Thanks to everyone for their reviews. It did help us with our vacation so I wanted to share some advice with future Cayman vacationers.

Some background on us - we are both in our early 30's from NYC and used our Marriott points for 5 nights - from April 11 to April 16th.

The Marriott resort is a category 6 and probably should be more of a 4, maybe a five. We requested a courtyard room away from the construction next door and it did have that musty beach smell I read about. My phone didn't work, the cleaning lady didn't empty my garbage or restock toiletries for a couple of days and they were working on generator on our last day so we had no power for the three hours before we checked out. Those were little annoyances, but the people were so friendly and the water so blue that we could forgive that. Since we used points, it wasn't something that really bothered us, but I could understand this being really annoying for guests that are paying a premium to stay there.

The beach - it was short as everyone warned, but we never had a problem finding beach chairs, the beach waiters were very friendly, and the water was fantastic. The first three days, the water was really calm and we could go up to our necks and see little fishy swimming around. The last three days, the water was a murky and there were waves in the water which prevented us from snorkeling, but the water was warm and we had fun jumping the waves. The Marriott rents beach equipment, but would recommend that you bring your own snorkel gear and fins otherwise you will be paying $15 a day for the rental.

The Pool - is really small and mostly for the little kids. The beach is so great though that we didn't feel the need to even try it.

Safety- we felt safe the entire time- from Georgetown to the very north of the island. We walked around the island and never felt threatened. There were always people walking around and passing cars on the roads.

Currency – The US dollar is 80 cents for every Cayman dollar. The Marriott was able to exchange small amounts for us everyday without a fee. They accept US dollars all over the island and will quote prices in both cayman or us dollars. Beware though that when you pay in US dollars, they will give you change in Cayman dollars. We forgot this on the last day and ended up using US dollars to buy last minute souvenirs and came home with some Cayman currency we received as change.

Transportation – they drive on the left side of the road so we decided not to bother with renting a car. There were always plenty of taxis and the bus service was reliable. If you are cost conscious – renting a car is expensive and gas is about $5 bucks per gallon. Taxis service is really, really expensive for short trips versus the bus which is only $2 each way. To/from hotel was $18.75 for the both of us for each trip and the airport is less than 10 minutes from the hotel.

Marriott Location- this was the best part for us. It is at the beginning of 7 mile beach and located next to some great places. Close to the airport, some great eateries, the bus to Georgetown is about 20 minutes and the bus to the turtle farm about 30 minutes.

Food – had great experiences overall, but a few not so great meals. The Marriott Solana was really expensive and the food was OK. We don’t mind paying for great food, but not for mediocre food. Dinner was two entrees and two cocktails and cost us $150 US. The Red Parrot has a good buffet that is about $20 a person.

Great food – recommendations are Mezzo, Cimboco, Antica Gelateria, Al Kebab, Chicken Chicken, and The Wharf.

Bad food – Yoshi and Coconut Joes. I read a lot of reviews about Coconut Joes and the food was actually good, but they have livestock walking around and it grossed me out. I didn’t like sitting there with chickens at my feet and their poop on different parts of the patio. Yoshi – sushi was not good, but everything else was OK. Equivalent to an East chain restaurant.

Gratuity
Most restaurants automatically include 15% gratuity to the bill so make sure you double check before paying.

We just returned from the Marriott Grand Cayman we stayed 3/23/08 - 3/28/08. We had a great time. We were 3 adults and 3 kids. Let me start by saying the rooms absolutely have that mildewy smell that we all keep reading about - but i did hear that if you ask them to change the filter in the air conditioner it does get better. Otherwise the rooms were nice and there is that construction on the one side of the hotel but it was so quiet you didn't even know it was there.

We were there Easter week - it was very crowded and very busy - but anytime we needed anything - shampoo, towels etc. every time we called we didn't wait more than 5 minutes and it was delivered. Catie at the front desk was delightful and let me give a HUGE shout out to Will - the BEST BEACH SERVER in the history of beach serving - he was the greatest!!! All the employees were delightful - the kids loved the turtles and parrots and the hotel had water sports right on the beach that we took advantage of more than once.

We had dinner at Grande Old House which was delicious - expensive and so was the cab ride to get there and get back - but still delicious. Another night we walked to Periwinkle (it took about 30 minutes) at the Ritz Carlton also expensive but delicious and beautiful and walked back - we felt very safe and it was a beautiful night. The other nights we ate at Coconut Joes and Aqua Beach - right across the street - both were great.

There is nothing fancy about this hotel - the pool is just a pool and the beach is small - but we had a great time we got a great package - it included breakfast every day and cookies and milk at 5 pm every day as well as turn down service for a very reasonable price.

You will have great time at this hotel if you are not expecting super fancy - we have stayed at many nice hotels including Ritz Carltons - but this hotel for the money was a great value. We had a wonderful time and look forward to returning.

fairly generic marriot but somehow it all seemed a bit substandard.
Something about the staff and the guests made me want to keep out of the place as much as possible. All the faux caring in your face service that these chains like to go in for just didn't fit in with the whole vibe of Island.
I'm not sure why but I hated it

My husband and I spent three nights (Friday-Monday) at the Marriott Grand Cayman Beach Resort. We had an excellent time. As ther reviews have stated: be aware that outside on one side of the hotel there is construction going on. We booked an ocean view room and were placed on that construction side. By the way this construction has just about completely blocked the ocean view, even from the top floor! Anyway, we went down and were immediately given a room on the other side. This time the view was nice but would have been better from the top floor. This room however had the damp, stinky, musty smell. We left the balcony open much of the time we were in the room with the air on which helped. The air conditioning at times seemed to blow damp air which was uncomfortable and there were many other little things that were broken in the room. Management needs to really go over each room and fix these sort of problems. However, the beds were SO comfortable!!

The beach was nice and only seemed a bit crowded on Saturday. The bar was also nice but a bit expensive like the rest of the food and drink on the island. **TIP: buy duty free liquor on your way TO the island to enjoy cheap cocktails in your room! Across the street there is a restaurant called Cimboco which is fantastic!