We visited from March 30-April 4th and I have to say thank you to all of the others that offered reviews and tips. Much of what you said we foud very helpful. First the highs. Harborside is a great alternative to atlantis if you want to get away from the chaos at Atlantis. We stayed in a three bedroom lock off and it was clean and well decorated and equipped. The pool at harborside was a pleasant respite from the madness at the Atlantis pools. It was always quite, never very busy and quite a bit warmer than the Atlantis pools. We ordered from the Dominos across the bridge the first night and they delivered to the lobby of the Hotel. 2 Larges with one item for $29.00. It fed 5 adults and 2 kids and was the cheapest meal all week. We went to the water slides the next morning and had a blast. We were hopelessly lost at first until we realized on day 2 that they have maps of Atlantis at the front desk. At the information booth across from the Ice Cream store in the Marina village they have maps of Paradise Island and Nassau. We ended up finding the pools after walking through the Dig. The pools were always crowded but we always foud chairs to drop our stuff though they were in most cases some distance from the actual pool. We ate that night at Carmines. It was the absolute highlight of our dining experience. Salad great, garlic bread great, Lasagna absolutely wonderful, chicken parm mediocre, service very good. We ordered too much, two entrees and salad would have been enough for the 7 of us. The second day we went to the beach. A bit tooo much rip tide for a three year old so we migrated to the lagoon beach. I think that was the highlight of my three year olds trip. Who knew it was so much fun to dig a hole and fill it with water over and over? That night my wife and I went to Villa d este. Nothing special. Too dark, too loud, too expensive. Disdainful service. The third day we took a snorkeling trip with Stuart Coves. The ride from the hotel was long but was much like the city tour we have taken on cruise ships. The snorkeling was great, three stops, and the last stop involved reef sharks. A little spooky but my 8 year old daughter loved it. It was her first time snorkeling and the crew spent a bit extra time with her. We booked online in advance and saved a couple of bucks. We rented wetsuits for 10 dollars and I am glad we did because we didn't have to worry about getting cold. That night we went to to the marketplace buffet. it was about $50.00 each for the adults and not worth half that. If you are not on the dining plan don't bother. More pools the last day and dinner at Fathoms. Everybody in our party liked it alot except me. I thought it was ok but not worth the price even for Atlantis. The transportation to the airport left about 3 hours before our plane took off and we got through customs easily. It was a Tuesday. All in all we had a great trip. The water at meals was outrageously expensive but avoidable. Bottles of water cost more than bottles of wine in the states. The grocery store that is in the hurricane hole plaza worked fine for our needs. We did breakfast and lunch in the room and that worked well. The pool at Harborside was great in the afternoons when our kids needed to chill out. The shuttebus service was great between Haborside and atlantis. If you want to take a little ride and see the ocean club ride on the ATLANTIS SHUTTLE it goes to all the towers, harborside and the golf course. We got on it by accident and got the rest ouf our city tour that we didn't see when we went snorkeling.

We just returned from Easter Week at Harborside. we own a 2BD timeshare at its sister property in Orlanda and were able to trade for a 1BR here (no complaints ----got the only room available)

Check in was smooth. Front desk clerk very nice. However the room that they assigned us to had many problems. To make a long story short, the problem was worse than they first thought ansd we had to change rooms at 11pm . New room was fine. Very comfortable for 2adults 2 kids. working order on everything. One compliant about the room. The AC unit was very noisy.

Pool at the hotel was very nice. Quiet. Which was refreshing after the craziness of Atlantis pools.

We decided to get the Moderate Meal Plan. Food was ridcioulsy expensive at Atantis however the meal plan allowed for BReakfast every morning and dinner with appeitzer, soup or salad, entree and dessert (plus soft drink or coffee). I was a lot of food, more than we ever eat. If we go back I will not get the food plan (about $200 a day for 4).

Two problems, as Hartborside guest you have full access to Atlantis. Finding a chair at any of the pools was neartly impossible. People would stake out the seats the night before., then show up a the pool whenever they pleased. The staff will not remove the items if they were placed prior to the pool opening.nor if they have not been there within an hour. A lot of chairs have a canape they are taken. I seen so many people screaming at each other accusing a stealing chairs. It was quite unpleasaent. Atlantis really needs to look into their chair policy. It made for many unhappy guests.

2nd problem. Staff is ill informed. This hotel is so big it seems that staff is only concerned about their particular task. First night a Altlas Bar ad Grill we asked the waiter how the meal plan works ----he had no clue. Told us that we can order an appetizer and dinner. Then he told us kids were not included at that resturatnt. Called dinner resr. to confirm they cave em a completely differnet story, then asked the front desk, they gave me a differnet story, they handed me leterture on the meal plan --that was different, then in the hotel rooms direectory--that info was completely different. It gor extremely fustrating.

Great Points, pools were awesome! The Dig was great, Binimini Road food was fantastic,
Took the kids to the pottery studio. Although the price seemed expensive. (compared to NY) it actually was reasonable. They charged a flat fee for the ceramic piece that you can paint (whereas studios around were I live charge for the piece + the time you spend in the studio)

Oh they also have a movie theather That plays just released DVDS free. Best way to beat the heat!

Ok to some up: Room was very nice (location not the best--right next to busy bridge, but got over that quickly.
Meal plan-if you dont eat alot not worth it.
Pools very nice,lazy river great, slides --fun, good luck finding chairs.

Will I stay there again. Yes however I will learn from my mistakes.

We were in a 2br lockoff. 4 adults, 5 kids. It was perfect for us, and enough space. Keep in mind, the deluxe part has a kitchenette and a 'fake' balcony, with dining table for 4, and the premium part has the real kitchen, dining table for 6, bar with 2 barstools, and balcony with table and 4 chairs. Neither has a real oven, and we ended up frying everything. Hats off to the reviewer who figured out how to do steaks in a convection oven! There are ice makers and pretty much all the amenities. The older units have only vcr players, no dvd players, and we couldn't hook up our portable dvd to the tv (we tried!). The sofabeds aren't great, but actually work well when left on the ground. The larger master br has enough space to leave the sofa bed mattress on the ground in there, and the smaller master doesn't, but the mattress can just be left in the smaller living room, as a pseudo-third bedroom for kids.

Definitely bring own coffee filters, and you can get salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, relish from the condiments table at the resort, although we brought our own. Also bring laundry detergent, and Bounce if you use it. They supply palmolive, and 2 packets of diswasher detergent, along with thin dish-washcloths (NOT a scotch brite pad), and usual bath shampoo, conditioner, soap, towels. There are cloth napkins and place mats. Plenty of paper towels and toilet paper. Beware that they say they charge an extra fee if you order extra towels or sheets from room service.

Decor was fine for us...it's only 5 years old! There were burned out light bulbs in the bathroom, but 1 phone call easily took care of that, with same-day service. Noise level was excellent, as someone had posted. I never noticed noise from other units, and we were on floor 2 out of 4. Buildings 1 and 7 I would guess, would have the best views, as those are the ones by the marina. Shuttle to/from Atlantis only runs till midnight. We never had to wait long, and they're very good about making room for strollers, and ice chests, on board.

Word of warning about the timeshare presentation. Many have posted re. the $150 credit, and free breakfast. We called, and made an appt for the talk. They talked for 1 hr, there was no breakfast, and at the end, said that my friends didn't qualify, cause WE CALLED THEM, and therefore it was UNSOLICITED! After my friend REALLY complained, they gave us $75 credit. Funny enough, we still are considering buying! If you want to do this, definitely have them solicit you, and make the terms clear up front!

Food is really expensive! We brought a cooler with sandwiches, and snacks, for the pools/beaches. I am proud to say that frozen meat can survive a 36 hour trip, frozen, due to terrible weather delays and an overnight stay in Ft. Lauderdale! (Luckily, the ice machine was working at the Holiday Inn! ) Packed all the usual snacks. Didn't bring water, too heavy, but bought a Brita filter. Don't bother. The water does taste a little different (but when ice cold, you don't really notice it anymore), and the Brita did nothing to change that. Remember, don't pack glass in your suitcase! We saw someone at the airport, who had a bottle of Maple Syrup explode. Unfortunately, it got on the baggage carousel, and one of our duffels was stained. Ugh. Definitely do the $7 shuttle for groceries. Interesting, a dozen eggs were cheaper than at my local Safeway...about $1.50. Other stuff more expensive, though.
We splurged on a few big meals. Nobu was great, Anthony's grill across the street also excellent, with live music on a Monday night, Zio Gigi's was definitely NOT WORTH IT! I would try Carmine's next time for italian.
The interesting thing, is, even at Atlantis, the local foods are much cheaper than imported things. Cases in point...6 Conch fritters + fries are less than $6 at the pool. Virgin Pina Colada was approx $5.50 + fees, while ONE can of Coke was $6 + fees!! Some things are actually very reasonable for a large resort, you just have to pick what to order. Definitely consider the mini-fish fry area at Potter's Cay, under the Outbound bridge. Basically, come out of Harborside, go to the FAR bridge, cross over it, and it's on your right hand side. It was a little boisterous and slightly intimidating on a Saturday night, but the seafood was incredible!! And a can of Coke was only $1, with meals about $10-$14. We ate at the first shack, MacKenzie's, cause they had the most ppl there, and posted sign with menu and prices. After looking at us a little, several of the women there were friendly and started conversations (of course, we had the kids with us, so easy ice breaker). As another reviewer has said, there's a fair amount of cursing going on...luckily, our kids are too young to understand, esp. in a Bahamian accent! If you want a Conch shell, they have tons of them...they're not polished, but I'm sure they're cheap!

Atlantis has been covered extensively. It is true, especially when the hotel is FULL, as it was last week and this week, that chairs are very hard to get. We finally did resort to the get-chairs-at-8am business, come back for breakfast, then send an advance crew to hold the chairs, while the second crew would take our time, and bring the cooler with lunch, the sand toys, etc. My friend did get into a mini-altercation with a guy who tried to claim her chair as his, but luckily the surrounding people spoke up, and told him that it was her chair from before, and that WAS her book and towel on the chair. I would say it's best to really always be near your chairs, especially if they're in a primo spot right by the pool!
We brought pool float things, and they will blow them up for you. They also sell sand toys...I'm not positive, but I think they were actually semi-reasonable in pricing. The chairs usually start to clear about 4pm-5pm, and by 6pm, you have your pick. The slides and pools were closing at 7pm, so 5pm onwards is the absolute best time for the slides! Our kids were literally 47 inches tall (not the required 48), and about 1/2 the time they got stopped, and sent back down. There's a new kids' pool that should be opening soon! They were testing it when we left. We found that the best way to get from the Royal towers lobby to the pools, etc, is actually straight through the dig!
When the hotel is fully, they'll put on great activities. Midweek, they had a carnival, but you had to pay $1-6 per game! On Easter weekend, they had a great Alice in Wonderland tea party, and kdis could choose 2 activities AND decorate a cookie or cupcake, FREE! And these were really nice crafts..decorating a glass plate, small glass vase, easter blocks, foam crafts, etc. Also raffles with prizes. The Easter Egg hunt at Marina village was a joke! 5000 eggs, and they kept announcing that kids should only take 10 eggs each. We were on time, not late, but we should have actually gotten there EARLY, and by the time we got through the gates, all the eggs were gone! And some kids had big bags of 40 eggs! Sad..it was like Willie Wonka! Some kids were sitting on the bench with their parents, opening eggs, taking the candy and looking for the 'golden ticket' raffle prize, and then just left all the empty plastic egg shells on the bench! Luckily, they did announce that ppl. who didn't get eggs, could go back to the front, and get a bag of candy. Still, nothing like a real easter egg hunt!

Overall, we loved it! Hawaii has nothing like this place, and even though it's sad that wildlife protection is lax in the Bahamas, it's also fascinating to see these huge sea creatures so close! We will defintely be going back, and are going to start shopping for a timeshare (I hear it can be switched for a Maui one, pretty easily).

Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas - 5 day/4 night stay (spent more time moving our rooms than enjoying our vacation) Royal Towers not worth cost, no balcony, difficult to accomodate two queen beds. Also do not stay in West Towers over the next couple of years due to construction going on with Atlantis' new developements, they start work at 6am.

Room Accomodations Unacceptable:
Messed up our room - moved three time.
First room's phone in bathroom didn't work and phone on nightstand was missing.
Waited 1/2 hour at our next room for them to bring up keys. Luggage took 2 hours to get to us.
Next room was in West Tower, woke up at 6am to construction noise.
We were then reassigned another room which we did not have access to for 4 hours. No nap for my daughter, no bathroom and no access to our luggage as they were making the switch.

Gourmet Dining Plan for Children Disappointing and
restaurants do not adhere to dress code requirements.

The Gourmet Dining Plan for children consisted of fast food. We were terribly disappointed with this. We were mislead, expected the children to have the same food choices as we did on the Gourmet Dining plan, but at smaller portions. The children's Gourmet Dining Plan consisted of chicken nuggets and french fries, cheeseburgers and fries and pasta and meatballs.

Be prepared to get up early, no later than 8am to secure a chair and get your wristband and towels. Otherwise long lines and they run out of chairs and towels. Be advised that by just putting a towel down doesn't secure your chair, put other items on it too and keep your fingers crossed.

It is too commercialized, overrated and not worth the money.


New Canaan, CT