We recently returned from a 5 night stay at the Royal Atlantis on Paradise Island and had a wonderful time! Our visit was not without fault, but if you prepare accordingly and set expectations in advance, you can greatly influence the quality of your stay.
We visited the Bahamas from January 25th – January 30th. The weather was beautiful, but in the low to mid 70’s so when the sun wasn’t out, the air was definitely chilly. Our last trip to the Bahamas was about 8 years ago when we stayed at the Cove Atlantis in early February. During that visit we had one warm day and then a cold front hit and it was in the 60’s the rest of the time. Given that, it is definitely a crapshoot as to whether it will be beach weather or not during your visit this time of year. If you are willing to take the risk, you’ll find it to be quieter and less crowded. Maybe it was the week we chose, but we didn’t encounter any lines or long wait times for towels, wristbands, or the water park slides that people previously complained about on TripAdvisor. Cruise ship passengers seemed to be at a minimum too, so that was definitely a plus!
Our Room
The Royal is the main building in Atlantis and is centrally located. It’s home to the aquarium, the Dig as well as the Casino. Its grounds are lush and well maintained and include shark, sea turtle, and sting ray exhibits. The Royal is divided into two towers. We stayed in room 2590 in the Royal West Tower with 2 Queen Beds and a Terrace View. It was your average hotel room with all the basic amenities. There was nothing special about it but, it was perfectly suited for our needs. My one complaint was it only had what’s known as a balconette, so we couldn’t sit outside as it was only about a foot deep. Our room overlooked the grounds and we could see the stingrays swimming in the nearby pool. I enjoyed being on the 2nd floor so we could use the stairs frequently rather than waiting for the elevator. Although our room was not upgraded, it was comfortable, clean, and spacious. There are no refrigerators in the room, but there is a mini-bar. The top shelf contains some space to store a couple of items. I managed to store about 5 cans of beer. If you need a refrigerator, you can request one for $15 a day. Not worth it in my opinion.
Beaches
Atlantis is a beautiful, but expansive property that can be challenging to navigate as there are many twists and turns that wind you through the property with no direct access to any given point. It seemed to take us at least 10 minutes to get to where we wanted to be each day. We prefer to spend our time at the beach rather than the pool and there is no direct path to get there. However, the beaches are gorgeous and worth the extra steps. We spent most of our time on Cove Beach. It is situated between the waterpark and the Cove building and is convenient to restrooms, the waterpark, a bar and two quick serve restaurants as well as a water filling station. There was also a large, beautiful pool (Baths Colonnade Pool) right behind it that was heated.
Cove Beach is a crescent shaped beach with large rock formations to help break up the waves, plenty of lounge chairs and a lifeguard on duty. We never had any problem finding a lounge chair and most are equipped with canopies for shade. The beach itself is lovely with clear blue waters, white sand and plenty of sun. The water temperature is a tad on the chilly side this time of year, but easy to get used to once in. There is a drop off at the shoreline, so the ocean is waist deep or higher once you step in and on certain days it tended to be a little rough, so not ideal for young kids without a floatation device. When the waves are rough, I recommend heading over to Paradise Beach to take a swim.
While the waters are calmer, it’s rockier and the lounge chairs are only available to guests staying at the Cove. Another downfall is the lack of sun. Both the Cove and Reef buildings block the sun from reaching parts of Paradise Beach. Stay at the Cove if you are a shade seeker or want to sit on top of one another on the beach in the only section not blocked by the buildings. I much prefer having the option to sprawl out in the sun and seek shade when necessary. Especially when the temperatures are cooler and the sun is much needed for warmth!
Another highlight of Cove Beach is it is home to “Sacred Space”, which is situated on the peninsula of Cove Beach. There are interesting wood sculptures created by Bahamian artist Antonius Roberts along with stacked rock formations where guests can create their own “art”.
Just beyond it is a beautiful section of beach with calm, shallow waters ideal for swimming. This particular section is secluded and does not allow lounge chairs so bring a towel if you want to check it out.
If you are staying in the Beach or Coral towers, you may prefer Atlantis Beach due to its proximity. Unfortunately, this is where you’ll find the vendors, so it may not be as peaceful. For those of you with young kids, looking for a beach with no waves and shallow waters, check out the beaches on Paradise Lagoon. They also have kayaks and water bicycles available for rent there.
Waterpark
Obviously, one of the biggest allures about Atlantis is their waterpark. It is very entertaining and fun for all ages, with some impressive slides and river rapids. If you have kids under 48” they’ll not be able to ride the bigger slides. The waterpark is included with your stay and you’ll need a wristband to gain access to the slides. Wristbands can be picked up at the towel stations and you’ll need to provide your room key to get them. The towel/wristband stations open at 9am daily. Many people complained about long waits for wristbands and towels. None of which we encountered during our stay. It would be nice if Atlantis provided plastic wristbands with snaps, the type most other resorts offer. While the ones they provide are plastic, they are only attached via adhesive so inevitably they’ll fall off at some point during your stay. There is definitely room for improvement here to save guests the inconvenience of having to retrieve multiple wristbands throughout their stay (remember those long, winding walks). If it does fall off, you’ll need to go back to the towel hut with room key in hand to get another one issued.
Waterpark hours are from 10am – 5pm; this includes all the pools as well, so don’t expect to swim after hours. In the summertime when the sun sets later, I believe the waterpark and pools stay open until 7pm. Given the chill in the air, I would have loved to take a dip in a hot tub. Sadly, there are none to be had, and the one hot tub I did find, which was by the Mayan Temple was ice cold. So much for that idea! Speaking of which, the only pools that are heated within the waterpark are those that are attached to the River Rapids. The pools / slides that are part of the Mayan Temple are not heated so expect to freeze your butt off when the air is cool.
There have been recent complaints regarding lack of water pressure and hot water in guest rooms. The resort is showing its age and is in need of some repairs and upgrades. Apparently, people were without water in their hotel rooms. Thankfully, we did not encounter any issues with our room, but there was one day that the River Rapids and all its connected slides were closed due to a water pressure issue in the park. This was very disappointing as it knocked out the majority of the entertainment for our girls that day.
With regards to crowds, Atlantis allows people to buy day passes to their facility so you’ll have a myriad of guests coming from other resorts and cruise ships. This can create longer lines and wait times for the slides, towels, and wristbands and draw bigger crowds at the pools, beaches, and restaurants. Atlantis does not provide any privileges to its own guests like early waterpark access or priority lines, which I think is a huge disservice considering the amount of money they are paying to stay on property.
Pools
With the exception of the Cascades Pool, which is reserved for Cove and Reef guests only, you have access to 9 pools on property. All the pools have plenty of lounge chairs and umbrellas. Our favorite was the Baths Colonnade Pool because it was big, close to the beach and waterpark and it was heated. For those of you with younger kids, check out Splashers pool. Apparently they have some free activities there throughout the day and it has a small water park with slides for kids under 48”.
Dining
Atlantis has a plethora of restaurants to choose from, but make sure you refer to the Daily Activity sheet provided by the resort to see the list of options available that day. They rotate restaurant closures, so if you are informed, you won’t be disappointed. They do offer an All-Inclusive Plan, but I don’t recommend it. You aren’t able to enjoy all the options and half the time they are closed.
Overall we enjoyed the dining options at Atlantis, but it is expensive! An automatic 12% VAT tax plus 15% gratuity is added to all bills. The high price tag doesn’t necessarily equate to quality food and service either. I’m from the Washington DC area and prices are on par with fine dining in DC, maybe slightly higher so it wasn’t too much of a shock, but certain nights we were dropping $350 on dinner for 4 (2 kids / 2 adults) with a bottle of wine. Ridiculous! We knew this in advance and tried to manage costs by packing snacks and a cooler in our luggage to limit the amount we had to spend on property. We contracted with a private taxi company to make a liquor and grocery store stop on our way to the resort. We used RickyLuv Bahamas Taxi & Tour and he was fantastic! (Note, the Bahamas doesn’t allow plastic grocery bags so pack reusable bags to tote your groceries.) There are no bottle openers or wine openers in the room so pack your own. Also, keep in mind only cans are allowed around the pool areas. Bottles are fine on the beach.
When in the Bahamas, you have to try conch is some way, shape, or form. If you like fresh ceviche-like dishes, then McKenzie’s is a must! Their food stand is located in the Marina Village. We ordered the Tropical Conch Salad, pictured on the left and it was by far my favorite dish I had all week! It’s prepared fresh right when you order. We also loved the Lionfish & Shrimp ceviche at Olives. If you hit up Nobu, order the Miso Cod. It’s a signature dish of the chain and it’s delicious!
Nightlife & Entertainment
Thankfully, the waterpark was plenty to keep my girls occupied during the day, however, kids activities are sorely lacking unless you want to pay for them. From the pool activities, to the Kid’s Club, to the dolphin encounters, and arcade, everything comes with a hefty price tag. The arcade room is $2 per game, which is absurd and the family nightclub charges you cover as well. What a joke! The resort is expensive enough without having to shell out extra cash on entertainment for the kids.
The nightlife is more suited to adults at Atlantis than families. There is a nightclub called Aura, the Casino, and a Comedy Club to keep the adults entertained, none of which we could partake in since we had our kids with us. The best free nighttime entertainment beside the aquarium, the Dig, was the live music and junkanoo parade at Marina Village, but that was only on specific nights. They also had a movie theater that ran free nightly movies, but that’s not my idea of fun while on vacation. I was hoping for a more lively scene to enjoy as a family. After dinner, we really didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We usually headed over the Marina Village to walk around. I wish I brought a deck of cards or some other game we could have played. Oh well, live and learn.
The Dig Aquarium 
Junkanoo Parade
Overall, are we glad we went to Atlantis? Absolutely! The property is beautiful, the marine exhibits are cool, and the water park is definitely the highlight of Atlantis for loads of day time entertainment. 5 nights seemed to be the perfect amount of time to explore the resort and experience what Atlantis has to offer. If we stayed any longer, we would have left the resort and explored downtown Nassau for a change a pace and some relief to our bank account.
Will we be back? Probably not. After being twice: once at the Cove and once at the Royal, we’ve experienced all we wanted to see. If we ever return to Nassau, we’d check out the Bahaha Mar next time and would visit in the warmer months!