Bahama Breeze: Part 1 – Review of My Free Room at Atlantis Beach Tower, Nassau

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There are a few things in life that make me say, “Hell, yes!” as fast as 4 free nights in the Bahamas.

atlantis beach tower review

Exterior of the Atlantis Beach Tower

I wrote about the details of how I did it, but in a nutshell:

Booking was simple. I requested my dates (December 10th to 14th), booked a non-stop flight there from DFW to NAS with Avios points, and booked a flight back (with a connex at MIA) with American miles.

I was aflutter about the experience, how the benefit would play out, and what the room would be like. I am happy to report it was a wonderful trip.

Bahama Breeze Index

Arrival and check-in

The flight over was smooth. No time for the Centurion Lounge, but we did make it to an Admirals Club for coffee, light bits, and a couple of screwdrivers (thanks to my Citi Prestige card).

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First glimpses of the Bahamas from above

It was cloudy and drizzly when we landed, but cleared up soon after. As I walked to immigration (which only took about 20 minutes), I noticed adverts for the Atlantis everywhere.

The Atlantis is located on its own islandyeah – and has ton going on. But I’ll save that for Part 2. 🙂

The drive from NAS to Paradise Island is 25ish minutes. One-way in a taxi was $40 including tip. Our driver was familiar with Atlantis. All she needed to know was “Beach Tower.” We had a great convo on the drive over.

Within Atlantis, Beach Tower is the “value tower,” so I braced for what it would be like.

We ambled into the gigantic lobby and made our way to the check-in desk. There was no line (surprising given the enormity of the place), so I went up and stated my business. I was nervous about this comped room and getting a raw deal.

The desk agent was extremely thorough, patient, and friendly. He found my reservation and said our room was ready. Because this is a Marriott, I asked if I could attach my Marriott number to the room and ahem, I have Gold elite status. 😉

We got an upgrade from a Terrace View room to a Water View room on the 8th floor (there are 9 floors total).

Then he went over the details of the Casino Experience Pass and what was included in the daily resort fee (which was waived as part of my deal).

He let me know I’d be responsible for gratuity and some sort of government tax (of course). That would be ~$25 a day.

We got our room keys and headed up, like any other hotel check-in.

The room

From the check-in area to the Beach Tower, you have to walk down a looong carpeted corridor lined with shops, a comedy club, a gambling room, and a movie theater (among other things), dotted by fountains and statues, and interrupted by more than a few twists and turns.

After a 10-minute walk, we found the elevator and headed up to the 8th floor.

Hallways of the Atlantis Beach Tower

Hallways of the Atlantis Beach Tower

Our room, 8-130

Our room, 8-130

View upon walking in

View upon walking in

Right away, I noticed the room wasn’t tiny, but not spacious either. It was painted yellow and had bright curtains, colorful artwork, and all the basics.

There was a small table with chairs, a chest of drawers with a TV on top, and a king-sized bed in the middle.

Bed

Bed with palm leaf headboard

Table and chairs

Table and chairs

TV and bottled water

TV and bottled water

Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea

Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea

Then there was the view from the balcony, which was beautiful.

A little balcony with a couple of chairs

A little balcony with a couple of chairs

View from the balcony

View from the balcony

I mean, wow! You really get a sense of how huge this place is and how it’s all connected. Not to mention, the grounds and landscaping were impeccable and lovely.

View from the window

View from the window

The bathroom, like the main room, was “big enough.” Nothing outstanding, but the basics were covered.

Bathroom

Bathroom

Shower

Shower

My camera makes it look like there was mold in the grouting – there wasn’t. I don’t why that effect is there, but the shower was very clean.

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Gilchrist & Soames toiletries

I can see why this was the “value tower.” Not that that’s a bad thing at all.

The room was big enough for 2, and the bed was big and comfortable with nine (!) pillows on it. Everything was clean and it looked like they’d kept the place up well.

Like any monster-sized resort, the room had its bumps: a knick here, a scratch there. But nothing terrible. And certainly fine considering I didn’t pay for it!

The outlet situation was dire. There was only one that wasn’t hidden behind the furniture. To plug anything into the others, you had to either move the bed or chest, or contort yourself enough to reach your arm fully behind.

But the wifi was incredibly fast! I was impressed by its speed. I thought surely it would be a slow, cumbersome experience given the size of the resort and the Caribbean location. But no, everything loaded right up.

And, I only had to log in once. Every other time, my details were stored and it connected right back to the network. Plus, there was connectivity throughout the entire resort – every tower, and even the outside areas (pool, water park, beach) were covered with wifi. Just amazing.

Overall, a clean, comfortable room, mostly quiet, and surprisingly excellent wifi. And I loved the view from the balcony. I sat out there for several long moments and absorbed the ocean air.

Value of the stay

Being the dork I am, I ran to the room to see how much our room would’ve cost.

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Nearly $1,100 for 4 nights

With taxes, surcharges, and resort fees, we would’ve paid ~$269 a night.

Example of the daily fees

Example of the daily fees

For this trip, I paid ~$214 for the taxes on the award flights. And ~$107 for the room. For a total of ~$321 for 4 nights in the Bahamas. Not a bad deal!

Total bill

Total bill

I also got a ton of value out of the Casino Experience Pass.

In short, this trip was a blast and I’m so glad I did it. It may even be worth joining FoundersCard for, as this benefit alone more than covers the annual membership fee. Here’s my review if you’re interested.

Bottom line

How weird that Caesars partners with a Marriott hotel at a huge gambling-focused property where Caesars Diamond elite status gets you a whole lotta nothin’ and no Caesars points. I wonder how this partnership came to be.

Whatever the case, I took the bait. And I’m glad I did! This trip ended up being a relaxing and fun time.

The flights were smooth, getting to the hotel and checking-in was easy, and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the room was. And in awe of the size of the resort! Here’s how I booked it.

I wasn’t thrilled with my experience earlier this year in Martinique, but this trip went a long way toward redeeming Caribbean travel for me.

Next on Out and Out… more of the Atlantis and my experience with the Casino Experience Pass, and wanderings around Nassau.

If I left anything out you want to know, feel free to ask in the comments.

And if you’ve stayed at the Atlantis or in Nassau, how did your experience compare? I would love to hear other opinions about this place!

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About Harlan

Just a dude living in Memphis, traveling, and working toward financial independence.

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  1. Excited to see this review and hear your thoughts, Harlan. I booked my free trip at the Cove Tower for February. It will be a bit more, as we have to pay the resort fees, but I thought it sounded like a worthwhile upgrade. You mentioned that Atlantis is its own island – I’m assuming it was attached by bridge to Nassau?
    I completely forgot that Atlantis is a Marriott resort! Looking forward to your next post, and hearing how meals, etc., were.

    • Honestly all the towers looked really nice. I think you will have a wonderful time. It’s so refreshing there.

      Yep, there’s a bridge that costs $2 to cross. It’s about a mile into town (or a 5-minute car ride). The taxis at the Atlantis will charge you $11 to go to downtown Nassau. Or you can actually walk over the bridge if you want (I saw lots of people walking it). There are a few shops directly over the bridge. And on the island, there’s a Margaritaville restaurant and another little joint called Anthony’s (it was just so-so but they have a happy hour with 2-4-1 drinks and $7 appetizers and you can’t beat that with a stick).

      I’ll go ahead and say the food at Atlantis was fantastic. Some of the best sushi I’ve ever had. Even the takeaway prepackaged snacks were delish. I’ll work on Parts 2 and 3 this weekend. :p

      But for real, it will be a lovely time. Definitely get to downtown Nassau and keep in mind the whole town kinda shuts down on Mondays for some reason. We went into town and only found one restaurant was open. It ended up being fantastic, but options are scarce on Monday. Oh, and go during the day so you can visit the shops/Straw Market/Fish Fry before they close around 5pm/sunset time. And try the rum cake!

      • Love the insites! Looking forward to this. We LOVE sushi, so looking forward to that in particular. The package we were offered looks pretty generous. Sounds like there will be plenty to do! Look forward to reading the rest of your review.

  2. Hello, sound like you had fun! We are going on the same Caesars 4 night free deal this summer in late August, what do you get from of the Casino experience pass? how was the Casino? Do you know if we can upgrade to the all inclusive deal?

  3. Please know, we are excited to announce that Atlantis will unveil the complete renovation of Coral Towers this year and a fully transformed Marina Village this fall.

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