My family and I only just returned from our stay at the Caribbean Club. The facilities are absolutely beautiful, and the view from our room was STUNNING! We stayed in a three bedroom unity and had more than enough space for our family of 5. We didn't use the kitchen much as we weren't there that long; however, when we (hopefully) return, we will stay longer and plan to cook breakfast. The rooms were spacious and beautiful, each with a ceiling fan, and the master connected to the balcony. The balcony, with its loungers, was my favorite part - the perfect place to sprawl out with a book and a glass of wine after a long day at the beach.
There is a grocery store nearby - it is walkable but a little bit of a trek (my husband and I had no problem doing it on our own, but it would have been tricky with the kids); however, you can order your groceries in advance through the hotel. I HIGHLY recommend doing this! There is also a liquor store across the street - super convenient!
We ate at LUCA a couple of times - great service and great food! We also ate at Tillie's (a short walk down the beach) for breakfast and dinner - the view there is amazing - you could not be closer to the ocean! - and the food and service was great. For comparison, we also ate dinner at Saint June at the Ritz and found the food FAR better at Tillie's and LUCA, and the price was better as well.
We snorkeled right off the shore with the kids. At first, it seemed there wasn't much to see, but soon learned that the trick was to go out a bit farther - probably about 100 ft or so off show, past the buoys to where the water appears a bit darker. From there, we saw numerous types of fish (grouper, snapper, parrot fish), we saw an eel, several sea turtles, and some squid. My son (12 years old and a great swimmer) loved it! It was a bit far out for my girls (7 and 8), but they were content snorkeling closer in and looking at smaller fish.
We took a charter out to Stingray City - Ezona's Charter (we would HIGHLY recommend) and had a great day there!
The only downside we found was (with a handful of exceptions) the service at the hotel. There was never any one at the front desk - to get service I had to call out to see if anyone was there each time. The front desk arranged the charter, and told me they had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 8:50 for our 9 am charter. In fact, there was no taxi. We waited the next morning, but no taxi came. The man working at the front, also thinking one had been arranged by the hotel, did not call for one until it was past 9, at which point we were late for the charter. All in all, we missed nearly 30 minutes of our charter, and were unable to visit Starfish Point - where my girls were most excited to go. Of course, the cost of the charter was the same.
It was possible to get drinks/food on the pool and beach, but it was nearly impossible to get any service. Our last day of the trip was the only day anyone actually came by to ask us if we wanted anything. It was also the only time anyone returned later to see if we wanted another drink. Every other day we had to ask the man working on the beach with the towels and chairs - who was amazing by the way! he was super attentive and quick to get us a great spot every day, AND would find us a server when we needed a drink - and only then would someone come by to take our drink order. It would take quite some time for the drink to come (and the beach was quite empty - a HUGE plus in our opinion) and then we were lucky if we ever saw the server again.
Needless to say, with the exception of the man working the chairs at the beach, and also the housekeeping service (she was lovely), the service at this hotel was not what I would have expected for a 5-star resort. That being said, the grounds, the room, the beach, the location, the restaurants - everything else was so incredibly perfect and beautiful (and also the ease by which you can simply get your own drinks and bring a cooler down with you truly minimizes the downside) that the positive FAR outweigh the negative in my opinion. We would love to return to this spot, and, in fact, could not imagine staying anywhere else on Seven Mile Beach. Some of the other high rated hotels (the Ritz for example), seemed so much more crowded - rows and rows of chairs on the beach with nowhere to walk - and did not offer the large, spacious suite option that we found here (we had looked at getting two rooms at the Ritz and chose this on instead). Not to mention the restaurant was better here too!
We cannot wait to return, and would highly recommend this spot - particularly for families!