Atlantis vs Baha Mar
To preference this post, we have been going to Atlantis in Nassau for the past 7 years and have always enjoyed our time there. The beach and water is stunning and its just such a relaxing atmosphere. We are also Marriott Bonvoy members so it was always an added perk that we could use points to stay there. But we’re open-minded and were more than happy to check out Baha Mar two years ago when they just opened their doors. Only have the hotel was open and only a handful of restaurants. But it was absolutely beautiful and knew it has lots of potential once all completed. The casino felt very Las Vegas -esq. So this past trip we stayed at both to get the full experience now that it was completely open and compare it to the famous Atlantis.
I will start by saying again we have been coming for 7 years. All 6 years were amazing customer service and they really treated us wonderfully. This time, not so much. But I’m honestly now one to harp on bad customer service. It is what it is. But it’s hard to see a difference from all the other times experiences we have had over the years. I’m not sure if the final converging of Marriott and SPG play a factor in this new experience and that it could be coincidence but I will say I have had lots of displeasure’s with this merger.
When we checked in at The Cove, we requested to be upgraded to the Club level as we always do. Not that we want a room on the club level….don’t care a bout the room. But access to the Club amenities in the lounge which we always have done and we pay a per person per day fee. When you book this online, they advise that you have to ask at check-in and we always do, again for the past 7 years. But this time they would not let us pay for the upgrade or allow us the upgrade and were quite rude about it. But whatever, its fine. Just get me to my room as the check-in process there always takes at least 45 minutes for us. At least the beautiful fish keep the boys entertained. When we finally got to our room where we booked an ocean view. There was no ocean view. So we had to go back and get a new room with the ocean view that we booked. It was then only a partial but whatever, its fine (but then they charged us 10,000 points from our account for supposedly upgrading us to the ocean view of which we paid the ocean view).
Besides the check-in experience, we love Atlantis. The beach is beautiful, the water park is fun as well as the kids area. The not-so-lazy river is quite exciting and always fun to see how many people get tipped over from the waves. All the different pools are awesome. The aquarium is breath-taking. The kids could watch the massive manta-ray for hours and the hundreds of fish. Its really best seen at night when the water basically glows. The shark tank is really cool especially for my shark buffs (as my 4-year-old wants a shark for Xmas to put in the swimming pool so he can just “hang out” with him)! They have turtles and stingrays galore. So many things to see and do.
The food is “meh” and overpriced. But you are on an island so you have to account for food being more expensive than other places you might visit. But you would think Atlantis would have quality food. We actually had a milkshake that was warm…is that even possible? Well, it was and it was gross. A minimal breakfast of two cereals, a bagel, some juice and coffee would run you $50!!!! This is why we like the club level, it has all that and more and you don’t have to wait in line for 20 minutes. Little secrets that is totally worth the upfront cost but pays out during the trip. Especially when traveling with kids.
Atlantis also has the Discovery Cove where you can swim with the dolphins and seals. In our case, we did the seals and it was amazing. Its super interactive and the seal gets up-close and personal with you. Much more than the dolphins. We got to hang out with Sunny and she did not disappoint!
Here is a little gem for your reference….if you walk along the beach just a bit you will stumble onto Ocean Club. It used to be apart of Marriott but now it has broken away from that partnership. However, they still let you charge to your room and the food there is really good. This is where celebrities stay when they visit Nassau b/c it’s a hidden secret that is ABSOLUTELY stunning! We missed seeing Jimmy Fallon by one day as I saw him post identical pictures on his Instagram account. Even 007 was filmed at this property. So pretty and so quiet….really relaxing.
We then moved over to the Hyatt at Baha Mar. We were welcomed with Island drinks with and without rum, so the kids felt pretty important too! There was a bit of a line so it took about 30 minutes to get checked in. Our room wasn’t quite ready so we grabbed some lunch by the pool and the kids took off to do some cliff-jumping.
They also have an aquarium inside one of the pools and it is so cool to see. The kids love swimming near all the different fish, turtles and nurse sharks. It was quite crowded but its “Spring Break” so you kind of know what you’re getting into when booking during that time. The beach is quite nice but very crowded as well. We did swim with a sea turtle we saw while paddle-boarding, it was so cool to actually stumble on one while out swimming and playing in the water.
The food was phenomenal. There are lots of options and everything we ate was really good. The kids even ate unbelievable. I like to say they are pretty good eaters overall as kids. Definitely not foodies but they will eat more than chicken fingers and mac-n-chz. The Rosewood has an amazing little spot for drinks and dessert that my husband and I fell in love with. Very speakeasy style and relaxing vibe. The breakfast options even made an impression. The buffet had everything you could imagine and the kids ate free and the staff were very warm and pleasant.
So my thoughts are this on the two major resorts in Nassau. Atlantis currently wins because of the massive water park and aquarium IF you are traveling WITH kids. They have much more beach access so it doesn’t feel over-crowded and plenty of things to do with the kiddos. They also have childcare services if you want to drop the kids off. My only issue is, they close the waterpark down by 6 or 7 (depending on time of year) when they could keep them open until much later. But its to get the kids into childcare and parents to the casino. Baha Mar is currently building a water park that should be open in 1-2 years depending on who you speak to. Once that is open, I believe it will take the top spot as my personal favorite (if anyone cares)! 😉
With that being said, we had such a fun time. Even though our kids are too little for a lot of the slides, we still have a great time on everything there is to offer.