by Bob Scheller

Of all the resorts and hotels in the Bahamas, the Atlantis Hotel and Resort is probably the most well-known destination. Based on the sheer size with nearly 3,500 rooms, it is no wonder many people are fascinated with the resort. During my stay, all the amenities of the resort were easily accessed and seldom required more than a short walk. The fact we were no more than a few hundred feet from the beach was a huge attraction in itself.

Restaurants are a huge benefit of a resort. Rather than always trying to figure out where to go eat for something different, Atlantis offers some great options with 21 restaurants and 19 bars on the property. Chances are you can find something that pleases you. I personally never had a bad meal and we visited most of the restaurants during our week long stay.

The resort does a great job in classifying the restaurants so you know what you are getting before you show up. Atlantis offers fine dining, relaxed dining, buffet and express options. The fine dining and relaxed dining gave a great diversity of choice for evening meals. Top rated restaurants such as Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill and Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s Nobu headlining the list let you know you can expect great food. The buffet and express options suited me perfectly for breakfast and lunch. With the dining plans, they usually include a breakfast buffet and a dinner. However, the meals are large and by eating a later breakfast and a relatively early dinner, I only would require a snack during the afternoon to get me between meals.

While not a big gambler myself, I do enjoy an occasional trip to a casino. Based on everything else I encountered at Atlantis, I had high expectations for the casino and I was not disappointed. Like the rest of the resort, everything was top-notch, though you expect that at casinos because they want your money to flow freely. The glass sculptures, combined with the fact that you are in the room spanning the two towers several floors up, means the view is phenomenal.

For the casino oriented crowd, you may be interested more in the details (pulled from their website at atlantis.com):

• The Casino hosts Pegasus Race & Sports Book, over 1,000 slot machines and 100 table games including Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, Caribbean Stud Poker and Let it Ride.
• The Temple of the Moon and the Temple of the Sun, located on the casino floor, are each worth $1,000,000.
• The Atlantis Casino is 50,000 square feet, making it the largest casino in the Caribbean.
• The Atlantis Casino brings the outside in with its innovative design and allows you to view the breathtaking waterscape.
• Gaming lessons are held daily at 3pm in the Casino.
• The Crystal Gate at the entrance to the Atlantis Casino, designed by Dale Chihuly, is 30,000 pounds and is made of 2,000 pieces of hand blown glass.

In addition to the magnificence of the casino, one of the highlights of the whole trip for me was the ability to be close to the marine life. I am land-locked smack in the middle of the U.S., so marine life is interesting, but not even an option to be as much as a hobby. I guess what I am trying to say is I didn’t pick the destination because of a fascination with marine life, but the marine displays are definitely a reason I want to go back. The aquariums are phenomenal, and according to the hotel, contain more than 50,000 animals and over 200 species. At the time we were there, one of the large aquariums had a Manta Ray with about a 12 foot wingspan. Seeing that from one of the tunnels left me in complete awe. The other marine display that impressed me were the several ponds with Stingrays scattered throughout…that you could feed and pet. These are not an overly monitored displays, but rather simple ponds about 1 foot deep along walking paths where you can have direct interaction. The impressive part was that all the marine displays appeared to be kept in impeccable shape and should be impressive for years to come.

The water activities were nothing but extraordinary. Start with being only a few hundred feet from the ocean washing against a beautiful white sand beach. How often do most of us get to experience a beach outside our door? However, the man made facilities were impressive as well. Start with 6 standard swimming pools spread across the resort so you are always close to a pool no matter which tower you stay. As you tour the resort, you also get the chance to experience full water park activities such as the Mayan temple water slides and my personal favorite, the lazy river. I think almost every day after breakfast included about 45 minutes on the lazy river sipping a drink…but I digress.

Atlantis is the most well-known destination, but it is not the only resort on Paradise Island. Additionally, there are several other resorts worth checking out. Because of the pricing in the Global Explorer software, I would consider the Harborside at Atlantis just because of the amenities provided in a villa may give a different atmosphere for the next visit. Additionally, other available resorts include: Best Western Bay View Suites, Comfort Suites Paradise Island, The Cove Atlantis, One & Only Ocean Club, Paradise Harbour Club & Marina, Paradise Island Beach Club, Paradise Island Harbour Resort All Inclusive, and The Reef Atlantis. Many options for all inclusive or standard hotels also exist just across the bridge in Nassau as well. With all the options, there is likely a solution to fit your needs on Paradise Island.

I hope this gives a brief insight into my personal experience in the Bahamas and why I plan to go back. I highly recommend this destination if you are looking for an exotic vacation destination that is reasonably priced as well as a short flight from the U.S. If you are looking for the best deal on a vacation to the Bahamas or any other destination, I recommend you take a look at the Global Explorer software featured on this site. If you have questions or would like to request a sample comparison, please contact me via email at bscheller[at]bestsecretvacations.com.

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