Opened in October 2018, the Grand Hyatt Bogotá is one of the newest and most luxurious hotels in the capital city of Colombia. Located off El Dorado Drive, it is within close proximity of both downtown Bogotá and the international airport.
The hotel has a number of accessible guest rooms with roll-in showers that are well suited to the needs of travelers with disabilities. Modern amenities, fantastic dining options and a great location combine to make the Grand Hyatt one of my favorite hotels in Bogotá, Colombia. Read on for a complete look at the hotel’s accessible features.
Reservation & Room Rates
Reservations for accessible hotel rooms can be made via the Hyatt website – just be sure to tick the box for accessible rooms on the search form. Since I spent the majority of my time in Bogota at another hotel, I only needed a weekend stay at the Grand Hyatt. Since the hotel primarily serves business travelers, rates are often around $100 per night on the weekends, but can be 2-3 times higher during the week.
I reserved an accessible room with a roll-in shower for just over $100 per night. The confirmation page showed an additional $44 worth of taxes for my two-night stay, but foreign travelers entering Colombia on a tourist visa are exempt from the 19% VAT tax that is generally charged to hotel guests. That savings makes visiting Colombia even more affordable!
With the taxes waived, two nights at the Grand Hyatt was only going to cost me $202. That’s a deal I couldn’t pass up. It was so good, in fact, that my sister asked to tag along. Once she booked her flight to join me in Bogota, I modified my reservation to a room with two beds. There was no additional charge, and $200 split two ways made this an extremely affordable hotel stay!
Arrival & Check-in
My sister and I arrived at the hotel late at night, after a full day of exploring the capital city. We were greeted by a bellman who took our bags the moment we entered the hotel’s beautiful lobby.
As we were directed to the check-in desks, I was caught looking up at the incredible lighting fixture hanging over the lobby. It was clear we were in for an enjoyable stay at the Grand Hyatt.
I presented my passport to the check-in agents, but was then directed to the hotel’s club lounge on the 13th floor to complete my check-in. Checking-in at the lounge is a perk for Hyatt Globalist members, but at this time of night it seemed unnecessary.
The lounge attendant shared that I had been upgraded to a suite. Unfortunately, since I was traveling with my sister, I needed the room with two beds that I had reserved. Sorting that out took an extra 5 minutes or so, but it was eventually resolved. The bellman, who had carried our bags up to the lounge, led us to our new room on the 5th floor.
Wheelchair Accessible Hotel Room
With the exception of an accessible mid-tier suite with a king bed, the rest of the hotel’s accessible rooms are in the lowest price tier and have either one king or two twin beds. We had the latter. While the website describes the room as being 41 square meters (441 square feet), it felt smaller.
The beds measured 20-21 inches tall, making the transfer to/from my wheelchair much more comfortable. My wheelchair could only fit between the beds, and the space was limited to 29 inches width. The limited space between the beds meant my wheelchair’s caster wheels were scraping the beds each time I reversed out of the space. The ADA requirement of 32 inches minimum would have made all the difference, but that law wouldn’t apply in Colombia! There was no clear space beneath the beds to accommodate a Hoyer lift.
The desk was tall enough to accommodate my wheelchair, but I wasn’t interested in sitting at a desk during my first trip to Colombia! The hotel left a welcome amenity of assorted sweets and sparkling water, which I appreciated.
A recessed shelf, drawer and cupboard was located to the left of my bed and contained the minibar. Apologies for the dark photos above! The thermostat was located out of reach and should be relocated to a more accessible location.
On the first night of our stay, the hotel’s air conditioning system was not activated. We suffered miserably in a room that was definitely 80 degrees Fahrenheit, even though the thermostat read much less. I complained numerous times and even threatened to leave the hotel. The A/C was enabled on our second night and we finally were able to sleep comfortably. I think we’d have had better luck addressing the matter if we hadn’t checked-in so late on our first night.
Just outside the bathroom there were two closet spaces—one with an adjustable-height closet rod (great for accessibility!), ironing board, etc., and another containing the in-room safe.
While not the most accessible guest room space due to the tight quarters, it was definitely manageable.
Wheelchair Accessible Bathroom
When selecting a hotel, the accessibility features that are most important to me are found in the bathroom. I want an accessible place to shower, shave and use the toilet.
The bathroom sink was not designed with access in mind, unfortunately. The thick vanity countertop is challenging for wheelchair users. Storage cubes underneath the sink were moveable and light, but served as an unnecessary barrier. Rather than deal with all of that, I parked my wheelchair sideways in front of the sink.
The toilet was somewhat more accessible, with grab bars and space to park a wheelchair directly alongside (for safe lateral transfers). The grab bar was a bit too high and the toilet paper roll was mounted too close to the toilet.
There are no standards for the design of roll-in showers in Colombia, so each hotel does things differently. The Grand Hyatt Bogota opted for an oversized square-shaped shower, which would delight anyone traveling with their own shower chair as well as those who bathe with the assistance of a PCA. There is a lot of space!
The provided shower chair was attached to a wall mounting bracket/bar, but could be lifted and attached to any of the other grab bars in the shower. The photos above show where the shower chair was attached when I arrived, but there was no grab bar next to the seat. Seeing this, I hung the chair off one of the other grab bars, as shown below:
This location was much more accessible, as it put everything within reach: the shelf containing the soaps & shampoos, the handheld shower head, the water controls and a grab bar. The only difficulty was keeping my power wheelchair dry while I showered, as there was no shower curtain.
This bathroom could have been designed better for people with disabilities and there are some changes that should be made, but it is still one of the more accessible options in Bogota.
Restaurants & Club Lounge
The Grand Hyatt Bogota has two high-quality restaurants: Ushin and Capitalino. I regret to say that I only had one meal (really, a late-night snack) at the hotel. But I can attest to the tastiness of the pizza at Capitalino, which we only ordered after it was recommended to us by our waiter.
In addition to the restaurants, the hotel operates a Grand Club lounge for select guests: those staying in a club room, or elite members of the World of Hyatt loyalty program. The lounge offers a free breakfast, light snacks throughout the day, hors d’oeuvres in the evening and a happy hour with complimentary beer/wine from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The only disappointment was that the Grand Club breakfast has no omelette chef, so you’ll be eating entirely from the buffet (which has only a few hot options). The views from the Grand Club on the 13th floor were fantastic, though!
Location & Transportation
The Grand Hyatt Bogota is approximately 8 kilometers from the El Dorado International Airport and 8 kilometers from the popular Gold Museum in downtown Bogota. On public transportation, it’s about a 30 minute ride either way.
Right across the street from the Grand Hyatt is the CAN TransMilenio station, a bus terminal offering wheelchair accessible connections to downtown (on the B23, M86 and other buses), and to the airport (on the M86 and K86 buses).
I used both Google Maps and the Moovit mobile app to search for public transit directions and found Moovit to be the most accurate.
The U.S. Embassy is less than 2 kilometers from the Grand Hyatt. You can walk/roll there, or ride to the Quinta Paredes TransMilenio station, which is only two stops from CAN.
Final Thoughts
When considering different options for accommodation, I weigh a number of factors including accessibility, affordability and location. The Grand Hyatt Bogota scored well on most of these factors.
For a weekend stay (and even for weekdays), the Grand Hyatt Bogota wins big on affordability. $100 per night is a fantastic deal! The location is convenient, connected to public transport and nearby many popular attractions. 30 minutes to downtown using public transit is quick! The hotel’s accessibility, particularly with the large roll-in shower, is better than many other hotels in Colombia. But, in a brand-new luxury hotel, I expected more. It’s a shame an expert in hotel accessibility wasn’t consulted during the design process.
I look forward to the opportunity to return to the city of Bogota and will definitely consider a repeat stay at the Grand Hyatt. Would you select this hotel?
Feature image courtesy Grand Hyatt Bogota.
