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The Cayman Islands Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews
Holiday Inn 11/13/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Great
Grand Cayman - Holiday Inn
November 2 - 8, 2003
Holiday Inn - Very nice hotel. Check in was quick and smooth. Few guests staying this time of year. We had booked an "Island view" room, but were asked if we wanted an upgrade to an ocean view room. I didn't since none of the ocean view rooms had a balcony. I asked for a 1st floor room with patio that opened to the pool area. No problem. Nice and clean standard hotel room with a king bed, nice sized bathroom with coffee maker and hair dryer. Armroir with TV and small refrigerator. Table and 2 chairs. A sliding glass door opened to the pool. There is an iron fence, so we had to walk down a little ways to the gate opening. The pool was very nice and large with a water fountain in the middle. We had the pool to ourselves the entire time.
Food - We did the all-inclusive at the Holiday Inn and enjoyed it very much. Food and drink are very expensive everywhere in Grand Cayman. Reminded us of Hawaii. Their food was very good with a decent number of choices. For breakfast they had a buffet or menu, lunch is served at the beach area only and is menu of lite fare, snacks, hamburgers, hot dogs and sandwiches. Dinner is at the hotel with an ala cart menu, which changed daily. They offered choices of 2 soups, 3 salads, 8 entrees, 5 lite entrees and 3 desserts. The beach bar opens at 11:00am - 5:00pm, the hotel bar then opens from 5:00pm to 11:00pm. All food and drink was charged to our room then removed when we checked out. We charged way more than we paid for the AI option. Service and staff was efficient and pleasant.
The Beach - It was just awesome. The nicest beach/ocean we've been to so far. The sand white and soft. The ocean calm, warm and crystal clear. No rocky entrance. They have a roped off swimming area, which had rocks towards the back. Lots of fish looking for a hand out. They will come right up to you. Plenty of people snorkeling. Beach chairs and towels were offered by the hotel for hotel guests only. There is a beach bar and restaurant open to the public. They sell chair rentals to the public for $8.00. Red Sail Sports is set up for water sports. They offered swim mats, canoes, wave runners and parasailing. Cruise shippers are welcome and have their own beach area away from hotel guests. There was plenty of beach room and ocean for everyone and didn't become too crowded. The beach is across the street from the hotel, and you must cross a very busy street to get there. Sometimes it could be quite hairy as drivers didn't want to slow down. In the morning and evening the street had very heavy traffic. Was is a big, major deal? No. For as nice as the hotel and beach area was plus the money we saved going AI, it was definitely worth it.
Tours - We booked all tours via the Internet before leaving.
Tropicana Island Tour - This tour was scheduled for Monday. We called that morning early to confirm and they never heard of us and no tour was scheduled for that morning. I was highly upset especially after receiving an e-mail confirmation and voucher and they had already charged my credit card. They rescheduled us for Wednesday morning. There was a total of 4 people on the tour, us and another couple. It was a 6 1/2 tour that went to the following destinations:
Georgetown and one souvenir store, Conch Shell House, Blackbeards Rum Company, Turtle Farm, Hell, Tortuga Rum Shoppe, Stingray Brewery, Pedro St. James, The Ten Sails shipwreck site, and the Blow Holes. Lunch was provided at the snack shop at Pedro St. James. The tour guide was very nice and she was able to personalize the tour to meet our requests.
Sting Ray City Tour - We went with Soto Cruises for $19 p/p. They provided pick-up and drop-off to/from our hotel. There was about 20 people on the boat with 2 guides and a videophotogher. We went to the Coral Gardens first for snorkeling, then the Barrier Reef, then Sting Ray Sand Bar. Very good snorkling. Lots of fish. We also saw an eel and a nurse shark. The Sting Rays were just awesome. They will come right up to you looking for squid. Our guides would pick them up and let us hold, pet and feed them. We purchased the DVD video and it was great.
Nautilus Semi-submarine - This tour was excellent. We have taken a similar tour in Cancun and Maui and there is no comparison. The sub was much bigger and more spacious and offered restrooms. We were the only people on the tour and received excellent personalized attention. The sub goes over two ship wrecks and then to Cheeseburger Reef. The reef has lots and lots or coral and fish. The crew stopped the sub at the reef and one dove in the water with scuba gear and lured fish to the window for us to see with bread. Then we were able to snorkel with the diver, who then put on snorkel gear. He would guide fish over to us and one of crew still on the boat tossed bread directly in front of us so we could see the fish up close.
Shopping - Prices here are not cheap. We found the best priced souvenirs and T-Shirts at Blackbeards Rum Company. Their rum cakes were also better tasting and cheaper than Tortuga. They let you pick your own flavors to personalize a package instead of being pre-packaged in sets. We purchased 6 small cakes and was given 1 large cake for $29. Each store will let you taste all the flavors before buying. Tortuga has a few selections of flavored rum we could try.
The weather was great. Nice and sunny for the most part, a little hot and humid during the afternoon. A few showers early morning and Wednesday it rained pretty hard through the afternoon and evening. In all we had a great trip. Pictures are located at: http://community.webshots.com/user/kvrlvn
Kelly Robins
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