PRICE:
Frommer's Exceptional

After the Ritz, this is the best-accessorized, most elegant, and plushest resort in the Cayman Islands. Well choreographed and tasteful, this five-story blockbuster is, by anyone's standards, a very fine and well-managed property. Set directly astride the sands of Seven Mile Beach, the Westin is filled with artfully landscaped gardens, plenty of facilities, and a beautiful oval-shaped swimming pool which, until it was surpassed in size by one of the pools at the Ritz, was the largest on Grand Cayman. Most of the bedrooms have French doors that open onto private balconies, and conservative and uncontroversial but very comfortable furnishings. Units are a bit small for such a luxury hotel but are well equipped and comfortable; bathrooms are a bit less upscale than you might have thought, considering the overall elegance of the hotel, but each has marble trim and oversize tubs. Thanks to the building's layout in the form of a giant U, about 2/3 of the accommodations have sea views, a higher percentage than at the Ritz-Carlton, although the others simply look out on the parking lot and West Bay Road. Ask questions when you reserve to avoid the view of your rental car. The most upscale of the restaurants is the very charming four-star, deluxe Casa Havana, a dinner-only restaurant that evokes the glitter and glamour of pre-Castro Cuba.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Portable Cayman Islands, 3rd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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