lukesaunt

My husband and I are trying to plan a 1 week vacation for the end of June. Here are our priorities...

-- We have to be able to order drinks while laying by a pool or beach. (We are considering Caneel Bay, but have heard there is not much of a pool and are wondering if you can order drinks to the beach). This is a deal breaker for us. We both have extremely stressful jobs, and this is key. So, a villa is out. We want a resort.

-- We are 28. We like relaxing by a pool or beach, and we love gorgeous scenery and good restaurants. We are wondering if we will have enough to do if we went to, say Caneel Bay. We aren't big partiers, but for instance, we spent our honeymoon in Kauai and Maui and loved that we could go hiking sometimes, go on sailing trips, go to amazing restaurants, and here and there get drinks at a bar, too. We don't like places with too many kids, but we don't want to feel like we're with retirees, either. Romantic is key.

--Is there a place you think would be better for us? Other islands? Would we like Grand Cayman? There seem to be some good deals on hotels there for the time we are going. How is the Hyatt there v. the Marriott? We are also considering, outside the Caribbean, Mexico (Ritz Carlton Cancun, JW Marriott, Four Seasons Punta, etc.) or Atlantis in the Bahamas.

-- Our budget is a little bit flexible. We're really looking for luxury resorts with low season/sale rates. Mid 300's to low 400's per night works for us. Anything higher is probably a deal breaker.

-- Any money saving tips? When planning our honeymoon we heard about the entertainment card on fodors and it helped us immensely in scoring hotel and car discounts. Any comparable advice?

sharona

My husband and I have been to both St. John, where we stayed at Caneel Bay, and to Grand Cayman, where we stayed at the Westin. For what you are looking for I would probably suggest Grand Cayman as a better choice. The beaches and snorkeling at Caneel are spectacular, but Seven Mile Beach isn't too shabby either.

I'm not sure we even saw the pool at Caneel. It is not a focal point of the resort. We could sometimes get service on the beach (we were on Caneel Beach) but not usually. At the Westin on GC, however, the pool was right on the beach and there was wait service at both the pool and the beach. And the service was very attentive. There's also a swim-up bar at the pool and a couple of hot tubs as well.

As to the kid issue since you are going at the end of June just remember that that is school vacation and there are likely to be a fair number of kids. We were at Caneel the week before November and also the week of Thanksgiving. There were hardly any children the week before Thanksgiving but then the week of Thanksgiving families started arriving in droves. We also vacationed at the Westin in early November and I don't remember there being large numbers of children as it was during school.

As to restaurants between St. John and Grand Cayman, I have to give the edge to GC. There were some good and a couple of excellent restaurants on St. John but I think there were many more very good to excellent ones on GC. I also think that overall GC is a bit more expensive than St. John so be aware of that factor.

In our experience we found the overall service at the Westin to be better than at Caneel. But don't get me wrong. I loved Caneel and wouldn't hesitate to go back. We've been to the Caribbean a lot and we understand island time. I just think the Westin is a bit more Americanized with a little more emphasis on service. I would stay at the Westin again as well.

lukesaunt

Thank you so much for the very detailed reply! That is exactly the type of information I was looking for!

After further research, my husband and I are also seriously considering Barbados (Royal Pavilion Hotel). Any thoughts on this island for our priorities would also be great! My one concern... is it too built up? It seems to be beautiful and relaxing, with a lot of luxury and a bit of a nightlife.

sharona

Well, I can kind of answer this one, too! My husband and I were in Barbados in May two or three years ago. Barbados IS beautiful with lovely beaches and green rolling hills in the interior. Our first choice of a place to stay was the Royal Pavilion but it was booked so we ended up at the Coral Reef Club. It was quite nice with wonderful service and friendly people but the beach wasn't great at the hotel. We ended up going to Mullins Beach most days with a trip to the southern beaches a couple of days just for variety. I can't say what service was like at Royal Pavilion but we had very attentive service wherever we went on Barbados.

As to it being crowded, the population is mostly centered around the capital city of Bridgetown. We didn't find the west coast to be overly busy. The west coast resorts seem to be relatively self-sustaining and you can find a variety of restaurants up and down the coast in all price ranges.

We found the Bajan people to be very warm and gracious. Barbados is probably the most British-feeling Caribbean island we've been to (but we haven't been to Bermuda).

I hope this information helps a little. Sorry I couldn't help specifically with the Royal Pavilion.

Cher

I've been to both Caneel and Gr Cayman ... Very different types of islands, however we enjoyed both and would go back to either one again. St. John is lush, very hilly and scenic with lots of beautiful cove type beaches. Gr Cayman is more arid, flat as a pancake ... Not much scenery in the interior, but the beach is fantastic. Both have great snorkeling and there is not much night life in either, although Gr Cayman has better restaurant choices (although expensive). St. John probably has more to do in terms of "exploring" the island ... Most of it is Nat'l Park land, so there are plenty of hiking trails. (Although in June it will be pretty hot and humid so you'll probably want to do your hiking in the mornings.) It's fun to rent a jeep on St. John and just go out exploring the beaches or driving up the mountains to catch some great scenery. On St. John, Caneel is the premier place to stay with several beautiful beaches right on the property. The attraction at Caneel is the beaches (you can snorkel right off the beach) and although there is a pool, it's rather plain and I don't think even used that much. (I don't think there's pool service either... Everyone goes to the beaches.) I don't recall much beach service at Caneel at all. The beach at the Westin on St. John is man-made and more of a harbor than a beach. The Westin does have a beautiful pool, and they probably have pool service ... However the attraction on St. John is the beautiful beaches, so I wouldn't want to spend my time at the hotel pool ... just personal choice.

Grand Cayman's Seven Mile Beach is pristine ... especially the northern end. I personally think condos are the way to go on Gr Cayman, however if you want to stay at a resort I would recommend the Westin. It's on the nicest stretch of beach (more northern) and there is also a nice pool right off the beach. I'm sure they offer both poolside and beach service. There is also a Hyatt, however I think the beach area at the Westin on Gr Cayman is far superior to the Hyatt's (also much less crowded; chairs on beach at Hyatt were right on top of one another ... all lined up. Chairs at the Westin's beach area were more "scattered".) There is also a reef just off shore right by the Westin, so you can snorkel right there. I've heard the beach near the Marriott on Gr Cayman is not that great. (There are lots of other spots on the island for off-shore snorkeling. If you go on a snorkel trip, be sure to go to the stingray sandbar and swim with the stingrays. It was one of the highlights of our trip.)

You will probably run into more families with children at the Westins (both St. John and Gr Cayman)than at Caneel.

Hope this helps.

Roodee

my boyfriend and i just ret'd from the westin/grand cayman. like you, we wanted a low-maintenance vacation. we didn't want to have to walk to the beach bar. well, the westin provided everything we wanted. lunch/drinks delivered to our chairs, beautiful beach to swim & snorkel (marriott and hyatt beaches looked terrible - small, rocky and crowded), and the spa was great too! we extended our trip another day (total = 10) because we just couldn't get enough. talk about relaxing...wow! if you go, splurge and request an ocean front room (room 292 or similar)...it's so worth it. there's no nightlife to speak of on the island (something we didn't need). there is the O-bar but it's doesn't get rockin' until after midnight. restaurants are very good. i'm a "food snob", so i'd tell you. it really was the best vacation i've taken. good luck and have fun wherever you go!

islandguy50

I agree with Roodee-the Westin is the best resort on GC if you aren't interested in a villa or condo. My view of Cayman is laid back, relaxing, has fantastic restaurants, is safe going out at night, excellent diving and snorkeling, calm water with no huge undertows, and visitors of all ages. We're going back for the third time this June. Just do some restaurant research and be prepared for the expense. (www.caymanrestaurants.com) If you're into great food and beautiful oceans, you'll love GC.
We were at Atlantis 4 years ago and it was great, but lots of kids (one of whom was ours!).
Cancun has mega-resorts one after another, but JW and Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach are great.
You may want to consider the Royal Hideaway (AI) in Playacar, Cap Jaluca in Anguilla, or Jumby Bay in Antigua. All are fantastic-check their webs.
Good luck!

Knowing

I think you can order drinks by almost any pool. We also stay at resorts, not villas. The problem with GC is that it is the only island we have ever been to where we would not stay at a resort or hotel again. It is an island that a villa or condo is the way to go. The Westin has the nicest beach, but that's the only positive we found when we stayed there. The nightlife consists of sitting INSIDE at the piano. The restaurants on GC are very good. There aren't many kids on either GC or St. John. Because GC is so commercial, we didn't find it to be a romanatic place. The USVI was much more so. Kauai is our most favorite place. We loved the Waimea canyon, the helicopter ride, the restaurants that we knew were guaranteed to have wonderful food and the bars. Our favorite Caribbean island is Curacao, but I have not yet visited Barbados, which is kind of my dream destination in the Caribbean. Given that opportunity, I would be there in a minute!

JenniferW

I have stayed at both Grand Cayman and St. John at Caneel. Grand Cayman definitely has more "action"....we snorkeled, parasailed, went horsebackriding on the beach and you cannot miss Stingray city if you go to Grand Cayman, it is so much fun.

St. John at Caneel was much more quiet, no kids, the best beaches I have ever seen. You can get drinks served to you on Scott's Beach also but if you are not into snorkeling you may get bored.

I don't think you can go wrong with either one but St. John is definitely more romantic and quiet.