any recommendation for hotels? price doesn't matter

looking for the best access to snorkeling/scuba, kayaking, golf, etc.

dunno about any hotels but I would LOVE to spend a week there or more.. half of a day while on a cruise was not nearly long enough.

#1 hotel in Cayman is the Ritz Carlton. It has been named #1 Resort in the Caribbean for 2 yrs running in Conde Nast. Not cheap, but gorgeous. I spent 3 years building the place.

If price is no object, don't think twice. Make sure you get an oceanside room. If you have a family, swing for one of the condos called PIP's.

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/GrandCayman/Default.htm

We built a 9 hole Greg Norman designed course on property, and 2 other courses very close. Red Sail Sports operates out of the hotel, offering all your snorkel/diving/sailing needs.

We built 2 Eric Ripert restaurants, plus there are 3 others. The Spa is the biggest in the Caribbean and pretty sweet.

[This message has been edited by AgInLV (edited 1/25/2010 10:27p).]

been looking at the Ritz....looks phenomenal, but wondering what other luxury hotels were worth considering

many thanks for the input!

Stayed at the Ritz. It is awesome.

Scim,
Other than the RC, there aren't any "luxurious" hotels. There are a ton of condos/homes. If you want peace and quiet, then I'd look into a house that's on 7 mile vs a hotel. How many people are going? We have a good friend that has a house that is about 300 yards from the RC. I believe it's five bedrooms with an indoor pool. Very nice. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you their name/number.

piag, thanks for the advice and the offer....it's just my wife and me, so thinking that might be overkill.

I have heard that the RC can get pretty noisy with a bunch of people, but I suspect we'll be out running around most of the time, anyway..we typically can do one day of "nothing" and then we get stir crazy and have to go do something like snorkel or kayak..etc

When we went it was not that "noisy" but we were not at the pool much.

We got chairs on the beach. The RC does have more chairs on the beach than most so if you are wanting to be alone then this is not the place to go. The good thing is that the RC will allow you to use yaks and snorkle gear free of charge.

Have spent time on Grand Cayman several times (7 trips) and if you really want to snorkel and spend quality time in the water I would suggest you NOT stay along Seven Mile Beach but instead (since you said $$ was not an issue) look into renting a house or a villa on the North Side !!!! Walk out your door on "YOUR" beach, slip into the water and the reef is 75 yards away!!! Is by FAR "THE" way to go on Cayman....

Houses and villas range from inexpensive to plush and can be just you/yours or with maid and cook.....

Great un-crowded snorkeling or shore diving and at YOUR pace and right out the backdoor....literally!

Check into it.

Gig 'Em!!

My husband & I just spent a week there in May after having stopped there on a cruise years before. It is now officially one of our favorite destinations. As for the RC be warned that MOST of their rooms are NOT oceanfront. You must cross the road. Aside from that I am sure it is a nice place to stay. We were originally going to stay at the Marriott but thankfully we ended up getting a 2 bed/2bath condo at Agua Bay Club (ABC). We did go to the Marr to check it out & the beach chairs were lined up row by row. I would have felt like a sardine! ABC was great because we had the whole beach & pool to ourself. If you go the condo route then you can choose which room you want. You know EXACTLY what you are getting.The other great things about the condo were being able to have a fridge to have a few groceries, an oceanfront balcony, quiet, no kids, walk right down the stairs to the beach/pool, parking right close to the door, & more. I would NEVER stay in a hotel in GC after this experience. Snorkeling was within walking distance. You need to rent a car on GC. We spent time on the beach but we also went & explored other areas of the island every day so being able to walk out the door & hop in the car was great. Seven Mile beach is broken down basically into three sections. ABC is in the northern section. They locked off one of the bed/bath & charged us a lower rate. If you go during the "slow" time I think some of the other properties might be willing to do that as well. We ate at an upscale restaurant (Luca) that was in a new luxurious condo building (Carribean Club). Check out this website caymanvacations.com They have tons of info! If I can help you more feel free to email me at texasmomjunk at yahoo dot com.

Brilliant, Tail and Mom...many thanks...ABC was covered, but any thoughts on these that I found?


Aqua Bay Club
Discovery Point Club
London House
Plantana
Britannia
Lacovia
Silver Sands

[This message has been edited by Scimitar (edited 1/26/2010 11:46a).]

I agree on getting a condo/home if you want more alone time. RC obviously if you want to be waited on, have dining options on site, bars, etc.

If you want to take a day trip to get away from people, I can point you to some beaches not too far away. Northside/Rum Point is a nice day trip as well.

As stated, make sure you get oceanside room. The tower on the oceanside is 8 stories (I won't get into how we convinced the govt to allow 8 stories). Higher room will get you away from pool noise. If you want to splurge, get the presidential suite.

I was the first person to ever stay at the RC Grand Cayman. I slept in our mock-up rooms during Hurricane Ivan back in 2004. Awesome experience, but not one I want to repeat.

Schim,
we have a 3/3 condo in The Colonial Club, downstairs corner property. Very quiet and what's really nice it's next door to all the Red Sail activity. Give me your email and if not booked, I'll give you Aggie prices. We've been 30+ times and for our money, the nicest and most relaxing place on earth.

thx

[This message has been edited by Scimitar (edited 1/26/2010 2:02p).]

email sent.

By far our favorite island... after being there on a cruise we came back the following year and stayed 10 nights. Fantastic!

scimitar- In response to your list:

ABC- Have stayed there & they have a hot tub which we loved. Check out vrbo.com #167441 for pics of our unit.

DPC- They have some large rocky areas. I would not choose this one just because I don't like their beach area much.

LH- I did not check on their beach because the bldg next door was under construction at the time. Pool area looks small

PL- ???

Brit- I don't think it is beachfront

Lac- I would consider IF I was oceanfront

Sil Sands- Next door to ABC. I went there I thought it looked older & not well maintained. I would not.

I would add to the list: Anchorage has a great beach & I would stay there if I could get a room that is NOT recessed into the building.Christopher Columbus has a good beach & I would consider that one also.

Having said all that I am pretty picky & I pay attention to detail. When I am going somewhere like GC I am looking for the following: Oceanfront/upper floor w/great view/great beach/nice pool/great balcony/AC/very well maintained property & I travel on a budget so therefore I really have to do my homework.

Also I considered staying on the North side but I am glad I did not. It is a great place to go & check out but it was a little too secluded feeling for me. I got the best of both worlds by staying at North 7MB. It was quiet, great beaches, but I could be at shopping rest, etc quickly. Also just a little further North is a great place to snorkel & scuba. Hope this helps!

piag94- I would like your info as well. I will be going back to GC w/my aggies in tow this time & I would be interested in your place.

texasmomjunk at y@hoo dot com

Thanks!

email sent.

thanks again...and waiting impatiently for the bonus to be funded

[This message has been edited by bthotugigem05 (edited 1/27/2010 1:54p).]

For Scuba Diving in Cayman, Red Sail is a good option, but the best I've experienced is Jason and Ambassador Divers. He's not the cheapest, but it's all small groups and he runs a great operation.

I tend to like the smaller operations as opposed to Red Sail. That said, I did have some great dives with Red Sail, back when the Oro Verde was still around.

Andy,
email sent.

I might just quit my day job with all this interest. You guys coordinate a time for everyone, and I'll leave the keys to the VERY well-stocked liquior cabinet.

Going to GC end of June. Staying at the Ritz. Anyone have any dining recommendations? On or off property.

piag94,

My husband and I are also interested in your GC condo.

Thanks!

[This message has been edited by dubi (edited 6/8/2010 10:21p).]

I am going to encourage you to check into the 3 condos that I suggested on your thread. I know the CC has an onsite retaurant & bar because I ate there. I believe that CC also has room service. I think CC might be more like a hotel w/the rooms actually being condo units. Another great thing about condos is the kitchen in unit. We kept snacks, beer, wine etc. It was great to be able to have a before or after dinner drink on our balconey. Summer is the "off" season in GC so the prices drop. Also they usually have specials like free nights so contact the mgmt to see what kind of deal they could give you. These are brand new, luxurious condos. The Westin is NOT luxurious. I have heard that the Ritz is nice but beware that not all rooms are oceanfront, in fact most of them are not. You have to cross the road & it is a pretty good hike to the beach.

[This message has been edited by Texas Ag Mom (edited 5/24/2010 3:57p).]

The Avalon on Seven Mile Beach. Quiet, private, best part of the entire beach.

Westin is fine. I have never stayed there but met some other friends that were staying there. Rooms, beach and pool are just fine. There is a pretty decent crowd at the Westin. If you are looking for no people and tranquility do not try there.

Just got back from our 2nd trip and figured I'd update some recommendations

last time we did stay at the Ritz, but got a great deal on the Westin this time that we couldn't pass up.

Westin is far more crowded and after staying at the Ritz, the service is noticeably a step down. Sitting right on the beach is nice, but I'd recommend saving the money and looking into condos or cheaper hotels. The Comfort Suites, for example, is not on the beach, but there are plenty of public access trails to get there. Picking a random week next month netted something like $160/night.

As for diving, totally agree with Ambassador Divers. The wife and I did 4 dives with them and we'll be a client for life. The people there are very nice, patient, and friendly. After getting back the second day, they asked us to stick around and have a few drinks with them. Incidentally, they are on the Comfort Suites property. Outfits like Red Sail cater to large tour groups so definitely like the small groups Ambassador takes out.

When dealing with cruise ships, you typically have 3 ships in port Tue-Thu and 1 on Fri, so plan George Town around that. We didn't even go down to GT this time as we wanted to explore West Bay to the north.

In West Bay, had some of the best seafood at a place called Calypso Grill. It's not too terribly expensive (we live in NYC so take that with a grain of salt) and the service and food quality are phenomenal. The blackened wahoo I had that night was caught the same day.

Also in West Bay is a nice little Tiki bar called Macabuca. The crowd is a mix of locals and dive tourists like us...too far for the cruisers to come up. It sits on a cove with a dive shop and there were plenty of people diving offshore....just down the ladder into the water and then out of the cove into the sea.

As for getting around, it seems like it was US$20 to get anywhere from 7 mile Beach to West Bay, but they use the same minivans as buses for like US$2.50/person to anywhere. It's a great, cheap alternative and easy to find. There are few "designated" stops, but they'll beep the horn as they pass by if you're walking and stop if you flag them down. Of course, you'll share the ride with others, mostly locals, but not a big deal.

Back to the Ritz, if you have the cash and want to be pampered, it's the place to go. The cost keeps crowds to a minimum and the beach and poolside service is impeccable.

Having said that, we might look into renting a condo next time, buy most of our food, and save the dough for more diving and great dinners.

This thread is great! I'm planning a trip to Cayman Islands for next spring/summer.

check out idiveglobal.com for some good information on snorkel and dive sites on the island.

My family and I stayed at the Ritz. It was great.

I also recommend that you eat at the Calypso Grill. Make reservations well in advance. You may want to make reservations for a second night as well. We wanted to eat there again but couldn't get in.