parkcitygal

We're planning an incentive trip to the Caymans (for a number of people in our company) and haven't been for 10 years. We need help in choosing a resort. It seems that the Westin may be out of our price range but Hyatt and Marriott are in the running. What are the pros and cons to both? Any recommendations for another resort? Thanks!

Vec

Can't specifically answer your question, however..... An association I belong to is staying at the Hyatt next winter. Over 300 of our members attend the meeting. Some people are pretty fussy so our Exec Director always checks accomodations out before booking and only accepts quality resorts. The only fact I really know is that Association staff members tell me the Hyatt has done remodeling and has built a new section right on the beach. We stayed at the Hyatt 5 years ago as well as 10 years ago. We were very happy with it. An added plus to the Hyatt is the fact you can take the Hyatt's ferry to the Rum Point area the Hyatt has created. (But I sure liked Rum Point the best when 10 years ago there was nothing there but a little bar with real character.) Sorry I couldn't give you more info but hope this helps!

PCircles

We went to the Caymans for 1 week last May. I would strongly advise against staying at either of these. The are 2 peculiar things about the Caymans:

1. Apart from the crowded public beach, you are only allowed to use the beach in front of your property

2. Even along seven-mile beach, the quality varies from amazingly fine sand and beautiful trees to rocky beach within a few yards. So, you have to chose your property carefully.

I brought home a map that I marked with the properties which had acceptable beaches. As far as I rememebr, the Hyatt is across the road from the beach, so that is out, as far as I am concerned.

We stayed at a condo complex called Victoria House. We had a one bedroom apartment with a kitchen, closed porch and sitting room. Their website is: www.vitoriahouse.com.

Since we stayed there before, they gave us a referral offer, whereby anyone we refer gets $200 off of a 4 night stay. So, if you are interested in the Victoria House, send me an email and I will tell you how to redeem this offer.

Enjoy - we are going back again this summer (hopefully!)!

TomCayman

It all depends on what your group is looking for. If the beach is key, I agree that the Westin is really the only option among the major hotels that have conference space.

If you have a smaller group, and conference and banqueting facilities are not such a big deal, you can certainly look further afield.

valf

Marriott's beach is supposed to be almost non-existent at this point...might check on that aspect. Hyatt is a great facility but is not on the beach. There is a walk-way to the beach from the resort and it is only a 5-10 minute walk. The grounds there are beautiful. Westin is directly on the beach but is typically more expensive...but not always! I have seen a few comments on the "new" Morritt's...do you know anything about it? Might be something to look into.

cayman420

The beach @ the marriott is almost gone and very small so, it's always overcrowded. The westin is lovely. I believe the hyatt rooms on the beach are considered a "condo" typr of catagory with the standard rooms on the land side. Dont quote me on that but it's worth doing a little more research on. I would go with the hyatt.

my99999

I have stayed at the Hyatt. It is overall a much nicer property than Marriott. It is on a beautiful stretch of beach but the main part of the hotel is across the street from the beach. Only the one and two bedroom suites are on the beach side. The grounds of the main hotel are very nice. The restaurants are so-so in my opinion but there are many nice restaurant alternatives on the island. The Marriott is average at best and the beach is practically non-existent. The Westin is really the nicest hotel on Grand Cayman but if it's out of the price range, I'd go for Hyatt as second best.

jkurtiak

Please let me chime in on this debate. I have stayed at the hyatt as opposed to several other people voicing there opinions. I also saw the Marriott property while down there. The Hyatt does have its own beach and it BEAUTIFUL! Yes, they have 1/2 the hotel across the street, but it takes 3 minutes to walk across and they have a walk way over the highway. It has all that you would want. There is red sail sports that operates from there property and you can do snorkel/dive trips and every water sport right off the Hyatt's beach. They have 2 amazing pools one on each side of the street. The food at the hotel is excellent as is most of the dining on the island. The staff was really friendly and accomodating.
From what I saw of the Marriott's beach there was none, and it was very rocky. It is much less luxurious then the Hyatt. I have also read posts of the rooms being musty.
Hands down I would stay at the hyatt again!
Feel free to aask any other questions you may have
JK

acummings

Just wanted to respond to the poster who said: "Apart from the crowded public beach, you are only allowed to use the beach in front of your property"

This isn't completely correct. All beaches are public to the high water mark - so you can enjoy a variety of beaches, no matter where you stay. Now, the part close to the hotels are private, and you can't just sit in their chairs if you aren't a guest. There are numerous public access paths between the properties to get to the beach.

ttn7311

Stay at the Hyatt. much more lively than the marriott.... plus the beach is 20 times larger than the marriott's beach.

Dee2

Would like to make a comment. I have also stayed at the Hyatt several times. It's a short walk to the beach. It IS a gorgous beach but it is usually so very crowded with chairs that it's like sitting in the middle of a major city. There is no space between chairs - it's just people upon people. I personally enjoy a little space when sitting on the beach and that does not happen at the Hyatt beach.

karenfg

can't comment on the Marriott, but just returned from 7 days at the Westin. Walked to the Hyatt several times for the ferry, etc. That beach was crammed packed EVERY day we went by. Chair on top of chair. Exactly what we were looking to get AWAY from on vacation! That said, if the Westin is out, I'm not sure there's much choice. If there's anyway to do the Westin, I can't recommend highly enough. This was our first trip to GC and once I saw the Hyatt beach area, I was SO thankful we were at the Westin (10-15 minute beach walk from Hyatt to Westin). IMO, the beach at the Westin, not to mention the fabulous pool on the beach, is a dream. I hear the Hyatt grounds and pool across the street are lovely though, so if being a few blocks away from the beach isn't a problem, I'm sure it will be fine.