Pic: Grand Hyatt Mumbai Lobby (Oct 2011)
Pic: Grand Hyatt Mumbai Lobby (Oct 2011)
Last weekend, I visited India for the first time.  A very brief visit, 26 hours to be exact.  Why such a short trip?  Lack of unplanned vacation days and an error fare which I couldn’t refuse (221€ round trip BRU-BOM on JetAirways, more on that later)  Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency or InterContinental Marine Drive, which hotel should I book?  Both Hyatt hotels are close to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.  All three of them had similar room rates.  My local contacts suggested to go for the Grand Hyatt, so that’s what I booked.  Not cheap at 9706INR (150€ incl tax) for one night at a Grand King room.  When I checked the rate again two weeks before my stay, I noticed I had booked too early (3 weeks in advance).  The rate had dropped to 7000INR (30€ less).  Lesson learned: don’t book non-refundable rates more than 15 days in advance, except when special events takes place.  I learned from reading Grand Hyatt Mumbai reviews, airport transportation was complimentary for Gold Passport Diamond members.  Apparently the reservations department at GH Mumbai was not aware of this, as they offered me a 2100INR (30€) rate for one way C.S.I. transportation.  I accepted the offer as my flight was arriving late on Saturday night and didn’t want to bother with the local cab drivers.  After clearing immigrations and customs, I made my way through the crowds and found several Hyatt representatives present at the arrivals exit.  I was introduced to my driver who escorted me to the hotel car.  On the way to the hotel, the driver gave me a briefing on India’s history.  Several guests were checking in when I arrived at 11.30pm on Saturday night.  As soon as one of the front desk staff spotted my Diamond membership card, I was directed to the Club floor for check-in.  When I brought up the question about complimentary airport transportation, I was immediately assured I would not be charged and they confirmed transportation to and from the airport is free for Diamond members.  My Grand King room reservation was upgraded to a Club King room (2181).

Pic: Club King room at Grand Hyatt Mumbai (Oct 2011)
Pic: Club King room at Grand Hyatt Mumbai (Oct 2011)
Pic: King bed at Club room – Grand Hyatt Mumbai (Oct 2011)
After taking some pictures of my room, I took one of the best showers in months and went straight to bed.  Too exhausted after the 9h flight to check-out the party at the hyped China House Lounge  (check Grand Hyatt Mumbai’s facebook page for agenda)  Breakfast at the Club lounge was a bit disappointing, limited selection and no hot dishes.  When I wanted to order two sunny side up eggs, I was informed hot options were only offered at the buffet breakfast of Fifty Five East.  After breakfast I headed to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Linking Road, Bandra West to meet-up with Ajay from Live From A Lounge.  As a Mumbai local, he showed me the highlights of this massive city (population 20.5 million!)
As I had checked out in the morning, I was offered access to the Oasis Fitness Centre and Spa on Sunday night to refresh before my flight on Monday morning 2am back to Brussels.  Lovely spacious Spa with Indoor Whirlpool, Finnish Sauna and Steam Room.

Pic: Hot tub at Oasis Fitness Centre and Spa – Grand Hyatt Mumbai (Oct 2011)
Conclusion:  Great hotel if you want to stay near the Mumbai airport.  High quality infrastructure and excellent service.  Thumbs Up for the extremely service minded staff!