We decided to stay at Grand Isle because the reviews on the Four Seasons (right down the beach) were mediocre. The rooms at Grand Isle are beautiful. The furnishings, bedding, appliances, etc. were all top notch (Bosch washer & drier, Sub-Zero refigerator, Kohler fixtures, granite countertops and stone flooring). The first floor of our unit consisted of the master bedroom and bath. Upstairs was the kitchen, living area, dining area and a powder room. Because the units are individually owned, the interior design is slightly different in every one, but the two we saw were both gorgeous and appeared to be brand new. Our unit had two upstairs decks overlooking a beautiful crescent of beach. If you need a safe in your room, be sure to request a room that has one. Ours did not even though I had emailed the resort in September when I made the reservation and was told that the rooms had safes. After unpacking, we realized we did not have one and the front desk confirmed that most rooms have them, but ours did not.

The general maintenance of the facility is excellent. The pool area is also beautiful. We were generally the only ones at the pool during our visit.

Don't expect service like you would normally receive at a Four Seasons or other high end resort (i.e nightly turn down, bottled water in room and at pool, etc.). It is the one area that prevented me from giving the resort an "Excellent" review. Although the staff was all pleasant, no one went "above and beyond" like you would normally expect from a 5 star facility.

Alex at the pool/restaurant area was an asset to the resort. He understood the hospitality business and was always available to improve the guest experience!

Continental breakfast is included in the room charge, but we preferred to take the golf cart provided with the room to go to the Four Seasons for breakfast. We had one very good dinner at Grand Isle and one very bad experience. Our friend spoke with the restaurant manager the next day and described our experience and he voluntarily took the dinner charge off of our bill.
The best dinner we had was our last night when we ate at Il Cielo at the Four Seasons. We would have eaten there every night if we had known how good the food and service was.

Overall, Grand Isle could have the potential to be a 5 star resort if they take care of some small service issues.

We just returned from a five night/six day stay over Thanksgiving at the Grand Isle Villas on Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas. From start to finish, the experience was one of the very best we have had. The villas are incredibly spacious with high-end furnishings (flat screen tv in every room, etc.) and spectacular views of Emerald Bay. Our three bedroom villa had a huge kitchen (one night, the staff arranged for an-villa meal prepared by a local chef - fabulous!), living area, wrap-around balcony and lots of storage space - perfect for a couple of families with kids. The large pool is adjacent to the Palappas bar/restaurant which serves a killer (in the good sense!) drink, the Vanilla Sky. The staff is wonderfully courteous and helpful, and each villa has its own golf cart in which to tour the adjacent area. The property has its own beach, which immediately abuts the Great Exuma Four Seasons property; the Four Seasons has several restaurants and a casino. Beyond the Grand Isle Villas and the Four Seasons, the main attraction of the island is a series of gorgeous beaches where you can find sand dollars, starfish and the like. We will definitely be back!

Absolutely loved this property! Traveled with a family of four (two teenage boys) and was pleasantly surprised to see the villa was just as pictured on the web site. Beautifully decorated two bedroom villas with all upscale appliances and spacious. Clean, comfortable, and worth every cent. Very secluded property, seldom even ran into any other beachcombers. The beach had wonderful fine sand (not the crushed shell type) and the water is an unbelievable blue and clear. Have visited many Carribean Islands and this one was probably the most "natural" of any we have visited. No stop lights, straight shot to town, and very laid back. You must have a car however, we always explore the islands we visit so this is a must! Being that it was August several beaches and restaurants were closed and ours was rennovating the poolside bar (minor inconvience) Definitely keep this in mind when booking this time of year. One draw back is there are very few restaurants on the island. And only one for "fine dining" and that would be next door at the Four Seasons.It was excellent both in sevice and food. Presentation was beautiful. At the Grand Isle you have a kitchen probably nicer than yours at home and you could always prepare your own meals. It's difficult to find good food at the market across the street and the one in town isn't a whole lot better in their product offerings. But hey, you are on an island and they rely on everything being brought in. The kids enjoyed pizza one night from the pizzeria acorss the street. Took a wonderful half day snorkeling trip on a speedboat Xzooma (bright yellow) and the captain and his son grew up in Exuma so they showed us some unusual secluded cays, a secluded beach, where Pirates of the Carribean was filmed, and then took us to a fabulous reef for snorkeling. Great excursion with personal attention and first hand knowledge of Exuma. Highly recommend it. He also offers parasailing however, on the day we went it started out as cloudy and a bit rainy at first. These tend to blow over quickly.
We also visited Stocking Island and thoroughly enjoyed a few hours at Chat N Chill. Great hamburgers and bar with all your favorite beers. Reasonable prices and a great place to just hang out. This place was Exuma's version of Grand Cayman's Rum Point -both great places to relax and think about all the people who are having to work that day while you are enjoying, a cold drink and laying in the warm sun enjoying all that the beach life has to offer. I would definitely recommend this island and resort and hopefully will return someday. Simply too many islands to see and not enough time!

Just got back from Exuma and stayed 9 days at Grand Isle Villa with husband and 2 children(15yr old snd 8yr old). We loved the resort. We stayed in the 2 b/r villa. Plenty of space! Oceanview villa with all the ammenities! Very clean and updated. Plazma TV'S in all the rooms. Marble and stone through out! The beds were the most comfortable I EVER slept in.

The pool and bar restaurant were nice, food very pricey, burger $12.00, lemon drop martini $12.00, beer $6.00 and so on. No dinner at resort however they provide a golf cart to get around other resort
such as Four Seasons. Excellent food at Four Seasons, very expensive but great! There is also a place called the Marina which you can go with the golf cart 10 minutes away, ok food. Not to many places to choose to eat. There is a grocery store 10 minutes away so you can stock up on little food since there is a huge refrigerator in the villa!

The beach is beatiful! crystal clear water and hardley anyone goes to the beach! This I do not understand. Why go to a beach place and not enjoy the ocean? Only thing I would recommend is they clean the sea weed a little better.

The staff is very friendly and helpfull. Everything we asked for they accomadated us with smiles.

We went to Chat and Chill on Stocking Island and it was beautiful. The beach is fabulous! We really did not venture out more then that since we wanted to relax!

I really recommend this Island and this resort if you want peace of mind, to get away from the rat race and to spend time with your family or significant other.