Travelers to the Caribbean have always been aware of the high cost of food on the islands. Virtually everything has to be shipped in and the prices reflect those costs. The Bahamas are no exception and given the vast array of relatively expensive gourmet restaurants at the Atlantis Resort & Casino, the resort has earned a reputation for being an extremely costly place to dine. We have taken the best tips for dining and summarized them below – you’ll see that feeding the family while vacationing at Atlantis Resort & Casino need not break the bank.

Meal Plans

We are not a big fan of the Atlantis Resort & Casino’s Meal Plans. The various plans include breakfast and dinner – but do not cover beverages at dinner or the mandatory 15% gratuity. Every person on the room reservation must take the same plan for each day of their stay. At the very least, that translates into eating a big breakfast and dinner every day – not something most families will want to do. It also restricts you to dining on-resort at a typical sit-down or buffet meal.

As you will see below, there are ways that families can economize – without going hungry – that are not possible to take advantage of with the dining plans.

Casual Dining

Yes,  the Atlantis Resort & Casino is known for its terrific selection of gourmet restaurants – from The Bahamian Club to Cafe Martinique. And yes, one can easily spend $75-$100 per person at these restaurants. However, there are also plenty of casual dining options that will set you back far less.

In the Marina Village try Johnny Rockets for burgers/sandwiches etc. Also in the Marina Village – Bimini Road for Caribbean and American fare. On the Atlantis Resort & Casino Marina itself – Mel’s Diner, and right off the casino – Atlas Bar & Grill.

Our favorite restaurant for selection and prices is actually off resort – across the street from the Marina Village – Anthony’s Caribbean.

Finally, what we consider the best deal on the resort for dinner – The Point Restaurant at Harborside at Atlantis. The Point offers a three course meal – appetizer, entree and dessert – for $21. The menu is limited and the service can be slow – but always friendly. Try the conch chowder and blackened snapper.

GOURMET DINING

But do try to set aside some money for a splurge at one of the Gourmet Restaurants – our favorite for taste and price is Carmine’s – replica of the famous NYC Italian eatery. Yes the entrees are about $35-$40 each but they are huge and meant to be eaten family style – serve 3-4. So, if you order – for example- one entree of Chicken Parmigiana and pay extra to have it served over pasta you will easily feed three people. Better yet, since we stay at Harborside at Atlantis we have a kitchen so we order 2 entrees over pasta for our family of 4 and bring home plenty of leftovers. Nothing like leftover Italian.

BRING IT WITH YOU

If you are staying in an accommodation with kitchen facilities – Harborside at Atlantis or The Reef Atlantis – pack non-perishables from home. No, you will probably not be cooking large meals in your villa but the convenience and savings of just being able to breakfast in your own condo cannot be underestimated.

Stop at the way in to the resort – you cab driver will probably suggest City Market – to fill in with items such as bread, milk, butter etc.

Finally, the Atlantis Resort & Casino offers non-stop activities and there will certainly be some nights where the energy to dress for dinner is not there. For those times a call to Domino’s or a quick trip across the street to Quiznos is the answer.

While that simplifies planning, it certainly does limit the options for those who enjoy searching for that perfect bargain hotel or condo. So, many travelers experience sticker shock when they first check rates at the resort.

With that said, one has to remember that, again, unlike Disney, Atlantis Resort & Casino offers a dizzying array of activities to guests that are included with the rate for accommodations. Although not an all-inclusive – food and drinks are not included – Atlantis Resort & Casino offers much more than any other resort by way of free activities. So when considering your vacation budget keep in mind that there is no need to set aside money for entrance fees, rental car (not needed) or day trips from the resort.

I’ll always remember our first trip to Atlantis Resort & Casino and our stay at the least expensive room at the Beach Tower which averaged over $500 per night after all the add-ons. Quite frankly, I thought that would translate into luxurious accommodations with gold plated faucets, etc. Instead, I was disappointed to find a standard hotel room with the bare essentials and no view. On the other hand, we found ourselves shooting a roll of film by the time we had ventured 100 yards from the hotel – and we had not even scratched the surface of all there was to see and do at the resort. And that was before Atlantis Resort & Casino added Phase 3 in 2007 – another 67 acres of slides and pools.

So the lesson was this; Atlantis Resort & Casino accommodations are relatively pricey, but the high rates are not necessarily the price of admission to an opulent hotel room. Instead, one is paying for “guest status” and all that means in terms of access to the world’s greatest mega resort – a tropical paradise which includes a unique waterpark and the world’s largest collection of marine life all rolled into a luxurious resort on a beautiful Caribbean beach.

Atlantis Resort & Casino offers various levels of accommodations at each of its six on-site hotel/condo properties. We will try to simplify all the various options into 4 basic choices.

The Atlantis Resort & Casino Towers – Beach, Coral and Royal Towers:

Although there is a vast difference in terms of the opulence of these three hotels’ lobbies and registration areas, they all offer essentially the same thing – a standard hotel room. That is not to say there is not a difference in terms of the level of luxury in the rooms – and the Royal does offer some suite accommodations. But in terms of what really matters to families with an eye on expenses is that they are all standard hotel rooms with full access to all Atlantis Resort & Casino activities.

The Beach Tower, the oldest of the hotels has the least expensive rates, does not have its own registration desk (guests register at The Coral Towers) and offers the bare essentials in its rooms. The Coral Towers sit between The Beach and Royal Towers and offer a bit more in the way of size and luxury in its rooms – accommodations are in the mid-point range of hotel rates. The Royal Towers – the familiar towers with bridge suite connecting the east and west wings – offers the most by way of luxury and ability to upgrade to suite and concierge status. Rates are at the high-end of the price chart for rooms at the Royal.

So when booking one of these hotels – rates will usually be for a standard room. Upgrades – along with an escalating rate – will be for views, suite accommodations and additional concierge service. Nice luxuries to be sure but not exactly value-added items for most families.

The Cove Atlantis

Built in 2006, The Cove Atlantis is a newer addition to Atlantis Resort & Casino. The Cove Atlantis is an all-suites hotel and guests have exclusive access to its two pools.

While all of the rooms are suites – a sunken bedroom is situated off of the living room – they do not offer the privacy of a separate bedroom or any kitchen facilities. On our visit to The Cove Atlantis we found the “adults only” pool full – but the scene seemed a bit hedonistic for families. The “family pool” was completely empty.

Rates are quite high at The Cove Atlantis and the abscence of privacy in the rooms and the pool scene make it less desirable for families than other accommodations at Atlantis Resort & Casino. The Cove Atlantis seems to have been built with honeymooners in mind.

The Reef Atlantis

The Reef Atlantis is another recent addition to Atlantis Resort & Casino. A luxury high rise building which offers all-condo accommodations. Originally built as The Residences at Atlantis Resort & Casino – the units were intended to be private vacation ownerships. However, with the collapse of the partial vacation ownership market – Atlantis Resort & Casino now accepts daily bookings for the newly renamed The Reef Atlantis. Rates are considerably more than those at the hotels.

All units (except the studio) have separate bedrooms and kitchen facilities. The Reef Atlantis guests also have exclusive access to their own pool. A small beach at the back of the building offers ocean views – but at a steep upgrade in rates.

While rates at The Reef Atlantis will be much pricier than the hotels – it does offer accommodations with two critical amenities. One is a separate bedroom that affords privacy – not to mention everyone sharing the room does not have to go to sleep at the same time. And second, all units have kitchen facilities – this is not only a great way to cut down on the high price of food in the Caribbean but it is also a tremendous convenience. Granted, most people do not want to cook meals while on vacation – but having a kitchen is great for breakfasts and having snacks on hand. Who really wants to mobilize the entire family for breakfast every morning?

Harborside at Atlantis

Situated at the Atlantis Resort & Casino marina and next to the new Marina Village are the Harborside at Atlantis. Unlike the high-rise The Reef Atlantis – Harborside at Atlantis  is comprised of a cluster of small 4-story buildings. Built as timeshare offerings, Phase One units are sold out to private owners and the vast majority of the Phase Two units are also privately owned.

To the extent that Atlantis Resort & Casino does have availability – Harborside at Atlantis condos are undoubtably the best value at the resort. However, later in this artcle we will tell you about booking less expensively through a private owner – making Harborside at Atlantis an even greater value.

There are three types of villas available at Harborside at Atlantis – some units can be attached with a connecting door at the living rooms to offer additional configurations for larger families or families traveling together.

One bedroom Deluxe units are about 600 sf and accommodate up to 4 people in a condo with separate bedroom, living room, kitchenette and dining area. One-bedroom Premium units are 900 sf and accommodate up to 5 people by adding a rollaway twin bed – the kitchen and dining areas are larger and the bathroom is configured to allow for separate vanities and a 2-person jacuzzi in the master bedroom. Booking a Premium unit also guarantees a balcony or patio.

Two-bedroom Deluxe units are essentially the same footprint as a Premium one-bedroom but these units are configured to allow for two bedrooms and two baths. The two-bedroom Deluxe allows for up to 6 guests. Unfortunately, at this writing there are very few 2-bedrooms at the resort and the upcharge is considerable over the one-bedroom units.

Smaller families should consider the savings in booking a one-bedroom unit. Remember, rates for accommodations at Atlantis are all about how many people will be using the facilities – paying for a larger room than you need means paying for occupancy you are not using.

Like all Atlantis Resort & Casino accommodations – Harborside at Atlantis villas allow for full access to all Atlantis Resort & Casino activities. In addition, similar to The Cove Atlantis and The Reef Atlantis, Harborside at Atlantis has its own pool for the exclusive use of guests. Harborside at Atlantis also has its own hot tub, exercise room, poolside activities, restaurant and conveniece shop.

Harborside at Atlantis will often be comparable to the mid-priced rooms at the hotels making it the favorite accommodation at the resort – when available. But because there is so little inventory – guests often do not even know about this little resort within the resort (Atlantis Resort & Casino’s website only shows guests what is available for booking).

We have found that the best way to book at Harborside at Atlantis is to find an open week being offered by a private owner through the rental program. These bookings are free of all the surcharges imposed by the hotels, rental program bookings open up much earler than Atlantis Resort & Casino’s other accommodations (making it easier to grab low airfares) and there is considerably more inventory from which to choose. Rates through the rental program will often be comparable – or less than – a weeks stay at The Beach Tower.

However, these private bokings must be for a full week and stays are from weekend to weekend only. But since Atlantis Resort & Casino is so large and its activities so varied it is difficult to do it justice in less than a full week anyway. And although air fares may be higher on weekends – the savings with this type of booking are usually enough to make weekend travel worth it.

Whatever your choice of accommodations, remember these key essentials when booking:

• Atlantis Resort & Casino is not a day trip – or even two or three – leave plenty of time to explore at a leisurely pace.
• Get the final rate for all accommodations from your booking agent. Nothing ruins a great vacation quicker than finding out about an additional 25-30% in surcharges at check-out.
• Food prices in the Caribbean are high – everything has to be shipped in – consider an accommodation with kitchen amenities for the savings and convenience. No, you won’t be cooking big meals but the savings and convenience of being able to have breakfast in most mornings is hard to overstate.

For Harborside at Atlantis Private Rentals: Check rates and availability at www.atlantisfamilyfun.com – rates are flat and include all surcharges and add-ons.

For All Atlantis Resort & Casino Accommodations: Check rates and availability for all types of accommodations at www.atlantis.com Be sure to get the final rate – with all taxes and resort surcharges – before booking.

While the myth of “last minute” deals still lingers – the reality is that last minute planning only works for those with tremendous flexibility in where and when they are willing to travel. Unfortunately, this is not a luxury most of us have. Especially for families, the school calendar drives travel dates and its hard to tell the kids that “Atlantis Resort & Casino is off but we got a great deal on Cancun”.

Our experience is that when travelling to popular destinations in mid-to-high season it is very hard to beat the rates one will find when booking very early. What is very early? – ideally 335 days before your travel dates, that is when most major airline carriers open up their inventory. However, many of the “value” airlines – JetBlue, SouthWest et al. do not accept bookings until 5-6 months before travel. So while I prefer to fly jetBlue whenever possible I find it difficult to wait for them to open up their schedule and rates while I see the cheap seats on major carriers and early booing deals at the hotels dry up.

The original Merv Griffin resort hotel still stands as the most economical entry in the Atlantis Resort & Casino collection of hotel offerings. Renamed the Beach Tower, it offers serbviceable standard hotel rooms. The Coral Towers and The Royal Towers were added and the scale and grandeur of the hotels and their lobbies are a considerable upgrade from the Beach Tower. however, for the most part the Coral and Royal still offer only standard hotel rooms.

The latest addition to the hotel offerings The Cove Atlantis. The interiors of The Cove Atlantis depart a bit from the Lost Continent theme with a bit more of a contemporary flair. The Cove Atlantis is an all-suites hotel, however, each suite is “open” with a sunken bedroom adjacent to the living room. There are no kitchen or laundry facilities in the suites. There are two pools set aside for exclusive use by The Cove Atlantis guests – one is an adults only pool and the other is a family pool. My visit to the adult pool left me with the feeling that the scene was a bit hedonistic – while the family pool was absolutely empty. That, and the layout of the suites, leads me to believe that Atlantis Resort & Casino did not build The Cove Atlantis with families in mind.

Accomodations – At the Condos

Harborside at Atlantis is a relatively small cluster of pastel colored buildings situated right on the Atlantis Resort & Casino Marina and adjacent to the Marina Village.

Those of us who have visited the Atlantis Resort & Casino in the Bahamas sometime assume that everyone must be familiar with this mega-resort on Paradise Island. However, despite overwhelmingly positive press and word-of-mouth from visitors, for some travelers it still remains on the periphery of their radar screens. With the completion of Atlantis Resort & Casino Phase Three – it seems like a good time to provide a primer for those starting to wonder what all the buzz is about.

When Saul Kerzner bought the old Merv Griffin resort, Paradise Island was considered the “quiet” end of New Providence Island. Most visitors on a Bahamas vacation gravitated to the capital city of Nassau or the better developed Cable Beach area. This began to change when Kerzner began creating his vision of a high-end resort based on the myth of the Lost City of Atlantis. Rather than building a typical Caribbean resort -another boxy hotel with a large pool on the beach – Kerzner envisioned a resort where the visitors’ experience would be truly unique.

To create this experience Kerzner undertook a design, engineering and artistic endeavor of mammoth proportions. The buildings at Atlantis Resort & Casino would be an architectural wonder with every detail harkening back to the theme of the Lost City. It is rare to find a space on the floors, walls or ceilings that has not been etched, painted or carved by one of the hundreds of artisans that Kerzner engaged for the project. The hundreds of acres encompassing the Atlantis Resort & Casino are studded with footpaths, tunnels, bridges, flora and fauna that make the walk from one point to another an activity in and of itself.

The architecture and landscaping will amaze and enthrall adults and children alike. However, Kerzner did not forget to include thrills for kids of all ages- with over 21 various pools, water slides and rides, Atlantis Resort & Casino ranks as a world class waterpark. And with the largest collection of sealife in the world it outclasses even the best known aquariums. Mix in 37 different eateries – from the casual to the gourmet, world class golf courses, several nightclubs and a dolphin swim/nature exhibit and it is easy to see why visitors rarely experience all there is to do on their first visit.

Atlantis Resort & Casino is now the top draw for tourists visiting the Bahamas and is rated the #1 resort for families in the Caribbean. Every day streams of cruise boat visitors make the journey from Nassau to Paradise Island to visit the resort. However, since only registered Atlantis guests are allowed to use the facilities – these day trippers are confined to touring the periphery of the resort and whetting their appetites for a return visit.

The most important thing to know when considering an Atlantis Resort & Casino Bahamas vacation is that you must stay at the resort to use all the activities. Sadly, some travelers have booked accommodations at nearby hotels only to find that they could not get beyond Atlantis Resort & Casino’s hotel lobbies. So, with that in mind the critical decision becomes which of the numerous Atlantis accommodations will best suit your needs. We will be exploring those options in an upcoming article devoted to the various choices of hotels and condos available at the Atlantis Resort & Casino.