IMG 2348 Front Entrance Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay CROPPED FOR FOUNTAIN 1600 x 1200 80q 507kb

Tampa Bay Grand Hyatt Review: Affordable Luxury and Convenience for Pre and Post-Cruise Stays

Tampa Bay, Florida

By Angie & Jeff

November 26, 2024

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Quick Overview

Drive Time from Tampa Bay Airport (TPA): Distance: 3 miles by car. Usually takes about 6 minutes of drive time.

Number of Hotel Floors: 14 stories.

1823 Kitchen and Bar: We found the food to be very good here. We had a buffet breakfast here each morning. We also ordered lunch and dinner here.

Gym: Plenty of Equipment. The gym is on the larger side compared to other Hyatt hotels we’ve stayed at. There are treadmills, spin bikes, rowing machines, stair step machines, universal gyms, and many weight benches and free weights too.

Pool: There are 2 beautiful heated outdoor pools.

Room: Spacious. Great views on the bay side of the hotel.

Special Highlight: Make sure to take the approximate 15 minute walk on the wide boardwalk from the main pool area through the mangrove trees out to the large gazebo at the water’s edge of Old Tampa Bay.

Note: The hotel is pet friendly for an additional fee.

Why Stay Here?

The Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay hotel has a grand feel to it. From the moment you roll up to the circle drive, outdoor fountains, flowers, and an impressive tropical foliage wall welcome you. As you head inside you’ll see high tray ceilings with perimeter lighting and extensive use of marble floors with more flowers. We recently stayed at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay before and after our Margaritaville At Sea cruise.

IMG 7769 Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Sign 800 x 600 80q 154kb — Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Entrance Sign.

While a beautiful getaway, this is also a hotel which caters to business travelers who need large gathering spaces. Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay has amenities that give it a resort feel such as the two swimming pool areas with relaxing lounge chairs and clamshell beds, the inviting boardwalk to the gazebo near the water’s edge of Old Tampa Bay, and on site dining options. This hotel would be a wonderful place to have a wedding reception.

A photo showing one set of the front entrance doors at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. The clear glass doors have a black marble surround on 3 sides. There is a very large black entry rug spanning all 5 doors for this entry point with Grand Hyatt embroidered in red lettering. The Grand Hyatt Entrance Sign just described in the previous photo can be partially seen on the left side of this photo. — One set of the front entrance doors at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Entrance & First Impressions of Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay

We found the staff welcoming and skilled as we checked in on both stays. As Globalists (the highest tier of the Hyatt loyalty program if you’re not a Hyatt loyalist) we were each given a token for a free glass of champagne to enjoy at the hotel bar. We both enjoyed this unexpected treat!

Upon entering the hotel, the check in desk is to the left. There is a sitting area to the right and the 1823 Kitchen & Bar is on the left just beyond the check in desks. The lobby can become an extremely congested bottleneck during a large event as we witnessed during the first night of our first stay while a giant bodybuilding conference was happening here.

A photo of a hotel lobby with white marble floors and a brown marble inlay. There are half walls which also function as planter boxes for the live, brightly colored flowers. In the distance are floor to ceiling windows looking out to the pool area and mangrove trees beyond that. — The lobby at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. The entrance to 1823 Kitchen and Bar is on the left near the center of the photo. Additional lounge seating is to the right. All the way down the hall and to the left leads to conference rooms at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Rooms at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay

We were lucky to stay on the bay side of the hotel in room 1022 which showcases corner windows with expansive views of Old Tampa Bay on our first stay. On our return stay following the Margaritaville at Sea Islander cruise, we were lucky enough to be able to purchase a discounted upgrade to stay in the presidential suite in 1218 also on the bay side which has even more expansive glass windows looking out to Old Tampa Bay.

IMG 2432 Corner View Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay 800 x 600 80q 71kb — Jeff enjoys the sunset view over Old Tampa Bay from room 1022.

You will likely see pink spoonbills and white egrets flying above the mangrove trees between the hotel and the bay. We had a great time watching these birds from both rooms. On a sunny day, the water sparkles in the late afternoon which adds to the already stunning views. If a storm should roll in, the drama of sunset is not to be missed from the vantage point of either room.

Both rooms feature comfortable beds with crisp white linens and overall a modern yet beachy vibe. The bathrooms in both rooms offer light marble vanities, with the suite including a double vanity, and spacious showers. The suite includes a living room, a kitchen, a separate primary bedroom and bathroom, and a guest bathroom near the front entry.

IMG 3101 Rainfall Shower Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay 600 x 800 80q 69kb rotated — The beautiful rainfall shower in the presidential suite at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

The suite boasts a kitchen, lacking only a microwave or stove/hotplate. There is a countertop ice maker, a full size refrigerator, a separate wine refrigerator, and a bar sink with plenty of countertop space for preparing drinks. Both the suite and regular room offer a Keurig machine with provided coffee pods; while the suite also includes a Nespresso machine and several flavors of Nespresso pods.

A photo of a living room with 2 oversized cushioned chairs, a petrified wood coffee table, a long sofa, a console table behind the sofa with 2 lamps, a large cabinet with a large flat screen television mounted above it, and a wall of windows looking out to Tampa Bay. — The living room in the Presidential Suite, 1218, at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Have you ever been to hotels where the robes seem to be child size? That is not the case here at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. The robes in the rooms are some of the best we’ve experienced in terms of softness and a roomy fit. We are both tall people. Enjoy this luxury while you stay here.

A man in a plush white robe smiles with a cup of coffee while standing in a hotel suite kitchen. — Jeff enjoys his coffee and plush robe in the presidential suite kitchen.

Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Grounds

The grounds at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay are really impressive and beautifully kept. We enjoyed the resort retreat feel just minutes from the airport and bustle of Tampa.

A photo of a curved 12 story building next to a large pond with palm trees, blue skies, and white clouds. — The pond behind Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Main Swimming Pool

There is a beautiful rectangular outdoor heated swimming pool at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. The swimming pool features an inlaid blue palm tree mosaic in the bottom of the pool which adds visual interest.

The swimming pool depth is graduated. We really appreciated that this pool ranged from approximately 4 feet to 8 feet depth. Many hotel pools are only 3 feet deep which feels a bit silly for us tall folks! The swimming pool has a very comfortable bathwater temperature. The pool was sparkling clean and enjoyable.

A photo of a long rectangular inground swimming pool with lounge chairs and pool umbrellas and round clam shell lounge beds surrounding it. Green mangrove trees and a bright blue sky with white puffy clouds can be seen in the distance. — The main pool at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay has also done a great job bringing the fun to the swimming pool area by providing pool noodles in various bright colors, and also pool floats, including a pink flamingo and a white unicorn with a rainbow-colored mane.

There are also plenty of lounge chairs around the pool and pool umbrellas for shade. A nice bonus here is there are also quite a few comfy round lounge beds with shade covers near the pool. All the seating is available on a first come, first served basis.

Walking Path through the Mangroves out to the Gazebo

There is a really nice wide walkway made from composite decking with railings that leaves from the main pool area and meanders through the mangrove trees out to a large gazebo near the water’s edge of Tampa Bay. The square-shaped gazebo has an open, vaulted, pergola-like ceiling, open to the sky which provides some shade on hot, sunny days. The gazebo has built-in benches on 2 sides.

The walk is very tranquil and peaceful and some areas of the walk have a canopy of trees over the walkway. Mangroves trees also line both sides of the walkway the entire way out to the gazebo. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see pink spoonbills and white egrets near the walkway. There are signs describing the other types of birds and crustaceans you might see out here too.

A couple is walking away in the distance on a brown boardwalk path surrounded by mangroves. — One of the beautiful walking paths at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Something that surprised us a bit is that the gazebo doesn’t offer views of the bay because those views are obstructed by the mangroves. If you’re looking for views of Old Tampa Bay, see below for the path to the dock with Adirondack chairs on the end.

A photo of a large square gazebo with bench seating on 2 sides. The roof is a vaulted ceiling with a pergola like structure providing shade but also allowing light to come in and open to the blue sky above. The sky is bright blue with puffy white clouds. Tampa Bay can be seen in the distance. — The gazebo at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

A photo of a large amount of mangroves in the foreground with a small amount of bay visible with buildings in the distance on the other side of the bay. — A small peek of a view through the mangroves from the gazebo of Old Tampa Bay.

Oystercatchers Swimming Pool

There is also a 2nd swimming pool near the Oystercatchers restaurant. To get to this pool, walk down the boardwalk from the main swimming pool area described above and follow the signs to the Oystercatchers restaurant. Walk left past the Oystercatchers restaurant and you will find the 2nd swimming pool.

A photo of an inground swimming pool shaped like the capital letter L. Lounge chairs are around the perimeter of the pool. Several palm trees and a bright blue sky with white puffy clouds can be seen in the distance. There is a large white unicorn floatie and a large pink flamingo floatie and several other smaller ring floaties floating in the pool. — The 2nd Swimming Pool at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Beach at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay

It’s a bit of a stretch to call it a beach, but there is a terraced area with deep sand just next to the 2nd swimming pool on the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay property near the Oystercatchers restaurant. This sandy area also has lounge chairs so you can sunbathe in the tropical Florida sun. In our mind, a beach means a sandy area with access to the lake or ocean and this area does not open up to a swimming area on the bay.

A photo of a sandy area with lounge chairs, beach umbrellas, fire pits, clamshell beds, and an Adirondack chair visible. While there is a bay visible in the distance, there is no water access from this sandy area. — The ‘beach’ at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. It lacks swimming access, so we think it is better called the sandy area.

Enjoy the Bay While Sitting in the Adirondack chairs

Just past the 2nd pool and the small beach area you’ll see a gate leading to another boardwalk. This is a great discovery that you’ll want to pursue. At the end of this boardwalk are 2 Adirondack chairs safely bolted to the dock that you and another can sit in and enjoy the sights and sounds of Tampa Bay. We have also read that you may sight manatees from this spot. We didn’t personally spot any manatees, but enjoyed watching some small fish swim by.

A photo of two Adirondack chairs secured at the end of a long boardwalk overlooking the blue water of Old Tampa Bay. — 2 Adirondack chairs at the end of the boardwalk. Great for enjoying the sights and sounds of Old Tampa Bay.

Overall Food Quality

Overall, we enjoyed the food during both of our stays. In particular, the breakfast options were impressive and we were happy they were included for us as Globalists with Hyatt.

The only small critique we have came about as our first stay of 2 nights was unexpectedly expanded to a 4 night stay due to a cruise delay for a tropical storm/hurricane. This meant we ate nearly every meal on site for those four days which is when we began to find the menus a bit limited and definitely more expensive than we prefer.

We learned that the head chef at 1823 Kitchen & Bar has incorporated at least one Floridian ingredient into most of the dishes. But we started to really miss just a basic menu by the end of that first stay instead of the more obscure ingredients they included. At one point, we ordered from the kid’s menu to get a basic grilled cheese instead of a Mojo Pork Quesadilla for example.

1823 Kitchen & Bar

We found the quality of the food we ordered at 1823 Kitchen & Bar to be quite good and the kitchen staff was showing skill with plating. The Florida Superfood Salad was especially pretty. Most of the menu is in the $14 to $22 range at 1823 Kitchen & Bar.

You can easily find more options at 1823 Kitchen & Bar that also look delicious from the menu descriptions, but will put you in the range of $30 to $50 per person.

We enjoyed the Florida Superfood Salad. This salad features fresh kale & baby greens, red & brown rice, red quinoa, barley, lychee, Florida blueberries, Marcona almonds, crumbled blue cheese, and a raspberry-walnut vinaigrette. The flavors combine perfectly and this salad hardly feels like you are eating healthy food. It was delicious!

The parmesan chips, which are a side option, were also a standout. We both recommend getting them.

This bar and restaurant had constant activity throughout the day and night during our stays at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. The restaurant is run by Hyatt and you can bill charges to your room as of our visit. This is a nice perk for those looking for Hyatt charges via Hyatt credit cards to net more points for future stays.

A photo showing several circular high top tables of 4 guests each enjoying meals and drinks and a long bar with a white marble top with many barstools also filled with guests enjoying food and drinks. A wide floor to ceiling display of LCD screens projects everchanging images. There are also many flat screen televisions throughout the space. — 1823 Kitchen and Bar at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Breakfast

We had a buffet breakfast each morning of our stays here. This impressive buffet was included for us as Hyatt Globalists. Without this breakfast benefit, the buffet is pretty pricey.

If there are enough guests staying in the hotel for a conference, you will be lucky enough to experience the omelette station setup in the buffet area with a basket of fresh eggs and many bowls of freshly chopped vegetables, shredded cheeses, cubed ham, and crumbled bacon where chefs will prepare fresh omelettes and other egg dishes upon request for you. Even if the omelette station is not set up, omelettes and fresh eggs prepared any way you like them are available every day upon request, as we found out on a quieter day of one of our stays.

A photo of an omelette station with a basket of brown eggs, stacks of white plates, a hot plate and omelette pan, a crock filled with raw scrambled eggs, a crock filled with cooking oil, and many bowls filled with individual chopped ingredients: spinach, green onions, green peppers, red peppers, purple onions, red tomatoes, white mushrooms, white onions, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese. — One of the two omelette stations at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

There were at least 5 to 7 kinds of fresh fruit every morning of our visit including watermelon, cantelope, pineapple, honeydew melon, strawberries, dragonfruit, and blueberries. There were 3 to 5 different kinds of delicious flaky pastries each day. The pastries are supplied by a local bakery and baked fresh on site in the Hyatt kitchens every morning. The Pain Au Chocolat here are some of the best we’ve ever eaten.

A photo of a white square dinner plate filled with chunks of dragonfruit, pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries. — Some of the fruit offered at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

The breakfast buffet offers several different fresh cheeses, meats, cold smoked salmon, capers, onions, tomatoes, and other toppings. There was oatmeal with nuts and dried fruits to choose as toppings and other cereal choices too.

You can also order off the menu for breakfast instead of a buffet.

Pool Bar

We tried Cuban Flatbread which had pork carnitas, shaved ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and Dijonnaise. This was pretty much like a pizza to us. It was super cheesy and delicious and pretty big too at roughly 5 inches wide by 1 foot long. Jeff recommends this one for a good value.

The Pool Bar Food Menu is also filled from 1823 Kitchen & Bar and looking at both menus you can see that many of the same items are listed on both. The Pool Bar closes if the pool closes, as it did for part of our first stay due to the tropical storm/hurricane. At that time, we were told we could not order the Crispy Cauliflower Bites which are only offered on the Pool Menu. We found that to be a bit odd, because the same kitchen is preparing the food, but we didn’t question it further.

Oystercatchers Restaurant

If you want an upscale dining experience, Oystercatchers will fit the bill. The restaurant is located right next to Old Tampa Bay and has beautiful water views.

If you go for lunch and stick with just getting a sandwich or tacos, you can manage to keep the bill under $20 per person; fish and shrimp tacos, a crispy chicken sandwich, and a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich are the current options under $20.

Dinner with 3 courses: starter, salad, and main entree, expect to spend around $80 to 90 per person plus tax and tip. The dinner menu does look delicious.

We didn’t get to try this venue because the weather kept it closed for most of our stay.

A photo of a clear glass sign with the word Oystercatchers printed in black font and green hedges and planted palm trees behind it. On the right side of the photo is a series of 3 tiered white square gazebo structures with black pitch roofs covering tiered stairs leading to the entrance to Oystercatchers Restaurant. — Oystercatchers Restaurant at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Workout Room at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay

The workout space at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is more than twice the size of many workout rooms we typically see at a hotel. There are treadmills, spin bikes, recumbent bikes, universal gym stations, weight benches, and plenty of dumbbells and free weights in racks.

A photo showing many pieces of workout equipment including treadmills, spin bikes, recumbent bikes, and elliptical machines. There are several flat screen televisions mounted near the ceiling throughout the space. — View #1 of the workout room at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

A photo showing even more workout equipment including universal gym stations, weight benches, and racks of dumbbells and free weights. — View # 2 showing the other side of the workout room at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Drive Time to Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay from Tampa International Airport (TPA)

Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is only 3 miles by car from Tampa Bay International Airport (TPA). The drive normally takes just 6 minutes. Uber and Lyft as well as taxi service are other options to get to the hotel from the airport. The Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay currently does not offer its own shuttle service.

Airplane Noise at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay

Sometimes having your hotel very near to a major airport can result in dealing with lots of excess noise. We are very pleased to tell you that we did not notice any airplane noise in either of the two rooms we stayed in on the bay side at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. We don’t know if the same is true for rooms on the other side of the hotel.

When we were out walking the boardwalks near the Oystercatchers restaurant, we could see airplanes taking off over the water and there was some airplane noise here which was noticeable since we were outside.

Should You Stay at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay?

Yes ! We can’t wait to stay at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay again and we have booked Jeff’s parents to stay here in a few months as a result of our excellent experience. We think you’ll enjoy this hotel, too.

We found the staff at this hotel to be very helpful and kind and we also loved the spaces this hotel offers.

The food was good and we had some of the best Pain Au Chocolat we’ve ever eaten while staying here. We learned Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is getting the Pain Au Chocolat from a local bakery but they are doing the baking on site.

The only drawbacks we see with Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is that Uber, Lyft, and taxi costs can add up quickly if you don’t have your own car or rental car.

There are currently ZERO restaurants that are an easy walk from Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. If you are willing to walk a little over 1.5 miles each way, your choices expand to 3 restaurants, but the walk would not be pleasant as the path to all 3 involves walking along Highway 60.

Also, if you plan to do much in the downtown Tampa area that involves an approximate 7 mile drive each way from Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Having said this, Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay offers some of the most exciting bird watching we’ve ever experienced at any hotel and the views of Old Tampa Bay are stunning. Enjoy!