Review: Grand Hyatt Baha Mar ~ Part 2 Activities

While Part 1 of my Grand Hyatt Baha Mar review focused on the rooms, this part will focus on all of the different activities available at the resort.  Let’s get started:

Pools

The resort currently has six different pools open which are all a little slightly different and have their own vibe.  The first when exiting the main building is the reflections pool which is surrounded by cabanas on each side.  I’m guessing once the hotel is fully open, they may restrict access to to pool unless renting a cabana as there was no ‘public’ access other than from the cabanas.

 

 

The next pool towards the beach was the Fortune Pool.  This was one of the larger pools that contained a swim up bar, a whirpool/jacuzzi, and a waterfall.  It’s very well designed with lots of coves with seating areas.

 

 

Next was the Elixir Pool – I must have missed a photo of it, but it is a big circle pool that is surrounded by cabanas and round daybeds.  The walk up ‘Elixir’ Bar is also located here.

Our favorite pool was next – the Grand Hyatt Pool.  It has a ledge around most of the pool with lounge chairs in the water.

 

 

It also had rainfall seating areas – this is where we parked ourselves for two days.  There is a button on one of the columns if you want to stop the rainfall.

 

 

 

Finally the last two pools closest to the beach are ‘The Sanctuary’ and ‘Blue Hole Pool’.  This area had the most popular and had the most families.  While there are no slides at any of the pools, The Sanctuary had two different cliffs to jump off of into deep water with a swim under ‘sanctuary’ where you can view an aquarium.

 

 

 

One thing I liked is the restrooms are setup as little individual houses all throughout the pool grounds.  They were always very clean.

 

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Turtles, Stingrays, & Sharks

The Sanctuary also offers you the chance to get up close to turtles, stingrays, and nurse sharks.   Just head over at 10:30, 1:30, or 3:30 for a chance to hear a little bit about the animals and feed/touch them.

 

 

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Future Activities

The resort wasn’t fully open yet, but according to the employees, some activities that will open soon include:

 

 

 

 

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Beach & Sand

If you want your toes in the sand but don’t want to head to the beach, don’t worry there are many beach chair sand areas throughout the pool complex.

 

 

Otherwise head down to the beach, there were plenty of chairs setup each morning.  Attendants were on hand with umbrellas and life guards on duty until 5:00pm.  The water was very calm and crystal clear.  The floating tubes and mats were fun.

 

 

Paddle-boards, canoes, and floating loungers are complimentary and there is a team of attendants ready to help.

 

 

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Shopping & Casino

At the front of the resort, Baha Mar created a lakefront shopping area.  There were only a few shops open at the time of my visit.  There is also a fountain show on the lakes at certain times – kind of like a very mini Las Vegas Bellagio fountain show.

 

 

There were also high-end (Rolex, John Bull) shops inside the hotel adjacent to the casino.  The casino was much larger than I thought it would be.  Just like the Las Vegas casinos – complete with a sportsbook, casino bars, and many table games.  I won $500 playing craps over two nights!

 

 

 

 

I also want to mention that an 18 hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course is open.

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Fitness Center & Spa

While I had every intention of working out on this trip, it didn’t happen 🙁   I wasn’t the only one though, there was only one person using the fitness center and the trainer told me the busy time is 6am-10am with 10-15 people.  It’s a good sized fitness center for when the hotel is fully open.

 

 

 

There was also a full service spa – ESPA – next to the fitness center.  Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to partake in any of the treatments this time.  The prices seem a little high – $170 for 60 minute massage; $240 for 90 minutes.

 

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Final Thoughts

With the lack of slides and a waterpark, Baha Mar is definitely more geared towards an adult clientele as opposed to the Bahamas other mega-resort Atlantis which is more family friendly.   I loved the design of the different pool areas.  All the attendants were kind and helpful and being brand new everything was spotless – I’m hoping it stays that way.

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Upcoming

Check back soon (or sign up below to be notified) for my final Part 3 (restaurants & club lounge) of the review.

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How You Can Do It

As mentioned above this resort costs 20,000 points per night, do you want to stay here for free?  Currently the Chase Ink Preferred Visa credit card sign up bonus is 80,000 points after spending $5000 in three months, which is enough points for four free nights!

Not sure you want to mess with opening up new credit cards – I was apprehensive too at first – but learned quickly how I could travel the world in luxury at a fraction of the costs.  Enroll in my beginner’s course and see how my credit score increased and is over 800 even after opening 18 credit cards in a 24 month period!  This could be you next year . . .

 

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