WOW! I have traveled extensively to other countries but the only other beach resort I have done was Costa Rica and this just blew it away! I honestly dont think another resort would even compare to Atlantis....and the Reef was top notch!!

We went June 6th - June 12 and the timing was perfect! The weather was great and the crowd was few and the water was perfect! The hotel itself is very modern. Not generally my personal style but we loved it! We had a corner room which overlooked the harbor, partial beach and dolphin cay. It was great!

We had a studio room with a queen pullout Sofa. The bed was comfortable with a 42 inch flat screen and the bathroom was amazing....it even had a flat screen by the tub which my son loved!

We went through all the hotels in Atlantis through the week and the only other hotel I would stay at was the COVE right next door....but would take the Reef as my first choice. The crowds at the other hotels were terrible. Over congestion of people and the staff could not accomodate the crowd as great as the Reef. Beach Towers and Coral towers were the worst. They reminded us of outdated Holiday Inns.

We brought my oldest son who is 7. We are all for kid friendly, obviously, but the over run of kids and adults at Coral and Beach Towers was way to much. It was loud, wet, damp smelling and the staff was nothing compared to the Reef. Plus the cruise ships would dock and let everyone from the cruise out at either Atlantis hotel or the Coral Towers. Even catching the shuttle at those hotels was a pain. We were so spoiled at the Reef!

We rarely saw more than a couple of other guests at the Reef so it was peaceful and quite. I cannot think of one time the staff did not go out of their way to help us or know our names.

Its not well advertised but the Reef also has an entire schedule of daily activities either poolside or on their beach for the kids which are great for some nice downtime!

Personal recomendations for Atlantis:

Food:

We had a kitchenette in our room. We had the taxi stop at the local grocery on the way from the airport. All american products and within $1.00 of what we would normally pay. We bought a ton of snacks for poolside and night time and a couple of easy dinners like spagetti. Several nights we were just tired and content to hang our in our room and catch a movie.

If you like to dine out make sure to bring the proper clothes. Many restraunts are not casual attire. You have to dress appropriate, in some cases slacks, dresses etc. We went into town and dined at the local places if we didnt order in. The Poop Deck is a local favorite right outside of Atlantis. Great views of the Harbor and good food and very reasonable!

Anthonies Restraunt in Marina Village was very affordable and the food was great. I highly recommend the Ribs. The rack was enough for my husband and I to split. There is also a Dominoes that delivers.

We ate most lunches poolside. Usually hotdogs or hamburgers. You will pay $10 for one but it is made fresh and very filling.


Activities:

Dolphin Cay was great. We did the shallow dive with our son and the deep dive later. If your children are 10 or older I would skip the shallow and do the deep. There is much more interaction with the dolphins. The shallow is nice for small kids who cannot swim and want to touch a dolphin but its pretty short once you get to the dolphin and very limited. The have a little sea lion tour for $30....skip it.

Jet skiing a MUST! The water is AMAZING! You can jet ski out to the sandbars and all around the island and the water is crystal clear. We would stop the jet skiis and just watch the fish swim below us! We thought about parasailing but it was overpriced It was $50 for 5-7 minutes.

Snorkeling

Flying Cloud can be booked at the hotel desk. Its a great catamaran ride out to a little reef and sandbar and very enjoyable. It runs $60 a person. If you go on the weekend it includes a full lunch....during the week.....two drinks and chips. You will see Blue Adventures all over the island advertising but I was told you are shuttled around in a bus quite a bit. The catamaran was much better.

There is also an all day excursion out to some islands with turtles, sting rays and iguanas. We would have loved to do it but it was booked and I will do it next time.

Our son went to Kids adventure a couple of times and had a great time! It was nice for us to get some adult time in while he played too.

KIDS:

Without a doubt this is a very family friendly place! We have four children under 7 and although there was plenty for kids to do, FOR US, I am so glad we only brought our oldest this trip. The river ride is the best by far and even leads into some rides that you just float too. But you need to be 48 inches!!! I saw so many parents who were stuck at the "Little kids" areas because their kids were too scared of the tube rides, or they couldn't swim. Older kids were mad because younger siblings were holding them back and vise versa. If you truly enjoy just hanging out at a pool or the kids area there are plenty of them.

But we were so glad that we had the freedom to truly take our 7 year old everywhere....and knowing how to swim is huge for obvious reasons.

We are looking forward to taking our other children with us when they hit 48 inches and we can enjoy it with them as well!

It was amazing and we cant wait to go back again! It was our best vacation so far!!!

I would recommend the first two weeks in June if you can swing it. the crowds are still light and we saw a huge shift in the crowds our last two days as "peak season" was hitting.

We just got back from Atlantis and loved every minute of our stay. We stayed in their newest hotel The Reef and it was beautiful and so clean! We traveled their for our 10th wedding anniversary so we went as a couple, but I would also reccommend it for families as well. The property is stunning. There is so much to see and do. The pools and beaches were fantastic. The food was excellent but a bit expensive as one would expect at a resort. Many choices for dining from casual to gourmet. The Reef was furthest away on the property from the casino and water slides, but only a short walk or shuttle bus ride if you prefer. I enjoyed the distance because it was so peaceful - the pools and beaches at this end of the resort were never crowded and you felt more relaxed. If we wanted more lively entertainment we were within walking distance of all that the resort had to offer. Can not wait to go back!

I just returned from my honeymoon at the Reef Atlantis. If I were going back to the Atlantis, I wouldn't hesitate to stay the Reef again despite the high price tag and one somewhat major kink. Here is the main reason why: The service from the Reef "door staff" is better than any hotel that I have ever stayed at. Period. The gentlemen that are stationed outside the main entrance (where the shuttles pick you up) know how to make every guest feel like a celebrity. This is exactly what you should feel like when you are shelling out the big bucks to stay there!

Example 1: On my wedding day, my limo was 5 minutes late picking me up to take me to the ceremony site at the One and Only Ocean Club. When the limo did not arrive at the exact time it was supposed to be there, the staff was immediately on the phone to secure me one of the hotel's limos at no charge! They didn't want anything to ruin my day. Thankfully their limo was not needed as my limo quickly showed up, but the gesture was amazing.

Example 2: While not really necessary because you can easily walk to any of the other hotels on property, Atlantis supplies complimentary shuttles to take you across the resort. The shuttles run about every 10 minutes. My husband and I had just missed the shuttle that would take us to Coral Towers (a short walk to the water taxi that brings you into Nassau). When the staff heard that we were planning to enjoy a nice dinner at Luciano's to celebrate our last evening in the Bahamas, they immediately ordered us a limo (again) to take us into town for the same cost as a cab would have been. The limo was there in less than 2 minutes. We arrived in style.

Now for the kink - On our wedding night, we returned to our suite to find that it had not been service by the maid. The bed was undone, empty martini glasses (from my bridal party and I having an early start) were strewn about, etc. This is not what we were looking forward to. Now apparently, this turned out to be MY fault -so head this warning. Unlike other hotels, they don't have a "Do Not Disturb" sign that you physically hang on the doorknob. Rather, they have a button that you push - the button is located directly next to the light switches and it's easy to confuse the two. I must have hit it in an effort to shut off the lights on my way out of the door, so the room was never serviced. No bother, we thought. We simply called the front desk and they said someone would be up immediately. We waited 5 minutes and received a phone call from the front desk again - someone was on their way up they said. Knowing it would take a while to service, we changed out of our wedding attire and into some casual clothes. We headed to the casino for a burger (we never really got to eat at our wedding and the Atlas Bar in the casino is the only place where you can get a late night snack.) We returned more than an hour later to find the room in the SAME SHAPE it had been before we left. It was late, so we just rolled our eyes and said forget it. Who knows why they called to say that someone was on their way up, but we ended up getting a $50 room credit for the trouble. Still, I was disappointed because I was envisioning something more romantic for our wedding night. ;)

I've read a lot of reviews and have to agree that the food all over the resort is expensive, and quite often, not worth it. This doesn't really bother someone like me though. I like to use the daytime and afternoon to enjoy the resort and then head into Nassau for dinner. The food is less expensive, native, and delicious. But if you plan to ONLY stay on the resort for meals, you are missing a wonderful experience and will be disappointed. My favorite restaurants on Nassau included Luciano's (Italian, GREAT service, just over the bridge, and a beautiful view of the Atlantis) and The Fish Fry (a $12 cab ride away, dirt CHEAP and good native food, hot spot for the locals).

My husband and I just returned! All I can say is wow. The resort is gorgeous and the beach is better then I expected. The resterants are pricey but the food and service was amazing. We ate at mesa, sea fire steak house, bahamian club and the dune. The dune was the best meal and so romantic. The newer bond movie was filmed there at the beach club, (the movie casino royal.) It was neat to see the area and then watch the movie when we got home. The dune is located on the property's upscale side were the celeberates stay.(near the golf course) I heard the rooms go for 1200 a night. The resterant was no more expensive then the other fine dinning but was definatley the best. Mesa was also very good. Starbucks is the cheapest for sandwiches, you get the same wraps by the pools for more money. Also the gym had the cheapest bottle water. 1 L will cost you 10$ by the pools where at the gym it is 5-6 $. I packed beer and bought wine and some rum at the airport. I highly recommend you do the same. You will save alot of money. Wine is very expensive at the resort. It was like 10-15$ for a cheap glass. A bottle I bought at the airport was 12 dollars where at atlantis it was 55$. The room was very pretty. The tv in the bath room was a nice touch. all i can say is go go go its worth it. Have fun!!!!!!!!