Review: Park Hyatt St. Kitts Gym, Pools, Beach, & Restaurants

Let me start off by saying this: I think this is the most important post of the series if you plan on staying at the Park Hyatt St. Kitts, and I recommend reading the entire post (you’ll see why when you do). If you’re coming to this hotel, you’re probably not going to spend all day in your room – instead you’ll be out on the beach, at the pool, or eating at one of the restaurants. There aren’t many good options to eat nearby outside the hotel (certainly not within walking distance of it), so the food options and experience at the resort should be of great interest. I took pictures of every food item we ordered and I have full menus to share.

With that being said, the best part of the Park Hyatt St. Kitts Resort is the privacy. There are only 126 rooms (48 are suites) and all are built upon a private beach. While my room had it’s own private pool, you’ll see in this post that there are a couple of other great options for pools at the resort. You’ll also see the privacy factor, as there simply aren’t many people in the pics in this post, despite having some pics of the entire beach the resort is built on.

1. Park Hyatt St. Kitts – Initial Review and First Impressions
2. Introduction: Park Hyatt St. Kitts
3. Review: Park Hyatt St. Kitts Transportation & Check-in
4. Review: Park Hyatt St. Kitts Sea View Suite
5. Review: Park Hyatt St. Kitts Park Executive Suite
6. Review: Park Hyatt St. Kitts Gym, Pools, Beach, & Restaurants
7. Review: Park Hyatt St. Kitts Miraval Life in Balance Spa
8. Park Hyatt St. Kitts Final Thoughts

Note: Alcohol/Drink menus will be at the end of this post.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Gym

The gym facility was very nice. Everything was brand new as expected for a brand new hotel. There are plenty of machines and plenty of space if you wanted to do some yoga. They have free weights, a few weight machines, and yoga mats.

I didn’t use the gym, but it was nice. The best feature was Acqua Panna water bottles that were (infrequently) restocked. This is where I had to go to get some water since there was no complimentary water provided in the rooms. Stock up – you will thank me later!

Park Hyatt St. Kitts – Meeting Room & Camp Hyatt

Near the front desk are a bunch of conference and meeting rooms. We actually encountered a few people there for some type of event (I didn’t ask details) and one of the rooms seemed set up for a large meeting. It would definitely be a great place for a company retreat of some sort.

There was also a little playground-type area, and I found out they have a Camp Hyatt (kids club) here. I don’t have a ton of experience with Camp Hyatts, but if you have young children that you bring along on a trip here, the Camp Hyatt could come in handy. From what I understand, the camp is open from 9AM – 5PM all week, with extended hours to 8PM on Wednesdays and Fridays.

It is not free to use – you’ll have to pay $45/day to leave the kiddos with strangers here. There weren’t a lot of people at the resort when we were there, but I did notice at least one child at the Camp Hyatt area.

On a separate note, the hotel also has a Rum Bar. It’s basically a nice area to sit with a bar built in, and is part of the main restaurant called The Great House at the resort. Like everything else at the hotel, it was very well-appointed.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Swimming Pools

Now on to the stuff most people want to see…the pool facilities! They are definitely some of the nicer ones I’ve seen, and the view makes them even better.

There are two different pools – the Rampart Pool that is for adults only and the Lagoon Pool that is kid-friendly. I’ll let the pictures do the talking (with minor commentary in the captions). Pay attention to the Rampart pool and the infinity edge, which I’ll come back to in a bit.

These pools are great – they’re attractive and have plenty of shaded seating around. There are pool attendants if you want to order food, and there was even a table with bug spray and sunscreen nearby. The views are amazing.

The pools are open 24 hours, so the nighttime brings some amazing views (and pictures) as well. The Lagoon pool even has this amazing twinkling stars effect with under-water lighting.

I mentioned the infinity edge on the Rampart pool. So, where does the water go? It actually becomes a trickle-down waterfall behind several gazebos below.

This was actually my favorite place to relax at the resort. Chilling on the gazebo with the sound of water behind you and views of tropical water and the island of Nevis.

I probably don’t have to say it, but the pool facilities are fantastic. They’re huge, open all day, there’s plenty of seating, there’s plenty of staff everywhere to attend to your needs, and there’s beautiful scenery. There really isn’t anything more you can ask for in a resort, in my opinion.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Beach

Many people have been asking me if there’s a “real” beach here. There is, though different from other beaches you might have experienced. This isn’t a white-sand beach – the sand is golden in color similar to what we have in California. The sand isn’t fine/soft either, but actually somewhat coarse (but not rocky). It’s plenty comfortable to walk in, just don’t come here expecting something else.

There isn’t a ton of sand between the hotel and the ocean, and the ocean itself had the beatiful shades of blues that you expect from the Caribbean. Across the ocean was the island of Nevis (recall the name of the country is St. Kitts & Nevis). I was told that many of the staff actually live on Nevis and take a ferry to the hotel.

There were some complimentary activities available, including kayaking and paddle boarding. There were other paid activities including jet-skiing. The concierge had plenty of information on activities around the island. We chose an ATV adventure outside the hotel, which ended up being private and plenty of fun.

Ultimately, we barely saw anyone hanging out on the beach. It seemed most people spent their time at the pool facilities, and specifically the Lagoon Pool.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Breakfast

The two options for breakfast are room service and The Great House restaurant. If you’re a Globalist, only breakfast at The Great House would be free, which isn’t as flexible as I’d hoped but not out of the ordinary.

Breakfast as a Globalist was interesting. It seemed that no one really knew how the free breakfast worked, and even after several breakfasts and bills, even I don’t entirely know how it works. With that being said, what I do know is that any single item on the menu, plus a drink, will be removed from the bill per person. That sounds straightforward, but the menu includes an option for the buffet only, OR the buffet plus an a la carte/small plate, OR you can choose a more substantial entree without the buffet. There are also sides that just make the whole “free breakfast” thing complicated.

I didn’t realize this is how it worked at first. On the first day I ordered the “Great House Selection” which is the buffet + a la carte/small plate item because that represented the best value. Except at the time I ordered, I didn’t realize that I had to order from only the “small plate” section of the menu and instead ordered one of the substantial entrees with the buffet. It ended up working out though, because the entire meal was removed from the bill.

The Great House Menu_Breakfast

That was the extent of the buffet spread, so getting the buffet itself doesn’t provide any eggs or other hot foods like some may be used to getting with their breakfast. With that being said, the quality was good, although the fruits weren’t particularly sweet.

The breakfast entrees were, for the most part, very good. At the same time I thought the portions were small, but I admit they were consistent with my experience eating at fine-dining restaurants. The way the food was presented, and not just for breakfast but for all meals, was indeed more like fine dining.

So everything above was removed from the first bill. Great, I thought. The next day I did the same thing, except with a different entree. With that entree I substituted out the bacon/sausage for a side of black bean casserole. Somehow, I ended up getting charged for the side and breakfast this time. So I guess the full entree is not included…which makes sense.

So with that confusion of the breakfast being somewhat settled, and feeling extremely fat from eating so much the previous several days at the resort, I decided to go with just an entree on my final day of breakfast. The entire bill for the items below was zeroed out.

So the final verdict, I think, is that Globalists will get any one item from the menu for free. The best value is “The Great House Selection” that comes with the buffet table and a “Small Plate” item. If you’re used to a traditional American-style breakfast with eggs, however, you’ll need to go with just the entree. Portion sizes are small, so it may not be what you’re used to having at other Hyatt resorts.

The best thing I had, by far, was the Crab Benedict. It was also a very small portion size. The Home Made Black Bean Casserole was also delicious, but I got charged for it so I’m not sure I’d order (or substitute) a side again.

As far as service goes, it was alright. I mentioned in an earlier post that the staff are mostly robotic, seemingly afraid to make a mistake, and that was true here. My only gripe would be that despite there only being a handful of patrons in the dining hall, the staff often was not around to refill drinks or something else. This was a common issue at The Great House for all meals, though something that can easily be corrected in the future. I’m sure it will be in short order.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Dinner – The Great House

Just a quick note here: I’m going a little out of order with my meal reviews in order to separate the restaurants and sections, so ignore changes in day/night and the sequence of meals.

We had dinner at the great house on the first and last night of our stay. The other two dinners were at Stone Barn or room service, which you’ll see below.

The Great House is the main restaurant hall. It’s also in the same building as the Rum Bar, and coincidentally the Concierge Desk is also located here. The first page of the menu has a bit of a story of what The Great House represents. I’ll let you read it on your own below, but it struck me as being a bit odd.

We never had lunch here so I don’t have any reviews, but you can check the menu for both lunch and dinner below.

The Great House Menu_Lunch

The Great House Menu_Dinner

Prices are definitely not cheap, especially when you add on the extra 12% tax and 10% service charge. If you’re eating here, prepare for very expensive meals.

Most meals we had, regardless of time of day, the rest of the restaurant was nearly empty. Maybe only one or two other tables were occupied at the most, and some meals we were completely alone. I’m sure this will change as more people start to realize the hotel is open (remember, I was here only weeks after it’s official opening). I’m sure it will still feel like a private experience even when the hotel is full, as there are just so few rooms at the resort.

Dinners at The Great House start off with complimentary bread and fresh made butter. Both were great, and my wife and I ate the whole thing both times we ate here.

Buckley’s Farm Vine Tomato, which was OK but nothing special

The appetizer and main course themselves were nothing to rave about, though they definitely were’t bad either. I liked the prawns very much, actually, and wouldn’t mind ordering them again. The real star of the meal was the dessert: Gelato. This is some of the best gelato I’ve had outside of Italy. It was creamy and extremely flavorful. It comes with three scoops, so we got Chocolate, Vanilla, and Blueberry Cheesecake. All were delicious. Definitely get the gelato if you come here!

Now on the the second dinner at The Great House, where things got interesting. It was a stormy/rainy night, but we braved the rain and made our way to The Great House for dinner on what was our last night at the resort.

The bread was just as good as it was the first time, but we decided to skip the appetizer since the last one wasn’t anything special and none of the other options sounded appetizing to us. We went straight for the entrees this time. I ordered the Prime Tenderloin 10oz steak, while the wife ordered the Cassava & Almond Crusted Snapper. We also ordered a side of the Butter Braised Green Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes.

All the food was excellent…and I particularly enjoyed my steak. I love steaks and believe me when I say this one was good. As I was eating it I recall thinking and saying to my wife “wow, this is worth every dollar of the $60 price.” I found out later why I thought this way.

After dinner we just had to get more of the gelato since it was so delicious the first time. This time we ordered Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry for the good old neapolitan combo. Except, as my wife and I were waiting for the gelato to come, my wife let out a loud shriek and said “OH MY GOD! There’s a mouse!” Camera still in hand, I turned around and spotted the little guy running around.

The mouse ran behind some curtains nearby and wasn’t seen again after that. But at this point, my wife was squirming in her seat. She can’t stand the thought of a mouse being around in the first place, and the fact that it was in a place of dining is a whole other issue.

There are a lot of things that went wrong during my stay, but for the most part they are all things that can be easily corrected and are typical of a new opening for a large resort like this. Those missteps in service or other small items are things that I honestly don’t fault the hotel for. This, however, is something that is quite simply unacceptable in any establishment that serves food. I understand that this is new construction and animals like these are around, and I saw my fair share of lizards and monkeys at the property, but a rodent in a dining hall is simply not OK.

My wife wanted to leave immediately, but I was able to convince her to stay since we were nearly done with our meal. She gutted it out until the gelato arrived.

I asked our server if they have a problem with mice, and she smiled and said not to her knowledge and asked why I asked that question. I told her we’d just seen one, and she apologized about it. She said they had opened a couple of doors to the restaurant during the rainstorm and she suspected that was how one found its way in. On our way out of the restaurant another staff member also apologized to us about it. The staff there were sincerely apologetic and I couldn’t expect more than that from them in this situation.

After my stay I received a phone call from the General Manager of the property, who was traveling at the time of my stay. He apologized for the experience and didn’t provide any excuses, and acknowledged that these are things that exist but that it is management’s responsibility to make sure no one sees. He said that there was an existing pest control plan in place but that they will have to re-evaluate. I appreciated the call, as it shows that the problem is being taken seriously.

In all honesty, this was a stroke of bad luck. The fact that we were having dinner there at that time, that the mouse happened to be there, that I happened to have my camera in my hand, and that it happened on the last night of our stay just 12 hours prior to leaving the hotel. I don’t want to beat the issue to death but it, in my opinion, is just something that simply shouldn’t happen. I’ll leave it at that.

Now, on to the bill. Remember earlier I mentioned how delicious that steak was, and how great of a value I said it was? When I got the bill, I saw that I was charged $110 for it instead of the $60 that the menu indicated. I asked the waitress about the difference and at that point we both realized what happened – on the menu there are two different tenderloin options, both 10oz and right next to each other on the menu. One is noted as “Wagyu Beef” for $110 and the other is “Black Angus” for $60. I was given the Wagyu Beef, which explains why it was particularly delicious.

She was great about it and said the mistake was hers as she likely misheard or assumed, so she adjusted the bill down to the $60 price without any hesitation. It was most certainly appreciated and in my opinion this was the right way to handle it.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Room Service

We ordered a single meal for room service on an evening we were feeling a bit lazy. The room service menu is very extensive, so much so that it was hard to pick what to eat. I do have a copy of the menu, though it was slightly different on item descriptions and sometimes prices so keep that in mind if you review the menu.

The Room – Dining Menu

The food came fresh and on time, and everything was set up for us on the table as one would hope and expect. I was in the mood for a burger, so I got the Wagyu burger with fries while the wife got the half chicken with sweet potato fries. We also split some crab cakes that we thought were mediocre. My burger was very good, while the chicken and fries were nothing special. A pretty ho-hum meal as one might expect from room service.

The worst part, though, was the gelato. We loved our gelato from The Great House dinner so much that we decided to order it with room service. Except the gelato that came was unbelievably inferior to what we had at the restaurant. This was gelato in a cup, the kind you’d expect to find for $1 at the gas station…only we were charged about $8 per gelato. It was shocking how bad of a value it was.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Dinner – Stone Barn

Stone Barn is the high-end, dinner-only restaurant at the property. It is located right next to The Great House.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Stone Barn Menu

The meal started off with complimentary bread with a red pepper sauce that was pretty good. By this point you could already tell that the service was higher-end than The Great House, which is good because the prices were higher here as well. Our water/sodas were refilled without having to ask and we were offered more bread before we even finished the first one.

We decided to go with the Vadouvan Spiced Lamb Skewers as an appetizer, and it ended up being very good. It was a bit on the chewy side, but not too much to ruin the experience. I wouldn’t mind having it again.

For the main course I went with the Wood Fired Lamb Rack, while my wife ordered the Blue Eye Cod. We also got Heirloom Carrots and the Baby Gem & Radish Salad. A few minutes after we ordered, the waitress came over to my wife and apologized and said that the fish was actually not Cod but ws Mahi Mahi, and asked if that was alright. My wife didn’t mind, so she agreed. It was a bit strange as I’m not sure the mistake is on the menu or if they simply didn’t have the Cod available at the time.

My lamb was cooked very well and I enjoyed it, though the portion size seemed particularly small. As you may have noticed by now, I’m not really the kind of guy that orders fish for a meal, whereas my wife is. She really enjoyed her Mahi Mahi, and offered me a bite. Generally I resist, but I tried it and even I liked it. Both main course meals were very good and I recommend both.

The sides are a different story. The salad is to be avoided (I guess that’s what I get for trying to be healthy). The carrots were OK, nothing special. I guess you’ll like them if you like carrots, which thankfully I do.

For dessert my wife ordered the Caramelized Tart Tatin of Apple, while I had the Chocolate Dome. My wife’s came with a lot more goodies and extras than the menu indicated.

My Chocolate Dome dessert is best summed up with this short video:

The apple tart was very good, we both enjoyed it. I suppose for $32 + service charge and tax it better be good. I didn’t care much for the chocolate dome and would not order it again, although the presentation was cool.

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Lunch – Fisherman’s Village

As I often do at resorts, as much to save money as anything, we skipped lunch on most days. One of those days we simply couldn’t, so we opted to have lunch at Fisherman’s Village, which is the third and final restaurant on the property. This restaurant is open air and a wonderful place to lounge and relax. It sits at the very start of the property in a stand-alone area right on the water. It would be a great place to relax and have drinks while looking out to the ocean.

Fisherman’s Village Menu – Lunch

Fisherman’s Village Menu – Dinner

The meal started off with some complimentary bread. We skipped the appetizer and went straight for the main course. I got one of the items that was recommended, the Carib Lobster Roll. My wife ordered the Linguini with Garlic Shrimp, EVO, Chipotle & Basil. We skipped dessert.

Neither of us liked the lobster roll, so I would avoid that next time. The linguini was very good but like most other items we’ve had the portion size was very small. The bread that was complimentary was a nice pairing for the pasta.

The service and food here was definitely our least favorite of the three restaurants, though we only had it for one meal. At the same time, the setting and ambiance was by far the best, particularly when the sun is up. It’s worth having at least one meal here if you’re at the resort.

Summary

If you made it this far and managed to read everything I wrote and look at all the pictures and captions, bravo. This is by far the longest post I’ve ever written, the most pictures I’ve ever used, and took me forever to put together.

At the same time, it’s also the most important post for someone considering staying here. The gym facility is very nice and the pools and beaches are as top-notch as you’ll find at any resort in my opinion, while the restaurants are pricey and hit-or-miss. Again, you shouldn’t be coming to this resort thinking you’re going to spend only a couple hundred dollars on your stay. You probably noticed that all the food we ordered was not very cheap. We spent a minimum of $75/person/meal, and that’s with no alcohol as neither of us drink. That’s going to add up very, very fast and will be a shocker if you don’t think about it beforehand.

Combine that with the fact that breakfast portions are small and the buffet doesn’t include hot items and you’re looking at spending a ton of money here. I expected that coming in and budgeted for it. We haven’t taken many big trips recently so we decided to go all out on this one, and racked up quite a bill. I can’t emphasize this enough – plan for big spending on meals here.

You’ll see a similar sentiment in the next installment on the Spa. It is a Miraval Spa, which is a high-end spas with prices to match. My experience there, as alluded to in earlier posts, was less than stellar, so make sure you come back to see that one!

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Alcohol/Drink Menus

Fisherman’s Village Bar Menu – Front

Fisherman’s Village Bar Menu – Back

Fleming’s Bar Beverage Menu

Park Hyatt St. Kitts Wine List