First time to Grand Cayman
 

Hotels: Is the Holiday Inn and Comfort Suites located right on the beach. How are the hotel rooms? Decent. Any mold odors? Please advise. Thanks.

Neither are on the beach. HI is across the road from the beach - a short walk. The property is about 2 years old. Comfort Suites is on the sea side of the street but there is a condo between CS and the beach.

Comfort Suites is towards the south end of Seven Mile Beach (about a 30 minute walk to Georgetown), while the Holiday Inn is at the north end (about a 40 minute walk past Comfort Suites).<BR><BR>I stayed at Comfort Suites in November 2000 and it was great. The room included a mini-fridge, coffee maker, toaster, etc. Continential breakfast was included. There was no odor problems.<BR>

Wow, a HI and a Comfort Suites. Why go all the way to GC for one of those???

Tom, thank you for your input and honesty. The comfort suites resort sounds like it will be great for my family.

Kris, The reason I chose Comfort suites and Holiday Inn is because I know they are new resorts. From comments I have read at this site, it sounds like some of the other Major hotels are pretty unkept. Mold smells are a big issue with my asthmatic daughter. I appreciate Tom's honesty.

As Dee mentioned, Comfort Suites is not directly on the beach, but is about a 1 minute walk away. When you get to the beach, just turn right and walk past the Marriott and you'll have miles of beach available. Except for right in front of the Marriott, I also found the Comfort Suites end of 7-Mile beach less crowded than up by the Westin.<BR><BR>FYI Suzanne, since you mentioned you were travelling with your family, you can get 1 and 2 bedroom suites, depending on how much room you need. The Cayman Islands Comfort Suites website is www.caymancomfort.com<BR><BR>Do try to take a Stingray Sandbar snorkelling trip, it's great. Unless everyone is a scuba diver, I would recommend the sandbar because you can stand on the sandbar in about 3 feet of water and the stingrays come right up to you. Stingray City is designed for scuba divers, as the water is 15-20 feet deep.<BR><BR>One other thing to remember, Georgetown gets busy when there are lots cruise ships in port. Check out the cruise ship schedule at www.caymanport.com If you click on the ship's name, you can see when they arrive, when they depart and their passenger capacity.<BR><BR>I hope this helps, have a good trip.<BR>

I've been reading a lot of the Grand Cayman info lately in planning for our trip and I'm just wondering why "KRIS" always has something nasty to add?

You won't be walking to the beach from Comfort Suites and having miles of beach any more. The storm did much damage. You'll have to walk through the water past the sea wall to get to beach. It can be done but it's not &quot;a walk on the beach&quot; like it used to be.

Stay away from the Pirate Cave, but I do recommend seeing the blow holes out that way at high tide; very neat, they're like geysers and are so powerful.<BR><BR>Have a great time!<BR>

Hi,<BR>Our family will be traveling to the Cayman Islands this Sat Nov. 2nd. We have 3 children (3yrs old, 6yrs old &amp; 9 yrs old). Any suggestions on restaurants, we usually like restaurants on the water. We are planning on doing Stingrays, Turtle Farm, blowholes. Why don't you suggest the Pirate Cave's. I thought my kids would like that? And what about the &quot;hell&quot;?? What is that? thanks.

Stayed at Comfort in April 2002 -- we had a 2 bedroom suite and it was great. The rooms are extremely clean and no mold or odors. It is a nice property, well-maintained with a nice pool and bar/snack facility. They also have poolside parties during the week. The Margaritas are terrific. There were many families staying, some with small children. I recommend a car rental. Hell is a 5 minute visit; Turtle Farm about 10. Really, how many turtles can you watch in a tub??

Kelsey-<BR>Your family will truly enjoy the Caymans! We went the same week two years ago and have great weather. <BR>A tour (van) can take you to the Turtle Farm and Hell. This will only take a couple of hours and they will pick you up from your condo or resort. The kids will like seeing/touching all of the turtles...our did! Hell is merely an area of black earth that the locals began to call &quot;hell&quot; due to what it looked like. There is a small gift shop and a few photo ops (this will only take about 15 minutes). We didn't have a chance to see the blow holes. <BR>Go out to the sandbar to swim with the stingrays. We went with Captain Dexter. Our kids were only 3 and 6 at the time. Our daughter went in the water and one of us switched off staying onboard with our son. <BR>As for restaurants, go to the &quot;Wharf&quot;. It sits directly on the water and the kids can feed the tarpon at 9:00 pm (bring your camera for this). <BR>Have a fun time! <BR>

Hi Toni,<BR>Thank you for the reply any the suggestions. Do you suggest any restaurants beside the Wharf.

Kelsey,<BR>We also ate at the Tree House (also on the water); Papagallo (a very nice restaurant, however a $50 r/t cab ride from 7 mile beach; The Peninsula (at the Marriott, nice, on the water); and at the restaurant at Treasure Island (my daughter likes crab legs and they had them on their menu...just ok). Two nights we grilled at the condo. <BR>I have read good things about the Reef Grill, and the Cracked Conch(this is by the Turtle Farm), however we didn't make it to these places (you know how your best made plans somehow change with the kids!). <BR>Anyway, check out Dexter's website: <BR>dexters-fantaseatours.com. <BR>The water is crystal clear and the beach is like powder.<BR>Enjoy!<BR>

Toni,<BR>Thank you! We can't wait!! Well... I guess I'll go back to packing.

Ate at Deckers - very good. The Lazy Lizard across from Comfort Suites is another fun place. Kid friendly, too. The Lighthouse and Casanova are two other favorites.

The Pirate Cave is definitely a tourist trap, not worth the admission. It is a cave that is set up to look scarry with Halloween type things placed all around - skulls, spider webs, plastic spiders, and the main way out is via the gift shop, which is pretty rundown and you feel obligated to buy something.<BR><BR>I believe there's the Atlantis Submarine in town - that might be a consideration for you and the kids, UNLESS you folks are claustrophobic.<BR><BR>Hell has a postoffice, and there's a t-shirt shop with shirts that say cliche' things like &quot;I've Been To Hell&quot; Grand Cayman. No biggie.<BR><BR>Have a nice time; Grand Cayman is so nice.