| Pool and Jacuzzi freezing cold not heated |
| Hotel RIU Paradise Island |
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Becky >
1 contribution(s) United States of America |
| Feb, 2010 | Leisure | Family
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| Just got back and first time ever out of US. Good to get away but very dissappointed at ice cold pool and no Jacuzzi = Could go into Spa and use but they were both broken. Could not get Room Bar to work, but always at other bars though. Would have loved to use the swim up bar but cold, and weather was 70's, rain a whole day and people on beach very pushy (vendors) |
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| Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel |
| so,so |
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| Beach/Pools/Grounds |
| Cold, Cold, beach very nice except for vendors hounding for sales, grounds kept nice |
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| Other Comments |
| Jacuzzi attached to pool, was not heated, dissappointed |
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| Restaurants and Bars |
| very good food everywhere, sometimes staff were more into each other than guests, social hour |
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| Rooms |
| nice rooms, service was little lacking with coffee refills and shower refills, toilet broke, door hard to open but nice |
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| Your Arrival |
| Took motel shuttle and it took hour through streets of towns, dirty and littered. Airports very nice and timely. |
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| Would not recommend, not as advertised, not suitable for the 14-18 age group |
| Hotel Breezes Bahamas |
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Catriona Fraser >
1 contribution(s) United States of America |
| Jan, 2010 | Leisure | Family
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| No water skiing, no sign of a tennis pro, slow service, noisy all the time, shabby and in need of a massive upgrade |
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| Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel |
| Advertised activities not all available, other activities on timed schedule, would have preferred to enjoy activities when we wanted, not when they wanted |
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| Beach/Pools/Grounds |
| Water too cold to swim in pools, hot tub OK, grounds OK, they (and the hotel)all look much better in photos than in reality! |
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| Restaurants and Bars |
| Cafeteria college style, also noisy, food OK. 2 restaurants with weird booking arrangements |
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| Rooms |
| Shabby furnishings, scratched furniture, carpets coming off floor, inadequately soundproofed |
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| Your Arrival |
| Could not go to rooms for another 2 hours, although changing rooms and showers were available |
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| They expect tips all the time. |
| Hotel RIU Paradise Island |
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DenyCanada >
1 contribution(s) Canada |
| Jul, 2009 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
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Arrival: July 12 to July 26,2009
Myself and my wife along with my brother and his wife stayed at the Riu Paradise island for two weeks. The problems that we had were expired water,pop and empty liqure bottles in the rooms. Other problems were mold in the bathrooms with rust along the sink and cracked sinks which leaked also elevators broke down and we were forced to take services elevators.Mold in the swimming pool and another problem was the bartenders didn't look at you if you didn't give them a tip. When it rained the lobby was full of towels because the roof would leek. My wife's sandals were stolen.They also were saying that they were closing down at the end of July for 4 months to renovate i heared they are still booking. I stayed at other Riu hotels I will never go here again. Don't get married there it is a disaster.
Restaurants and Bars:
Ok other than they expect tips all the time.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Beaches are nice. Pool in terrible shape with mold
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
No good
Other Comments:
Don't go here until they renovate, apparently they will be amazing when complete. |
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| The main feeling we returned with was "rip-off" |
| Hotel Atlantis Royal Towers |
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KarenCNewJersey >
1 contribution(s) United States of America |
| Apr, 2008 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
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My husband, 14-year old son and I recently returned from a one-week trip to the Atlantis. We were very excited about this trip, having extensively gone through their website. Unfortunately, the main feeling we returned with was "rip-off".
The ground are indeed spectacular, and I have never seen anything to compare with them. The walk-through aquariums are fascinating, as are the various lagoons with sharks, mantas and other large sea creatures. The pools are beautiful, and there are so many from which to choose. Each chaise lounge is equipped with a movable awning, so you can choose whether to sunbathe or stay in the shade. However, the beach is mediocre - it's relatively small, and there is neither shade nor any pretty palapas, etc., as you find in Punta Cana. The water was rough (the red flags were up most of the days we were there). |
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| Arrival |
My husband, 14-year old son and I recently returned from a one-week trip to the Atlantis. We were very excited about this trip, having extensively gone through their website. Unfortunately, the main feeling we returned with was "rip-off".
The ground are indeed spectacular, and I have never seen anything to compare with them. The walk-through aquariums are fascinating, as are the various lagoons with sharks, mantas and other large sea creatures. The pools are beautiful, and there are so many from which to choose. Each chaise lounge is equipped with a movable awning, so you can choose whether to sunbathe or stay in the shade. However, the beach is mediocre - it's relatively small, and there is neither shade nor any pretty palapas, etc., as you find in Punta Cana. The water was rough (the red flags were up most of the days we were there).
The resort has several different buildings, which are all connected. We stayed in the Coral Towers, which is a step down from the Royal Towers, but an upgrade from the Beach Tower, which is pretty far from everything. There's also the Cove, which is the highest level, very, very expensive.
Check in was pretty efficient, although our room wasn't available when we got there around 3 PM. So, we went to Murray's Deli for some lunch. Our first glimpse of the high prices was here, where a modest lunch for the three of us ran about $75. |
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| Casino |
| My husband gambled a lot, but he didn't get comped - you have to bet $50/hand on average to get comped. The casino was very clean, and though they allowed smoking, it didn't get smoky. One odd thing was that the high-bet tables ($500/hand) were out in the open (not that we were playing them!).
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| Food |
| The food was, in general, astronomically priced, and I heard many, many people complaining/ commenting on it. I understand food prices are up and they have to import everything, but this was ridiculous. For example, the breakfast buffets cost $86 for the three of us. We often went to some little shops across the street for breakfast, and a few dinners too. (Anthony's and Gio something both had good food at more reasonable prices). We did have one fantastic meal at Carmines; we go to one of the New York City Carmines, and the one at the Atlantis was very similar to the original. A major disappointment was the Seafire Steakhouse. We have been in Ruths Chris, Mortons and Ben Benson's steakhouses, so we have a basis of comparison. The Seafire not only cost about $70 more, but the steak quality was comparable to Outback. The mashed potatoes tasted like they were made from instant powdered potatoes. (The ambience at least was beautiful).
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| Overall |
| Overall, I would never go back to the Atlantis. You just don't get your money's worth. The best way to see it is to get a day pass from a cruise ship. I would much rather go back to the Sol Melina in Punta Cana, which has spacious rooms, good food, gorgeous beach and is all inclusive - a far better value for the money.
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| Room |
| OK. So, we get to our room. Our room was $670/night (no kidding; it may have been higher than usual because it was Easter week). The room was not large, and it had two double beds (not queen size), 2 chairs, a small round table, an armoire/TV/room minibar frig and a nightstand. I have been in Holiday Inns that provided larger, more comfortable rooms. There was a small balcony with 2 chairs, and the view was beautiful in one direction. The closet did have a lot of nice wooden hangars. The bathroom was pretty standard; it had a blow dryer, but did not have a magnifying mirror. Overall, the room was disappointing.
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| Water Park |
| The water park was good. They do have the Current, which is a mile-long lazy river, except it's not lazy. Picture a lazy river combined with a Roaring Rapids ride and a wave pool, and that's what you get - it was the best part of the whole hotel, and just so much fun! Although the place was mobbed, we never had a problem getting a tube, and the staff was wonderful and helpful. The slides are great if you don't mind waiting; it took about an hour to get on one of the slides at Power Tower. It really was a great slide, but not worth the wait.
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| What a great trip! |
| Hotel Atlantis Royal Towers |
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PatPennsylvania >
1 contribution(s) United States of America |
| Dec, 2007 | Leisure | With Group
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We just returned from 4 nights/5 days in the Royal Towers of Atlantis Resort. What a great trip! We had a family of four including a 19 yr old girl and 21 yr old boy. Lots of things to do for adults- I had been concerned that it was just a childrens waterpark- no way!
We did 2 excursions off site- The Powerboat Adventure and the Dolphin swim. A bit expenive, but worht it! The Powerboat Adventure was just that- an adventure! A one hour 40 mph boat ride, first visiting an island of all iguanas- then off to 'their island'. Open bar,snacks and an island lunch are all included. We did group snorkeling, hand feeding the sting rays and laying in the water with googles on while they dray the sharks in close! Amazaing!
Atlantis resort food is expensive, but I had read reviews and packed half a suitcase with water & snacks. We also ventured just off the property to the shopping center near the Marina walk and ate at the News Cafe & Anthonys.
Rooms - Our room was in the west end of the Royal Tower. We were upgraded to an oceanview and it was breathtaking! The ocean on one side, the harbour on the other and the dolphin lagoon and lazy river in between! Probably more of a walk than you would want with small children, though.
Restaurants - The only restaurants on Atlantis that we ate at were the pizzaria- (at $30 a pie) and Bimini Road on the Harbour walk. It was good food, drinks, music at a moderate price.
Beach and Pools - For a more quite area- we would lounge on the west side between the Royal and the Cove. You could catch the lazy river over to the 'more active' area if you didn't want to walk.
Conclusion - A really nice family vacation for us all. |
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| There is not one bad comment |
| Hotel Sheraton Cable Beach Resort |
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N-N >
1 contribution(s) |
| Oct, 2007 | Leisure | Family
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| Sheraton Cable Beach Resort was an all around great resort. Everything about it was magnificent! My family and I booked it the Monday before we left using changes.com and everything went perfectly went we got there. The staff could not have been more friendly and helpful and even the locals were all very kind. The beaches were beautiful and had plenty of activities to keep kids busy. The snorkeling right at the beach was wonderful! The resort is under renovation, but don’t let that change your mind. It is only part of the resort and there are still three pools that are open, including the swim up bar. They have daily games at the pool which are a lot of fun to join in on. We ate at the buffet at the resort for dinner one night and the food was marvelous. The chef was more than happy to cook up the fish that we caught on our deep-sea fishing excursion and prepared it wonderfully for us. The restaurants outside of the hotels were also very good to eat at. It is a great hotel for families with kids of all ages, but also a great hotel for couples. There is something for everyone to enjoy. There is not one bad comment I could say about this resort and it is definitely one I will stay at again!
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| We purchased the American Food plan |
| Hotel Atlantis Royal Towers |
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DexterNancyArkansasUSA >
1 contribution(s) United States of America |
| May, 2007 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
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| We recently returned from a stay at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. We stayed 4 nights the first week of June at the Corral Tower section. We were offered at check in an option to upgrade to the Royal section. We turned this down, preferring an Ocean view at the Corral section to a Garden view at the Royal section. Believe me, we found out, at least judging from outside appearances, there is a vast difference between the Corral Tower building and the Royal Tower Building. I would advise you to take the Royal building if offered, it is amazing, awesome. The Corral Tower section is downright tacky in comparison.
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| Arrival |
| We recently returned from a stay at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. We stayed 4 nights the first week of June at the Corral Tower section. We were offered at check in an option to upgrade to the Royal section. We turned this down, preferring an Ocean view at the Corral section to a Garden view at the Royal section. Believe me, we found out, at least judging from outside appearances, there is a vast difference between the Corral Tower building and the Royal Tower Building. I would advise you to take the Royal building if offered, it is amazing, awesome. The Corral Tower section is downright tacky in comparison.
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| Beach |
| The beach was great, beautiful sand and water. The beach was somewhat crowded and had a few beach vendors pedaling various items but not bad at all. The pools and water parks were very entertaining and our 5 year old pretty well lived in the water for 4 days. The 48” height required for some of the water parks was a bummer for baby as she was about 4 inches short of that height and they would not budge on letting her in. The lazy river she could do and we enjoyed this. When the lazy river ride got crowded, it wasn’t much fun, but with few people it was a favorite. The Lagoon and Snorkel beach was also a favorite place. We probably spend as much time there as anywhere. It’s not a real place to snorkel with not much to see but baby didn’t mind. Overall, this resort offered the most varied water entertainment of anyplace we have visited.
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| Food |
| We purchased the American Food plan and probably did not come out on it. A dinner at one of the Buffet restaurants would have averaged over $100 for two adults and a 5 year old. The food was plentiful, which was mandatory, as finding something edible was a problem. I’m not sure if it was our spoiled American appetites or if the food was really bland and tasteless. The Breakfast buffets averaged about $60 and the Omelets were pretty good. Service at the restaurants was typical of the Caribbean resorts, slow and slower. You just have to adjust to a lower scale of service and you’ll do fine.
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| Resumé |
| After years of going each year to Mexico or the Caribbean, we went last year to an island off the coast of Greece. I have to say I was no more impressed by last year’s trip than I was by the Atlantis resort. We spend hardly anytime exploring the Bahamas and probably going to the Atlantis is more like going to Disney World than to a foreign country. Regardless, It is simply a great feast for the eyes and a genuine place to do nothing but what you want to do. I always say that I never go to the same vacation place twice as life is to short and there are way too many places to see. But, if I ever change my mind, I will be back at the Atlantis and, next time when they offer the upgrade to the Royal Tower I will say yes and Thank you!
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| Room |
| Our first room in the Corral Towers was awful, the “water view” required tunnel vision and a good imagination. We complained and Peggy at Guest services came thru like a champ and the next day we were offered a beautiful sixth floor room with a great view of the Ocean and the entire facility. On the second night, they has a totally awesome fireworks display at the new Cove section. This was indeed impressive and if we had taken the Royal room we would not have had the great view. I guess our bad judgment worked out OK in this instance. The room itself was fairly plain, but clean and pleasant. Nothing like the rooms at some 5 star resorts we have been to in Costa Rico or the Dominican Republic, but still overall there was no complaint. Service was good and the Hotel employees were friendly. This is unlike what I had read in some other reviews.
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| Tours |
| We went on one tour, the Dolphin experience. We took a boat ride to an island and baby and momma got to touch and kiss a Dolphin. The Tour cost about $80 each to participate with $25 to observe. It was a fun trip and worth the money. The same basic Dolphin Experience at the Atlantis was about twice as expensive.
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| Very nice place |
| Hotel Island Seas Resort |
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Michele from St. Albert, Alberta >
1 contribution(s) Canada |
| Jan, 2007 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
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Great place to stay, huge beach, great local food on beach. 6 minutes to Port Lucaya Market Place. We have a time share, easy to book, (need to be creative). We are going to be visiting again in Dec 2009,for two weeks.
Rooms:
2 bedroom villa, great layout. Sleeps 6 comfortably.
Restaurants and Bars:
Grill is good, I hear they have a new Buffet restaurant.
I like doing breakfast and lunch in the room.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Grounds kept very clean.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Activitites for charter tours expensive. Check out prices in town.
Other Comments:
We are going with a group of 15, for Xmas 2009 can't wait.
Very nice place, about a 4+ Star, very clean, water is beatiful. Do as many activities as you can. Family focused, but you can go out to dinner or the casino for a night out. We have travelled to Vegas, Hawaii, Jamaica, Dominican and Bahamas, Bahamas beats out all destinations! Have no desire to go to Cuba or Mexico! |
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| Lobby is spacious, beautiful, well lit |
| Hotel RIU Paradise Island |
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ChrisCindyBarrieOntario >
1 contribution(s) Canada |
| Oct, 2006 | Leisure | With Group
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Six of us stayed at the Riu Oct 1-8 and found:
Airline: Skyservice is a flying sardine can. They should really do away with the rock hard bun in a box lunch and maybe more leg room. I am under six feet and I was so cramped in, it was unbelievable. Also, they were late getting back into Toronto (3 am) and with the baggage carousel breaking down 5 times, we didn't get home until 5 am. Not the Riu's fault, of course, but it does put a damper on a GREAT VACATION |
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| Drink |
| Premium brands, well made (heavy on the booze, so ask them to put only a little in if you're not a drinker) and good selection |
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| Food |
Six of us, seven days, three meals a day, we had about 120 meals over the course of the vacation and we had one meal that was...suspect. Breakfast on Thursday was not the greatest and the coffee was a little strong that day. Other than that - excellent. We went to the steakhouse one night and the Japanese another, buffets the rest. The steaks were good, though you have to be very specific with the order (medium rare is almost blue, so you may have to bump it up a bit). My father-in-law and sister-in-law had never had sushi before and were unwilling to try, though I managed to coerce them into it. "Absolutely marvelous" was his response and the entire meal was spectacular - you must try it if you can.
We all found it amusing that the hotel manager comes out right at 6:30 to ring the dinner bell - lterally, as he yells DINNERTIME at the top of his lungs. Everyone found that hilarious. |
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| Hotel |
| Lobby is spacious, beautiful, well lit. The people, both on and off the resort are some of the nicest, gracious people I have ever met (taxis, wait staff, servers, etc.) We went over to Atlantis (which is right next door) a few times and found the people very stuck up and, quite frankly, irritating. We were happy not to have booked rooms there. |
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| Outside stuff |
We tried the moonlight dinner cruise (quaint, food was mediocre, ambiance was good if you go to the top deck). The dolphin experience was good, worth the $85. We golfed at Ocean Club ($200 +$70 for clubs) which, if you are a golfer, is an amazing experience. Shopping was not bad, especially if you like jewellry. We went downtown to the Straw Market, which is like an industrial sized flea market, good bargains.
Overall, no complaints, nice place, we plan to go back. |
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| Rooms |
Clean, though a little tired (the washrooms need an update, though they are clean) and the balconies are small, though good to sit out and have a smoke or a drink while watching the waves come in. We had rooms on both the pool and "air conditioner" side, and while both were nice, a word of advice, avoid rooms with even numbers on the 2nd and 3rd floors (you will be directly over the AC units) and try to get higher numbers if you want beautiful ocean views (we had 428 which was near the ocean end of the hotel and it was spectacular) The minibar was funny (a fridge, which was well stocked and a little "medicine chest" above with a dispenser of brandy, vodka, gin and rum, which is something I've never seen before)
One interesting note, the hotel is a smoking hotel, but the rooms (except for the Calipso room downstairs) were not stale and did not smell of smoke at all. |
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| My way will be to never go to a Riu hotel again |
| Hotel RIU Paradise Island |
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Lavonne06 >
1 contribution(s) |
| Jan, 2006 | Leisure | With Group
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We arrived Jan. 10,2006 for a 5 night all inclusive stay at the Riu Hotel .
I was traveling with my daughter, and son-in-law and 2 grand children Their ages 1 1/2 and 3 1/2. They were anxious to go swimming in the pool. There is only one pool and it is not heated. For the 5 days at this hotel we saw only 4 people use the pool. It was ice cold.
We had to go next door to Atlantis and pay a $200.00 day room rate to use their heated pools. The buffet food is good for an all inclusive and their specialty nights offer a variety of choices. However it is a bit repetitive. The rooms were clean and housekeeping does a fine job of daily room maintenance. There is no organized activity program for adults or children.
This does nothing to create an atmosphere of friendliness and fun IT APPEARS TO ME THAT WITH ATLANTIS NEXT DOOR , THEY DON'T CARE WHETHER YOU ARE SATISFIED OR NOT.
I wrote to the main office of Riu and complained about the pool situation. They claim they contacted the manager and he stated that the heaters were on They thanked me for the correspondence and sent me on my way. My way will be to never go to a Riu hotel again. |
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| And after 2 days, I had had enough |
| Hotel Atlantis Royal Towers |
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>
1 contribution(s) |
| Aug, 2005 | Leisure | With Group
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Well, what can i say - if money is no object and you like thinking that you are one of the rich and famous, this resort is for you - but if like me, you want your moneys worth stay away!!!!! We travelled with our married son and grandchild, so we stayed at the Harborside (time share) part of the resort - which i highly recommend if you are with children - room for them to run around and there is transportation to the main resort. The place is beautiful and there is lots to see - however.... how many pools can you swim in at one time???? My advice - stay at the nearby comfort inn - they give you breakfast and you have priviledges at the atlantis, or stay at an even more reasonable resort and get a day pass for the atlantis. For the price of this vacation, we could have taken 2 at punta cana, or cancun
I agree that the ocean water in the bahamas is the most beautiful - better than bermuda, dominican republic and hawaii BUT the beach itself is not
No matter which pool/beach you went to, unless you were up at 6am and/or "schmoozed" the pool boys, you did not get a chair and of all the chairs, only about 1/4 of them have shaded tops. As for the people being friendly and helpful, PLEASE there is a 15% gratuity tacked on to everything so there is no reason for them to be nice, friendly etc. Not that they were rude - just that no one went out of their way to be helpful. We went for a week, and after 2 days, i had had enough. I know people will say that i could have gone off premises but with an infant and a pregnant daughter in law it wasnt that easy. Unless you are prepared for a lot of walking and shelling out of money - find another place to visit. I for one will never go back here UNLESS, i can get a spectacular deal - they did have one but i found it too late - $99/night in the beach tower - which i personally think is the best place to stay - the pool is right there along with the beach and the buffet restaurant. Hope this helps - feel free to contact me at trtl29@yahoo.com |
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| I would throw in my 2 cents |
| Hotel Westin Grand Bahama Island Our Lucaya |
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FamilyFromIndiana >
1 contribution(s) |
| Apr, 2004 | Leisure | Family
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| My husband and our 2 teenage boys stayed at the Sheraton Our Lucaya - awesome property! Some of the reviews scared me, so I thought I would throw in my 2 cents. Check-in was a breeze, however, walking through the lobby several times a day, I noticed lines were really long sometimes, so I guess it all depends upon timing of flights, group check-in, etc.
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| Pools were cold, but so pretty. |
Even though all 3 hotels were booked, it never seemed overcrowded. It was spring break & it was a joy to see college kids having a great time. It wasn't like an MTV thing, but the contests the hotel provided proved to be worth a lot of laughs.
My worse fears of these reviews occurred when we were sent to our ocean view room only to be looking down on a roof with the ocean wayyyy out in the distance. I immediately called the desk and politely begged for another room. No other ocean rooms were available so I asked about a poolside room. They had a bellhop show us two other poolside rooms & it ended up just perfect. He even made the exchange of keys for our convenience. (expect to tip everyone $2 - $5)
Maid service was excellent. Each guest is given a towel card for the beach/pool area. Everyday you can get a huge beach towel & rights to beach chairs (you see, temporary guest from cruise ships & other hotels didn't get these unless they paid $$$$). If you lose a card, it is a $25 fine for each cards you lose. I can see why - those towels are very nice.
Golf was expensive ($110 for 18 holes, $60 for 9 holes, 15 & under-just the cart fee $18) but nice to be on a course again. We stretched our dollar by golfing 3 rounds of 9 holes instead of 2 rounds of 18 holes. Lucayan course is prettier, but very narrow. Reef course is wide open with lots of water.
Was very windy for 4 days and most snorkeling boat excursions were cancelled. Nature Snorkel Tours substituted our Peterson Cay trip for the West End where our guide treated us to kayaking & snorkeling in calm seas blocked by trees & a bay.
Expect to pay a lot of money for meals ($800 for four of us - 6 days), but do not expect good service. Be patient - your mantra should be "It's okay, we're on vacation." Gratuity is always included on bills. Marketplace across the street has tons of places to eat, but most are pricey too. We found the some of the property restaurants weren't any more expensive than the marketplace ones. Starbucks in the lobby. Our favorite "on property" eatery was the Prop Club - 2 pizzas for about $30. Typical burger meals are around $12. The drinks will kill ya though. We've saved a little by eating a few meals from Subway & Domino's & Dunkin Donuts. The breakfast buffet ($15) at the Sheraton Barracuda was fantastic! We indulged at Friday's seafood buffet at the Westin's Willy Broadleaf's for $47 each - but it was awesome! Case of beer from liquor stores - Bud Light $38, but if you drink all your beer down by the pool, you would be paying $150 for a case*.
Rooms were nice, bathroom is small. Refrigerator and safe in-room was great. We brought snacks and a pitcher to mix kool-aid. Walks along the 3 hotel properties are beautiful. Cannot see sunsets from the Sheraton (you can on the higher rooms at the Westin), but sunrises were great. Pools were cold, but so pretty. Ocean temp was doable. Everyone down here was nothing but nice, nice, nice! |
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| My father and husband got food poisoning |
| Hotel Atlantis Royal Towers |
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JaimeCanada >
1 contribution(s) Canada |
| Mar, 2004 | Leisure | With Group
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| I have been to Atlantis twice before and loved it! Yes, our rooms were never ready and you could never check out late, but we rolled with the punches. Until this time. Time #3. My father and husband got food poisoning from Murry's deli on our last night. We went to the resort Doctor, who diagnosed them with food poisoning and gave them prescriptions. We missed our flight and have a Dr note for insurance purposes. While they were at the DR and I was watching my 9 month old son, i received a phone call telling us they are over-booked and we need to check out. They had found us the last 2 rooms in Nassau at a 2 star hostel down the road. They wouldn't even let us stay in our rooms. We faught. We got our rooms back (after over-hearing they were going to give 4 over-booked villa's to the man beside me who was a high roller in the casino). Nobody called to check if we were well or even comfortable. We had to pay for our rooms FULL PRICE and any other expenses we had. We never recieved a cot we requested on day 1. BOTH our TV's were broken and had to be replaced, our shower didn't work and we were charged for stuff out of the mini bar and we didn't use it. The book said internet was $.05 a minute, we got a 3 minute charge of $6.00. We were told they upped our prices to $.50. They said they would refund us and never did! My baby threw up all over the crib one night, so I asked for an extra sheet...I saw it 2 days later. When we filed our security report for the food posoning, we asked for a copy...we had to go down 2 days later and fight for it. The service SUCKS!! I would much rather go elsewhere. The pools were FREEZING and half of the slot machines didn't work. Sounds fun huh? We are still in the process of fighting for our rooms. |
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| Breakfast was served every morning with plenty to chose from |
| Hotel Westin Grand Bahama Island Our Lucaya |
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FamilyFromConnecticut >
1 contribution(s) |
| Feb, 2004 | Leisure | Family
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| We just came back from a long weekend (4 nights) at the Westin Breakers Cay at Our Lucaya. We are a family of 5, 3 teenagers and 2 adults. We stayed on the 10th floor (club level) with ocean view rooms. The accommodations were great and our view spectacular. I would recommend club level because of the convenience and helpfulness of the staff. Breakfast was served every morning with plenty to chose from. There were appetizers and drinks at night. We spent a lot of time at the beach, which was very nice and had plenty of beach chairs. You could get drinks and food delivered to you at the beach. We rented wave runners right out front and had a lot of fun. We had our own snorkeling equipment, which came in handy since you can't rent snorkels unless you go on the boat trip. However, we saw plenty of fish just out front, on our own. The restaurants were good, but overpriced and a little slow. We ate a Will Broadleaf's and found it very expensive. Irie's was great. The marketplace across the street was a lot of fun and filled with all kinds of people. The restaurants there were more funky and fun. Lots of shops with local wares and duty free liquor, jewelry, etc. There is a central square where bands play nightly and it was fun to walk around the docks and check out the boats. One of the highlights of the trip was the Dolphin Encounter. I highly recommend it and particularly the swimming experience. The trainers were very knowledgeable and made it really fun. My kids loved it!! My husband and son played golf at the Reef Course and had a wonderful time. It was just down the road and so was easily accessible and didn't take all day. We flew to and from Freeport on Continental, direct flights from Newark. It was extremely convenient and quick. This was a great vacation and we would definitely go back.
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| Take the package that includes the night dive |
| Hotel Club Med Columbus Isle |
| User Rating:
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Sandi03 >
1 contribution(s) |
| May, 2003 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
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Columbus Isle is a key of the Bahamas for those of you wondering. My 12 yr old son and I, left from JFK at 8am Easter Sunday, and arrived at Columbus Isle at about 11:30am. We were welcomed by the staff at the airport (about 2 people), and were quickly ushered into Club Med Mini Vans and driven the 1 minute commute to Club Med..Yes 1 minute, it was at the end of the runway!!!
The resort was quite nice, nothing like other Club Med's I've been to. The rooms were well decorated, clean, not dorm room at all. The food was quite good, and the service pleasant. The best part of the vacation was the diving. This is where the resort excelled. The boats were new, clean, state of the art. The scuba equipment was well taken care of, and the reefs were amazing. There were caves and wrecks to explore, and pleanty of surprises. Definately take the package that includes the night dive.
The night life was almost non existent, but we definately made do, especially my 12 year old, who made friends with other kids, and they had their own fun at the ping-pong table.
Hope this helps |
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| We liked The Forge restaurant the best |
| Hotel Sheraton Cable Beach Resort |
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SoniaCanada >
1 contribution(s) Canada |
| Mar, 2003 | Leisure | Family
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| My husband and I took our two children (both under 5 yrs. old) for a 4 night all-inclusive stay at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort via Conquest Tours, Skyservice from Toronto on March 16, 2003. Overall, our vacation was very enjoyable.
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| Pleasantly surprised |
I was pleasantly surprised with Skyservice, especially how well they treated us while traveling with two small kids. The flight attendant was kind enough to ask a fellow passenger to move back a row so that the four of us could have the entire row of seats since the flight was not full both ways. The food was pretty decent in terms of economy class cuisine.
We landed in Nassau around 8:30 pm and we took a shuttle bus to the hotel. We highly recommend hiring a local porter to wheel your baggage as it certainly made our trek through customs and to the shuttle bus really easy and fast. When we arrived at the hotel, there was no door man and we had to carry our own bags into the lobby. It seemed that the front desk was not in a hurry to check people in as we had to wait in line for 30 minutes. Our room wasn’t posh but was quite clean and the view was great! I really liked that our room had a terrace overlooking the pools and ocean. The bathroom, however, was a bit cramped and very dimly lit. We got lucky and the Bimini Grill was still open at 9:30 pm and we were able to have a late buffet snack. Most restaurants close at 10pm but we found out that the Bimini Grill has after hours take out or late buffet.
We found the beach was ideal for small kids since the waves are calm and the sand is soft. The water is also shallow for a good distance out from the beach. We met some nice young families and my kids always found playmates. There are many pools to choose from and my kids really liked the one with a beach-like entry and water fall.
We liked The Forge restaurant the best because the filet mignon was about 3” thick and the service was great, but it can get pretty hot grilling right at your table. If you’re a Sushi connoisseur then you won’t be very impressed with The Islands restaurant. Amicci’s had pretty good Italian food and the anti-pasto table was authentic and tasty. We loved the frozen drinks and the bar staff was always friendly. It was a bit of a pain though to have to wait for and sign a bill every time you got a drink.
My husband tried the golf course and his only complaint was the mandatory cart rental of 35 USD per person, which is pretty pricey converted into CAD and he prefers to walk. The free shuttle bus was quick and air conditioned. The course was not very busy and if he wanted to play another round the pro-shop would have accommodated. Overall, he’s proud that he shot a 75.
On our departure, there was a lot of confusion with the shuttle buses to the airport because some of the guests weren’t aware of having to get transfer tickets issued at the piano lounge. Also, there weren’t enough buses so we kept getting moved aside amongst the bus fumes. Getting through the airport was much easier, especially considering we left the day the war started. Just have your passport ready to flash periodically.
In summary, we picked a good resort for our family vacation as we really had a great time and would definitely return. |
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| We were in for quite a shock when we went poolside |
| Hotel Club Med Columbus Isle |
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KennethUSA >
1 contribution(s) United States of America |
| Feb, 2003 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
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RE: Club Med San Salvador Island “NOT AS ADVERTISED”
What a miserable vacation it turned out to be.
The beach is lovely, and the facilities are very good, the food barely passed for mediocre, and the atmosphere was just awful! This was our third Club Med, the last two in Mexico, and we will never go to another Club Med again. |
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| This was a huge disappointment. |
RE: Club Med San Salvador Island “NOT AS ADVERTISED”
What a miserable vacation it turned out to be.
The beach is lovely, and the facilities are very good, the food barely passed for mediocre, and the atmosphere was just awful! This was our third Club Med, the last two in Mexico, and we will never go to another Club Med again.
We have two kids, 8 & 9 yrs old, and they did not get much use out of the Kids Clubs in the Mexico resorts, so it was no necessary we go to a Village with a Kid’s Club. The marketing material, along with representations made by their agents said that kids are welcome and Columbus Isle would be just great for families. To avoid the Christmas travel crowds, we pulled the kids from school for a week in February (both kids are great students).
We were in for quite a shock when we went poolside; a good half of the women were topless. (While this may appeal to many people, it is not the kind of thing for kids from where we come from.) My wife was totally humiliated. I did complain while I was there, asked about getting off the island (not easy), and was shrugged off. Upon our return home I learned that nude bathing is against Club Med policy, (even the GO’s were going topless), as well as it is against the laws of the Bahamas.
I really don’t care what they do at the Village; just don’t promote it for kids. They had plenty of opportunity to warn us (or the travel agent). Their response concerning my complaint ha been very unsatisfactory.
The food. While the food in the Mexican Villages was excellent, the food at Columbus Isle varied fro standard buffet mush to inedible. A person in the buffet line in front of me had to kill a bug crawling out of a dish. Then the server tried to put the platter back! Some of the fish dishes were above average, and the bread was decent, but we did not put on any extra weight because the meals were so great.
If you like fresh air, forget it! The theater (where it is clearly posted “No Smoking” was a fog. In fact we had to walk out of shows because our eyes and throats were burning because of the thick cigarette smoke. But the smoking is everywhere. It may be a cultural thing with the large French contingent, but at meals, the pool, even in the ocean plumes of smoke always seemed to be in one’s face.
The bar bracelets are a good idea, but during popular times you had a good wait to get you drinks. They said they were short a bartender. Oh well.
This was a huge disappointment. In the future we will not be going to Club Med. |
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