Christmas Palms Villa is very nice and clean. The view was amazing, and we had a great time. The only thing that could have been better is if the villa had a heated pool, as it was very windy and we couldn’t swim in the ocean with our baby.

Sharon was great!

Six of us stayed at the Christmas Palms the second week of December 2018. It is a nice villa just east of Old Man Bay on the North side of the island. The villa was very clean on arrival.

It is in a very quiet area with just one villa next door, which is divided by a fence. The villa sits directly on the water with access just down a few stairs. There are three master bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and a room downstairs with two single beds. The rooms were very soundproof. There is a family room with two couches and TV. The TV had three remotes, which was confusing. A single remote for running everything would have been easier. The instructions for the TV are not accurate. We were able to make it work to watch the TV and the AppleTV.

The kitchen is very nice with everything we needed to prepare meals, although the sharp knives were dull. There is a six-person table in the kitchen as well as a screened-in dining area with seating for 8. There were some spices and seasonings in the cupboard left from past renters.

The pool is not heated, and we did not use it because it was cold.

Two kayaks are provided. Life vests, pool toys, some kiddy beach toys, masks, and snorkels can be found in a closet on the west side of the villa.

There is also a cooler in the kitchen closet.

The back doors to the pool and the doors to the dining area are a bit tricky to close. To open, push down. To close, push the door handle up to engage the lock.

The waterfront is not a beach, but rocky. You must have foot protection to walk this area, because some of the rocks are sharp.

There is seaweed and garbage that has washed up and accumulated at the bottom of the stairs behind the house and across the grounds. When the wind and waves picked up, the seaweed and garbage moved out but returned later.

Snorkeling from the villa is very nice, with a large area of brain coral and fish about 40 ft away. Look for the dark round patch straight out between Christmas Palm villa and the house just west, then swim westward to see more reefs. It’s best to go during high tide, but we had no problem at low tide.

There are a few things to know: toilet paper, paper towels, and garbage bags are not provided. There were starters, but you will need to buy some for the rest of your stay, unless prior guests leave any extras they did not use.

We had no problems with the a/c, but read the directions before use. Leaving a door to the house open for 1 minute or more changes the a/c to 79°. The a/c downstairs is separate from the upstairs. The control for upstairs is in the main master suite, so if someone in another room opens their door to get a fresh breeze or hear the waves, the a/c in all the rooms goes to 79°. The a/c process was not a problem for us, and it makes sense to save energy.

The closest full-service grocery store is the IPA in Savanah. It is about 20 minutes away, toward the west. It had everything we were looking for, including a large selection of fresh produce and meats. They have a large buffet of pre-made items such as hot roast beef, turkey, potatoes, rice, veggies, soups, salads, etc. It’s nice if you don’t want to cook. There is another store closer, which is about a 10-minute drive east, that has basics to get you started.

Chickens like to hang out in the area. They are all over the island. A local told me that when the last hurricane hit, the farmers let all of their stock free. We were joined daily in the back area by some of the locals.

Most prices you see on the island are Cayman Dollars. Keep this in mind if you’re paying with US Dollars. $1.00 Cayman Dollar equals 0.80 US Dollars.

Silver Thatch Guest Services provides free items like coolers, snorkel gear, Waterproof Bluetooth speakers, Apple TV, etc. I recommend calling ahead to reserve them before you show up. They also offer a discount card for some restaurants in the area. They also offer $100.00 off the price of a charter boat. Six of us chartered for just a little more than going on one of the tour boats.

Make sure to allow extra time for returning to the airport. There is a traffic jam that seems to happen constantly due to roundabouts and traffic patterns. It starts a few miles before arriving at the airport. It took us about 30 minutes to get through it.