I’ve been to Atlantis four times in the last two years. Its special and their casino is fantastic. We’re not ‘whales’ by any means but we drop 2k-5k in the casino per trip. We always stay at Atlantis. You’ll probably pay more on airfare to get there but Nassau is such a hot spot getting a flight is no problem. In my opinion I get more bang for my gambling buck at Atlantis than I do in Vegas. Partially due to the fact that Vegas doesn’t really have to work to hard to attract willing guests/gamblers and when every resort on the strip has 3,000+ rooms its easy to comp a room for someone who you know has dropped lots of cash in the casino. The first time we went to Atlantis we booked an airfare and Atlantis (Royal Towers) package, and got a great deal. This is probably the best way to go, but only the first time because you’ll want to return as a casino guest to take full advantage of the doors that can potentially open up for you. We go every year late October; for two reason tail end of Hurricane season so there are a lot less people at the resort, so you have this sprawling oceanic wonder sort of to yourself, air fare is also lower then too. After our first trip 4-6 weeks after we got home the first casino offer came in for generous free slot play during certain dates. And more and more free play postcards came in the mail, almost monthly. The free room offer came pretty fast two after we got home, it was in the “Coral Towers” which didn’t really interest us as we really love the “water view” rooms in the “Royal Towers”. You have really great room options at Atlantis as it’s comprised of six separate hotel towers, as follows: “Beach Tower”, “Coral Towers”, “Royal Towers” (iconic towers used in all their advertising), “The Cove”, “The Reef” and “Harbourside”, the last two are condos. and timeshare condos. respectively.

The thing about Vegas is there are so many resorts, casinos and warm bodies both guests and staff that unless you work with a dedicated Casino Host so you truly have a relationship I think it would be hard to beat what Atlantis will ultimately reward you with for gaming with them.

Also, they have a nice feature you’re assigned a casino account number upon checking in and that number is now yours, so when you play in the casino you insert your room key into the machine or hand it to the dealer at the table so they can track all of your play.

Atlantis is also a huge resort but we quickly figured out that for every dollar we spend in the casino I can probably receive even more in the form of our hotel bill being reduced. I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS they’ve been consistently generous and taken a lot off of our hotel bill, it can vary if you’re in a comp hotel room as you start off, “working off the comps” you begin with, room, perhaps show tickets. I assume nothing and I’m always very pleasant with I chat with Casino Services (right on the casino floor) and they look up our account and if they can do anything they tell you what they can do, and twice it’s happened that after I walked away they kept at it and took another big chunk of the hotel bill away.

So, try Atlantis on a package but I personally would stay away from the older hotel towers, Beach and Coral. If you want to have a nice room and be closer to the casino book the “Royal Towers”. If you don’t mind the walk and want something more exclusive with an “adults only” swimming pool club with poolside gaming then book into “The Cove” which is their really nice, all suites hotel, this is also where Bobby Flay’s MESA Grill is, which is a must when you go to Atlantis.

I know this was long winded but both places of course have their unique qualities but The Bahamas are beautiful and in spite of being a huge resort Atlantis did it right and its a beautiful setting. The Bahamian people we’ve met are just wonderful, we meet interesting people every time we go, and we just love it.

Give it a shot (but don’t go in summer the risk of hurricanes is TOO high. January through May I believe is their high season.

Oh, after our second trip the comp room offer was upgraded to the “Royal Towers”. for example, I have a 3 nights comp

high season which on this offer was good Jan. through end of June, for a room that goes for over $600 a night (not in this economy). They’ve also comp’d me into slot tournaments, BJ tournament, free live concert tickets, and one of the best was the “shallow water dolphin experience” at their Dolphin Cay which was amazing.

sorry for the long winded response I hope it helps and for more info. check out experience-atlantis.com where I blog about our travels to this magical, beautiful place.

Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas

Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas is really six different hotels, all at different prices and comfort levels, decor, etc.  They are the Beach Tower, Coral Towers, Royal Towers, Harbourside, The Cove and The Reef.  The Beach and Coral Tower are old hotels that were part of the Resorts International acquisition by the company the owns Atlantis.  Anyway, I’ve stayed in the Royal Towers twice and the Coral Towers once; my preference is the Royal Towers, nice, large room with nice decor and amenities.  Our first stay we had a French balcony and our second we were casino guests so we were on the ocean side on the 12th floor with a full balcony which was great for sitting and enjoying our view of the Atlantis lagoon and the Atlantic ocean beyond.  It’s fun to sit on your balcony and watch them feed the marine life in the marine habitat which wraps around the base of the Royal Towers so we could literally sit on our balcony and watch the incredible Manta ray.  Back to the hotels, I’ve heard a rumor that the plan is to eventually tear down both the Beach Tower and Coral Towers and replace them with new hotels that I’m sure will reflect the Atlantean theme in their architecture, also it’s my understanding that these hotels would be designed to appeal to large groups and conventions and I’m sure they’ll add more meeting space.  This makes sense in the mid-to-long term now that The Cove and The Reef are open and generating room revenue.  I also was told last October that they’ve bought another parcel next door (Hurricane Hole, home to the original Green Parrot) and will be expanding Harbourside which is their timeshare condominium resort which is also part of Atlantis.  There is also the One & Only Ocean Club which is also

on Paradise Island, it’s an older, very posh Colonial style resort farther up

Cabbage beach and as it’s also owned by Kerzner International you have full access to all of Atlantis.

Here are photographs of each of the six, distinct hotel of Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas:

Beach Tower, Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas

The Beach tower is one of the original hotels that Kerzner purchased from Resorts International.  It’s considered the ‘entry-level’ hotel within the family of six hotels that actually comprise Atlantis.  I haven’t stayed there myself; you read reviews just like with any hotel some love it and some hate and others are ambivalent.  I’ll just stick to placing in the hotel food chain that is Atlantis and leave the reviews to those who’ve stayed in the Beach tower.

Coral Towers, Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas

Hopefully the rumor we’ve heard is true and the Beach and Coral towers will come under the wrecking ball to make way for updated, Atlantean themed architecture more like the Royal Towers, The Cove or The Reef all of which are more visually consistent in maintaining the Atlantis theme.  We’ve heard from a lady who works in the sales department at the Harbourside Atlantis timeshare condos. and she said they’ll tear them down and replace them with hotels designed to appeal to conventions and large groups, which makes sense because that’s where the meeting space is tucked in behind the casino and those two hotels.  I’m still calling this a rumor but its from a pretty reliable resource.  She’s the same person who told us they’d purchased more land to put in another phase of Harbourside timeshare condos., and that has turned out to be true so there you have it.  It only makes sense that it would be part of the overall goals and development plans for the Atlantis resort.

FYI, in case you don’t know this Atlantis assigns a casino account to you the first time you check in whether you gamble or not.  This casino account number is programmed right into the mag stripe on all of your rooms keys upon check-in.  Your key is your resort ID, player card for tracking purposes in the casino and is used for charging anything to your room while staying in any of the six Atlantis hotels.  This is one of those times where its in your best interest to let them track your gambling (no matter how little you think it is, it helps in the grand scheme of things).  Think of it as frequent flyer miles but it’s gambling at and staying at Atlantis instead of flying.  I’m learning a lot about how to best take advantage of my ‘gaming’ relationship with Atlantis so I get the most bang for my buck.  I love to travel and I love to stay in higher-end hotels because I luxuriate in my room, for me it’s never just been a place to sleep I use my hotel room especially in the morning but throughout the day and it’s nice to have a glass of wine of cocktails and sit on the balcony and enjoy the view while ‘refueling privately in our room’ for whatever we’re doing next.

Royal Towers, Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas

The Cove Atlantis - Paradise Island, The Bahamas

Harbourside, Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas

The Reef, Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas

Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas

Pardon me I’m sure at times I’ll ramble in my posts; I’ll try not to but I get excited when I start thinking and writing about Atlantis.  Anyway, I’m going to weigh in with my personal experiences about researching, booking and enjoying the wonderful world of Atlantis.  I have to say I actually got excited when I heard Martha Stewart was also there April 2008 she stayed at The Cove for two days while filming for her TV show on NBC and Fine Living.

Anyway, I digress.  I’ll start at the beginning we went on a typical 4 day / 3 night vacation package including our hotel and airfare and we added at the time what was called the “Gourmet Meal Plan”.  It was so damn much fun plus I won money the first night – I put $3.50 in a “Tabasco Sauce” themed slot machine and I won $1,200.00 which since we had scored a deal on our vacation package MORE than paid for my trip.  Feel the love… for Atlantis.  My friend and I stayed in a “terrace promo. rate room” and our airfare, was on American Airlines (which I loved because I have a chunk of old TWA miles sitting in my AA Advantage [frequent flyer] account.

A very nice, professional woman checked us in and she gave us a wonderful room for our rate, I could actually sit on my bed and see a sliver of the Atlantic ocean beyond the tops of the palm trees.  We were on the ocean side of the Royal Towers.  We really enjoyed staying in the Royal Towers our room was large, spacious, clean, well appointed, loved that we had a flat panel TV and high-speed internet as both my friend can go away on these mini-holidays but absolutely have to have broadband internet so we can stay on top of our business activities.

I had read that you’re better off selecting and making your dinner reservations sooner rather than later while you’re still at home.  So, I did that.  We selected FATHOMS, NOBU, and CAFE MARTINIQUE breakfast and dinner daily are included in the Gourmet Meal Plan.  First night was Fathoms which is really fun because it has a wall of glass looking into one of the huge aquariums that is part of the marine habitat at Atlantis.  So, you’re sitting and having dinner of great food while enjoying this amazing view of manta ray and other incredible marine life swimming by the floor to ceiling, wall to wall of glass.  Simply spectacular.  The other thing I want to comment on is this, both my friend and I have had the pleasure to interact with tons of the staff at Atlantis and we always get great service.  People are always friendly and helpful so we don’t understand all these reviews you see on the ‘net about the rude, inattentive staff — not our experience.  We went the first time October 2006, returned October 2007 and just went again April 2008.  I’ve also just made our reservations with casino marketing to return this October 2008, we’re trying  The Cove this trip and my brother is traveling with us.

Anyway, this resort although a mega-resort never seems huge to us.  We enjoy the walks because there’s always interesting, beautiful things to look at along the way.  To repeat, this was a three night trip, four day trip.  We arrived in mid-afternoon on a Sunday and I had done some online research since we planned to go off resort for lunch; we wanted to eat, hopefully where the locals eat.  My friend and I both love food and especially were excited to try the Bahamian seafoods, Conch and Grouper.  Yum!

We went to The Green Parrot which is on Paradise Island a short walk from Atlantis, its on the Harbour overlooking Nassau harbour.

We love this place.  It’s one of these open air yet covered bars with tables around also and you’re right at the edge of the harbour so you have all the interesting things to watch in the harbour as well as the people around the bar.  Great food, great drinks, my Mai Tai seemed to be bottomless, every time I turned around it seemed to be topped off again.  I didn’t mind I was on holiday in this amazing, tropical paradise.  When in Rome as the saying goes…