The Atlantis Resort Bahamas

If you love cruises, all-inclusives, waterparks, dolphins and gambling then the Atlantis Resort is the perfect place for you.

I went to Nassau, capital of Bahamas, in April with the low cost airline JetBlue from New York. It's a 3 hours direct flight but you can also fly transatlantic to a US city such as Miami or Fort Lauderdale, and take a connecting flight or a cruise on to Nassau, Grand Bahama Island and some Out Islands, including The Abacos, Andros, The Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera and The Exumas.

British Airways flies non-stop from London Heathrow to Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport five times a week.

The Atlantis Resort is located in Paradise Island, around 20 km from Nassau's Airport. You need to take a taxi from the airport because there is no public transportation to get there.

Taxis fares are regulated by the government. In Nassau, the fixed rates from the airport are around B$27 to Downtown Nassau, B$18 to Cable Beach and B$33 to Paradise Island. Fares are based on two passengers; additional charges apply for extra passengers and extra luggage. There is no centralised taxi system, so you will need the phone number of a specific taxi driver unless you are picking up a taxi from an airport or hotel. In the Out Islands, taxi rates vary widely.

The Atlantis features a variety of accommodations built around Aquaventure, a 154-acre waterscape, which includes a casino, fresh and saltwater lagoons, pools, marine habitats, and water slides and river rides.

Accommodations at the resort include:

The Beach Tower.
The Coral Towers.
The Royal Towers, contains the "Bridge Suite", ranked in 2002 by Forbes as the most expensive hotel room in the world. With the recent hotels built over the last couple of years, Atlantis is included in one of the most expensive hotels in the world; The Bridge Suite, billed at US $25,000 per night, is listed at number 10 on the World's 15 most expensive hotel suites compiled by CNN Go in 2012.
Harborside Resort consists of 392 villas and features a harbor-front restaurant, pool area including a children's pool with water fountains, a fitness facility, a sundry store, and all-day shuttle service to Atlantis;
The Reef, the newest building at Atlantis, consists of condominium hotel residences.
The Cove is a 600-suite tower that opened in 2007. Dolphin Cay is at the rear of the building.

I stayed at The Beach Tower, which has the most affordable rooms at Atlantis with the bonus of giving access to major Atlantis features, like the Aquaventure waterpark and marine exhibits.

The rooms have a tropical decor, flat-screen TVs, mini-fridges, and coffeemakers. All rooms have balconies; I took a Water View room, which had great views of the resort and the sea.

The hotel is surrounded by nice walking paths including waterfalls and stingray feeding areas, numerous pools, including a lazy river, a beach bar and grill hosting a live deejay in the afternoons. You are also at a walking distance to a grocery store for essentials and you have access to a free shuttle to get to other parts of the resort - and believe me you will need it because the resort is huge!

Be aware:

The beach is not owned by the resort so enjoy it at your own risk. The jet skis are rented by people not affiliated with the resort.

There is no service at the pools in regards to food or help with lounge chairs or umbrellas.

There is a 15% gratuity that is automatically added to everything.

Beware of the fake Cuban Cohiba cigars being sold in the casino.

It's not advised that you drink tap water there. The resort provides a "drink coupon" for two bottles of water each day which you must collect at the bar in the casino.

There are no vending machines on the property so you will have to purchase the $10 large bottle of water plus have the 15% gratuity added on as well as the 7.5% value add tax that is applied to everything you buy.

The “good” thing about the resort is that it really doesn’t matter where you stay because you can use anything in any building at any time. The “bad” thing about the resort is that if you are paying $700+ per night to stay in the nicer buildings, you are sharing everything with everyone all the time. You are literally just paying more for your room and beds.

PS. - On the Bahamas the power plugs and sockets are of type A and B like in USA.