Grand Hyatt Dubai

My husband and I, with 10 year old son stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai for 4 days Xmas 05 as a stop over on the way to Thailand, and for 4 days in Jan 06, on the way back from Thailand. If we had known how fantastic both the hotel and Dubai was going to be, we wouldn't have bothered going to Thailand!!
The Grand Hyatt was the ultimate in luxury - we have traveled all over the world, and we have never stayed in a 5 star hotel as good as this. The reception area is stunning (lots of marble and gold!). We stayed in a basic room (!), but it was at least 45sq meters big. The rooms have a separate walk in wardrobe and a bathroom to die for - sunken tub, separate walk in shower, his and hers sinks! Lots of great toiletries - replenished very frequently, fluffy toweling robes, slippers etc. They also provided us with a fresh fruit basket and bottles of mineral water - both were replenished at least twice a day.
Breakfast was a feast in itself - great that the restaurant serving breakfast is open from 6am to 11.30am, so there is no mad rush! Particularly good for kids - the chefs will make pancakes/ waffles on request.....!
Even though the hotel is not near the beach, it is set in the most fabulous of grounds -like a park! The swimming pool area is magnificent - the children have their own large pool with water slides, lifeguards etc. Plenty of sun beds and space, with lots of large towels placed ready for your use on each bed. Staff are very attentive - bring you cool face cloths, slices of cucumber to put on tired eyes, fruit kebabs...all free! You don't even get a chance to put your own umbrella up - staff do it for you. Some people complain about the cost of food in hotels in Dubai - we used to have lunch by the pool for approx. £20 (inc. drinks) for all 3 of us - considering the waiters take your order from you at poolside and then set up your own private table to eat right where you are by the pool, we did not think the prices charged were extortionate.
The hotel caters for children - our son didn't want to leave! It has one of the best kids clubs he has ever experienced. All the staff were extremely helpful - concierge desk organised a trip for us in a jeep to the sand dunes.
The hotel is about 10 minutes from the airport, and we used to get taxi's in the evening to go shopping (gold Souk!) etc. We also went by taxi to Wild Wadi. Taxi's are very cheap, so if you are not bothered about being near the beach, this hotel is ideally located. Re the helpfulness of the staff - on the aeroplane on the way home, our son realised that he had left his teddy bears in the hotel room. We called the hotel from the plane (Emirates have telephones in each seat!) and explained the situation. Within 3 days, the teddies had been sent back to our home address via DHL - brilliant.
Overall, we found our stay at the Grand Hyatt to be an extremely pleasant one, that we certainly want to repeat. The hotel is immaculate; with so much to do you are tempted not to leave! I would recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Dubai.