Atlantis Bahamas Review & Why You Should Avoid It
It’s the vacation that so many people dream about and even save years for. From advertisements on television to huge billboards in Times Square, Atlantis Bahamas is a true part of the modern American addiction to travel. Sold in these ads is the promise of luxurious accommodations, pristine pools and an experience of Paradise that is unlike any other. In this Atlantis Bahamas review I’ll show you why the resort is anything but paradise and how rude staff, deferred maintenance and a culture of disdain for guests ruined my family vacation.
Atlantis Bahamas Review Summary (TL;DR)
This is a very long review that I feel tells a detailed story worth telling, but let me summarize the key Atlantis Bahamas review points now and you can dive in deeper below.
- We stayed 3 nights in the Royal Towers on a comp due to a Caesars Diamond benefit. Our stay did cost about $70 a night in resort fees and service charges.
- On our first morning my wife found ramen soup in our coffee maker.
- A pipe burst and the hotel shut down water without telling guests. They also let guests use the elevators despite knowing that some were shutting down due to the flooding.
- After we left our room for the day our room somehow flooded and we were left to discover this for ourselves.
- We called and were hung up on several times plus were lied to by several agents.
- It took over an hour and a half to get a manager to help move us to a room other than the one almost directly below ours.
- When we were moved we were initially downgraded to a lesser room.
- The front desk manager is one of the rudest people I have ever met. She hinted that they were investigating what happened in our room and hinted that she believed it was my fault.
- As a result of calling them out on social media, the General Manager contacted me and discussed the issues. He promised to credit us the equivalent of one night in the hotel ($269), but initially only credited $146 and days later after emails from me he credited the rest of our bill which came to $240 total.
- Atlantis Bahamas is falling apart and a recent sale fell through due to high deferred maintenance costs. We also encountered rude staff everywhere. This is not the place to go on vacation. Take a look at the photos and read the very detailed story below to determine for yourself if you think it is worth visiting.
Our Atlantis Bahamas Disaster & Why You Should Consider Staying Elsewhere
A couple of years ago my family and I visited Atlantis Bahamas for the first time utilizing a promotion from Caesars Entertainment for Diamond members of their loyalty program. At that time we agreed to pay about $25 per day in service fees in exchange for a stay in the hotel’s “Beach Towers”. We arrived around midnight due to my wife forgetting her passport was expired, only to find truly rundown rooms that wouldn’t look out of place at a run down Knights Inn somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania.
Imagine our shock too when we woke up the next morning to find out door lock didn’t work and that we had been given an ugly rooftop view instead of the expected view of “water”. (See pics here.) While the room condition in the 50 year old Beach Towers didn’t improve, we were moved to a room with a better view and a working lock and we made the best of the stay without much issue. I vowed never to return again.
Time fades all memories though and for 2019 Caesars and Atlantis Bahamas improved their promotion to include the “Royal Towers” as part of the deal. These are the infamous towers you see in all of the inspiring Atlantis Bahamas commercials. Instead of being 50 years old, run down and a mile away from the water park, the Royal Towers are newer and right next to it. Surely another stay would be worth doing?!?
Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.
We Were Already Going To Be In Nassau
Truthfully the only reason we decided to visit Atlantis Bahamas again was because we were already planning to be in Nassau to visit the relatively new Baha Mar development. The Bahamas is an expensive place to visit with high airport taxes and transport costs, so I figured while we were already there why not take advantage of this now improved deal for the Royal Towers. It would cost us only a $70ish resort fee per night for 3 nights and we did mostly enjoy the pools and water park the first time…
Atlantis Bahamas Review – Check-In Experience
Our recent Atlantis Bahamas stay began with an interaction that set the stage for what was to come. We arrived by taxi after check-in time and walked right into the hotel. I walked up to the check-in desks and was greeted by an employee with a stone cold face. I explained I was a Marriott Platinum member (Atlantis is a Marriott partner) and wanted to check-in and add my Marriott number if possible.
The agent then grabbed my ID and credit card, hit a few buttons on the computer and handed me a room key. She didn’t acknowledge the Marriott thing (or say anything else to me) so I asked again at which point she huffed and asked for my Bonvoy number. She then said with the same miserable look that I wouldn’t get anything since I was booked through the casino. Noticing I was put on floor 9 in the tower I asked if I could get a higher floor. Without looking at the computer or doing anything else she said nothing else was available. As she stared me down I realized I wasn’t going to get anywhere with her so I simply said thank you and we headed to our room.
Our first night in Atlantis was fairly peaceful and calm. We had arrived pretty late anyway, so we only had time for dinner before I walked around the resort grounds taking some stunning photos of the various pools and lovely landscaping. Little did I know that the next day would turn out to be one of the most trying, eye opening and frustrating I have ever experienced in my 13 years of full and part time international travel.
Atlantis Bahamas Review – Soup in My Coffee
That next day began innocently enough with my wife going to make herself a cup of coffee. Unfortunately she discovered in her coffee maker ramen that was left over from the previous guest. To be clear, the previous guest had somehow left Ramen noodles and broth in the water well of the coffee maker and housekeeping hadn’t checked it so my wife was left to make that terrible discovery. Things happen though, so we called down to housekeeping for another one and were pleasantly surprised when someone brought one very quickly.
My wife Jasmine’s next move was to use the restroom and wash her face. As she turned on the faucet no water came out. She called downstairs to be told that there was an “incident” and water was off in the tower. When asked what happened we were told they couldn’t tell us. We had no ability to shower or do anything else really so we decided to head out to the pools for the day. After all this is Atlantis Bahamas, the paradise from the billboards in Times Square.
Utter Chaos in the Elevator Lobby
After a fairly long wait for an elevator we arrived to the ground floor of our tower to find utter mayhem. Employees were running around as water was leaking from the roof. Towels were thrown around many places and one employee told a manager that four of the five elevators were down. The only way they knew if an elevator was working or not was if guests came out of it. There was no concern for guest safety or why these elevators weren’t working. When guests emerged from an elevator they previously thought wasn’t working, they were excited that only three elevators were now down. Thank god no one was stuck that I know of.
In the midst of this chaos I stopped and asked an employee in the lobby once again what was going on and was told that he couldn’t tell me. I decided to tweet the Atlantis Bahamas Twitter team to ask the same question plus inquiry as to why they couldn’t communicate to guests when water would be restored or anything else of substance. Later on before Noon they would respond asking for my name and reservation information so they could investigate. I didn’t hear back after providing it.
Our First Day at the Water Park Was Good
Truthfully me and my family had a good first day at the Atlantis Bahamas Aquaventure water park. During our first visit in 2017 my daughter was just a toddler and couldn’t do much, but we discovered she could now ride on a tube in the rapids river which is my favorite thing at Atlantis Bahamas. We did that, swam for hours and all was good with the exception of an abundance of algae in the regular lazy river. Around 5pm we headed back to our room.
Atlantis Bahamas Review – A Nasty Discovery in our Room
Atlantis Bahamas had all day to get in contact with us to let us know something bad was waiting for us in the room. They had my email address and phone number on file in my reservation and they also had the information I gave the Twitter team earlier that day. Indeed they decided not to contact any guests who were affected and ultimately admitted to me that the process was for them NOT to contact guests.
As we arrived in our room after 5pm on that night I immediately noticed my shoes squishing as I walked across the carpeting. I made my way deeper into the room and found that the front 70% or so was completely flooded and full of water. The somewhat dingy carpet was full of a musty liquid and we found a handwritten note on the bed to call downstairs. Yes, they knew my room had flooded, but decided not to contact me in any way. They thought (I assume) it was best for me to discover it myself. I was not pleased.
Trying to Get Some Help
We called downstairs to the front desk immediately and the automated system said there was a hold time before dropping the call. Our second call to the front desk resulted in us asking for a manager only to be transferred to a line that rang about 30X before disconnecting. We then called housekeeping where we spoke with an agent who insisted we had a new room, told us she would send a bellman and completely ignored our request to speak with a manager. Finally though after going in circles she huffed and said she would have a manager come up to the room so we waited by the open balcony door while 30 minutes passed by.
I openly admit now that we should have walked the 10 minutes to the front desk to speak with someone, although as you’ll see later on I have little faith that would have made a difference. Anyway, 30 minutes passed and no one showed up so we called back only to be told that the previous agent had DONE NOTHING. No manager was called. No notes were entered and we were back where we started. The second agent once again deflected and resisted in calling a manager, but ultimately said she would. 20 minutes later a bellman showed up.
Atlantis Bahamas Review – Utter Contempt for Guests
The level of dishonesty and contempt for guests at Atlantis Bahamas is one of the most shocking things I have ever encountered. Employees openly deflect their responsibilities and lie to guests. They also ignore what guests say and do what they want. We learned from the bellman that we were being moved to a room directly below ours and one over. That was not acceptable to me given what had happened in our room. The bellman to his credit was nice and went to a house phone to call a housekeeping manager but alas one never showed up despite him saying they would be there within 10 minutes.
Even more time passed now and we were approaching 90 minutes since this began. I wanted a same category room in the other tower and I wanted a manager to explain why all of this was happening. Finally after pushing on yet another call with yet another agent, I arrived on the phone with a supervisor who did make a point to help. She also deflected a bit about sending a housekeeping manager up, but eventually relented after doing some investigation and calling me back. She also had me moved to the other tower in a comparable (not upgraded) room which is all I asked for.
Hope for a Good Resolution
I was upset at this point but on some level was also dejected and ready to move on. My wife and I were just about to go to the front desk to get new keys since we had little hope that a manager would show up, but a miracle happened. She finally did! And this housekeeping manager was the single nicest person I spoke to at Atlantis. She apologized for what happened and told me she would like to get me a “nicer room”.
While standing in front of me in our room she made a call downstairs to talk with the front desk. I overheard the conversation where the Manager on Duty yelled at her as to why she was trying to give us something “nicer”. It was so bad that she had to go out into the hall because she didn’t want us to hear it. That tells a lot about the service culture of this hotel. After a couple of minutes she came back and said she had found us a renovated (still same category) room in the other tower. She then agreed to meet us at the room in five minutes to let us in and we agreed that was fine.
We Were Downgraded!
So the story ends here right? Nope, unfortunately it was just beginning. We get to the new room to find it was indeed lovely. It didn’t blow me away by any means, but the renovated room felt like a nice new Hyatt Place with attractive colors and decent décor. It was a huge improvement over the “90’s Holiday Inn décor of our original room, but one thing was seriously wrong. They had downgraded us from the “Waterview” room we had to a view from the other side. For some reason the manager didn’t understand why this was an issue despite us being booked into a Waterview room which is sold as a more expensive category.
I had had enough and asked her nicely (she was a very nice person) to escort me to the front desk to speak with the Manager on Duty. She did take me there where after a few minutes in the back someone who claimed to be the Manager on Duty (she was a liar) came out to speak with me. She greeted me with a stark look of disgust and told me that she had heard I wasn’t happy with my room. I asked if she had been told anything of what had been going on. She said no. The look on her face told me immediately she didn’t care.
The Worst Hotel Manager I Have Ever Encountered
I’m not going to tell you I was completely calm, but I proceeded to explain exactly what happened. The broken elevators and water leaking, the flooded room, the lies from operators, almost 2 hours to speak to a manager and the room downgrade. As I went about telling my story she interrupted me 3 separate times essentially telling me to shutup.
She told me that I wouldn’t let her talk, but I insisted that I wanted her to hear everything that had happened.
This manager wasn’t interested in any of it. She did finally move me into a renovated Waterview (the same category I booked), but I told her that wasn’t enough. After all of this I needed to be compensated. With that same cold dead look she told me she would “investigate” and call me within an hour. In good faith I gave her my cell number and she agreed to call it, but no call ever came.
You Think I Flooded the Room?
We had planned to go to dinner much earlier, but after the front desk fiasco we made our way out to dinner and some time on the property. One hour passed and then two hours and finally at 2 ½ hours since we last spoke and as we were walking back to our room I spotted her at the front desk rudely speaking to another guest. I waited for her to finish with him and then asked why she hadn’t called. She explained that she had called my cell and I didn’t answer (no voicemail was left), but that she had called the room. Indeed a message had been left on the room’s voicemail with a cheery voice (you’ve got to sound good for the recording!) I never experienced when I was face to face with her.
She then said something that is the single most ridiculous thing I have ever encountered from a hotel employee. She told me that my room wasn’t part of the flood and thus they were “investigating” what happened. I asked her what that meant and was told she couldn’t give me more information, but she heavily implied I was guilty of something. Her words were so shocking I almost lost it, but knew that wouldn’t get me anywhere. I then asked for the name of the manager who would be on duty in the morning and she told me, “You’ll deal with me when I get here at 3pm.”
A Shocking Response
That was laughable to me at this point and I told her I would no longer be dealing with her. I then asked her to write down names and positions of people I would be speaking to and she relented. I have never been so worn and exhausted by a hotel in my life. Atlantis Bahamas had a pipe burst that flooded my room. We then were lied to for hours before getting downgraded to a lower category room and now the manager was implying I had something to do with it! Wow.
Thankfully I had something on my side called social media. During the entire day’s events I did two things. I tweeted out select things that were happening including the flooded carpet in my room. I also DMed notes of everything that was happening as it happened to their Twitter team so we both had time stamped messages. As I walked away from the desk I informed this manager of all of the documentation I had. I could see just a little worry over take her face, but before long she returned to that cold dead stare.
Yeah it’s bad. It actually isn’t harder in this case for them to just listen and do their job. Have been getting lied to and the run around for well over an hour just trying to get a manager. Instead they lie and never call one. Pretty crazy. Must be no accountability.
— Miles to Memories (@milestomemories) January 11, 2020
Atlantis Bahamas Review – Social Media Worked
I wasn’t sure how I was going to approach the next day because I just wanted to enjoy the time we had left before we could get the hell out of there, but I was determined to let someone of authority know how that manager had treated us. Thankfully I didn’t have to work hard to reach someone of authority, because all of those tweets and messages reached the General Manager of the hotel and at 9am I received a call that he would like to meet me.
To be honest I speak with hotel General Managers often enough to fairly accurately gauge how much they care. My meeting with the GM was rushed and I could tell he was singularly focused on making me happy because of the social media reach this website has. How do I know that? He mentioned it several times. Either way, I just wanted to move on with my life so we agreed that he would credit me with the equivalent of one night’s room cost (my room was free after all) and went our separate ways after he insisted that manager would be dealt with.
One Last Service Letdown
I forgot to ask how much “one night’s stay” was, but figured surely they would do the right thing. Later that day our $146 charge from two night’s resort fee and a snack by the pool was erased. Unfortunately though the third night’s resort fee was charged and not taken off. One night in the hotel was $269 for our stay so I emailed directly to the General Manager asking for the additional credit. It took four days for him to respond, but to his credit (I guess) they did wipe out our entire bill which was $240 all-in.
The thing about Atlantis Bahamas is that my story isn’t unique. Others have shared horror stories big and small and during our few days there we experienced tons of rude staff and other guests being treated as poorly as we were. Most concerning and sad though is the state of the property. It is utterly falling apart.
They Aren’t Spending Money on Maintenance
In 2019 Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation agreed to purchase the hotel from its current owners only to back out because of higher than expected deferred maintenance costs. What deferred maintenance you ask? Well, to start rock work is fading all around the property. Additionally the main aquarium in the lobby is partially shut off because it is LEAKING all over the floor.
Then there is the algae lazy river I mentioned earlier on and I even found another burst pipe in the “Coral Towers” on my final day. It had a quick makeshift patch (see below) and an air dryer but plaster was left everywhere because no one cares. There is algae elsewhere around property too along with a lot more falling apart. The “ruins” of Atlantis are indeed looking pretty ruined.
On our drive to the airport we talked to the taxi driver who said everyone he picks up at Atlantis has complaints. The biggest two he told me are the fading rock work and the rude front desk staff. He said the employees aren’t treated well and lose their jobs easily. He said they have contempt for guests and just don’t care about the guest experience. This is an issue that starts with ownership and carries through with the culture created by management.
Why You Should Avoid Atlantis Bahamas
Indeed I’ve said that for the most part we have enjoyed the pools at Atlantis Bahamas and the landscaping when not falling apart is beautiful as well. So why should you avoid staying there? It really is a crapshoot as to whether or not something terrible will happen. Additionally, at best you’ll say the rooms were below average but you enjoyed the pools despite the rude staff. That is a best case scenario.
Worst case scenario is you get caught in the web of lies, lack of responsibility and deflections that I found myself in. When you decide to take your family on vacation and dedicate time out of your lives to go somewhere you want it to be nice. That is not something you will find at Atlantis Bahamas. Instead you may enjoy parts of it, but the experience no doubt will fall short of those amazing ads.
Atlantis Bahamas Review – Bottom Line
Don’t waste your family’s precious vacation time. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere other than Atlantis Bahamas. That water park is full of slides that you can find elsewhere and the pools while numerous and generally beautiful don’t even compare to ones I have experienced in Hawaii and elsewhere. The casino too is small & smoky whereas Baha Mar has a much better offering in that department.
I welcome everyone to share their own Atlantis Bahamas experiences both good and bad. Everything written about here is 100% true and completely documented, but I recognize others will and have had different experiences. If you want to gamble with your money and hard earned vacation time then go ahead and visit Atlantis Bahamas, but don’t get mad at me when something goes wrong.
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We had a pretty bad experience too. We came here for the first time with our two kids 3yrs and 8 months. This place isn’t very kid friendly compared to other countries and resorts we have been to. The staff act like they are doing us a favor by even smiling when we are dropping $$$$ everyday to be here. It wouldn’t kill people to smile a little. There is not enough information available and guests are not informed of a lot of things here. They aren’t very accommodating either
All of this makes me wonder how life is for the animals they are housing there. I am never a fan or advocate of this type of place for that reason anyway, but if they are this neglectful to the grounds and rude to the customers, it can’t be good news to the hundreds of animals that are relying on them for quality of life.
I was there twice, maybe 5 or 6 years ago. It was run down then. The first visit was just my wife and myself. We were in the casino a lot and enjoyed it. That was a free trip using airline miles to get there and Marriott points for the hotel room. We went back with one of our adult kids and their wife and two little ones when our previous casino play got us free rooms for us all. We did not get any food package but instead used their cheaper places. It all worked out. However…..the place is definitely run down. We had no issue with staff at all. I would not go back there. Next time I will try the new Hyatt, which also has a casino.
We were there a week and a half ago for the second time. First time was in January 2020 and both times at the Royal. This time I decided to pay more attention based on the complaints I have seen here. Once again, I though the Royal was very nice. With the Caesars deal we find it to be an excellent bargain. Although we had a waterfront room, which has a great view, they upgraded us to a corner room with a balcony because of our Marriott Gold status. Yes, the food is expensive. We usually eat offsite. We did splurge one night at Todd English’ Olives and it was very nice, not that much more expensive than some places we go to here in Upstate New York. Most of the service everywhere is average at best. I suppose with the automatic 15% gratuity they don’t really go above and beyond. We never felt the need to tip more than that. Two large really good beers at Plato’s Bar was $15, including VAT and tip. We plan on going back again next year.
I’ve been there 4 times through Caesars I’ve gambled quite a bit and have stayed at (in order)
– the Beach Tower – musty smell and very outdated room – me and the missus oddly enough loved sitting on the balcony and looking across the resort while playing music
– the Garden Tower – no real view but nice rooms, next to Beach Tower
– The Coral – this was the renovated Coral Tower and the rooms were quite nice
– The Royal (June 2021) – we stayed in renovated rooms and they were nice – got the inferior front view but still liked it
Actually, my only complaint is the high priced food. I know a family of 3 (2 adults, 1 child) that ate Poseidon’s Table and got an appetizer, entree, and dessert and paid about $275. I don’t mind gambling there but we ate onsite rarely. We even Domino’s pizza delivery. We also put our daughter in the Kid’s Club a couple times and she liked it. A little expensive? Absolutely, but not THAT expensive.
Shawn’s case is that rare bad case that may not be indicative of everyone’s experience. I’ve every tower except The Cove and Reef and the only bad rooms I had were the Beach Tower (now just called, The Beach) rooms. I was told they were going to renovate those. They renovating The Coral building closest to the beach when I stayed in the Garden Tower along with The Coral pool. Only the pool was open when I finally stayed in The Coral rooms.
Can you still get the free stay if you’ve status matched?
No – it is no longer available to people who matched.
[…] room at Atlantis?). I didn’t feel regretful about not booking Atlantis after reading about the experience that Shawn of Miles to Memories had with a flooded room last […]
From reading this, I think the OP provided very biased view. The main issue is that OP had lofty expectation and expected to be treated like prince and princess with free “comp” rooms. The room rate was clearly free and all guests pay service fees.
The old towers, Beach, Coral and even Royal are really old (53 year old). In modern standard, all those tower buildings should be torn down and make ways for new buildings. Some part of those towers have been boarded up unused. I can understand that OP received free room at those old towers.
Upon arrival, OP was clearly disappointed. I do not blame OP. He got what he “paid” for. This is where his trouble started. He started to pick all the flaws of the property. There are plenty.
The new towers, both Cove and Reef are excellent. Service is just good or meets expectation.
Again, you get what you paid for. The fact that OP started this bad-mouth campaign is just appalling. All those drama with staff and manager are his own doing, disappointment, frustration and anger. Instead of receiving free room, stay loyalty night credit (Marriott) and all the enjoyment, he received the bad experience.
wow sounds like things have really gone downhill. I haven’t been in 9 years but before that I probably went 6-8 times in the 90s and 00s. Always had a great stay in Royal Towers and did not experience any real service issues that I remember other than a few long waits at restaurants and food was always expensive but really my only issues. I was planning to go this year and was going to stay at Baha Mar and Atlantis pre-covid but of course that cancelled our plans. Will probably be back in 2022 so hopefully we’ll have a better experience but will at least we’ll have Baha Mar as an option while we’re there.
Wow, this place is in a pickle. I’m a little afraid as we own rental property in Ko Olina Hawaii and they are supposed to build a state of the art Atlantis Resort next door to us at the cost of $2 billion dollars. I was expecting that they would make a nice addition to the Disney Aulani and Four Seasons resorts but it sounds like it will reduce not increase our property values. Yikes!
This Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The comp offers to attract guests probably means that revenue doesn’t cover the cost to operate the place, let alone debt service. So maintenance suffers which means even less people visit which spawns more freebie offers to attract guests, who in turn don’t generate enough revenue. They need to reboot and start over.
At our property, after 12 years, it still looks brand new, but we spend millions of dollars a year on maintenance, and we just have 253 villas, not thousands of rooms. I can’t imagine what upkeep costs at a place like the Atlantis resort. Here’s hoping that the one they build next door to us turns out to be different experience.
The worst hotel I ever stayed with even worst service. There was nothing redeeming about this hotel. It is pretty hard to complain about something that is relatively free, but it is easy here.
As bad as the hotel is, the guests are rude as well. I left with a headache. I never saw so many people screaming and misbehaving.
Splurge and stay at the Four Seasons where I spent my days. It is an oasis of calm and civility.
My family went to the Atlantis in March 2020 and had VERY similar experiences which I also plan to write about. I would tell anyone… don’t waste your time here… go to Baha Mar instead! SOOO much better!
[…] though, as we’ve read several reviews from people who weren’t too impressed, such as this recent review from Shawn at Miles to […]
I was going to use my diamond status to book this year if they offered the free room deal again, but after reading your post, I’m going to pass.
Grand Wailea Maui is a similar private equity disaster. Once the premier resort in Maui, the Japanese have totally deserted this property for the Shearaton Four Seasons, next door.
Refrigerators all removed, $8 to rent them. $20 per bag MANDATORY cartage fee from the front desk to your room. $50 a night for parking. Scrapped up our rental car and denied it was their fault, even though we had their receipt showing the car was undamaged when we arrived.
Outrageous prices for mediocre food in formerly five star restaurants.
Buildings crumbling. Little piles of stucco along many outdoor edges.
This is a $1000 a night “ultimate resort”. We were there for a meeting and since it was out of my pocket for rooms there, we stayed in a very nice studio condo for $99 a night about a mile north of this property.
I have a two night stay booked there this summer – making me nervous Stanley 🙁
Was there in Summer 2019, too many cruise ship passengers and and day-tripping yokels smoking in the waterpark areas
Absolutely a fair review, and I would have been equally pissed off had I been placed in your situation.
My own experience at this resort was positive, so I will note that. We went on a fully paid trip (thanks, work!) in December 2018 and experienced nothing but courteous staff and a generally positive environment. The dinner I had at Fish by Jose Andres (in the new area, Cove?) was legitimately one of the best I’ve had in my life. But obviously every trip is unique, and I do wonder if the Caesars match resulted in lesser service from managers for you (not that it should, just a curiosity).
The Bahamas is an easy trip from the east coast, and I have moved my bookings to Baha Mar, as the newness of that resort outweighs the fun of Atlantis Aquaventure. But personally I do have fond memories of Atlantis.
[…] wife wanted to go to Atlantis. Well, nope! Atlantis Bahamas Review: Our Disastrous Stay & Why You Should Avoid Atlantis Bahamas for Your Va…I had heard warnings about the place but reading this I could not shake my head, […]
i’m sure this property is as terrible as you say, but from your description of the events you came off a bit too DYKWIA. if i were an employee of that sinking ship i’d be in no mood to put up with a guest like you. sorry about the crap experience but you ooze entitlement my man.
Hey David. Thanks for the comment. I want to clear something up for anyone else who comes here. I only ever mentioned the social media and the blog at the very end after she did not give me a solution and accused me of doing something. That is a full 5 1/2 hours after the events started and after I had dealt with nearly a dozen employees on the phone and in person. I was just another guest and was getting treated that way. I also don’t think having this blog entitles me to anything. That literally had zero play in our interactions nor did it motivate my want for a decent room.
Perhaps had I actually gone in with a DYKWIA attitude then they would have acted differently. Thanks for sharing your opinion and have a good one.
You gave them a 2.3/5? Lol.
Sounds like Mart Bowden must have an ownership stake in Atlantis. Read the reviews, Matt, not just on this blog but on other travel sites. The place is going downhill fast. It shouldn’t matter whether or not the room is comped or full rack. Either way the service should be the same. Also In reference to Debits comments, expectations which were reasonable were not met. Period! plain and simple. He was staying in the Atlantis Resort not Motel 6! Also I do not fault him for giving this place a second chance.
I went there twice in the past 5 years of so. Once my wife and I used Marriott points and we gambled in the Casino. Hit a big jackpot on the way out. But, the place was run down even then. But, it was o.k. Then, they sent us a casino offer and we ended up going again and took our adult daughter and her husband and 2 kids. Our room was free and it was very cheap for the 2nd room. We avoided the high priced food and ate at the quick places. The kids really enjoyed it. However, it was a run down 2nd rate property even then. We have no plans to return even though they keep sending us offers. Lots of other nicer places to go and gamble……or, if we want to take grand kids, there we would go to the Hyatt run Bar Mar or we would do a cruise. Done with Atlantis, even with free rooms.
Loved bah mar. Agree Atlantis was a dump
Compared to it. Mold, crappy expensive food, rude staff, junky worn out rooms etc etc. Did a split vacation and wished we never left the Hyatt. Never going back even for the cheap Caesars deal we used.
We were just there over MLK weekend, got back last Tuesday. We enjoyed the stay but was disappointed that the all pools closed at 5pm. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach, no big deal. I guess we were lucky enough that we had minimal interaction with the staff. We stayed at the coral tower. I also heard about the exorbitant dining at the resort so we opted for food delivery called island direct (their version of Ubereats). We got to try local cuisine at the fish fry without spending a fortune.
[…] that Shawn from Miles to Memories was having while staying at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas. He’s put the story together in this post and I dare anyone to book a stay at this hotel after reading what he had to go through. Now, […]
My wife and I just came back Wednesday after using the four free nights Caesars benefit. I was very impressed with the Royal and we had a wonderful time. I agree that the staff is aloof and somewhat rude but we found that in downtown Nassau as well. Restaurant service is not very good but I imagine that it is because of the automatic 15% gratuity which saved us 5% off of our usual 20% tip. Our room on the 15th floor had a great view. I though the resort overall was very nice. More kids than I would have liked but I get it. Free towels and free chairs on the very nice beaches, which were not crowded. All told our trip cost us less than $1,400 and if they do the promotion again we are going back next year.
In most of the world (that bit outside of the US) 10% of gratuity is left at best and servers do a good job based on a set wage they agree to get for doing a good job like any other. It’s only the US where restaurants decide that they can let their patrons pay their staff directly. This is no excuse for bad service. You should travel more.
Japan, Italy, France, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Montreal. Should have my Companion Pass this week. I’ll try to travel a little more.
And how’s the maintenance around that water slide that runs through the shark tank?
The rock work as shown in the picture is cracking all around the pyramid but the slide looked alright to my admittedly untrained eye.
The place is a dump.
I stayed last year, had a 1 week reservation, after 2nd night we were out of there. The staff are hideous, where do they find these people? The GM advised we would get a refund for the unused nights and when I insisted on having it in writing he back-tracked immediately. I insisted I have it and I was not leaving until I got it. 2 hours later I got the letter, on letterhead. Subsequently the refund never came through. Of course it didn’t. The GM was lying.
Luckily I had the reservation through my Amex card so I took it up with them, showed them the letter and they were able to extract the $800 refund.
Someone should call these mongrels to account. If nothing else for false advertising. We will never go to the stinkin’ Bahamas ever again because of Atlantis, so well done team. You not only wreck it for your hotel, but also for other businesses.
Shame!
As someone who has visited the Bahamas numerous times, I can attest that it’s the only place I’ve been to as a tourist where the people sneer at you for being American and sneer at you for being a tourist. What makes this doubly impressive is that the economy is almost completely based on tourism.
The reality is that you stayed in the resort basically free. You requested special treatment from the moment you walked in (Are you aware I have status with Bonvoy!…you of all people should know that unless it was a direct booking it wouldn’t mean anything), and are aghast that people didn’t bend over backwards at every moment to you.
I think anyone would absolutely be bothered by what happened on this trip, and you really are doing a service by alerting people that have been enamored by the ads. I appreciate that you point out what seem like very real issues (deferred maintenance, elevator issues, problems with the maintenance of the water features, etc).
However, I don’t see any empathy for those that work in what are probably pretty crummy conditions (if things are as bad as this post)…what I read into is a lot of contempt for people that are doing their jobs. I don’t know what your conversations are like, but in this post it sure sounds like you escalated things often and quickly. I’ve had a number of rough issues in my travels and being relatable and empathetic to their plight has always worked for me. It sounds like you’ve lost touch with the average traveler.
1. I did not stay in the resort for free. I have a status which they value with their partner and that qualified me to get a comp stay. Very different things. I also was paying for the resort fee and service charge.
2. This site is Miles to Memories. I have spent the past 7 years here showing people how to utilize elite status and maximize benefits. I never asked for special treatment. I asked for my Marriott number to be added so I could potentially earn some points. (You’d be surprised how often you earn points even when you think you won’t. It never hurts to have your number added.) I was booked and confirmed into a waterview room. Atlantis sells their entire two Royal towers from lower floors to higher floors as waterview on that one side. I simply asked for a higher floor and when I was told no I didn’t even ask again. If you don’t want to maximize elite status then don’t ask a hotel to add your account number, but that isn’t very smart IMHO.
3. I have no contempt for anyone. It’s hard to describe the level of dishonesty and dodging I experienced. We couldn’t even get to a manager so I’m not sure how I escalated things quickly. I spend 100+ nights a year in hotels and on a small minority of my stays have small issues. I never seem to have a problem getting those solved and end up enjoying my stays. The entire point of this post was to inform people of what I experienced so they could determine if it makes sense for them to visit.
Finally, many others in the comments here and on Facebook have confirmed similar stories. They have been lied to, treated poorly and have experienced the resort having maintenance issues. It isn’t just me. Either way, thanks for your comments and have a good day.
Yup had a similar experience in 2019. Indifferent, extremely slow, and incompetant staff. Island time is real in the Bahamas. They have one cleaner for every 6 rooms and it still takes them from 8am-4pm to clean the rooms. I had fradulent charges to my room and it took 2 calls before anything was done. Check your room bill on your TV every night.
The service culture of the Bahamas is terrible, but if you grease the wheels, the service does get better. Leave a $20 tip on the front desk when checking in for a better view. Leave a $5 tip at the casino when the server brings around drinks for the first 2 times and you’ll find that she’ll come around with drinks much more.
Authority means nothing in the Bahamas. If you tip, the service improves.
Thanks for sharing your experience MD.
This is enough for me to cancel an upcoming reservation.
I’ve always been annoyed by resort fees. And even more so by crazy resort fees like $70/night.
This isn’t a place I want to vacation.
We went 15 years ago and were unimpressed. Would never go back.
Interesting review.
For Atlantis, our family have been several times and ONLY experienced extremely friendly and kind staff. We’ve only stayed in Harborside or the Cove without any issues.
I do agree some of the rock work should be fixed up, but the experience here is likely more of a one off – and I would personally never stay in the Royal towers (or any of the older rooms even for free). I’ve also got Diamond with Caesars and will not stay the hotels offered by the promotion.
Atlantis is an FANTASTIC resort with many unique amenities but pay to be in a better section of the property. The dolphin experience is incredible, as are the pools and the many things to do.
Thanks for sharing your perspective Michael!
I would disagree about the dolphin experience. I thought it was a complete rip off and that’s actually the only place in the resort where I saw algae.
Shawn, based on your DM I think we were there at the same time for a couple of days. If you were on the 9th floor of East tower, you would have been one level above me and one of the nights, they had a plumber (they called it engineer) working until 4am to fix the water issue. Luckily, my 1 year old slept through it, but my wife and I got zero sleep that night with all the banging going on. I actually left a review on trip advisor noting how Atlantis has gotten worse each of the last three years that we’ve been.
I think the review is more about reality not meeting expectations.
Two people are at fault. Those who create the reality and those that set the expectations. Every trip is a good trip when you execute what you have control over.
One would have a legal claim if you paid for something and didn’t get contractual value in return for our. Other than that everything else is a king complex.
This is simply a detailed and thorough review of what happened during my stay. No doubt expectations and reality are different, but reality is far below even what one should expect from a 2 star hotel when it comes to service and maintenance. Given the rates they charge I think people should know what to expect.
Looked at going a few times – just because of the Ceasers deal but read reviews and couldn’t bring myself to book it. We are not resort people to begin with but we are fine with basic rooms, just the reviews were too much to overcome. Thanks for the review, hopefully it will save or at least inform them of what they could be in for!
[…] Atlantis Bahamas Review: Our Disastrous Stay & Why You Should Avoid Atlantis Bahamas for Your Va… […]
We were at Atlantis Bahamas earlier this year and did have a good time. There definitely were some issues though
– First room (in The Royal) had a cockroach, but they did upgrade us to better room with a nice balcony
– Second room had an outlet dangling, and a light not working, and it took us three visits to front desk to finally get someone over to fix it.
– Water fountains in our floor’s hallway did not work
Still we enjoyed the stay and since we were on the Caesar’s “free” trip, we couldn’t complain too much. I mean, at home it was snowing 😀
Thanks for your thorough review, sounds like a miserable experience.
Karen |
I’m so glad there are people like you writing these kind of blogs. And the comments by the people that say since you got it for free, or discounted, or whatever, well, I’m sure you earned it somehow, likely from your hard work in some way or another that others dont understand, and regardless, doesnt give these resorts a reason to offer less that what they advertise or portray. For instance, if you use a 2 for 1 at Burger King, would it be ok to get two undercooked burgers without the trimmings? Of course not. Sorry CJ, we should be grateful for this blog, whether or not the stay was paid for or not, or whether he hoped it would be better than the last, that’s none of your concern, what does it matter how or if the room was paid for, the results are we all get this awesome review. Thank you again.
Didnt seem like it was mostly due to a pipe leak accident…did you read the review? Yes, this does help others. Are you a stockholder in this place? Or do you offer some shithole resort of your own and sympathize with type of behavior? Why do you even read reviews? So you can condemn negativity?
Please, Shawn, keep these reviews coming, get your free stays and report on!!
Thanks Frank!
Shaun, did you check Trip Advisor prior to booking?
exactly, these problems have been a reoccurring theme for atlantis reviews on trip advisor for 15 years…..high price of food everywhere, energy surcharges and extra fees imposed by Atlantis, rude locals…it’s been said a thousand times.
I appreciate you sharing your story. Businesses don’t realize the power of YELP or any other review sites. They can’t get away with poor service without it being told. A run down property is one thing but the service you encountered? Inexcusable! I will NEVER go to this place and will be sure to spread the word the my circle of friends. Bless you for helping us all!
Time to visit the Atlantis in Dubai!
Yes! Hopefully going to try it (at least the water park) during the World’s Fair some time.
Interesting take. I did a similar trip to you as we went to Baha Mar for three days then Atlantis for two days, staying at the Grand Hyatt and The Cove respectively. I have been to Baha Mar three times now and each time I found the staff to be poor. but I was pleasantly surprised and found them to be more friendly at Atlantis. One thing I do think is that those in the Bahamas do not like tourists. I find the same in PR. They have a genuine lack of appreciation for tourists and fail to realize how critical it is to their livelihoods and economy. When you go to Aruba or Grand Cayman the staff is much better and there is a genuine appreciation for tourists. Not that I need my ego stroked, but when you get picked up at the airport and are immediately thanked for visiting their island (i.e. Aruba) it makes a positive vibe on your trip right away.
I agree with everything else in your review, I may have even been there at the same time as you (Jan 3-5). It is run down, dirty and really shows its 20+ years of age. At Bha Mar, I felt I was always tripping over someone cleaning every 20 feet, whereas Atlantis didnt see anyone cleaning anything anywhere! We did stay in the Cove which was nice, but clearly felt the age. 20 years ago it would have been amazing, but now, not so much. Considering all the development in Nassau in the last 5 years, Atlantis is going to come out a loser real soon, unless the cruise ship tourists can keep them afloat. I’m still bitter about how much I spent on food and how bad it is, so I dont even want to revisit that, but I agree….lousy too!
Thanks NAC. Glad the Cove service seemed a bit better. I’ll have my Baha Mar review coming in the next week. I did find some service issues but overall felt it was better than Atlantis. Either way the “hard product” at Baha Mar is better in almost every way.
Had a very similar experience in March, 2019. Rude staff. Lies. We changed rooms and were told the bellman would move our bags. After a couple of hours, went to new room, no bags. Front desk said bellman came to room and the bags weren’t there. I took a pic of bags down to front desk and they still didn’t believe me. Many other things happened and I too caught the cold death stare of a front desk “manager”. STAY AWAY from this place.
Thanks for sharing Tom. I wish they would understand that this type of behavior will only cause less people to come over time. Or maybe not? They still seem to be doing pretty well.
Well, here I was thinking of an anniversary trip to Atlantis and now thanks to you I know better! Thank you for the heads up! Very much appreciated!
Thanks for posting
Shaun, my guess is that if they offered you a free future stay, you’d jump on it, and then tear it apart. Your room flooded and you were less than courteous to the staff. Give it a break. If things weren’t great two years ago on your free stay, why would you think that they now improved?
CJ I want nothing from them and have no plans to return free or not. You don’t get it. This place is bad. I don’t want a free stay. I’d rather use points to go somewhere decent and enjoy myself.
There are also tons of people who have shared similar stories so do what you want with this info. I also explained the answer to your question of why I went back in the post. Just scroll up!
Love the people dogging the free stay aspect, albeit points or casino comps, as if that makes crappy service okay. Poorly maintained rooms and grounds is even worse.
It is as if they don’t realize this is a website based on HOW TO GET AND USE “FREE” ROOMS!
Thanks for the report. I will only go to the Bahamas if it is the small islands.
Our family of 4 went to Atlantis along with another family of 5 for spring break a few years ago. We weren’t in the beach tower but also not in Royal (there is one between them). Room was OK but not worth the price unless you value the water park (which does have value). We only went to water park 3 days since it was so crowded. In addition to guests at Atlantis (plus 1-2 other nearby hotels) day passes are sold as shore excursions to cruise passengers. Then we get to cost of food and drinks. Food was ridiculously priced and we only went to “mid priced” restaurants. For example we went to the BBQ restaurant and Italian one as a group, only had 2-3 entrees (they are large and served family style, 2-3 appetizers and drinks (maybe 2 alcoholic drinks for adults). Total with included tip was $550-$600 in both cases! Tropical drinks (think Hurricanes, Pina Coladas, Zombies) were $18-$20 and this was 4-5 years ago.
Table limits in casino were also high.
Overall I will never go back and I’m a 40,000-50,000 Tier Credit Caesars Diamond member every year. The cost of taking the “free” trip would be more than I would spend in total at many other, more pleasant places.
Come one Shaun, did you really think that shithole of a resort had changed in a 2 year period? Or were you just willing to put up with it again because it was essentially free.
Oh dear. We have reservations this spring. Can’t wait . And what’s worse is we’re there for a Big birthday party celebration. Oye.
Perhaps time to change the reservation? Yikes.
Thanks for using the power of your blog to share these facts. Atlantis is over priced and is marketed as a premium luxury brand, which it obviously is not.
Another private equity deal gone wrong. The current(likely very short term) owners buy it, squeeze every last nickel out of the place, beautify the books, resell it.
And by the way, the Hyatt Baha Mar reviews are awful too. It might be newer but food is exorbitant and service is lacking.
The Bahamas are quintissential ‘get what you pay for’. Since they are so close and the weather and beaches so nice, they pry money out of guests in the name of convenience at a userous rate.
If money is no object, all is well. But, don’t pay up for the best? You’re in trouble.
Never for us.
I was there in August 2018. Electricity went off 3 times for several hours. No one cared. Atlantis is a 3rd world shthole