The restaurant listed is a walk and was closed at the time of our visit. Nearby restaurants were very good but not on the property.

Little uninvited visitors were abundant. We were told that this is common on the island.

Beaches were very small and could have used some attention. There are no services beach side, either; get your own everything!

There are no washers or dryers in the units, only one machine available on property for timeshare guests. The resort is quite large, but all but these six units are privately owned or rented. The employees’ attitudes also need improvement.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Not Available
• Amenities: Poor
• Unit Satisfaction: Poor
• Family Friendliness: Fair
• Service: Not Available

It offers great two-level timeshares that are well maintained. We (three adults) stayed in what I think was one of the best units, since we had the lagoon out the back door and it was only a short walk to the ocean (under a bridge) or across a two-lane street. The ocean rarely had more than 10 to 15 people on it while we were there. There were only three timeshare building units on the sandy lagoon, and we were in one of them (the other units had a rockier access to the lagoon). In addition, there was a great saltwater pool with slides for kids (rarely used by anyone also).

The $1 Jitney bus (nice A/C) got you to Paradise Island Bridge and downtown Nassau, although a series of new shops located under some of the new condos being built are just a short walk away. The Coco Loco restaurant is on-site for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although the place is so beautiful, we cooked at least two meals a day, which we had on the picnic table on the back patio overlooking the lagoon. There was great snorkeling in the ocean. We also went sailing and snorkeling off the FLYING CLOUD, which picked you up and dropped you off at the resort. Finally, the access to the airport was great, as it was about 15 minutes away.

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

First, the bad: Check-in took forever, and with hungry kids crying for food, we were not happy. There was only one person behind counter, and they were slow. Finally, we got a key only to find out it was a one-bedroom, not two -- another half-hour of waiting. Showers ran hot/cold, and I got burned a few times. You find out the hard way that the resort turns off ALL the water at 10pm, and it goes back on at about 6am -- that's right, no shower, toilet, nothing. The woman who cleaned our rooms was extremely unfriendly and never replaced the towels. It took me literally four calls and two trips to the front desk, and about 8 hours later, we finally got a few. Frustrating. But everyone else was super-nice and very helpful.

Now, the good: With all that said, the resort was beautiful. It's very quiet, with a salt-water pool, lake, marina, and a 1-minute walk to the beach and a restaurant - Coco Loco's. We all enjoyed ourselves. It seems that the immediate area is in the process of being built up, and once completed, is going to be fantastic. There is a small mall right beside the resort with a restaurant which we heard was great, and you MUST visit the Tropical Gelato ice cream parlour -- all handmade and delicious. We had a master bedroom suite with a one-bedroom lock-off, full kitchen, and living room. It was very nice, with white wicker furniture, a/c, ceiling fans, tile floors, a patio overlooking the marina, and one bedroom overlooking the pool. Pastel-colored rooms with all-white trim were very pretty and comfortable.

Although the resort has a Gold Crown feel, I think it's lacking in some customer service areas to be fully entitled to that status, as well as lack of activities. No entertainment and nothing for kids, but they make their own fun in the pool; however, it would have been nice if the slides were working. Apparently, they were damaged due to a hurricane, and as a Gold Crown owner (Manhattan Club), I certainly would expect that this would have been repaired immediately.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this resort, and my family and I would definitely stay here again.

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

You can catch boat tours and rent mopeds right at your doorstep.

The units we stayed in were good quality, but not the newest. There were a few things wrong, but we worked around it. We stayed in a three-bedroom unit with eight people and had plenty of room.

• Unit Type: 3 Bedroom
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Good
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

The units were very clean and the grounds were well kept. The entire Sandyport area is very nice and very well kept. The private homes across the bay are very expensive and exclusive.

Sandyport Beach is actually across the street from the resort. The Beaches Restaurant was closed for remodeling while we were there.

The beach is very small and was not as clean as I would have liked. There is also a small "beach" area that overlooks the bay -- we used this during our stay. This area is adjacent to the pool(s). The "bay beach" area could have benefited from some attention (clean up and sand grating), but overall, it was nice.

The resort claims to have three pools . . . and they do. However, all three pools are joined to each other. The "beach/pool" bar was not open while we were there.

About the unit itself: there are very few drawers in which to place clothing in the master bedroom. The first set of sheets for the master bed was torn and had holes. However, the bath towels and sheets were exchanged more often than other resorts I have stayed at. The second set of sheets were in slightly better condition.

The 3-bedroom unit did not have a washer and dryer in the unit. The kitchen was very small but adequate. The resort provided enough dishwashing soap and paper towels for the week -- the amount provided was more than other condos I have stayed in.

We brought a small suitcase with food from the States and a small cooler of frozen meat. I would recommend anyone to do the same to save on the amount you will spend on food.

We rode the jitney buses for $1 to Cable Beach and downtown Nassau. We also used the Sandyport Town Mall double-decker bus. This bus runs until 10pm and is free. It will take you as far as Cable Beach and back. You can catch the double-decker by the Sandyport Mall entrance. It's stated to run every 10 minutes. You catch the jitney by the entrance to the resort. Jitneys run until 6pm.

We did have three uninvited "visitors" (roaches) in our condo during the week, but I guess this is to be expected in the tropics.

Television is available in the unit and you receive channels from Miami stations. This was nice to catch the football scores on Sunday.

We brought a CD player/radio and CDs. We ended up listening to the local radio station, which played lots of island music.

The telephone service is expensive. I signed up with AT&T for a calling card that charged $.37 a minute (this is cheap compared to Bahamas prices) to call back to the States. There is a surcharge for each telephone call added to your bill even if you use an 800 number.

The balcony was small but great to have breakfast and dinner on.

We managed to elude the salesperson wanting to give us a "tour". However, our neighbors did not and were stuck for over an hour. Apparently, he just wouldn't take no for an answer.

Speaking of our neighbors . . . we had a floor unit and awoke each morning (7am) to the noise of the kids upstairs pushing a chair across the floor to get cereal out of the cabinet.

I would categorize the resort as very quiet. We saw very few people while we were there. We did attend the resort's "Get Acquainted" happy hour and appetizer function on Wednesday night. Rum punch, conch fritters, Buffalo wings, and veggies and dip were the fare. We played a few games to break the ice. In the lobby, there was a vendor selling jewelry, t-shirts, etc. If you stopped to look, she was determined to sell you something (bargaining), but she would eventually take no for an answer.

I greatly enjoyed my stay at Sandyport Beaches and I would not hesitate to stay there again.

• Unit Type: 3 Bedroom
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Fair
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Very Good

The master one-bedroom units are nice, well laid out, and roomy. If you like having drawers, forget it. Only shelves in the closets and adjoining bedside cabinets.

I requested a two-bedroom and got a master one-bedroom and a much smaller studio, which do not share common doors or a common keycard. Not good if you have small children. I'm not sure a true two-bedroom even exists there.

The safes in both rooms did not have keys.

Room charges don't exist at the pool bar or at any of the privately owned restaurants on the Sandyport property, so contrary to what they say carry cash or a credit card.

If you don't have a washer/dryer in your room, there is only one pay machine on the property.

When we were there, they didn't even have tennis balls or a volley ball for a game on the beach.

The grounds are nice, but a little more attention could be spent on the beach area adjoining the pool.

The staff is friendly and the activities people are helpful when booking day adventures.

The public jitneys can be waved down right outside the front gate. For a buck, it's a great value for getting around. Shopping is convenvient with the Sandyport Old Towne mall next door and a supermarket a few minutes down the road. Downtown Nassau is just 10 minutes away by Jitney.

All in all, not a bad place, but not up to the standards of what I and others thought a Gold Crown Resort should be.

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