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The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
This past April I had the opportunity to visit the Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman. A detailed review follows, but my quick take is that this is a fine??? hotel located on an absolutely beautiful beach, but be prepared to spend borderline absurd amounts of money on good, but not great, food and drink (save for Blue by Eric Ripert – see below). If you want to book a standard room here with cash, the rate is around $1000 a night and the points rate is around 100k per night. One unfortunate thing about the lounge is that it’s a pretty far walk from the beach area, so I still ended up spending a few hundred dollars a day on pool food and drinks.
Checking into the Resort
A quick ten minute car ride from the airport, the Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman sits on one of my favorite beaches, Seven Mile beach. After a quick check in and welcome cocktail, the concierge walked us to our oceanfront suite. Along the way we were shown the Club lounge that offered breakfast and coffees every morning, light snacks during the day, as well as cocktails and lite bites during the evening. We definitely took advantage of the Club access and enjoyed both breakfast and plenty of drinks before dinners during the stay. If you are trying to save as much money as possible, you could absolutely eat all of your meals in the lounge and not feel deprived. I thought the spread was awesome and the service was top notch. You’ll see a lot of lounge photos below to give you an idea of what they offer.
THE ROOM
Having stayed at this particular resort once a few years ago, I really loved the classic elegance of the Ritz rooms. To my surprise (maybe not fully surprised since I did see the rooms on the website), the rooms had been recently updated, bringing in a modern black and white coloring while still maintaining the classic Ritz style. The complimentary nespresso is a nice touch, especially when enjoying a view of the ocean in the morning.
I can’t stress enough how much I love the look of these rooms, they just feel so elegant and timeless.
Food and Drink
I spent most of my time during the day at the beach and can say that the service was nearly perfect. Like many beach resorts, the chairs come equipped with a flag for service that was always promptly answered. There was no issue getting an ocean front chair each morning, and the pool also seemed to have ample seating. The hotel’s pool/beach restaurant, Saint June, offers decent lunch bites and also seemed to be the busy happy hour spot the many guests enjoyed prior to dinner.
As mentioned above, while here, we had the opportunity to visit Blue by Eric Ripert. According to the hotel’s website, the restaurant is the Caribbean’s only AAA Five-Diamond restaurant. We opted to enjoy the “Eric Ripert Tasting” menu and I’m so glad we did. As the chef behind NY’s famous Le Bernardin, I had very high expectations and Blue exceeded them. Each plate was fantastic and the service was impeccable. I included the menu and a photo of each dish below. A few standouts from the meal were the scallop, which was so indulgent and the incredible bread. It’s a pricey meal (about $1100) but worth it if you can swing it. I do want to note that Fois Gras is a really morally problematic dish, so I asked for a substitution and they were very happy to customize. It’s still pictured below as my P2 ate it.
The Verdict
Grand Cayman isn’t really a destination that most people go out of their way to get to, and I had no intentions of returning after my last trip. That said, a meetup had me back on the island and the Ritz is a great way to spend a few days lounging on Seven Mile beach. It’s hard to justify the prices (compared to other beach spots), so I’ll say once again that I doubt I’ll be back soon – unless of course I make it one of these days to the Cayman Cookout food festival hosted by Eric Ripert. TBD.
Platinums status does not provide club access at Ritz properties.
Corrected! Thank you!
Uhhh., status does not give you access to the Ritz Carlton Club lounges.
Thank you! I corrected it
Staying at this property years ago is where I conceptualized what a ‘resort factory’ was. If you didn’t have a book on beach chairs at 8 a.m. you wound up four rows of chairs back from the beach. Maybe things have gotten better?
At breakfast one morning I’d gotten up to go to the buffet after being seated for just a few minutes. While I was getting my food they turned the table. Another party was seated there by the time I’d returned.
Housekeeping walked into my room with the do not disturb sign on.
The hotel was indeed ok on a great beach, but a JW Marriott flag seemed more appropriate. But then there are several Ritz-Carlton resort factories, so it’s not out of place with where the brand actually is, just with what they portray themselves to be.
Blue was indeed excellent.
I can absolutely see your “resort factory” concept at play at this hotel and I would agree that it’s not exactly where it needs to be to don the Ritz name. For me, housekeeping walking in with the DND on the door is unforgivable for so many reasons.
As for the chair reserving, I suppose things got a little better in that I was able to get 3rd row ;). I am still dreaming about a few of the things I ate at Blue.
I’m disappointed seeing how the rooms were redesigned as the previous light pastel color scheme was both sumptuous and fit in with the relaxed Caribbean vibe. I’m the first person to welcome modern designs but the zebra carpet and black bed don’t hit it for me. If someone sees it for the first time, maybe it will be considered nice but not compared to what it was. I don’t like the vibe but I admit it is not bad except for the carpet.
I enjoyed the property because of the two bedroom units with 1.5 bathrooms and 2 terraces that were priced the same as the ocean side regular rooms. The walk from the lobby/side of the hotel where I stayed to the beach side/with the ocean view rooms really is quite a trek especially in a semi wet bathing suit. If you stay on the beach side of the property with an enclosed bridge over the road, you have to walk the same to get to the lobby or go to certain restaurants.
I do remember the previous decor and I really loved it, I know it might be crazy but I really loved this one too. I can see what you mean though.