The short version: Stay again. The Grand Hyatt Dubai is a city resort on a properly grand scale, with a stunning planted atrium, multiple pools, exceptional service and an attached Megaplex that includes a 12-screen cinema and a Roly Poly soft play that will mind your over-fours for up to three hours. We stayed when the new water park was still under construction; that’s now open, which would only strengthen this verdict. A handful of small niggles, none of them dealbreakers.
Quick facts
| Location | Bur Dubai, near Dubai Creek, United Arab Emirates |
| Star rating | 5 star |
| Board basis | Varies by package; we had dinner, bed and breakfast for adults with kids fully all-inclusive (booked via Luxury Escapes) |
| Best for | Families on a Dubai city break, including conference attendees with family in tow |
| Pools | Outdoor zero-access pool plus a main outdoor pool, indoor pool, and (at time of visit) a water park under construction |
| Water park | Yes, the Grand Hyatt Dubai Waterpark — it was being built during our stay and has since opened |
| Kids’ club / soft play | Adjacent Megaplex includes Roly Poly soft play with kid-minding for ages 4 and up, up to 3 hours per session |
| Cinema on site | Yes, 12-screen cinema in the adjacent Megaplex |
| Spa and gym | Yes, including segregated male and female spa areas |
| Convention centre | Yes, large, on site under the main hotel |
| Visit date | 21 to 28 October 2023 |
First impressions
The Grand Hyatt Dubai feels properly grand from the minute you pull up. There’s a tiered car park where most leisure guests park, with a separate, smaller lot for the convention centre. A water feature runs along the driveway, ending in a waterfall at the entrance. Valet parking is available; we didn’t use it but every member of staff we dealt with was helpful when we hopped in and out.
The property has three main components and it’s worth understanding them before you book. There’s the residences (for longer stays), there’s the main hotel block, and underneath the bedroom section there’s the convention centre, where large events, expos and gatherings happen. We were in the main hotel.
You walk into the lobby and clock the food and beverage outlets to the left and reception to the right. Then you go up a level and you see the atrium, which is genuinely one of the best hotel atriums I’ve ever been in. Four wooden boat hulls are suspended from the ceiling. Below them, water meanders through a planted canopy of ferns and palms with walkways crossing through. It’s a beautiful piece of design and the kids loved it.
The atrium and grounds
The atrium is the heart of the hotel. The ponds inside it are stocked with large fish, and my wife tells me there are terrapins in there too (I never saw them but the kids did). At ground level you’ve got the Market Café, which is the main buffet and where most of breakfast happens. Upstairs there’s another food outlet, and depending on the time of day breakfast also rolls out into the Italian restaurant or the sushi place.
The lifts are gold and grand and the kids enjoyed them, which is a small thing but worth saying. Floor-level access requires a key card, which I always like to see in a property this big.
Outside the atrium, the grounds run on for ages. Manicured gardens, fountains, water features. There’s an aviary with peacocks who were both pottering on the ground and roosting in the trees, which was a small surprise the kids liked. There was significant construction work going on for the new water park, which I’ll come to in a moment.
Pools
There’s a zero-access (beach-entry) pool that flows into the main outdoor pool. Both are nicely set in the gardens. There’s also an indoor pool, which was quiet whenever I went past — most people want to be outside in Dubai sun, even when it’s pushing 38°C.
At the pool you’ve got a food and drink outlet and a Baskin Robbins for ice cream needs. We honestly didn’t use the pool much because we were out at attractions most days, but the times we were down there it was good and the kids enjoyed it.
Important context. When we visited in October 2023, the new water park was still under construction. The CGI plans on the site boards looked impressive: significant slides, a wave pool, partial shade cover and dedicated kids’ areas, plus new food and drink outlets. That water park has since opened as the Grand Hyatt Dubai Waterpark and is now part of the property’s offer for guests. If you’re booking now, this is materially different from what we experienced and it changes the calculus on whether to stay here for a family Dubai trip.
The Megaplex (and why it’s the secret weapon)
This is the bit we hadn’t fully appreciated when we booked. Adjacent to the hotel there’s a building called the Megaplex. From outside it looks unremarkable. Inside it has a 12-screen cinema and, more importantly for us, a place called Roly Poly.
Roly Poly is a serious soft play and fun attraction for kids. The slides are good, the staffing is genuinely fantastic — there’s a member of staff at the top of every slide and another at the bottom — it’s clean, and very well supervised. The crucial bit: if your child is over four, they will mind them for up to three hours. So you and your partner can go off and do something Dubai-shaped while they have a properly good time.
Our package included three hours of Roly Poly per child per day plus 50 AED of arcade credit per child per day. That’s roughly £10 a day in arcade credit, which is a decent allocation, plus a meaningful amount of free childcare. We didn’t end up using all of it because we were out and about, but it’s significant value if you’re at the resort with kids who’d happily do soft play instead of yet another mall trip.
Also in the Megaplex: a small Panini Outlet, a collectibles shop (closed when I tried to buy some Hot Wheels for a friend, which was annoying), and an arcade. There’s a car park here too, so you can drive directly to it, although as the hotel will organise transport for the (very short) journey if you can’t be bothered to walk.
The room
Good size, comfortably set up for a family of four. We had two zed beds wheeled in for the kids alongside the super king (which is a zip-and-link, although you don’t notice until you’re on the bed). On the right of the entrance there’s a luggage room with a safe, which we used despite Dubai’s pretty much zero crime rate.
The bathroom is well done. Separate rainfall shower, large bath, a basin set apart from the shower (so it’s a proper bath, not a shower-bath compromise), plenty of toiletries, and what we call in our family a butt bath and a butt shower alongside the standard toilet — typical for the region.
Power sockets and easy-to-use light switches are on both sides of the bed, which is still surprisingly rare in hotels. Air conditioning works properly. Large TV, coffee facilities, mini bar (paid for, not included). Our window faced Deira with a view of the clock tower and a slice of the creek, with the monorail passing now and again. Not a stunning view, but a perfectly nice one.
The sofa is just a sofa, not a sofa bed. That’s rare and worth knowing if you’re hoping to use one for an extra child sleep spot. The fruit bowl in the room wasn’t standard; it appeared because we’d arrived too late to have dinner and the staff offered it as a gesture, which was a nice touch.
One small unfixed thing: a curtain hook had come off in the corner of our window, which meant a slice of light came through in the mornings. Not enough to bother reporting, but worth noting in a write-up that’s meant to be honest.
Food and drink
Service across the food outlets was the standout. We had a supervisor called Bill at the Market Café (the main buffet) who looked after us all week and was excellent. Every interaction we had with the food and beverage team was friendly, attentive and quick. Honestly some of the best service we’ve had at any hotel.
Breakfast rotates between the Market Café (the largest spread, with multiple stations and chefs cooking on the line), the Italian (my favourite for breakfast, although on one mysterious morning they had no bananas and insisted there were no bananas in Dubai that day), and a sushi restaurant. There’s also a small Panini outlet downstairs from the atrium with beautiful cakes — properly beautiful, including a KFC bucket cake that was a sight to behold.
We didn’t try any à la carte dining on this trip, so I can’t speak to those. The deal we had through Luxury Escapes covered dinner and breakfast in the buffet for us and full all-inclusive for the kids, which was solid value.
Worth knowing. The hotel runs an Oktoberfest event in a large event space, with sausages, beer, lederhosen, the lot. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. You can hear it from the rooms and it goes well past midnight. If you’re a light sleeper or have small kids who go to bed early, ask for a room away from that event space, especially in the Oktoberfest period.
Spa and gym
The spa was part of our package — we got a credit — but we didn’t use it. There’s a small hairdresser and barber inside the spa area, segregated male and female spa areas (typical for the region), and a gym. The gym is small but has people using it, and there’s a bit more equipment in a separate space. We didn’t use the gym either, although I did walk through and there were people running outside as well, which is a brave October-in-Dubai choice.
Practical things to know before you go
Booking. We booked through Luxury Escapes (luxuryescapes.com), which is an Australian operator. They’ve been around a while and seem to have consistently strong deals for Dubai for the international market — UK, Australia, anywhere. The deal we landed was dinner, bed and breakfast for us with kids all-inclusive, plus daily arcade credit, daily Roly Poly time, and spa credit. They also bundle flights if you want them.
Dubai weather in October. It hit 38°C while we were there. That sounds intense but Dubai is set up for it. You hop from one air-conditioned space to another. The malls, the theme parks (most of them indoor or wet), the metro and the hotels are all properly cool. Some people find the heat uncomfortable; if you’re one of them, even a Dubai October may be a stretch.
Driving. Dubai driving is, to put it gently, like Wacky Races. Not much actual crashing, but a lot of pushing in, sudden lane changes and confidence-required moments. I enjoy it; my mum or my mother in-law would not. If you’re a nervous passenger, taxis, Ubers and Careems will be a lot. Have a think about whether you want to drive yourself or rely on transfers.
Convention guests. If the hotel is hosting a major expo, the lobby and the breakfast restaurants will feel the impact — busier, louder, more queue. Worth checking the convention calendar if you have any flexibility on dates and you’re picking the Grand Hyatt for the family rather than for the conference.
Who is this hotel for?
Families doing Dubai as a city break. The combination of a serious city-resort, multiple pools, the new water park, and Roly Poly soft play with three-hour kid-minding for over-fours is a genuinely strong family proposition. Especially if you’re using the hotel as a base for theme parks, malls and the rest of Dubai.
Conference attendees with family in tow. The convention centre is on site. You can attend a conference and have your family enjoy the resort while you’re in sessions. That’s a niche but real use case.
People who like properly designed spaces. The atrium alone is worth coming to see. If you appreciate a hotel that’s been thought about, this one has been thought about.
Probably not for: light sleepers booking around the Oktoberfest period without checking room location, families with toddlers under 4 (Roly Poly’s minimum age is 4, although the pools and the soft splash zones in the new water park work for younger), or anyone wanting an isolated beach resort — this is a city resort, not a beachfront one.
FAQ
Final verdict: stay again or stay away?
Stay again. The Grand Hyatt Dubai is a properly grand city resort with one of the best hotel atriums I’ve been in, exceptional service, multiple pools, a new water park (since we visited), and a Megaplex next door with a 12-screen cinema and Roly Poly soft play with three-hour kid-minding for over-fours. The package we got via Luxury Escapes was strong value for what we got. The only real heads-up is the Oktoberfest noise on certain evenings; otherwise this is an easy stay-again for a family Dubai trip. I’d recommend it.
Full transcript
Click to expand the full video transcript
Welcome to the Grand Hyatt here in Dubai. We’re on a journey today to discover if this property is the best family hotel in Dubai. Let’s go have a look.
If you stay at this property, you’ll be parking in this tiered set of car parks here. This is where most of the leisure guests park. Over there you can see a small parking lot for the convention centre. Along the car park we have this lovely water feature that runs throughout the property, and you’ve got this amazing waterfall at the start here too.
It’s worth stopping here for a second just to describe the three major components of the building. Over here we have the residences, which are for much longer stays. We’ve got the main part of the hotel here, and then underneath this section of bedrooms we have the convention centre, where various large events, gatherings, expos and so on happen.
Valet parking — taxi driver not looking for me on the crossing here. Valet driving is available, valet parking sorry. Not been able to make use of it but everyone here has been very helpful every time we have hopped in and out.
So we enter the large lobby here. To the left, two of the food and beverage outlets, and to the right we have reception where you’ll be checking in and checking out. Now I’m going to take you up here to give you a good view of the atrium, which is a really amazing part of this property. You can see these four boat hulls up on the ceiling and they hang over, as I say, this amazing atrium here, which has, again, meandering water flowing throughout, this beautiful canopy of ferns and palms and walkways which, again, are great for the kids and adults. I like.
Now, given the time of day, people are enjoying their breakfast. You can see here at the Market Café, which is the largest, just downstairs here. Lots of people enjoying it. You can see, and I’ll zoom in for you, all the different stations. Exceptional service throughout our stay. We’ve had a guy called Bill who’s been looking after us, one of the supervisors here. Really, really good. Upstairs here you can see another food outlet. Depending on the time of day, when you come down for breakfast, you’re going to be directed to a number of restaurants. One of those two — either down here, the sushi restaurant, or the Italian just down here.
But yeah, beautiful atrium. These ponds, you can see some large fish just there, and tall — there are also some terrapins in there. I’ve not seen them, but the kids have, and my wife tells me that they are there.
Grand golden lifts, they have key card security for the floor levels as well, which is always welcome to see. The kids have enjoyed these lifts. Bizarre, but it’s the way it goes. So, off to the room then.
And so, into the room. Great size of room. Immediately on the right we have a luggage room and a safe box, which we’ve made use of despite the great lack of crime in Dubai. The bathroom — well-appointed, separate rainfall shower, large bath, basin which is separate to the shower, it’s not a shower-rubber bath. Lots of toiletries, and we have what we call in our family a butt bath and a butt shower as well as a toilet, but very nicely done.
Hello. Into the room then. So, a large size. We opted to have two zed beds in the room for the kids to sleep on, and then we’ve got this large super king bed. It is a zip-and-link. You can’t tell from here, but you can tell when you’re on the bed. It’s not bothered us at all. Got power sockets and easy-to-use light switches on either side of the beds. Still amazing how rare that is in hotels. Important to say, the air conditioning works and is good. It works really well. There is a large TV, we’ve not used that at all. We’ve got coffee-making facilities, which again we’ve not used, and there is a mini bar which is well stocked but paid for, it’s not included.
Out the window, then, from this room. We’re facing towards Deira. You can see the Deira clock tower in the distance, as well as the creek. Nothing too exceptional out this way, but it’s certainly not an offensive view. In fact, it’s quite nice to watch the monorail pass by now and again.
We’ve not been able to use this sofa. It’s not a sofa bed. Again, rare in a hotel room for the sofa not to be a bed, but anyway. The fruit bowl — they don’t come complimentary in the bedrooms. We got that because we arrived so late that we couldn’t have dinner and they offered to provide it. You can see why this cushion is up in the corner. Just one small point — it wasn’t worth us reporting, but the curtain, one of the hooks is off in this corner and meant that the light was shining through in the mornings, and we just haven’t bothered to notify anyone.
Water — we’ve been well hydrated throughout our stay. They’ve looked after us. So all in all, I’d say it’s a fantastic room. Decent size, especially for the money. We’ve had plenty of space. No problems at all. Could it have been bigger? Maybe, but really there’s nothing at all to complain about. The telephone works easily — you just ring down to reception, no problems. Again, surprising how many telephones are hard to use in hotels.
Up on the escape plan, you can see the format of the hotel, with us just being here, and the block there.
So down here we do have this wonderful outlet here called Paninis, which has beautiful cakes available. They’re all set out for Halloween, but you can see really beautiful products at all. Some sandwiches. But check out these cakes here. My favourite has got to be the KFC bucket cake here. Look at the size of that. Really, really cool. Fantastic.
So here is that Italian. People enjoying their breakfast right now. It’s probably my favourite one for breakfast, although one time they didn’t have any bananas. Why they didn’t have bananas, but they insisted there were no bananas in Dubai that day. Whether one of the other restaurants would have had it, I don’t know, but they didn’t have any bananas. But it’s a really nice restaurant either way.
We’ve not had any dining experiences on the à la carte basis, so we’ve not been able to try any in the way they enjoyed in the afternoon or the evening. You can see they’re set up for Oktoberfest. They have a large event space where people get drunk, party and eat sausage. You can see it there, they get dressed up. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays. Worth noting, you can hear that happening in your bedroom and it goes late. You know, it doesn’t finish up midnight.
So here on the outside of the atrium there are lots of kiosks, shops. Most of them are high-end fashion or, indeed, trinkets. There’s a rug shop coming up, but there is this pharmacy here. We needed to get some eye drops for Bertie and they looked after us very well in there. There you can see some rugs and some wonderful clothing.
So as part of our package we do get credit for the spa, although we’ve not used it. There’s a small hairdressers and barbers in there, we’ve not been able to use our spa credit. Hello. But we have been able to use, or we are using today, the pool, which Katie and the kids are in right now.
There are segregated spa areas as well, for male and female, which is typical for most of the world outside of Europe. You’ve got a small gym here with some people exercising. Kind of understandable — you wouldn’t want to be exercising outside, but I have seen some people running. Hello. More gym equipment this way. So there is an indoor pool which you can see here, nice and cool and quiet at this time of day. That said, when we came down later in the day it was quiet then as well. I think most people want to be outside, and we’re going to head there now.
One small surprise for the outdoor — there is an aviary with some peacocks in. You’ve got beautiful manicured grounds with all these fountains and water. I’m going to head this way to the pool past the aviary so I can show you that. Yeah, lots of outdoor space here, even with the large construction work going on for the new pool area.
We have this peacock area here. You can see them both on the ground, and they do roost up in the trees if you can just see them up there as well. So there’s a nice zero-access, beach-like pool here. The water from there flows into the main pool here, which we can see. Flo and Bertie and Katie, just down there. Hey kiddos.
Let’s go have a better look at what they’re building. They’ve got some informational boards up here. They’re building it as the Grand Hyatt water park, and I think this is going to be a game-changer for families coming here. You can see from these images how expansive the new area is going to be, with significant levels of slides. You have an area here that’s semi-covered, so these little dots are shade. Some really good water slides. That looks like a wave generator there. And then you’ve got new food and drink outlets there as well. It looks really, really smart. Show you from a different angle on this CGI here as well. Yeah, really, really cool. In fact, looks like the main pool here is turning into a wave-like, a wave-generation pool, and then you can see the more sub-wave operation there. Really, really cool. This is going to be a game-changer for this property here, no doubt.
From this vantage point you can see the extension to the pools much better. You can see the existing pools, and you can see how big the area is there. It takes up where some gardens and four tennis courts used to be, and that is specifically for children, I’m told.
So, just as we walk through the gardens here, I want to briefly talk to you about the basis on which we booked. We did book through a third party, through Luxury Escapes dot com. They’re an Australian operator. I’ve met with them before a few years ago now. They’ve been operating a while and they seem to have, by far, the best deals for Dubai for the international market. So it doesn’t matter if you’re in Australia, the UK or whatever, they’ve got really good deals for Dubai. The deal that we’re on here is a dinner, bed and breakfast deal. So Katie and I get dinner in one of the buffets, or in the buffet in the Market Café. We also get breakfast, and the kids are all-inclusive, so they get everything. We haven’t really tried hard to push that, but yeah, they’re all-inclusive, which is pretty cool. The room rate wasn’t bad either. We think we got a good deal, and yeah, really glad that we were able to come here. Luxury Escapes do have flights, they can bundle flights as well, which is good.
Good morning, how you doing. So we have a food and drink outlet here at the pool, and a Baskin Robbins for ice cream requirements as well. We’ve not been able to use this here, mainly because we’ve been out all the time. We’ve not been able to make use of the pool here at all. We’ve been out on attractions. You can see Flo’s reviews of those attractions. I’ll link that in the description below and in a popup banner here now as well. But yeah, great pool. Already much more coming soon to the Grand Hyatt here in Dubai.
And so, general Dubai top tips. It’s hot, it’s warm. We’ve had it at 38°C and we’re in October, so it is warm. But unlike many hot places in the world, you’re basically moving from one air-conditioned place to another. You know, most of the theme parks are inside, the water parks obviously you’re going to be wet anyway, you’ve got air-con in cars, all the hotels, all the shopping centres, the malls are wonderfully cool. So it’s not too bad, but it is hot, and a lot of people find it uncomfortably so.
Driving — if you aren’t confident or ignorant, you’re going to struggle driving here. It’s like Wacky Races. Not much crashing, but a lot of shenanigans. You know, people pushing in. You need to be incredibly confident to be able to get through, and if you’re a nervous passenger, you’re going to struggle in taxis and Ubers and Careems as well. So it’s just a heads-up on the driving situation. I enjoy it and I get on fine, but a lot of people don’t like it and would struggle with it.
So, adjacent to the Grand Hyatt Hotel we have what they call the Megaplex, which is a really cool facility but we hadn’t fully appreciated when we booked to stay here. So in this building here, looks rather indescript, there’s the hotel, here is the Megaplex.
Now, as part of our deal, we get credit every day to make use of two lots of the facilities in here. We get 50 dirhams a day for the kids to use in the arcade, which we’ve not made any use of at all, and 50 dirhams, that’s like 10 — nearly 10 quid, so it’s a decent allocation. And then we also get 3 hours a day per child in Roly Poly, which I’m about to show you now. Yeah, if you were here on a leisure break, you would love to make use of. I mean, that is worth a lot of money.
So the main part of the Megaplex is the cinema. There’s 12 large screens here playing films I’ve never heard of, but I assume they’re popular in the GCC. They have contemporary films, clearly. I mean, it is just a normal cinema, but it is out here in Dubai. Here you can see the arcade, where you can get that credit. And then here we have half of Roly Poly. So Roly Poly, as I say, is really, really, really cool. Not only is it a significant soft play and fun attraction for kids, but they have the capability to look after your kids. So if your child is over four years old, they will mind them for up to three hours, so you and your wife can go off to the beach and enjoy your time there and deposit your children in Roly Poly for three hours. The staffing is fantastic. I mean, they’ve got so many great staff in there. There’s someone at the top of the slide, there’s someone at the bottom of the slide. It’s clean, they have — we’re going to see — I’ll insert footage of Bertie or Flo going down that slide here. Yeah, really, really cool, and very safe as well.
You can see a security guard here. He’s watching me. He’s like, what’s this guy doing? He’s going to have to — he’s thinking he’s going to have to get me. I’m here for nefarious purposes. But yeah, Roly Poly, I’d very much recommend it. Well worth a visit.
There is a small restaurant here as well, another Panini outlet. Again, they’ve got Halloween-related material out, which I find tasteful, but it is what it is. And then there’s a small shop here selling collectibles, which I was hoping was going to be open, because those Hot Wheels just there I was going to try and get up for my friend. Did the security guard follow me down, or is this another one? No, that’s another one. You see, very safe. There is a car park here, so you can just park directly here if you want to, and equally, as I mentioned before, given this is Dubai and you don’t go outside, the hotel will get a car and they’ll drive so that the hotel will organise your transport for the 40 metres, but yeah, really, really, really cool facility. Great value for guests staying at the Grand Hyatt, and I’d recommend making use of it. You can go watch one of these wonderful films while your kids are in Roly Poly. Yeah, fantastic.
And so, should you come with your family to Dubai? Yes, you should. It’s clean, it’s safe, the hospitality is fantastic — some of the best hospitality in the world. The facilities are phenomenal and the quality is there. But if you’re bringing your family to Dubai, should you stay here at the Grand Hyatt? I am incredibly picky and I pick up on the smallest of problems within hotels. That’s what I do for a living, in fact, and I’m doing these videos for fun. But the Grand Hyatt has nothing wrong. I mean, it’s really, really fantastic. Really good — the service we’ve had, the quality of the rooms, the amenities, the access to facilities. Really, really, really good. And so, I would very, very much recommend your next family vacation or holiday being here at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai. See you next time.