“Back once again with the renegade master”. Another 5-star hotel, in Doha for £22 a night. Qatar Airways delivers the goods with their stopover program. Why the Grand Hyatt over the other 14x 5* hotels on offer? you may ask. Well, my stay at the Hyatt Centric in Milan was that good, I just had to give Hyatt a whirl in Doha.
Location
As the old adage goes, you can’t pick your neighbours. I’d love to say that having the massive grounds that encompass the Grand Hyatt situated on the entrance to The Pearl was an amazing idea. Especially when you have your own beach and perfect blue sea to swim in. All of that is true. The issue is, you have a concrete manufacturing facility directly opposite on the other side of the sea and it is an eyesore.
If the above has instantly turned you off the idea of booking, The Ritz Carlton also looks onto the same site so I wouldn’t be too worried.
To get around Uber is your best bet. Hamad International Airport to the reception will cost £12 or thereabouts and usually takes less than 20 mins.
Checking In
When booking I chose a King Room in the hopes that I may get an upgrade at check-in, no such luck. In fact, checking in was a ball ache. With all good hotels in Doha, you typically go through a body scanning machine and get your bags X-Rayed. Being a photojournalist it took a god 40 mins to even be allowed into the hotel, apparently, they value their right to privacy and my LowePro PhotoStream 150 full of camera gear wasn’t appreciated. I wasn’t allowed to take any sort of pictures whilst on the premises, I still did but obviously, there’s a lot missing.
King Room
Upon walking in the room the disappointment of not getting an upgrade was soon a distant memory, the room was huge. I’ve slept in smaller suites, I guess that’s the perks of buying lots of land and building a gigantic hotel, you can make even your entry-level rooms huge.
The king-sized bed was nice and comfy and the sheets were luxuriously soft. They even provide 2 kinds of pillows so you can choose which you prefer. The addition of an armchair and footstool was a nice touch too.
Onto the marble-clad bathroom. Again, plenty of space to move around in and you can’t complain about the underfloor heating. I like an enclosed shower due to the heat staying in. Having a large shower head right in the centre is nice, but it does make it a bit more of a chore to try and get lathered up without it being washed off in the process. The coathanger right next to the door of the shower is worth a mention, a tiny detail but well thought out.
Onto the large-sized bath which didn’t take long at all to fill and is very comfy… for 1. It’s a double-ended bath, so why in the hell would you have the taps on 1 end and not in the centre? And why that end, why no the other? at least then you have something to look at if your other half is in the shower.
The TV didn’t get much of a look in. I can confirm it’s a decent size for the room, it’s 4K and the channel list is a bit on the dodgy side apart from that, not sure if it has NetFlix and the likes.
Having your own patio is useful if you’re keen on working on your tan whilst sending some emails or writing out proposals etc. They aren’t private what so ever, so I wouldn’t be packing the mankini.
All in all a great room, plenty of power sockets where you want them, a solid well-equipped office desk with ergonomic seat and lights that have proper switches so you don’t need a Masters from MIT when you come in late.
The Grounds
As i alluded to earlier in the post, the grounds are vast, pristine and pretty much fit for a king. Similair to Ephrussi de Rothschild i guess, just with their own beach and a steady 45+ degree temprature in the summer.
Should you get a little peckish or thirsty, the Monkey Tale bar has a well stocked bar and some nibbles on offer.
The Pools
Of which there are 2. The Eastern one is the busy one and where the kids go to swim. as it was busy, there was no chance i was taking any sort of photos.
Above is the western pool, a decent walk from the main hotel. As it’s primarily for adults, if you don’t want to walk, there’s a golf buggy that can be called to whisk you away from the main hotel in under 3 minutes. There’s a good 30+ sun loungers running along the edge of the pool with tables and umbrellas. The water temperature is, like with all hotels in Doha, Perfect.
Unlike the Eastern pool, as you can see it’s extremely tranquil. The neat thing about the Western pool is the fact that the lifeguard doubles up as a concierge. If you get a bit peckish or your martini’s run low, you simply hale him over and he rings over to the main hotel and your food and or drink is delivered poolside.
The Beach
Once again, no images but the hotel owns it’s own beach with beautiful sand under your feet. Again, served by a fully stocked bar. Should you fancy a dip, i can assure you the sea temprature is nice, a million miles away from The North Sea.
Conclusion
A beautiful hotel with scrupulous security. Privacy comes second to nothing if that’s your jam. It makes doing a review pretty difficult, but you can take my word for it when i say you won’t regret making a reservation.