We are staying in the upper cottage, Beach Crest. The cottage is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with everything that you would need to cook with and serve dinner with in the kitchen, not that we used it for that purpose, too many good restaurants within a reasonable taxi or bus trip.
The location is very private, and you practically have your own beach and reefs to explore. Thanks to tropical storm/depression Debby, we have had limited opportunity to snorkel the reefs. The surf has just been too rough.
If you plan on using public transportation, it is a hike to get to the closest bus stops, Maria doesn't to try to hide this fact, and there are hills involved. We found the easiest way was to cut across the beach and go through the Grape Bay Hotel parking lot. I wouldn't recommend doing this late at night, as the hotel is closed and there might be some vagrants living in the hotel, so I would grab a taxi for the late night return to the cottage. The public transportation is great, and you get a local perspective of things by talking with the other bus riders. Buses and ferry services run all day and can be used with the daily or multi day passes. We used them to get to Grotto Bay (took an hour), and used the ferry service a couple of times to get to St. George's and to the Dockyard. We found that if you are returning from Hamilton after dinner of cocktails, it's worth the ~$10 taxi fare.
Maria has a favorite taxi partner, and they have done a great job for us. As a matter of fact, they just called to arrange our departure time for tomorrow. We have had to use some other taxi services (hailed on the streets of downtown Hamilton) with mixed results. Not every driver knows where the cottages are, so if you can't tell them exactly where you want to go, you might end up at the Grape Bay Hotel, as we did one night. Another perk to using her recommended taxi service is the welcome bottle of swizzle that Calvin makes up for you (he's been making these for over 50 years, great recipe). If you run out, I believe that he can help you out with more. Calvin and his daughter are wonderful, and full of Island knowledge.
Maria has checked in with us, and stopped by for a visit. She's a wonderful person, with a great personality. She brought us a wonderful rum cake during her visit yesterday. We look forward to her visit tomorrow when we depart.
Glad that we found this place. We will definitely stay here again.

I've been to Bermuda about 10 times and 3 of those times I stayed at Grape Bay Cottages Beachcrest cottage. I can't imagine staying anywhere else in Bermuda. The cottage is quaint, clean, has everything you need to live comfortably and has the best view ever! It's in a quiet and beautiful residential neighborhood with the only noise being the surf, the birds and the tree frogs.
We stayed only 5 days in early May and we all wished we had planned to be there for 2 weeks or more. The beach is right down some steps and is one of the prettiest beaches in Bermuda but there's not many people on it. We even saw humpback whales breaching way out offshore while sitting on Grape Bay Beach. We also enjoyed watching the parrot fish feed on the coral in the shallow water. Every day we went off on excursions around the island and we always couldn't wait to get back to our oasis, our beautiful peaceful cottage and beach.
Maria was the most amazing hostess. She bent over backwards to make us feel welcome and comfortable. We were celebrating a birthday so Maria showed up one day with the most delicious Bermuda rum cake ever! What a nice surprise.
Grape Bay Cottages are a wonderful place to stay if you don't mind being off the beaten track, you want to be away from the crowds and if you want to be surrounded by the natural beauty of Bermuda. I can't wait to return.

We had a fabulous time at the cottages, they were perfect! Waking up to the bermudaful view each morning, over looking the beach and ocean. So relaxing and comfortable. Maria and Doug were awesome, anything we needed they helped us out. Our double wedding on Sunday 15th April was perfect! A truly magical experience, we couldn't have asked for anything more! Thank you both for making our stay and weddings so perfect! We will be back! x

We stayed at Beach Home for the 2nd year in a row in September. This visit was just as wonderful as the first! The Beach Home cottage is such a gem -- fantastic location and very comfortable accomodations. But what makes vacations at Grape Bay so special is the warm hospitality and friendship that Maria and Doug extend to their guests. Maria called and came by to say hi a few times during our visit - just to check that we were enjoying our stay and make sure that there wasn't anything else that we needed. (Which there wasn't -- they've pretty much thought of everything!) Maria made us a cake for anniversary and birthday celebration - above and beyond what we'd expect from renting a cottage!

We rented scooters again this year, which for us are the best way to be able to explore on our own. Since we don't drive the scooters at night, we relied on Cal's taxi service to get back and forth to dinner. Cal is friendly, reliable, and knowledgeable about the island.

When I'm having a rough day at work, I just think about relaxing on the porch at Beach Home with a rum swizzle in my hand! We made sure to leave our deposit for next year's trip before we even left the island - can't wait to go back to Bermuda and especially to Grape Bay!