Paradise Island - The Atlantis - WOW!
Written: Jun 04 '00 (Updated Jun 05 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A Great Destination Resort
Cons: Not much else on the island to write home about
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| mgh1's Full Review: Nassau |
I have traveled the Caribbean extensively for about 20 years and frankly was not excited about returning to Paradise Island. I had visited Paradise Island and the Bahamas twice about 10 years ago and generally was not impressed. However a bunch of friends had all decided to visit the Atlantis so my wife and I decided at least we would have friends to hang out with so it couldn't be all that bad to revisit this easy access island.
One word sums up the experience at Atlantis for one week - WOW! I understand that they spent a little under $1B developing this resort and it shows. You can spend your entire time on the resort and have a great time. In fact the few excursions we did away from the resort, I could hardly wait to get back to the resort - it is another world. Let me try to sum it up:
- 7 high rise towers with nearly all of the rooms having a water view
- every tower has it's own beach and pool facilities, plus there is a "lazy river" that flows throughout most of the resort and you can ride in innertubes the entire way - the kids love this
- a huge water slide that actually slides you through the onsite aquarium which is stocked with sharks and other exotic aqualife
- a walkthru aquarium that is a real sight to see where the walls and ceiling are part of the aquarium making for spectacular views - it's like you are walking underwater
- an 18 hole putt, putt course designed by the world famous golf course designer, Fazio - very well designed and lots of fun for the whole family
- at least 30 different restaurant options on the resort with a wide variety of price levels, style, and decor from casual buffet to dress up reservations only
- a large casino where your room key slides into any slot machine and is charged to your room - talk about being dangerous to your wallet
- a dance club which is free to guests and carries a $30 cover to keep the riff raff out which was generally well populated
- a golf course that was undergoing rennovations when I was there but appears to be world class by everything I could see - there are also two local golf courses which were fair for island golf courses, but on the pricey side - about $120 per 18 hole round with a mandatory cart.
- a Discovery Channel camp for kids with lots of activities - our daughter was too young to attend, I think it starts at 5, but other kids seemed to enjoy the activities
- there's a daily schedule of activities throughout the resort very similar to a cruise ship schedule of activities - indeed at times the Atlantis feels like a stationary cruise ship
- large spacious rooms that were well appointed - we stayed in one of the older towers, the Ocean Club towers which were obviously rennovated and a little cheaper than the newer towers, but still very comfortable. From what we could see, the newer tower rooms were better rooms due to their newness, but also more expensive and harder to book since everyone wants to get into the newer towers - at the end of the day, the Ocean Club tower was just fine as all the towers are connected to one another
We talked to other people who were staying at other area hotels who were not having as good a time and indeed if we return, we will only stay at the Atlantis as it is a destination all within itself. The Atlantis actually restricts non-guests from the water and other resort activities through use of a color coded wrist band which all guests receive, so you can not stay at another property and just come over to the Atlantis for all of the amenities.
I highly recommend the Atlantis and will very likely return myself.
Have Fun,
mgh1
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mgh1
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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