This was my fourth or fifth visit and it is always just like coming back to a second home.

Perfect location, run by wonderful people and quiet even though it is right on the edge of George Town.

Judging by the number of long-term lets and repeat visitors plenty of other people share this opinion.

I just returned from an amazing vacation on Grand Cayman, and the Harbour View was a huge part of why I had such a great time. It was a wonderful home base -- offering a comfortable room, good snorkeling out back, and a location convenient to all sorts of other attractions.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a no-frills establishment. If you need a bathtub, daily maid service, or a front desk, you may want to look elsewhere. However, my roomy unit had all the essentials, plus beautiful views of the sea. The furnishings were basic, but I thought the apartment had Mary-Richards charm.

Some more details:

I stayed in apartment 2A, which is one of the "deluxe studios." Mine was the only upstairs unit in the building on the north side of the property. It had two windows facing the sea, and one facing north (with a view of trees, and, if you peer from the right angle, a neighboring house). The views of the sea were slightly obstructed by the peaked roof of the lower portion of the building, but I thought they were gorgeous! However, not all the apartments have a sea view, so if this is important to you, make sure you ask for it.

The unit had a fridge, a stovetop with two burners, a toaster, a coffee pot with a gold filter, a microwave, dishes, cutlery, pots and pans, and a blender, which I used to make smoothies every day. The kitchen has very little counter space, but you could use the kitchen table if need be. Or, if you are a serious cook, you may want to look at the one-bedroom apartments -- the one I saw had a huge kitchen with tons of counter space.

Also in the room: a very powerful AC unit, a TV, and a shelf from which you can hang your clothes (that is, not exactly a real closet, but it was perfectly functional). Another nice perk: they allowed free local calls from the room’s phone. The unsecured wireless Internet connection was slow but usable.

My door opened within view of the road -- if you’re a privacy nut and this is a concern for you, you might want to request a studio closer to the water, or go for a one-bedroom apartment (which I believe all have doors that open into an interior hallway). However, the area felt perfectly safe.

Inside the unit and on the beach out back, I could sometimes hear a slight amount of car-traffic noise, but not enough to bother me.

Last but not least, the owners of the Harbour View, Rose and Dudley, are warm, generous people (who live on site). Their welcoming attitude is echoed by the staff. If you need something, you can easily flag someone down to get it. Everyone was very friendly and also happy to give me tips on things like catching the bus.

Bottom line, I hated to leave the Harbour View! I became very fond of it during my stay and hope to return some time.

We had a wonderful stay. The owners and their staff create more than a place to stay-a nice shared community of like minded visitor. This reasonably priced apartment is not luxurious or fancy, but the full kitchen, water view apartment and fabulous owners make for a wonderful vacation. Hot tip: The Wharf restaurant next door is pricey, but has free hors d'oeuvres Friday during the 5-6 happy hour and free Salsa dancing lessons Mondays at 9 pm.

For a traveler on a budget, the Harbour View is completely perfect. The hotel is located on the very southern tip of seven mile beach and is very close to town. We had a rental car to get around and meet our dive boat every day, but we frequently walked into town in the afternoons and evenings so we wouldn't have to worry about having a few beers and driving. (We dove with Danny of Off the Wall divers and they were awesome.)

The hotel is very plain and not fancy, but it's also very clean and fantastically priced. Our room had a queen bed, very comfortable and clean sheets, and a full sofa. The floors are tile, so you have to watch the sand, but they provide a fresh bucket of water outside each door every morning so you can dunk your feet before you go in and they get swept out every day. Each room has a kitchenette with a mishmash of kitchen supplies - a small sink, small stove, coffeemaker and microwave, and there are weber charcoal grills on the beach. There is also a full size grocery store right across the street. Really convenient! We had steaks and smores on the beach at least twice for dinner. Also, the AC worked great, TV had cable, showers/bathroom were fine, they do have free wireless but you have to kind of huddle by the office and hunt around for the signal.

The hotel has a little beach and they have chairs and a picnic table out there, but the sand meets sharp rock before it hits the water, so if you want to go in there is a concrete boat launch or you can jump off the dock. If you're dreaming about the giant gorgeous expanses of sand where you can go running into the water, just walk or drive a few hundred yards north and camp out on seven mile beach itself.

Overall, it's not fancy schmancy, but the place is well maintained, very clean, and right on the water - you absolutely cannot beat it for the price.

Two notes:
1. The hotel has no pool, so if this is big for you then consider it.
2. The rooms on the ends DO have oceanfront views, but the rooms along the side DO NOT (picture a motel-style building that's perpendicular to the water). The rooms on the sides have almost no windows at all - a small high window in the back, over the bed, and a slatted window on the door. We were in one of these rooms and thought it was just fine because we were spending 90% of our time outside, but if you want an oceanfront room be sure you specify that you want a room facing the water.