Back in October I announced the news that the Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar (Bahamas) was taking reservations for June 1, 2015 and beyond. This is a new hotel on Cable Beach that will feature 707 rooms and the amenities are supposed to be top notch. There is a beach, casino, spa, restaurants, bars, and lounges. From the pictures it looks absolutely beautiful!
While overall the hotels opening date kept on getting pushed back from the original plan years ago, at some point over the last month it actually moved its opening date up a month! You can now make a reservation for May 1, 2015 and beyond! While typically I do not like to be the first guest at a hotel as they figure out how to manage the property (thus facing flaws in the hotel), it probably will be a quiet time to visit and can possibly increase the chances of an upgrade due to a low occupancy rate.
As of today, this hotel is listed at a category 4, but unfortunately will be moving up to a category 5 in just a few days on January 22, 2015. This is one of the 22 hotels that are moving up a category during Hyatt’s annual re-categorization of hotels. I am not surprised at all and was quite shocked when it was originally announced as a category 4. With that being said, you still have slightly over 24 hours to make a reservation using only 15,000 points for a free night. After that the hotel will cost 20,000 points for a free night which I still think is reasonable. And since it is a category 4 you still have time to book a room using your free night that comes with the Chase Hyatt credit card (if you are a card member).
Here are some pictures of the resort I pulled directly from the hotels website. It should be a nice alternative to the Atlantis and a great opportunity to use Hyatt Gold Passport Points!
I am personally very excited to check out this hotel at some point over the next year. I already have a few speculative reservations at the currently category level.
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Thanks for the reminder! Just booked four nights here in the summer on points! Just be warned, I booked online after calling Hyatt GP, who told me it was a Cat 5. I had to point her to the notes, which she read while I was on the phone, that Cat 4 applies until the end of Jan 21.
What month’s did you book? June to oct is hurricane season and Nov,Dec weather seems iffy. Was thinking about a May 4 day trip but rates are 280.00 a nite think I would rather pay cash or P&C and use upgrade instead of points only. But after hearing horror stories about Hyatt Jamaica’s first month don’t want to take a chance.
@Gary – Agree that late summer and fall can be iffy, but it could also be great. Same with weather in December/January. Probably the best time weather wise in March, April, and May.
July. Booked airline on miles and hotel on points, so canceling won’t be a problem.
I called Hyatt and they were able to book a 3 night speculative stay even though I only had 30k Hyatt miles in my acct. He “loaned” me 15k points until 14 days before arrival. This saved the Chase UR flexibility until I can firm up plans.
@James – That is great. Thanks for letting me know.