The Reef on Paradise Island in the Bahamas Review
Here is a review that is long overdue and hope it helps anyone looking for information in the future.
We went to Atlantis in mid-September and stayed at the Reef. There were 3 couples and we all had toddlers under 2 years old.
The Reef
Beautiful building, it was a mix of condos and hotel rooms. All our rooms had kitchens and were all on the same floor. Before you enter your room, there is a solid double door which opens up to 2 other doors leading to rooms on the left and right hand side. This replaces the door that is normally in the middle of the room that separates the 2 rooms.
The kitchen was a life saver, with each couple having toddlers, it's too much work to get them ready at the same time to go for breakfast. The kitchen had a stove top, washing machine and sink. One of my friends found a grocery delivery service and we had them deliver everything and it was waiting downstairs by the time we checked in. This was an economical way to pick up staples such as water, fruits, pastries, etc. There was also a starbucks downstairs for those needing their fix.
The other thing we really liked was this building was quiet. We barely heard anyone on our floor except when we were all in the hallway. Royal Towers and the one connected to it was a lot more busy. I would've stayed at the Coral and Beach Tower in my university days, it had more of a party atmosphere to it.
Resort Grounds
Paradise Island was humongous and there is a lot of walking for those that enjoy it. To get to the main tower, Royal Towers, it was about a 10 minute walk. It does seem further when you look at it on the map but it was rather enjoyable as you walk through the Cove and get to see the pools and Water Park. There is also a shuttle that runs between the different resorts that come pretty frequently, I would say every 5 minutes.
Attractions
The main ones we visited were:
Water Park: AMAZING. It was a huge water park with many different rides from the lazy pool to the water slide that goes through the shark tank. I would go again just for this. We went mid-morning, after 10 am and again after 2 pm and it wasn't extremely busy, to the point where I had to wait more than 10 minutes per ride.
The Dive: This was located under Royal Towers and was a gigantic Aquarium with 15 foot glass. They made it into an adventure where it seems as though you were visiting an archeological dig of the lost city of Atlantis. I enjoyed it as much as my 2 year old.
Shark Tunnel: This was just outside of the Casino in Royal Towers. It was a couple of long walkways that were located under a shark tank. We took some beautiful photos here.
Village: It was a little village area right where the private yachts were docked and was part of the Atlantis resort grounds. They had a collection of souvenir shops and restaurants such as Ben and Jerrys, Johnny Rockets, Starbucks. There was another strip mall across the street from this one that had a Dunkin Donuts, grocery stores and souvenir shops.
Downtown: It was a 10 minute taxi ride downtown. The downtown district was very commercialized, it had brand name watch places in addition to high end designers such as Gucci. They had a nice in door market place with vendor stalls that sold small arts and crafts, I would definitely suggest haggling with them if you are interested in something.
Food
Since we didn't opt for the food plan, this is entirely up to you as to how much you would like to spend. A lot of the places were closed due to it being low season, I would say about 70% of the restaurants.
The high end places we enjoyed were excellent from the buffet at the Coral to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. We loved the entrees at Mesa grill but would pass on the dessert sampler if we go there again. For those nights that we didn't feel like sitting down, the pizza place was very good.
Weather
We went at the tail end of hurricane season and the weather was not the greatest. It probably rained every day we got there and we stayed for 5 days. There were a couple of days that it was torrential, I'm talking about heavy, heavy rain for about 3 hours straight. When the storm clouds roll in, they shut down the water park.
General Comments
We would definitely go again. Even with the crappy weather, the couple of hours a day I spent at the water park and the Aquarium were worth the price of admission. You also don't have to worry about carrying cash anywhere on the resort as you could pay with your room key.
We went to Atlantis in mid-September and stayed at the Reef. There were 3 couples and we all had toddlers under 2 years old.
The Reef
Beautiful building, it was a mix of condos and hotel rooms. All our rooms had kitchens and were all on the same floor. Before you enter your room, there is a solid double door which opens up to 2 other doors leading to rooms on the left and right hand side. This replaces the door that is normally in the middle of the room that separates the 2 rooms.
The kitchen was a life saver, with each couple having toddlers, it's too much work to get them ready at the same time to go for breakfast. The kitchen had a stove top, washing machine and sink. One of my friends found a grocery delivery service and we had them deliver everything and it was waiting downstairs by the time we checked in. This was an economical way to pick up staples such as water, fruits, pastries, etc. There was also a starbucks downstairs for those needing their fix.
The other thing we really liked was this building was quiet. We barely heard anyone on our floor except when we were all in the hallway. Royal Towers and the one connected to it was a lot more busy. I would've stayed at the Coral and Beach Tower in my university days, it had more of a party atmosphere to it.
Resort Grounds
Paradise Island was humongous and there is a lot of walking for those that enjoy it. To get to the main tower, Royal Towers, it was about a 10 minute walk. It does seem further when you look at it on the map but it was rather enjoyable as you walk through the Cove and get to see the pools and Water Park. There is also a shuttle that runs between the different resorts that come pretty frequently, I would say every 5 minutes.
Attractions
The main ones we visited were:
Water Park: AMAZING. It was a huge water park with many different rides from the lazy pool to the water slide that goes through the shark tank. I would go again just for this. We went mid-morning, after 10 am and again after 2 pm and it wasn't extremely busy, to the point where I had to wait more than 10 minutes per ride.
The Dive: This was located under Royal Towers and was a gigantic Aquarium with 15 foot glass. They made it into an adventure where it seems as though you were visiting an archeological dig of the lost city of Atlantis. I enjoyed it as much as my 2 year old.
Shark Tunnel: This was just outside of the Casino in Royal Towers. It was a couple of long walkways that were located under a shark tank. We took some beautiful photos here.
Village: It was a little village area right where the private yachts were docked and was part of the Atlantis resort grounds. They had a collection of souvenir shops and restaurants such as Ben and Jerrys, Johnny Rockets, Starbucks. There was another strip mall across the street from this one that had a Dunkin Donuts, grocery stores and souvenir shops.
Downtown: It was a 10 minute taxi ride downtown. The downtown district was very commercialized, it had brand name watch places in addition to high end designers such as Gucci. They had a nice in door market place with vendor stalls that sold small arts and crafts, I would definitely suggest haggling with them if you are interested in something.
Food
Since we didn't opt for the food plan, this is entirely up to you as to how much you would like to spend. A lot of the places were closed due to it being low season, I would say about 70% of the restaurants.
The high end places we enjoyed were excellent from the buffet at the Coral to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. We loved the entrees at Mesa grill but would pass on the dessert sampler if we go there again. For those nights that we didn't feel like sitting down, the pizza place was very good.
Weather
We went at the tail end of hurricane season and the weather was not the greatest. It probably rained every day we got there and we stayed for 5 days. There were a couple of days that it was torrential, I'm talking about heavy, heavy rain for about 3 hours straight. When the storm clouds roll in, they shut down the water park.
General Comments
We would definitely go again. Even with the crappy weather, the couple of hours a day I spent at the water park and the Aquarium were worth the price of admission. You also don't have to worry about carrying cash anywhere on the resort as you could pay with your room key.