kellyl

Looking at staying this Spring and wonder if anyone has first-hand experiences? Thanks in advance.

GrandOldTurkey

A quote from 'Thoughts from the Frontline; 'John Mauldin's free weekly investment and economics newsletter' dated Feb. 19, 2017

"As I finish this letter at the brand-new Kimpton Seafire Resort in the Cayman Islands. I’m at one of my favorite conferences of the year, the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit, which is normally held at the Ritz here on the island. I was a little concerned about its moving from the Ritz, but the Kimpton is actually quite the superior hotel. If you’re looking for a vacation in the Caymans, you should consider it."

N1120A

My wife and I stayed in the first month they opened. The front desk had a few hiccups, but the management remedied it thoroughly and we absolutely loved the place.

FlyinHawaiian

Here's some photos of our stay that highlight the Ocean Front Junior Spa Suite that seems to be what the property will try and use for Inner Circle member free upgrades.

The room map below of the 8th floor (there are 10) seems to be indicative of a normal floorplan. The 10th floor is smaller and I suspect it may have specialty rooms and suites.

Rooms 822, -24, -26,-28, -30 are Ocean Front Junior Spa Suites.
I suspect that Rooms 821-, -23, -25, 27, -29 are North Sound Studios
820, -07, -08 are Ocean View Two Bedroom Suites
802 and 803 might be Ocean Front Suites
801 and 804 should be Ocean Front Two Bedroom Suites
The remainder of the rooms should be Ocean Views of different types

FlyinHawaiian

Prices and services as of March 2017

FlyinHawaiian

Prices and offerings as of March 2017.

While the pool can get busy during the day, I didn't see the need to splurge for a cabana. YMMV.

FlyinHawaiian

Prices and offerings as of March 2017. Note the breakdown of the services included in the $60 per day resort fee.

We highly recommend the half-day Eco Tour run by Red Sail Sports. It is exclusive to Seafire guests and uses a three month old 36' Twin Vee Power Cat with twin 300hp four-stroke outboards. It is very clean, comfortable, and fast. We also suggest taking the morning tour over the afternoon tour as it is less windy and the sites visited will be less crowded. You can email or call the hotel concierge to see if they can make reservations on your behalf before arrival.

Regarding transportation, we ended up renting a car at GCM after we decided we wanted to do a lot of activities off property and didn't want to pay for cabs. Here's my recap of Hertz' service (they also have a desk at the Seafire) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28122141-post9.html

FlyinHawaiian

Here's a list of restaurants provided by the concierge. Of the list, we tried and liked the following:

Agua - We had a very nice dinner; the food was very good with large portions and crisp service.
Island Naturals Cafe - We had a very casual breakfast and it was fine.
Bread & Chocolate - We had Sunday brunch there and were very happy with the Vegan dishes and good coffee.

We did not go to Cimboco (listed) but did go to their sister restaurant, Chicken Chicken for yummy lunch plates of Jerk and Rotisserie Chicken.

Dinner at Ave was very good; we were seated out on the patio and enjoyed the sunset and evening stars. The Inner Circle Chef's Taste was a dollop of lobster and crab aioli salad.

We had lunch at Coccoloba which is right on the beach and a great place from where to watch the sunset. Our lunch portions of fish tacos and pork tostadas were small but the food was good. The burger looked a good option for a heartier meal.

sunshineonlieth

Thanks Flyin, we're headed there at the end of the month and this was very helpful for budgeting purposes.

FlyinHawaiian

We left very impressed with the Seafire. It really feels like they've taken the brand to a new level with a new property with all the bells and whistles. Everything seemed perfectly thought out and executed and top-notch in every class. The staff seemed excited to be a part of the team (tough sell to move to Grand Cayman, I suppose) and really went out of their way to impress and excel. It very well may be the best property on the island.

The only thing that I will mention is that it is currently near the top of Seven Mile Beach and there are signs that other resorts may be coming in the near future. The location leaves it isolated from the stores and restaurants that are walking distance to some of the other hotels. This isn't particularly a bad thing, but something to keep in mind if you are on the fence as to getting a car vs. taxi rides.

sunshineonlieth

We are on our flight home from GCM. We had a 5 night stay, two adults and two kids, 2 & 6. Although it was a beautiful property, we will probably not return.

Room: we had a queen queen studio on the top floor with ocean and pool views. It included a kitchenette as pictured above by FlyinHawaiian. Two things we noticed is that it was easy to hear others in the rooms or hallways around us, and that if the giant sliding doors out onto the balcony were left open, condensation dripped down the wall directly onto the computer desk.

Dining: we ate at Coccoloba (lunch) and Ave (dinner and breakfast). Coccoloba was tasty, but seemed expensive for how slow the service was and for the quantity of food. Ave for dinner was also expensive, but had excellent service and the food was prepared beautifully. We did the breakfast buffet (25 pp adult, 10 per child) this morning and the selection and quality was also nice.

Spa: I had a pedicure at the Spa and spent about an hour enjoying their beautiful facilities. They had a hot tub and sauna, but strangely for a warm location, no cold plunge. The pedicure was about $130 and chipped the first day I got it, and continued to chip over the next three days. Polish quality was terrible.

Grounds: gorgeous, lots of cozy seating areas, Mosquitos were very bad after the sun went down, making being outside impossible. Adult pool was virtually always empty, all ages pool had great towel service, plenty of seating. Beach was similarly well attended and not crowded at all.

Babysitting/Camp Seafire: We used the in-house service for 3 hours to celebrate our anniversary. Sarah Hyde arranged the service for us and Ms. Raven provided it - both were excellent. Sarah sought us out to provide an opportunity to meet Ms. Raven before the day the service was provided. Ms. Raven also let our kids go down to Camp Seafire rather than be up in our room, so of course they had much more fun. She did a science project with them (making goo) and they used the Seafire toys. Looked like either the per hour babysitting or the daily camp would be a great option if you travel with your kids.

Resort fee: charged the $60 resort fee plus the 23% taxes/gratuities on all days, despite having two free nights and 3 nights paid for with an OTA that stated at least the taxes and gratuities were already included. We used the valet frequently (highly recommend getting a car) and my husband tried the Hobie cat, kayaks, and paddle boarding. Red Sail was great to work with.

Overall: a stunning property, but my husband and I both agreed too high end for us. We will probably not return due to the high associated costs of staying at the resort, but that is not to fault the resort itself. Highly recommend the bioluminescence tour and the sting ray city tour if you go!

sunshineonlieth

Forgot to mention - we did the Sunday brunch at Agua which my husband loved. Cimboco has a $5 breakfast option of eggs, bacon, toast and potatoes. Urban Waterfront Diner had great ambiance where we sat next to the water and watched our kids play in the nearby splash park and was both good quality and reasonably priced. The best meal we had was from Craft, which had a phenomenal craft beer selection, and huge, delicious portions. We also tried Heritage Kitchen which had large portions but was just ok price and flavor wise.

michaelr

I noticed that when I try to book reward rooms that IHG only shows rooms with an occupancy of 2 available for redemption. We have a couple of children (7,10) and I am wondering if it is just the dates I was looking at or if this defines the standard room category. Regardless, has anyone used free room certs or reward nights and stayed with children?

FlyinHawaiian

The member who posted in #11 above mentions she traveled with her husband and two young children and two of the nights were awards.

I can't remember if the sofa in the Jr Spa Suite I reviewed above has a pull-out bed; you could always email the property to ask about their family accommodations. Also, when it was a stand-alone Kimpton, I strung together a series of award nights over the course of a few months by calling to check if inventory was available. Because of the piecemeal approach, I had to accept whatever room types were available. Once it was complete, one of the Inner Circle agents (George, a true legend) called the property's AGM on my behalf and had them upgrade my room type to the Jr Suite for the entire stay.

mstrbldr

just booked using points...70,000 points AND $60/night resort fee and 10% service charge. Don't think I've ever see resort fees this high with other brands. Is this normal for Kimpton properties staying on points? Any way to have these fees waived?