The Island Seas is a beautiful resort. After reading all of the reviews online, I was hesitant to book here, but really, if you are looking for a relaxing vacation, this is the spot.

The rooms are very nice by the standards that we have experienced of Gold Crowns. The kitchen is a good size with full-sized appliances, and the living room area is spacious. We really didn't have any complaints about the room -- we were very happy with it!

But if you are looking to party, this is not the place! We had our parents with us, and they are not used to our kind of travel. They usually book with all-inclusive vacations that have loads of hustle bustle all the time, and this took them some getting used to. But my husband and I were completely happy. We like to party sometimes too, but we hate to stay at a place that is always noisy...we can out and party and then come home to our quiet paradise. If that is your preference, I would recommend this resort, but I would also recommend renting a car.

There isn't much around, and the shuttles end early in the evening. Having a car is very handy, and driving in the Bahamas is fine. The traffic is always flowing because of the roundabouts, and the speeds are not too fast (like other places like Mexico or Jamaica). The one complaint that we have about the resort -- and its a big one -- is the soliciting on the beach. There are locals who are always on the beach trying to sell you braids for your hair, bracelets, t-shirts, hats (and of course gange!), and they just don't go away. They will ask you continuously until you are forced to be rude to them. We don't like this kind of stress when we are trying to relax on the beach, which we were under the impression was private! There are signs that say "no soliciting," but they don't seem to matter.

I agree with a lot of the other reviews, in that the resort staff was not very friendly. I can't say that about all of them, as there were some that were very friendly, but it didn't seem to be the majority.

The pool is beautiful but cold (not heated), but it's refreshing on a hot day! The arrangement of the hot tub, pool, and landscaping is very attractive and made you feel as if you were in paradise.

Best Things Nearby:
Port Lucaya

Best Things About the Resort:
Great clean facility, excellent beach, nice little bar and restauraunt on the beach by the pool.

Resort Experience:
Very cool resort. Good for both adults and kids. One of the newer and nicer resorts on the island. One of few GLDC's. Love resort, next to my Aunt's house. It is farther away from main tourist areas, but resort provides lots of activities and some transportation. Best thing is the beach is beautiful and quiet.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

Best Things Nearby:
The International Bazar, casinos, supermarket (Winn-Dixie)and Port Lucaya marina is nearby. The resort has bus service to these locations BUT the last departure is 4:30. Taxis are available but costly. If you plan to leave the resort I would recommend getting a rental car at the airport. Rental cars are more expensive at the resort but are available. The glassbottom boat, scooter rentals, snorkeling and fishing (deep seas) are across the street.

Best Things About the Resort:
The best thing about the resort is that there is a small store and resturant on site. The resturant runs from 7am-11pm. There are a few water activities you can book on site: jet ski, parasail, banana boat, snorkeling, fishing etc.

Resort Experience:
The service is very slow at all times at the resturant. You can eat at the resturant but I would suggest you order via phone before you are hungry. For example, it took 45 minutes to make a hamburger and fries and then it was cold. Another annoying fact is that they nickle and dime you for everything yet they claim they are a 5 star resort. i.e. ($5 for 15 minutes of internet access, $7 to send a fax, $1 for a newspaper). Most of these items are freely available at 5-star resorts or less. Also there is a very hard sell from Interval International reps to buy into their time share. This is very annoying since they try to hit you up everytime you go into the lobby.

With those negatives I will say the location is great, (right on the beach) and the rooms are very comfortable. I did have a problem with the air condition and it was fixed in a matter of minutes. Housekeeping is very prompt as well. The pool is on the small side but great for kids. The beach area is semi-private and beach chairs are available to guest.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Fair
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Good
• Service: Fair

Best Things Nearby:
The beach, pool, Coconuts bar, and Zonk the conch man.

Best Things About the Resort:
The resort is in a nice location on a good beach and away from the crowds of the city.

Resort Experience:
The grounds are beautifully maintained with a gorgeous pool with waterfall and secluded hot tub. The beach was great. You can walk 1/4 mile to the right and find a nice stretch of totally secluded beach area. The rooms were nice, but I don't believe deserving of its Gold Crown rating. It is the smallest two-bedroom I have stayed in and did not have any of the extras that I would normally expect in a Gold Crown resort, such as washer/dryer, VCR/DVD, or a hairdryer. They did, however, have free laundry on site.

We had daily maid service, which was nice. The room was clean, though the furniture was in need of a change-out. We were told ahead of time that furnishings are not changed as often as in the States due to high import fees. The view from our front balcony was nice overlooking the pool area, however the view from the bedroom balcony was that of a construction dump site.

Happy hour at Coconuts is 4-6pm and we enjoyed the half-price drinks ($3) and meeting the other guests. We had appetizers at Coconuts, which were OK. We did hear others complaining about the meals not being very good. Everyone we met was enjoying their vacation.

The resort offers free shuttle service to Port Lucaya Marketplace several times a day. They were always on schedule. From the Marketplace you can take a public bus for $1 to go to other places on the island. The resort is not on their route, but for $2 a person they will take you there and drop off at the front gate. Cab fare from Port Lucaya to the resort was $14 for the four of us. We arrived at the resort a couple of hours prior to check-in and had no wait and our room was ready. Overall the service was very good.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Good
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

Best Things Nearby:
We rented a Bahama Buggy to explore the island on our own. This enabled us to discover pristine Gold Rock Beach, which was across the street from Lucayan National Park. This was the quintessential Bahama experience-the two of us were alone on this beautiful secluded beach for nearly 2 hours. Here we also encountered four stingrays. We think they wanted to be fed. Port Lucayan Marketplace and beach.

Best Things About the Resort:
On site beach, courtyard; including open air tiki-hut restarant, clean swimming pool with waterfall and footbridge, jacuzzi in tropical secluded setting.

Resort Experience:
The resort was located on a cul-de-sac on a secluded oceanfront beach. Atomosphere at the resort was very laid-back, with mostly couples. Caribbean music was discreetly piped in via ground speakers around the courtyard. Staff was friendly and helpful. Lobby and units bordered on the luxurious, which was a contrast to some of the other island construction. We visited at the end of January and the temperatures ranged from 70 to 82 degrees consistently.

Accommodations were large and roomy with a tropical flair of furniture. The one-bedroom had a full kitchen and dining area. Balcony overlooked beautiful courtyard, swimming pool and ocean. Very clean unit with daily maid service. Standard bathroom.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent