How to Save Money on Food at Baha Mar Bahamas
The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar is beautiful but it is also expensive! I am not talking about the room rate either I am talking about eating and drinking at the resort. Bethany did an awesome job reviewing the resort and reviewing the casino and restaurants plus Shawn and my wife have visited as well. With all of our collective experience visiting the resort, I wanted to share the ways we have found to save money on food at Baha Mar. You don’t have to drop $200 on every dinner when you visit!
The fact that the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar is on Cable Beach means that you get the best beach Nassau has to offer but you are also a little secluded. This means that you are sorta trapped spending money at the resort for your food and drinks. And they aren’t cheap, but thankfully there are many ways to save money on food at Baha Mar!
Updated 11/9/22: Reader GG says the Club Lounge is still closed since covid which is sad to see this far out but not surprising with how many lounges are still closed at Hyatt hotels. If you have Globalist status you should still get breakfast provided at a restaurant but there may not be late night snacks anywhere like they had in the club. And you can’t book into club lounge rooms to get that access now so only people with top tier status or on a Guest of Honor booking will save money this way.
Related: 5 Ways to Save Money on Drinks at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar
Baha Mar Nassau – How to Save Money on Food
Once dinner time rolls around at Baha Mar unfortunately there aren’t any really affordable options for reasonably priced food on site. As an example, on my wife’s recent trip she and her friend decided to eat at The Swimming Pig, which is the lower end 24 hour restaurant. They shared a sandwich, got one drink each, and split a piece of pie for dinner. They walked out the door with an $80 tab. I know that resort prices are high, especially in the Caribbean, but there are ways you can definitely save money on food at Baha Mar and I’ll show you how!
Grand Hyatt Lounge Access
The best way to save money at Baha Mar is no doubt Grand Club lounge access. If you are a Hyatt Globalist then you get this already…you are set. If you are an Explorist you can use one of your 4 yearly lounge certificates while staying at the resort. Remember now that Hyatt counts award stays towards status there are now 2 economical ways to earn Explorist status.
Now if you don’t have either of these levels then you need to buddy up to a Globalist and have them book you a Guest of Honor booking. Then you can save big money on food and cash in on the benefits of their World of Hyatt Globalist status. Finally, you can also book a Grand Club room for 27,000 points a night, versus 20,000 for a regular room, to ensure lounge access. You would have enough points for 2 nights in a club room if you signed up for the Chase World of Hyatt credit card and meet the minimum spend requirement.
Let’s look at how lounge access can save you money on food at Baha Mar:
- Lounge breakfast: Save $20 a person, every day.
- Free non alcoholic drinks during the day: Probably another $10 per person.
- Alcoholic drinks and dinner every night: Up to $40-50 per person.
The food in the evening is more like hors d’oeuvres but you could substitute if for dinner one of the nights if you wanted. If you maximize the lounge you could save $75+ per person per day at Baha Mar on food.
Eat at El Jefe & Food Trucks – OFTEN
There is a taco truck outside (El Jefe) that has very reasonably priced food. It is open from 8am-6pm. My wife ate there for lunch pretty much every day and thought the food was really good. You could even eat there for an early dinner and then go to the lounge later for a snack. If you aren’t into tacos or nachos, they have several other “reasonably” priced food trucks with a wide range of foods available on the beach. Filling up at lunch on these food truck offerings is a fantastic way to save on food at Baha Mar.
Save at Baha Mar By Ordering Kids Meals
The pool area restaurant offers kids meals that are well priced and come with a good amount of food. This is a gray area if you don’t have kids. You can always order them to “take to your kids” I guess. It is an option to get lunch at a reduced cost if you are willing to bend the rules (I am not sure if there is an age limit etc anyway).
Purchase Discounted Baha Mar Credit or Hyatt Gift Cards
When booking a room at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar the Hyatt website will sometimes offer various credits for a 10% discount. These credits are non-refundable so make sure you will use them all. A better way to go if you can get them is discounted Hyatt gift cards. From time to time Hyatt sells their gift cards for 10% off. If you are staying at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar then you can use gift cards to pay for your hotel room and to save money on food as well!
Save Money on Food at Baha Mar By Going Into Town
You can hop on a Jitney (local bus) for less than $2 a person one way. You can ride these into downtown to visit the straw market etc. and to eat at the fish fry.
My wife and I recommend Goldie’s at the fish fry. The fish fry is a place where locals and tourists alike hang out. The food is great, huge, and regularly priced. My wife and her friend got fish & chips and fettuccine alfredo (the alfredo is some of the best you will ever have and big enough to feed 3 people). They also had two drinks a piece (I recommend the “call a cab” drink) and the bill was $60 including tip. That is a lot cheaper than the $80 they spent for half the food at the resort.
Just remember that the Jitneys only run until 6PM so you can do this for lunch or an early dinner. Otherwise you will need to take a cab back and that will cost you $12-15 each way.
Order From Wok N Roll & Other Nearby Restaurants
I tried to get my wife to eat at Wok N Roll because it has stellar reviews on Tripadvisor. Wok N Roll is a Chinese restaurant that is about a mile from the hotel. It is walkable, you just head down bay street. But the real kicker is they deliver orders over $20 for a $4 fee according to their picture on Tripadvisor. That is a great way to save some money on lunch or dinner. According to the reviews the service is stellar though so you may want to go in person to check it out. There are a few other off-site restaurant options nearby that may be a good way to save money on food as well.
How to Save Money on Food at Baha Mar – Bottom Line
I hope this helps you get some ideas on how to save money on food at Baha Mar. Just because the resort is somewhat isolated doesn’t mean that you don’t have options. A little planning and some outside of the box thinking can have you enjoying paradise without breaking the bank!
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Get out of the hotel meet the people!
Great tips! We’ll be there next month so I will try them out!
The Grand Club is closed after Covid! FYI
great article! do you know if the rooms have fridges? kuerig? microwave?
Going to Baha Mar in June. Here’s my plan. Go to the craps table, win lots of money and eat whatever I want …
Sounds fool proof Rick! 🙂 Enjoy your trip
How about packing some cup noodles? That’ll save loads!
Packing some food is a money saver for sure no matter where you go. I was trying to be specific to the Baha Mar property but that is always a great tip Hank!
It’s “SHE and her friend decided…” Would you ever say “her decided to eat” or “she decided to eat”. Omit the “her friend” part and you’ll know right away which words to use.
Updated – thanks Lukas
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Great article, I really appreciate it. How about bringing food options? Are there fridges or kettles in the room to make oatmeal for example or to keep milk fresh for cereal?
Great info
Have found best to shop alcohol at duty free at Fort Lauderdale airport (or any USA airport)n delivered on plane. Then you have plenty in your room in Bahamas or any other Caribbean island
That is a good idea as well Maureen – thanks for sharing.
Really appreciate the information to help people save money. It prompted me to think, “Is there a website or a series on cheap and good food for a travel hot spot?”
No but that is a good idea – Thanks Alex. I do have one planned for Las Vegas as well.
I’m wondering if anyone has tips for saving money on food at Atlantis?
Stay at Comfort Suites and get Atlantis privileges and cook in your room? 🙂
Yes. Become a degenerate gambler. Then they give you 5 nights free, $1000 freeplay and $800 dining credit
I’m wondering if anyone has tips for saving money on food at Atlantis?
At Baha Mar now. It is legit dinner in Club Lounge. They call it dinner, give you a dinner plate and multiple good options.
We have not spent a nickel on food at the Grand Hyatt, but head to Atlantis soon.
Are you just skipping lunch? I don’t think many would call it a full “dinner” but if you load up it could substitute for dinner for sure!
We just had a late breakfast there. They have cookies and candy out from noon to 4. Then we had dinner there. Only purchased gelato one of the 3 days. Great service in the lounge! But we’d just been on a 7 day cruise, so this was plenty of food!!
Yes. Become a degenerate gambler. Then they give you 5 nights free, $1000 freeplay and $800 dining credit
We’ve never been to the Bahamas before. When we go to the fish fry, what currency do they quote and accept? Do they take USD?
Yes, definitely… you can use USD everywhere in my experience.
What are meals typically at fish fry – $5 to $10 USD PP?
$15-20 for full dinners. You get a lot of food for the price though. Most of the restaurants also take credit cards.
Thanks Mark. The jitney stops running at 6 pm though, right? We may do a dinner or two but mainly targeting fish fry for lunch…and going to try to get by at the lounge for breakfast and dinner.
Yup – perfect for lunch – you will probably have leftovers to take back to the room for a late night snack too :).
Fort Charlotte is pretty much across the road from the fish fry too (up a big hill though) and is around $5 to get in. Probably has the best view of the island from the top too. Worth checking out if you have the time.