Ritz Carlton

Banned Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 183

The beach and ocean are both gorgeous, palms that survived are sporting coconuts, smaller plantings look wonderful. Yes, focusing on the many positives is a good thing...and it really is not that difficult to see the positives. Will agree that one HUGE negative is the Ritz Carlton. It is a massive & obnoxious imposing structure that belongs in Las Vegas, NOT on GC.

edit by gardengirl title

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 5:53 pm Post subject:

dogwalker,

I'm afraid I agree with you on that.............also think that the local contractors have taken a beating from the Ritz.............bills not being paid, etc........from what I have gleaned from Cayman papers............I wonder why that LARGE of a structure was allowed in the first place.......don't care for the "feel" I got from being in Bermuda last year......the people there are not as WARM as the Cayman people, but like that they have restrictions on size and height of bldgs there ..........some of the OTHER restrictions are a bit much however.........

Celine

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:23 pm Post subject:

You know.....I also think that the Ritz Carlton is just an aberration. It is unusually huge.....it looks out of place to the point of ridiculousness.....and I can't really believe that they ever allowed it......BUT....it seems to bother the tourists much more than the locals. Our friends who are Caymanians seem to be quite happy about it, if not downright proud.

Joe, what's your take? I'm not necessarily asking you what you think personally, but rather how do you think the Caymanians feel about it?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:33 pm Post subject:

Charlene - Congrats on T-3! Cheers

Thanks for not asking for my opinion. Wink

Tempting as it is with this and many other topics, I only state facts and make personal recommendations.

I will state that the overwhelming majority of locals that I know are not fond of the Ritz.

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:01 am Post subject:

Oh, one more thing about the Ritz.......if you go to Cayman, you will see that the Villas of the Galleon, which is right next door to the Ritz, and I DO mean RIGHT next door (seems to be inches away), really took a beating from Ivan. You know why? This was pointed out to me while we were on our dive boat just off shore from both properties............the winds came across the North Sound, hit that great big piece of concrete called the Ritz, then were deflected AROUND the Ritz at a high speed and raised havoc with the properties on both sides....Villas of the Galleon on one side and can't remember what's on the other side. Anyway, I thought that was kind of interesting. Rolling Eyes

Temporary Resident Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 164

Not to join in and bash the poor old Ritz, architecture aside, I find it very unusual that the Marriott (Ritz is a Marriott brand) would be operating the project the way it is being reported. Not paying the local contractors as others have noted in this forum is a poor business model. I do not know the Ritz's side of the story. Is this a "franchise" property not owned by the parent organization?

The property itself looks out of proportion. But browse through their website and it seems as if monolithic construction is a brand trademark. is Ritz Carlton attempting to attract the "St. Bart's" crowd. Maybe Hyatt's decision to defer re-opening across the road until 2006 and completely renovate had to do with competing with the Ritz. I have also heard that the Mandarin group has plans for Cayman as well. Mandarin operates some of the most luxe properties in the world. I do not know if I am ready to contemplate a Grand Cayman remade as the next Paradise Island.

GJM

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:23 pm Post subject:

gjm (and others) - Please, let's not turn this into a political discussion. That seems to be where all the other boards start to deteriorate and I do not want that to happen here. You yourself said you don't know both sides of the story. Wink

I want this to be a fun and friendly place for people to come and discuss all things tourist-related. I'll let the post stand as you have made a lot of other positive contributions and I am sure your intentions are good. Please don't take this the wrong way. handshake

Banned Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 183

My remark concerning the Ritz structure was NEVER intended to intitate "politicisizing" on this board:(

I'll be the first to admit to not being in a position to judge what is or is not in the best overall interest of the island!

That being said, I DO hope that as years proceed SMB does NOT mimic Palm Beach in Aruba with high rises shouldar to shouldar along the beach front. It's not the height of the Ritz that offends me so much as the weightiness of it's massive size that seems to choke the area it sits upon. One big plus is, no matter what gets built, there are NO casinos in the Caymans:)

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:58 pm Post subject:

dogwalker - I was not referring to you, and discussions about how people feel about having a Ritz on Grand Cayman is fine. It's political arguments that I will not allow and that seemed to be the path this thread was taking. Wink

Temporary Resident Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 164

mea culpa Joe

just repeating what I read in the CaymanNetNews

hopefully I will not get demoted and lose my second turtle

GJM

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 8:52 pm Post subject: Re: Ritz Carlton

Quote:

hopefully I will not get demoted and lose my second turtle. GJM

No worries there. You are well on your way to your third. Cheers

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 6:44 am Post subject:

Uh oh..........that must be me then........I'm SORRY!!! Embarassed

I don't really KNOW anything.......just happened across a headline in a paper on line and felt badly..........politically, I know NOTHING about what's going on......duh.

Celine

Banned Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 183

Joe,

Thanks for absolving me for what I feared was a big no-no. Aside from feeling better that my personal view concerning the building doesn't put me in the penalty box for a long, long time, I definitely will carefully consider future statements that might have the potential to open a can of worms that denigrates the purpose of this WONDERFUL board Smile

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2005 9:20 am Post subject:

I remember a time when no building was taller than a coconut tree. The Ritz is a big ugly cement monster that stands out like a bull in a china sotre. It has no beauty, no charm, nothing... islandy. Just a big ugly high rise building. Who needs it?

Newbie Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Posts: 5

I have to agree with all of the comments regarding the Ritz. One can only hope that landscaping will soften the cold imposing feeling that it presents. Crying or Very sad

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