Sunshine Suites Resort

Sunshine Suites, located down a small driveway off of a shopping center, is a large, spread-out resort, although plenty of parking and a central layout means you don’t spend all day walking. The buildings are painted a beachy light yellow and have white accents. There are hammocks and Adirondack chairs dotting the property and some palm trees and bushes here and there, but the grounds are fairly open and do not offer much privacy. The lawn is beautifully manicured using Zoysia grass.

Sunshine Grill, one of the top-rated restaurants in Grand Cayman, faces the pool area, and is the center of all the action on the property. The restaurant has outdoor tables with umbrellas and there are plenty of lounge chairs around the pool. Both groups of friends as well as families with young kids mingle here.

Sunshine Suites is also a good choice for business travelers. The resort provides free, high-speed Wi-Fi in all of the rooms. The simple, affordable suites complete with a small kitchen are attractive to corporate travelers. The resort has a 320-square-foot meeting room that can fit 10 to 12 people.

Sunshine Suites is located off the main road in the busy, touristy Seven Mile Beach area. There is also an entrance on Easterly Tibbetts Highway. The resort is on the side opposite of the beach, across from the Westin Grand Cayman. The property borders a shopping center, where there are restaurants, bars, and a liquor store. Cost-U-Less, the Caribbean version of Costco, is a five-minute walk. Other amenities are a short (five minutes or less) drive away and buses run frequently. The suites are a 12-minute drive from the airport.

The property is located across the street from the beach, about 200 yards away. This is the best part of Grand Cayman’s famous Seven Mile Beach -- the beach is smooth with white sand and calm blue water.

The resort's 130 suites are dark and the decor is dated, reminiscent of what you’d find in an older chain hotel. The rooms are where you get the feel of a budget property. The furnishings are basic and functional, though the light yellow walls and white plantation shutters do add a cheerfulness to the space.

The One-Bedroom Suite (395 square feet) comes with a small separate seating area with patterned chairs, a small sleeper sofa bed, a desk, and a flat-screen TV. The bedroom has one king bed with modern white bedding and comfortable pillows. The Deluxe Suite (345 square feet) has two queen beds and no separate seating area, although there is a desk and two chairs. The Studio Suite is considerably smaller at 265 square feet, and the kitchen is right off the bedroom. The Studio has a table and two chairs as well as a dresser.

Each suite has a dated-looking kitchen with white cabinets and light wood trim. The kitchens have a full-size refrigerator, two-burner stove top, microwave, toaster, coffeemaker, and cookware. There are a small number of utensils, plates, and cups. While guests probably won't make lavish multi-course dinners here, the kitchen is fine for preparing light meals. Comfort Suites down the road, which is similar in price, offers rooms that are a bit more updated, but they have smaller kitchenettes without stovetops.

Sunshine Grill, one of the top-rated restaurants in Grand Cayman, is located on-site, facing the pool. Serving a combination of American and Caribbean cuisine, the restaurant is affordable, casual, and the food is delicious (try the fish tacos). Guests report eating there multiple times during their stay -– both for the convenience and the quality of the food.

The restaurant overlooks the pool and diners can eat at outside tables. The pool is large and rectangular, with tables and chairs, colorful loungers, and a cabana off to the side. This is the busiest and most lively part of the resort.

The resort has a “Grab and Go” free continental breakfast, served in an open-air building in the back of the property. While it doesn’t serve hot items, the breakfast has a decent selection of coffee and juices, hard-boiled eggs, cereals, yogurt, and pastries from Treats, a nearby bakery. You don’t just have to grab and go; there are a few tables to eat at as well.

Sunshine Suites has free high-speed Wi-Fi in all of the rooms as well as a business center off of the lobby with two computers. Although there is no fitness center, guests receive free access to the World Gym two miles down the road.

The resort also has a dive rinse and dive lockers available for guests to use and coin-operated laundry machines.

The beach is across the street about 200 yards from the resort, on the other side of the large Westin Grand Cayman. Sunshine Suites offers free beach chairs that are picked up on the side of the office. There is a well-marked crosswalk on West Bay Road that beach-goers can use.

The resort suggests using two access points to the beach on either side of the Westin -- a small area to the left, or a more spacious stretch on the right side of the Westin, in front of the Governor’s Mansion. Trees from the mansion lawn hang over the beach and provide pleasant shade. Since there’s no hotel there, this stretch of beach is fairly quiet and not overrun with people and chairs. The beaches in Grand Cayman are open to the public. Although using other properties’ facilities (chairs, umbrellas, etc.) is prohibited, beach-goers can plop themselves down anywhere along the Seven Mile coast.

Once you get there, this is one of the nicest stretches of Seven Mile Beach, with white sand, clear turquoise water, and calm waves –- truly tropical paradise.