Grand Caymanian Resort

We were supposed to travel to The Grand Caymanian 11/8/08-11/15/08 but several days prior to our arrival we became aware of a tropical depression that formed off on Central America, which quickly became a tropical storm (Paloma). It was projected to become a hurricane, with the Cayman Islands in it's path. On Thursday morning, two days before our scheduled arrival ,we be called The Grand Caymanian to talk to someone about our reservations and what we should do if we were unable to get there. We were told no one was available in reservations but at the moment they resort remained open. We were concerned because earlier in the season people were forced to leave early as the resort was shut in anticipation of another hurricane. By Friday morning Paloma was a full-blown hurricane and gaining strength, with the Cayman Islands straight in its path. We called the resort again. We were told no one was there to talk to us as the island was being shut down. We would have to call back on Saturday, the morning we were supposed to leave. Since we had a two-hour drive to the airport and a 6 AM flight, trying to get anyone before we left was impossible. Since we were traveling with friends who had a child, we were very concerned about arriving, only to find the resort shut or unable to accommodate guests. Our friends had reserved a first-floor room so we were concerned abut these being flooded out, as reports we received via a friend of a friend, who was currently on the island, said flooding was already occurring and people were either trying to leave the island or were being moved to higher floors at their resorts or shelters. We moved our flights back one day, but despite several attempts on Saturday to reach the resort, we had no success. We ended up cancelling altogether. We still could not reach the resort on Sunday. We proceeded to e-mail the resort to not only inform them we weren't coming but also state our displeasure with the lack of information and accessibility of staff to deal with incoming guests. We received no reply after 10 days so we sent another e-mail. The short reply did not address any of our issues nor did it offer any apologies. We proceeded to send an email, as well as send a letter via regular mail to the owner of The Grand Caymanian, Theresa Foster. We have never received so much as an acknowlegement to our correspondence nor a reply from her. I am totally amazed that in this economy, when people are simply eliminating travel, that any hotel or resort wouldn't be bending oover backwards to keep guests happy, especially repeat customers (we had stayed there twice previously), but especially a resort who is in the process of building 52 new units that they want people to purchase at a price of upwards of $650K !!!!! Needless to say, we will not be returning there.

Just returned from Grand Caymanian. We had an excellent time, except for the construction of the new wing which is 15' away from the pool and extremely noisy starting early in the morning. The Blue Iguana restaurant on site is very unassuming but surprising fantastic. We were travelling with my sister who is a chef and she was very pleasantly surprised. Try the Tuna Sashimi which will knock your socks off. One area of the resort which needs work is the beach which has very little sand, mostly coral shelf, but more importantly is full of broken glass and nails from the first phase of construction and will probably worsen with the new wing going up. It need to be thoroughly rehabbed. The on site dive shop was ok. The dive masters were great, the equipment was fine but the boats could use some upgrading and one day they were an hour late picking up at the hotel and only came after several phone calls. To do it over again, I would have used Red Sail which we had used on an earlier trip and they were much more professional. The units were very nicely furnished and the staff had a great attitude and were very helpful. The shuttle service at the hotel into town was not free. When we checked out we discovered that when we used it to go to town they charged us $20 each way, which is pretty much the same as a private taxi would have been. If you're travelling with kid's (or not) make sure you go to Bosun's Bay (the old turtle farm) which is fantastic. Then walk across the street to the Cracked Conch for sunset drinks and dinner. There is diving/snorkling right off the restaurant dock. Papardello is a great italian place built out over the water in a bird sanctuary...very close to the resort, which is above 7 mile beach.

Rooms are immaculate and the staff is so helpful. Had a wonderful time and will return again and again.

would like to know how many RCI points it will take at week 42

Very private, great staff, only resort on North end of the island. Dive shop on site with dock for scuba diving. Many activities planned for guests. This is a beautiful place nestled away by itself, reminescent of old colonial days on the island without the commercialism. Restaurant on site provides meals and drinks with happy hour prices. Shuttle van available free of charge to most island destinations. Units have been updated completely after hurricane.