Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort

We had a great time overall celebrating my daughter's birthday. It is a nice hotel, but a bit outdated especially for the Marriott standards. What we liked: good service, excellent personnel, location What we didn't like: no beach, it says everywhere 2 steps to beach. this hotel lost their beach, there is no beach. Bunch of chairs and umbrellas in the pool and people are on each other, no space between at all. Pool Is very small, it is extremely crowded and noisy. It has just one restaurant on the beach, one bar and café inside. Crepes in the morning and smoothie/juice are amazing. Most of the hotels offer complimentary airport shuttle. Marriot doesn't even though hotel is located close to airport. Overall we had a pleasant experience. Thank you

We have been coming to this hotel for over 30 years, originally when it was a Radisson and then converted to Marriott in the early 90's. We often extended our annual time share by another week at least 20 times over the years and have witnessed a lot of changes at the Marriott in terms of decor, room condition, food and overall service. Gone are the days of beautifully decorated rooms. Now the rooms ( although still spacious) have old dark furniture, old carpet, old bath fixtures, cracked/beyond dull marble floors and tub sides. Rooms are in poor condition for a hotel that claims to be 4 stars. The main lobby has "transitioned" to modern, with danish "economy"-style furniture. The ultra modern bar, enormously long is a testimony to the $20 US drinks and $5 Coca colas. There used to be Concierge service, day and night in the lobby, with several computers for use by guests. That has been replaced by a desk up on the third floor hallway with a part-time Concierge and only one computer for printing boarding passes. Outside, the beach is so badly eroded that only one row of chairs is allowed on what remains of the beach, jammed up to the sea wall with the front of the chairs in the water. The side stairs over by Regal Beach, next door, has the last step ending in the water. This is not Marriott's fault and it will improve if ever there is another storm that "brings the sand back" in some future year. The small footprint around the pool doesn't allow for many chairs and if only one row of chairs is allowed on the beach, there will be a free for all over the limited seating when high season starts in December. Knowing we were coming to the Marriott, we booked a reservation at the Veranda for the lobster dinner on Open Table for Wednesday night of our stay. A day before we get an email back from Open Table saying that our reservation was canceled ... no explanation. Since there was no Concierge available, I went down to the front desk and was told that the Veranda was under renovations, and management decided to cancel all the reservations. So we opted to go to Decker's, down the street for their "Tuesday night all you can eat lobster dinner which was $28 CI cheaper per person than the Veranda ($49.95 CI vs $78 CI for Marriott). Guess Marriott did us a favor by canceling our reservation. Of course, the day of, they sent us a formal letter saying we actually did have a reservation . We canceled. In all fairness we did have one very good meal in the Anchor and Den at Sunday brunch with superb service by Anthonie. Then again, for $90 US per person, it should be very good..... Breakfast brunch at $36 US was a bit of a disappointment due to poor selection. No fresh squeezed juice here. The eclectic set up of dining tables, which literally can be in the lobby is kind of screwy. It was a zoo walking around the whole dining area for the Sunday brunch . Be aware that the "resort fee" per room per night is now up to $60. Marriott has notes on line and all over the place about all the amenities you are getting for the $60 per night ( $420 per week) ... trying to justify the outrageous charge. But honestly, how many people can and will take advantage of the so-called amenities, which are limited even by Marriott's statement on the Resort fee list? The pool snacks consisted of a slice of pineapple ( or watermelon) once a day, cucumber or lemon water and free glasses of ice water served at the pool. We never got our complimentary drink upon check in as promised. The resort fee is a gimmick to make it appear that the room is cheaper than it actually is. A $250 room is really $310. Good luck getting a bicycle rental or Go Pro camera to use when the hotel says these are limited. We only saw two kayaks the whole time we were there, and they were pretty much always in use. Gone are the days of really good service, pretty decor, up-to-date rooms. While the staff is very pleasant and congenial, you honestly get the feeling that they want you to "Send your money .... but stay home". At least the gorgeous turquoise water, not under Marriott's control, doesn't disappoint. We had glorious weather the whole week, possibly the best weather and water we have ever seen in all the years traveling to GCM. Unfortunately for those who want to just lay out on the beach ... well it's gone.

If you are travelling to Grand Cayman you must accept that it is expensive. Very expensive especially at this resort. One of the locals sitting at the bar was shocked by the price of his drink. The resort shop was selling candles for roughly $50 USD. I never saw anyone buying anything there. The main reason we go to Seven Mile Beach is for- the beach. But there is none at the Marriot unfortunately. Just a line of beach chairs pushed up against a sort of retaining wall which disappear quickly if you’re not up by 7am to stake your claim. I understand that the Marriot is going to take on Mother Nature and try to reclaim the beach in the near future. But for now it’s the pool for most. Overall the resort is very nice. I would go again but armed with the knowledge that I won’t be sitting on the beach.

The lack of beachfront is made up by the wonderful personality of all the staff ! These people are truly wonderful - from the bartenders ( Danny ) to the front reception to the pool passing fruit and sunscreen guys . No one is cranky ! They great you with big smiles which certainly brightens a vacation . They seem to truly enjoy working at the Marriott . It's our 5th time here , we stayed at the Westin first but opted for the Marriott on each return trip after visiting our friends here . You will love it !