2004 Bahamas Harborside At Atlantis

Harborside is a 40-minute ride from the Airport just across the bridge from Nassau. Taxi from the airport costs $37 with four passengers & luggage. The place is gated which makes you pleasantly secure. Our balcony suite had a view of the main Royal Towers of Atlantis across the marina. The place is well maintained and clean throughout. Currently, Harborside consists of three buildings, four stories each. Four more buildings just began construction for Phase II. It is part of the Starwood vacation resorts. We traded our two-bedroom week at Vistana Villages in Orlando, FL for a one-bedroom here.

The one-bedroom suite had a full kitchen, dining room, living room, enormous bathroom with separate shower/toilet. Other amenities are dishwasher, washer/dryer, microwave, full-sized fridge, TV in the bedroom, and Stereo, TV w/ VCR in the living room. The pullout sleeper sofa suited our two kids just fine.

They have a very small sundry store (8am-11pm) for necessities such as drinks, snacks, dish & laundry detergent, eggs, bread & bagels for breakfast, etc. The pool is very nice and large with a view of the Nassau across the Harbor. It is a zero-entry pool which our three and five-year-olds loved because the can walk right in and splash in the knee high shallows or walk to gradually deeper water. This was also good increasing their confidence in swimming. There is a restaurant poolside that was convenient for drinks but expensive. Shopping and restaurants at the Hurricane & Paradise Plaza are nearby within five minutes walk of the front gate. I believe a small grocery store was in the far end of Hurricane Plaza and two liquor stores are in Paradise Plaza.

Guests have full use of the Atlantis pools, beaches and amenities as long as you get your wristband for the daily. To get to Atlantis, complimentary shuttles come around every 15 minutes for the five-minute ride to either the Royal Towers (main section) or the Coral/Beach Towers (older section). Walking to either location may take no more than 10-12 minutes.

Harborside offers a more relaxed atmosphere than the Atlantis hotels. We thoroughly enjoyed our much-needed vacation. We're already planning our next return trip!

Best service in the island but the food did not measure up to the sophistication of the place. I ordered the "Catch of the day" which I was told was Swordfish. I got a local snapper which I liked a previous night in another restaurant, so I didn't complain. It was fresh but not as good as before. My wife's dish said it had lobster stuffing - they used the fake seafood stuff.

It may have been an excellent place way back when, but I think they cannot contend with the newer Atlantis restaurants. The service and attention was excellent so we never bothered to make a big deal about the dishes. We just felt bad for these folks because for all their effort they just can't compete.

For the same prices, you at least get what you pay for at Atlantis minus the better service.

Overlooking the main lagoon aquarium viewable from "The Dig" attraction at the Royal Towers. This restaurant is on the other side from the Café of the Great Halls of Water. It is not open as the Café but offered a more romantic setting.

The service was good and the food extraordinary. The food is presented in an artistic manner and tasted as good as it looked. There were many excellent choices on the menu. The conch chowder is the same as served through all the other restaurants in Atlantis so go for something unusual. They do have a bar and lounge area if you are waiting for your table.

My wife and I celebrated this dinner without the kids (babysitting service through Atlantis $18/hour for two kids). We arrived ten minutes before and were ushered to our table immediately. We sat one table away from the glass wall which was perfect as we saw all the fish activity from a comfortable distance. We prefer this to the Café for the future as kids are allowed and we didn't see any tables without a good view of the tanks.

The place is much like a Bennigan's or TGIFriday's here in the U.S. but it does have more of a local fare. The food was excellent. Make sure you find the local flyer at the visitors center or airport which has a coupon for a 48 ounce large drink. This saves you at least $12.

The food was good and this place is an excellent alternative to the more expensive Atlantis hotel which is evident by crowds that go there.

Recommended by the Harborside staff while I was making reservations for the Cafe and Fathoms. They told me weekend dinners have a circus theme with clowns and circus desserts such as candy apples, cotton candy, etc.

Billed as advertised - there were many clowns, even one on stilts. The kids enjoyed seeing them as they came to our tables to say hello and do magic tricks.

The buffet was excellent and had a vast selection - worth the $32/adult, $12/child, which is cheaper than the MarketPlace Buffet in the Royal Towers. Our server paid special attention to my son who had a hard time eating the candy apple - he took the time to cut it in wedges for him.

We asked to sit at a table next to a window which offered views of a lagoon with fish & stingrays as well as the beach. These tables were plentiful because we came real early. The hostess seemed pleasant until we made the request for this location. She was about to sit us at the first table closest to the door and traffic for the buffet.

On another note, daily around 4:30PM arts & crafts activities are held for the children here at a section of the restaurant. Our kids loved it.

This is run by the same folks at Choosy Foods. I was initially skeptical as we found out about them via a flyer a girl was handing out at the main intersection between the bridge back to Nassau, Paradise and Hurricane Hole Plazas. It was the only one being handed out. The host was also trying to convince us to come in to the point of desperation. We finally agreed and we were happy in the end.

The inside of Blue Marlin had a very local feel to it - it wasn't large at all but did have enough room in the middle for a small stage and a 3 man calypso band. Almost like the Fish Fry without going across the bridge to Nassau. The local dishes were very good. I enjoyed 2 whole local snappers. My wife had another seafood dish while the kids got something good from the kid's menu.

In addition to the meal, there was a local show with the "Queen of the Fire". We enjoyed the show--especially the kids--when she pulled me up to the stage to perform a dance. After her show, another performer came out for a limbo & fire show that was also interactive and got the place involved.

All in all, the best value in food and show for the money.

The folks at Choosy Foods were so helpful and friendly that they kept us coming back. The food was excellent too. They offered typical breakfast choices (bagels, muffins, eggs, bacon, etc.) along with some Bahamian options. We didn't sample their lunch sandwiches but their half chicken was good for take-out dinner back at the room. The prices were right for good food and friendly service.

To summerize, we had a blast! We enjoyed the Atlantis resort and its pools & slides, gardens, restaurants, beaches, and attractions. We liked the location of Harborside since it gave us an escape from the busy atmosphere of Atlantis. We liked the food at the restaurants, but it was expensive. Our place having a kitchen helped to save on breakfast meals.

We arrived without a glitch except we kept waiting for our luggage which had already been set aside against the wall behind us. That wasted about 20 minutes as we were the only ones not confused by this. The taxi rides from/to airport were OK but our drivers were not very sociable.

Back to the Atlantis - our first visit filled us with awe as we took in the grandeur of Atlantis. Both my wife & I have been to Vegas before and agreed it had the same feel for the glitz. Don't get me wrong because I sincerely mean that in a good way. Every detail was excellent and you can sense the amount of money they put into building the place. The main Royal Tower Lobby is huge. A walk downstairs opens to the Cafe at the Great Hall of Waters restaurant which features the main lagoon with sharks, lobsters, rays including an 8 foot manta and multitudes of fish. This delayed our walk to the beach another 30 minutes.

The gardens were very nice - you have to walk through them to get to the pools and beaches from the Royal towers. The lagoons along with the gardens featured sealife of every kind. There were waterfalls as well. The scenery was excellent when you look up to see the towers looming over the gardens.

We started off in the Paradise Lagoon which links to the sea but is "protected". It was a great place to hang for the day, but it did get crowded as the day wore on. The lagoon featured some fish but you have to look for them. Beyond the ropes where it is about 10-12 feet deep, it is mandatory to swim with a life vest. We saw several people snorkeling (available to rent) and paddle boating. The rentals are not run by Atlantis but by an outside vendor. It was $45 for the 4 person paddle boat for 30 minutes. We did see some colorful fish but had to paddle around the entire lagoon to find their favorite areas.

The following days we tried Cove Beach which was nicer and more quiet than the Atlantis Beach. More kids & family here. The water was so clear and plentiful of fish. The kids loved it when they saw and fed the fish which freely swam up to them. We also tried the various pools. I went down the famous Mayan Temple slide but could not see the sharks in the clear tube - water splashing on my eyes kept me from seeing anything. Go early or late to avoid the long lines. The pool areas do get crowded at Atlantis which is why we enjoyed the Harborside pool so much. Here there were no crowds.

The attractions were also enjoyable. The Dig was great to discover but we never got around to seeing Discovery camp. The casino was beautiful and don't miss the glass sculptures of the moon & sun.

We enjoyed ourselves so much we didn't do any other excursions except for the ferry ride into Nassau to shop at the straw market. Shop around and bargain to hit the bottom prices. Most of the stalls end up carrying the same products so you can be picky and not buy from the first stall you see. Lunch at Senor Frogs is convenient but better values can be found I'm sure.

Given the young age of our kids, there was enough in Atlantis to keep us occupied for the whole week. It was the perfect vacation for their age and allowed us to relax - no driving needed - shuttles were available between all the Atlantis locations.

Enjoy.