Tania in Bahamas 2014

Where in the world...

Bahamas Take 2...
The Kids Edition 

The last time I was in the Bahamas it was in March of 2011. I went with some friends. We stayed at Atlantis but at The Cove which is considered 'adult only'. We saw no kids and drank rum punch all day. (Click here for blog from that trip!)

This time I went with my 2 year old and husband! A completely different trip. We stayed at Atlantis for the first half of our trip and although I had been to the Atlantis before, I had stuck to the adults only pool at the Cove. Now I was to venture to the kids only areas. I thought I was prepared.

A bit of background is in order at this point. The entire Atlantis Paradise Island Resort has over 3,600 guestrooms! It is broken up into 6 areas:

• Coral Towers
• Royal Towers
• Beach Tower
• Harborside ( Residential-style villas)
• The Reef (Virtuoso)



Pool at the Reef. One of many pools.

• The Cove  (Virtuoso)

The place is massive. No other place in the Caribbean really compares. It has tons of activities for both adults (think Nobu, casino and nightclubs) and children (from dolphin encounters to ‘splish splash’ areas for the little ones). The water park is amazing and guests have free access. There are over 20 restaurants.

Obviously this leads to a lot of crowds and add to it that you even have non-guest people that come for the day (from other hotels or cruises), you could wait quite a while to get on to some of the slides.

The Reef (where we stayed) was nice overall. It is discrete and quiet. You have a lot of kids at the hotel but it is well managed.  I think the secrete here though is if you want to stay at Atlantis and do a bit more luxury, you stay at the Cove (remember…it's the Pool that’s adult only!) and just go to different pools. 

 You have to be very careful of what kind of room size you request and especially the view. Just look at the difference between these two:

One thing I noticed about the Bahamas is that it is incredibly expensive. Insanely so. From a bottle of water to dinner or a simple pack of gum, everything is off the charts. There are some meal packages that Atlantis offers and I would look into that if going again with family. Just to give you an idea, WiFi was about $20 a day extra (a pet peeve of mine when hotels charge)

The service was very extreme. Some excellent, some horrible. You would have some wonderful people with the biggest smiles that could not do enough to help you whilst at times you would encounter some people that you knew did not want to be there.

The second half of our time in the Bahamas we stayed at the One & Only Resort – Ocean Club. This is a lot more of how we like to travel as we like quiet, understated luxury. I think if my daughter was older then perhaps Atlantis would be perfect but even then, the two resorts are so close that you can stay at One & Only and spend the day at the waterpark at Atlantis. 

Welcome to One & Only

It is very quiet but the good thing is they have two seperate pools. One for kids only and the other for adults. This makes it nice for parents with screaming kids as you don't really bother anyone. They also have a kids "fun zone" which is indoors (in case it gets too hot) with computers, crafts etc. The service was good and the rooms spacious with nice amenities. Although I would say that it is in need of a refurbishment soon given it's a bit old. 

My kind of childcare

 

The interesting news is that there is a huge complex being built in Nassau (so closer to the airport) where you will have 4 hotels in one area. With over 400 hectares along the beach, Baha Mar will be home to:

• Rosewood
• SLS Hotel (originally the Mondrian)
•  Grand Hyatt
• The Baha Mar Casino & Hotel (new concept)

It is slated to be open in December 2014. I’m looking forward to this!

Atlantis Resort the Bahamas

Where in the World...
The Cove, Atlantis, Bahamas 
by: Tania Swasbrook 

Only a 2 ½ hour flight from New York, The Bahamas is extremely simple to get to…and if booking during low season, inexpensive. The most marketed and well known hotel is The Atlantis Resort and Casino where I just recently spent the weekend.

The entire Atlantis Paradise Island resort offers 3,614 guestrooms. Opened in 1998, the resort was created by South African hotel magnate Sol Kerzner. Located on Paradise Island, a 20 minute drive from the airport (which has recently gone under renovations), Atlantis first opened it Coral and Beach Towers under Trump Plaza and later changed it to Atlantis. It is a massive resort. It caters to kids and adults. If you go with children, you don't have to worry about them because all the kids activities are supervised by trained professionals. There are an abundance of different water activities at “Aquaventure" which opend in 2008. The 141-acre (0.57 km2), 200 million gallon Aquaventure combines slides, lazy rivers, and rapids into one large waterscape. The centerpiece of the attraction is the Power Tower which contains four waterslides.

Yet this Bahamas resort has much more than just a water park. If you want to get up close and personal with marine wildlife, there are many instructional interactive activities. You can play with dolphins in shallow natural pools and learn about their habitats. They can also play with real tame California Sea Lions, touching, hugging them, and even kissing them on the nose. There are supervised underwater dives, educational experiences with marine life researchers.

For adults, there are also many different things to keep them entertained. There is a golf course, a span and more than 40 different lounges, bars and restaurants to choose from. In addition to this, there are an abundance of entertainment venues, including concerts, theater opportunities, and a 9,000 square foot Aura Night Club. The Atlantis Hotel Bahamas also has a full service casino, with slots, card tables, and so much more. There is also an adults only pool area, where no one under 18 is allowed. Here you can rent your own private cabana, or sit by the pool on a bed. There are often live offers concerts & event (such as Taylor Swift or Jerry Seinfeld when I went).

They do have an "adult only" part to Atlantis which is where we stayed.  Called The Cove, it's trendy and they have DJ's at the pool where you can drink and dance at some points. 

Obviously if you are one to like solitude then this is not the place for you. But if you are looking for an easy place to get to where everyone in the family is entertained with elements of luxury, then this is definitely a good option.