We stayed at the Reef from June 6 to June 14. The rooms are beautiful. We travel a lot around the world and I was concerned whether the rooms would be too small. We were with 4 teenagers from 15 to 18 years old. If you have seen any of the new contemporary high rise condos going up everywhere, that's what the Reef was like. It was an upscale condo, plenty of room, with a kitchenette. The bathroom was beautiful too, and had a flat screen TV so you could lay in the tub and watch! Bathroom also had 2 double sinks, and separate shower.
Since we had read tripadvisor before we left, we did bring a suitcase of food. I'm glad we did. The kids ate in in the mornings. We stopped at the City Market on the way in from the airport to pick up eggs, milk, etc.
Another tripadvisor member had recommended Junior with Higgs Limosine Service who was everything wonderful she said about him. Junior's number is 242-525-3661. He knows everything and is very accommodating. We felt very safe letting him drive our kids to some places.
The cost of meals for dinner at most of the Restaurants was absurd! We had been warned so we were prepared. We loved Murray's deli - the food was good, it's a family casual restaurant, and the menu is great. Also Carmine's is reasonable because it is family style. We ordered 3 main dishes and there was too much for the 6 of us. The food was great there too.
Now, our meal and service and cost at the Great Cafe of Waters was horrible! Nothing tasted good, it was ridiculously expensive, and the service was bad. We don't mind paying for great food, but this was plain awful.
We loved Mesa Grill, pricey, but we thought the food was fabulous, and the room was terrific.
Cafe Martinique - gorgeous restaurant and very expensive. We went for my birthday. I think it cost $500 for the 6 of us. The service was outstanding and the food was great.
The food prices really put a damper on the trip. I wish Atlantis would lower their food prices to a normal amount, pricey is fine, but not THAT pricey!
There is a shuttle that runs every 10- 15 minutes from the Reef to any of the other towers. This service was outstanding.
The water park is incredible! Our 4 teenagers stayed there all day, every day. They ordered lunches from the grills there and they were reasonable. My husband and I enjoyed the lazy river ride. I could have stayed on that for days.
The beach is beautiful by the Reef and most workers were very accommodating and helpul. They bring you your chair with an umbrella attached. I sat right at the edge of the water and read my book. It was paradise.
Atlantis says there is a Teen Club for 14 - 17 year olds, which is one of the reasons we chose to go here. We, adults, were not allowed to go upstairs to take a peek at it to see if our kids would like it. Our kids did go one night, stayed 5 minutes, and said it was stupid. There were video games and a movie. They didn't see any DJ. We were disappointed about this. Plus they charge$15 per kid.
There's a movie theater for free, with popcorn, and they show 3 movies throughout the day. It was fun to have there.
We enjoyed the casino a few of the nights, it was fun too.

One thing we greatly resented, was when our kids were doing the dolphin encounter. We paid $560 for the 4 of them to do this. When we went to walk out to the area they were in, we were stopped at the door and told we could not go out to watch unless we paid another $15 per person!!! We were really angry about that. I think it's stupid of the hotel to do this. It just creates bad feelings.

Atlantis is a gorgeous resort. It kind of reminds me of a cruise ship, only on land, and much more magnificent. The Reef and Cove are the 2 nicest towers. They are new. They are also on the quieter side which was nice as well.

Some of the service was really bad. For example, when we went into the gift shop at the Reef (they sell some food too, like milk,and drinks, etc.), there would always be an employee on the phone and they look at you like you are bothering them and/or there will be 3 of them standing together chatting until you finally have to interrupt them to ask for their help. I would fire them in a second! We found some of this type of behavior throughout the resort - perhaps it's just an island attitude.

If anyone would like me to answer any questions I will be happy to do so.

Continue checking their rates before you book. We wound up with a great rate of $330 per night at the Reef, which was reasonable considering it slept 4 and the room was large. Also they have this armband thing that you have to wear to go to the beach or pool.

I don't think you can go wrong here, unless you do not want to spend a great deal on dinners.

Stayed at the Reef for 5 nights in late June with a family group of 10. All had an incredible time, and were lucky with perfect weather and no rain. Property is excellent and thoroughly recommended for all ages. We had toddlers through seniors in our group and the only problem was finding somewhere to eat together. The first thing to do when you arrive is call restaurant reservations and book what you can.

Our accommodation was 2 suites and 2 studios on the top floor of the Reef with a Harbor view. The rooms are incredible and very well equipped, but the maid service was a little haphazard (coffee and face cloths never replaced, no shampoo). Reef suite has a huge balcony (including ashtray for you smokers), and includes an additional inflatable bed if required in addition to the sofa bed, not sure about the studio. We took a suitcase of cereals and snacks as suggested by other reviewers, and had the transfer bus driver stop en route from the airport for adult refreshments.

Beware of the cartoon map provided by the resort because it is deceiving when you are not familiar with Atlantis. Our first night we ate in the Mosaic Grill (at the Cove) because it was close by, and the concierge suggested we to take the shuttle bus from the Reef. On the return leg we later discovered it's only a very short, covered walk back to the Reef – no need for a bus. Aquaventure is only a 10 minute walk from the Reef, again we found this out after taking the Shuttle to Royal Towers and walking from there to Aquaventure on our second day. On busy evenings we sometimes had to wait for 2 shuttle buses but most of the time they were frequent and reliable.

Things to do.
The older kids and adults had a blast at Aquaventure, particularly on The Current, spent 2 days there, but it can get busy with loungers at a premium when Cruise ships are in town. Leap of Faith, Challenger, and Serpent Slide (all at Mayan Temple) are all worth while, but we felt the Power Tower was not worth the wait (30minutes floating in a tube), unless you walk up. The toddlers loved the River Pool and Splashers as well as the Cascades Pool at the Cove/Reef . Don't miss the dig and other sea life exhibits all around the resort. Also thoroughly recommend the deepwater dolphin experience. The Cove/Reef pool is much quieter than the other areas around Royal/Coral Towers and there are plenty of free loungers, even when the other areas were very busy due to cruise visitors. Suggest pool shoes for the kids/adults because the grounds around all the pools are very hot. Never found the time to make it into Nassau, perhaps next time.

Watch out for celebs, my son recognized a couple of big NBA stars and they were both kind enough to let us take photographs.

Food
Mosaic Grill (Cove) - convenient buffet for Reef/Cove and good range of food.
Water's Edge (Coral Tower) – Nice buffet, only place we actually managed to book a table for 10 people before 9pm.
Bimini Grill (Marina Village) - managed to get a walk in for all 10 and had a great meal, best value we found.
Mesa Grill (Cove) - the 5 adults had an incredible meal, while the younger party members enjoyed room service!
Jonny Rockets (Marina Village) - great burgers and great atmosphere.
Note the dress code for some restaurants called for long pants, but we saw many people in shorts in Mosaic and Mesa Grill.

For lunch we ate at the various poolside snack bars which are very convenient and numerous, but beware the Bahama Mama's, they had a tendency to bite!

No point in commenting on the prices you’ve read it all before. Just relax and enjoy the experience and you will have a truly memorable vacation.

We stayed at The Reef about 3 weeks ago for 4 nights. We were a group of 4 families. The property itself was really nice... the Lobby is very upscale. The rooms are clean and very modern... for the most part nice. I had some safety issues with the rooms. The beds are platform beds and have metal holders that keep them in place... which can be dangerous if you have a little one. Also, I did not find the studio w/double beds to be that comfortable for 2 adults, 1 child and a baby... mainly because we had a crib in the room... nowhere to sit. Another problem we encountered that I had read about...was the attitudes of some of the staff.... I was completely surprised when we experienced some of this. For the most part.... we encountered really nice people... especially all of the doormen...but we detected some attitudes with the front desk ppl and management... which was disappointing!

The Casade pools are really nice. I really enjoyed the pool area the best because it was nice, quiet, peaceful... there were no crowds. The brightside of our stay at the Reef.

We booked through a travel agent.... which did not work to our advantage... As we booked back in Jan ... However, Atlantis.com had a sale 2 weeks prior to the start of our stay... so we had friends join us last minute for a fraction of what we paid. Unfortunately it would have cost us too much to cancel and rebook. So instead we asked for an upgrade... which we were told could not be done. Only to find out that one of the families that came with us... who arrived separately was given an upgrade upon asking. Our friends who were received the upgrade to the one bedroom did really like their accomodations as ... the one bedroom provides the comforts of home.

The biggest problem we had ... seemed to be with the Management. We prepaid for our trip.... and did not know that we had to do an amenity hold for $2000... fine no problem; but, one of the couples that came with us did not have that available on their credit card.... they didn't offer many good options ... so we ended up covering their amenity hold as well. It took 2 calls and 3 emails to get the manager to actually do something about releasing the hold on our credit card. We were back for over one week before they finally released the $4000! I wrote and spoke to the Manager ... who in my opinion was less concerned and extremely uncaring. I explained to him we had another trip coming up and needed to use our card. To this day... he has yet to apologize or acknowledge that they made such an error. This really bothers me ... as I'm in the Hospitality Industry and I expect Management to be a good example of what you'd like your property to portray.

Atlantis itself offers a lot for families.... the waterpark is really great... truly enjoyable... you cannot go wrong with the activities.
I don't know if I would recommend The Reef right now... as my ex-husband went the week after and also encountered some problems... .so I think they still have some kinks to work out. I would definitely say check out the Harborside Condos (not sure of the name)... we did a tour of those and they seem to be really nice... it's like renting a condo... so no attitude.

This trip was for the kids and the kids enjoyed themselves... but the parents did not. I can't say it was really worth the money.

We actually just got back from Puerto Vallarta and enjoyed the service & resort there 100 times more.

The Reef was perfect for us. We were treated wonderfully all over the property, but spoiled at the reef. Our trip started out with an “issue” of a broken window in our Jr. Suite. 20 minutes after our arrival and 2 minutes after the Rum had hit the Coke for our long awaited (and well deserved!) refreshment there was a craaaash. A sliding window between the bathroom and the bedroom shattered when my 8 year old daughter closed it. I wasn’t there, so I’m not sure how hard she closed it, but I do know that there were no rubber stoppers, etc, just glass on glass in our room. She had some minor cuts. We called the front desk and said we needed help as there was glass everywhere. After 20 minutes no one had arrived. My husband called again and got the same answer “Someone will be right there”. We were a bit “stressed” after our long day of travel, so when another 20 minutes went by my husband decided it was time to head down to find some help. Just after he left, 3 maintenance guys arrived and this began the parade of wonderful, caring, nice, fantastic people! My kids were both very upset, as were we about breaking something in a room. The maintenance guys immediately said “It’s vacation! Accidents happen, don’t worry...”. Security arrived, another security person arrived, the hotel manager arrived and then one of the front desk ladies (Zeldarine) returned with my husband. Each person did their best to put us at ease, calm us down and make us feel welcome. They moved us to another room and even upgraded us to a one bedroom suite! Zeldarine teased my daughter that it was because all of the doors were wooden, not glass. She was truly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I can’t say enough about how helpful she was in getting our vacation back on track and she is a shining memory that we have taken from our vacation. Sean, the hotel manager called every day for 3 days to check on our daughter and to make sure we were all enjoying ourselves. So our rough start was quickly over and our fantastic vacation began.

The whole property is beautiful. The water slides were a big hit with all the kids and even the adults (We were just one of 3 families traveling together). We spent many hours each day riding The Current in our tubes, everyone loved the waves and rapids. The kids did the Power Tower, Leap of Faith, Abyss, etc. all day long. The Leap of Faith is a blast, you drop and then slide through a tube through the shark tank. Very fun. We also did the jet skis twice (bargain with the guys and you will probably get the price down) and a bit of snorkeling offshore. The snorkeling was not the best, but fun for the kids as it is better than home. The beach was good, but it was nicer the farther away from the hotel you got with clearer water and less people along the Reef Beach.

Yes the food is expensive (think 3 Haagen Das ice cream bars poolside for $21!)! But after reading the boards we were prepared and not surprised. The food poolside is OK. Chicken sandwiches or hamburgers, fries, etc. On the 2nd to last day we did find a healthier option near the Cove pool... you will see it opposite the hamburger station, it’s the one with no lines! However, it had chicken or vegie wraps, salads, and fruit and vegie offerings. Starbucks in the Reef lobby is also a good option with sandwiches. Lines get long in the morning around 9:30, but were very small most of the rest of the day. They also offered some fresh fruit.

We ate at Mesa Grill twice and had fantastic meals the both times. We did an adult dinner for 6 one evening and had fantastic food and service. Then my husband and I had a cozy dinner for two with good, albiet slow service, but more excellent food - try the Black Bean Quesadillas and Pork Tenderloin or the Fillet!

For the most of the nights it was easier to just eat in our room as we stayed so late at the pools. We had a full kitchen that made cooking easy. We had hoped that the shop we had heard about that was in the lobby of the Reef would work for a few staples, but it really does not have enough to get by. Only things like milk, bread, bagels, cream cheese or chips, etc. All at extremely, unbelievable prices ($10 for a small bag of Tostitos!). Head to the grocery store and it will be worth the drive. We had a couple of dinners out on our balcony at sunset watching the cruise ships depart for other port. We found this easier than fighting the crowds in the Marina Village or the rest of the resort. Our last night we ate at Bimini Road in the Village. Very long lines, but a fun atmosphere and good food (Mahi Mahi was wonderful!).

The only complaint we had was the timeliness of some of our requests. It seemed if you made a call for something (like extra towels...) it was a long time if ever responded to. I agree with other posters that it is just “Bahama Time” (Something I slipped into myself just about the time we headed home...). However, if you asked someone face to face, every request was met with a smile and it seemed they would do anything to please you.

We took away some beautiful memories from this vacation. The Bahamian people are truly wonderful. I don’t think I’ve ever met so many honestly nice people in any other destination!