Forest168

Trying to plan a short holiday for our family of six, the first week of May.
I'm trying to keep the cost down to $350 a night for a condo. So far I have the penthouse three bedroom at Victoria House at $315, or a two bedbroom for $350 at Plantana.
Is it worth the extra money for Plantana. What is the beach like in front of these two properties.
OR...should we forget Grand Cayman all together and go to San Diego? We only have about five days to play with here so it's a tough one.
Look forward to all you suggestions.
Kim

IceCheerMom

We were in GC last Thanksgiving and stayed at Aqua Bay. The beach in front of Plantana was gorgeous. The one in front of Victoria house was fine (a bit of a drop off and a few rocks and seaweed but overall quite nice). If the beach were important to me (and it is) I'd pick Plantana. In fact I tried to go there for Thanksgiving but the air is too high right now.

macnan3

We stayed in a 2-bdrm at Plantana in April and absolutely loved it. Our condo was spacious and gorgeous and we loved having the washer and dryer too. The beach is just perfect in that area. In late March/early April they posted "specials" and one of them was "stay 5 nights and get one free", we stayed 7 nights and got 2 nights free and I was thrilled! You will love GC!

Robin

Plantana is well worth the extra money. We stayed there in December 2003 and loved it. My family of four stayed in the two bedroom bottom floor "A" facing the beachfront. It was a beautiful view even from the bottom floor! Grand Cayman's seven mile beach has the prettiest water I have ever seen. We rented through CaymanVacations.com (Ian) and were very satified with them. I have to say Plantana is a much better location than Victoria House and closer to stores and places to eat. We will return as that was our firt time to GC. My best advice for GC is stay central SMB for the best beach and RENT A CAR.

Forest168

Thanks for your advice folks. Just another thought...has anyone stayed at the Beachcomber. I read somewhere that it was near a construction zone. Their condos are about the same price as Plantana however they have an extra den which would make more room for our large group. Any thoughts on Beachcomer?

meta

Don't know much about Beachcomber. I know the 2 bedroom condos at Plantana have washers and dryers in the unit, which is a big plus in my opinion.

caymansreef

Try treasure island condos. We have stayed there, and loved it. Its been a couple years though. check it out.

http://www.ticondos.com/

joanie433

Beachcomber is farther south than Plantana. Nice beach. It is closer to shops and restaurants. The Ritz-Carlton construction is several properties away and since they are mostly down to inside work, I wouldn't think that would be a problem.

Forest168

I think the problem with construction noise was from the new Meridien Condos being constructed next door. But on the other hand I've read about noise from the traffic at Plantana in the condos that aren't ocean front...which is what we can afford. grrrrrr
I really don't want to rent a car, so maybe Beachcomber might be more central. We will have three "kids" in their early twenties who might like the nightlife better in a more central area. Why is this causing me such GRIEF! hehehe
Thanks for all your suggestions and input and I'm open to any other ideas you all might have.

joanie433

I completely forgot about the Meridian. Sorry. How about something south of there - Colonial Club maybe or the property just south of the Hyatt(think it's Lacovia). Nice beaches and closer to the "action".

stratt10

You might consider the Villas of The Galleon Condos. We stayed there in June and loved it!

caymansreef

You will definitely need to rent a car on grand Cayman. It is difficult to get around, and taxis are expensive. And there is very little night life there.

Forest168

I booked our flights last night! I'm so excited. The kids have never been to the caribbean and the last family vacation we took was to DisneyWorld when they were younger. I hear so much about Grand Cayman being so expensive but it can't be any worse than DisneyWorld! Our Canadian dollar is only worth 53 cents in Grand Cayman so we'll still have to restrain ourselves. We went to Cayo Largo, Cuba two years ago and although the beaches were devine, the resort was gorgeous and the people were wonderful... the food was horrible, so if we have to spend a little more it will be SO worth it. Now for accomodation. I think we will go with Beachcomber. It's within the budget and more central for the "kids". If it was just hubby and I going I would probably opt for a quieter location. Thanks again for all your advice. This website is just the best.