dubai was...
Thanks for review. I'd like to try next time before my Hyatt Diamond expires early next year. I initially booked that hotel this summer (about $140-150 after Hyatt BRG 20% discount) but as my father preferred to stay in downtown, I changed it to Conrad Dubai (I am Hilton Diamond, paid about $100 per night after getting Hilton BRG approved). Conrad Dubai stay was quite fantastic and in the end I think Conrad Dubai was a better choice for us both in terms of location and room/service/facilities (very spacious room, quite nice spa/jacuzzi, garden pool) in addition to amazing breakfast and afternoon tea time/happy hour in the Lounge. Really nothing to complain. Quick question: Diamond member has any perks in the Cafe Arabesque? (e.g. afternoon tea)