What a wonderful experience. Soft pink sand, white stucco buildings with warm interiors. We went with our then 2-year old and they treated us like royalty. The food was amazing. We ordered tantalizing dishes, but the best was my daughter’s mac and cheese. Seriously!!!! It was out of this world. Lucky girl, I tried to sneak as many bites as possible, but she soon caught on. We were sad to leave and without question will visit this island and it's heart warming people again.

I just returned from a week at the Coral Sands Hotel, Eleuthera and I have to say that I returned somewhat disappointed.

I have been to the island maybe 15 times now but this is the first time I stayed on Harbor Island. The Island and the people are beautiful and everything you could want for a great vacation. I could be happy living there it is so nice. A golf cart is used to get anywhere you want to go and there are several restruants and bars that are terrific. The most notable for us was The Rock House where the drinks are fabulous and generous and the food sublime. The Grouper was trhe best I have had anywhere.

We stayed at the Coral Sands Hotel and this is where the disappointment came into play. The Hotel sits on a small ridge overlooking the pink sand beach which is beautiful and just a delight to be on. The sand is firm and easy to walk on and, when the lighting is right, pinkish. The hotel grounds are very nice and it really has everything going for it with the exception of the attitude of the staff. I dont mean to say that anyone was rude or out of place but they just seemed to lack the desire to make your stay memorable. It is interesting to note that many of the staff have other jobs in the resturants in town and when encountered in those locations they were wonderfully helpful so I have to conclude that what we experienced was a product of a lack of focus by managment.

Our room was very nice, quite and comfortable. The bed was oversized and the thread count high. The bath was nicely done but the shower was cold and the water had a strong urine like smell to it that never went away. When we complained someone always came but we had to call every day we were there and the smell never got better.

The food at the hotel was lacking but the selection varied. I had the grouper over grits the first night and while the flavor was very nice it was served cold and the fish was too dry. The conch fritters were over cooked and hard.

If you want a great lunch, walk south on the beach 100 yards and eat at Sip Sip. Its an outdoors, lunch only, place that has a terrific rum punch and the lobster quesadeiia is about as good as it gets. The conch chili is unique and has a real kick to it. The homemade hummis is very, very good!

All in all, it was a nice trip on a terrific Island with great people. It had all the makings to be great with the exceptions noted above. Your experience will probably be different as they always seem to be. I wouldnt hesitate to go back to Eleuthera but I dont think I will stay at the Coral Sands again. I understand that they have now purchased the Pink Sands Hotel next door so they pretty much have a lock on the hotels along the beach. I think that's unfortunate. Without competition I dont see that anything will change.

We wanted a nice long beach weekend. The beach at the Coral Sands was one of the best we've seen and we have been to some fine resorts in the Caribbean. They should have staff serving drinks on the beach and by pool.
The Coral Sands hotel lacked good service. The staff seemed to have the attitude of not caring about guests. We never saw anyone in charge.
My husband found a long hair in his food the first night we ate in the dining room.
We ate alot of meals at the Pink Sands hotel next door and were amazed at level of sevice. All staff were friendly, polite and quick to bring food. They all went out of their way to make you feel welcome. We never felt that at the Coral Sands.
On our 3rd day there, no one ever cleaned our room. While we were at dinner, they gave us clean towels but left dirty ones on floor.
We will return to the island but never stay at Coral Sands again.

While the pink sand beach upon which the Coral Sands Hotel sits is indeed magnificient, the hotel leaves much to be desired. Service is perfunctory at best, nobody goes the extra mile, and you pay through the nose for EVERYTHING! A cup of ice at the beach bar, milk for the baby's bottle, coffee refills...and then they tack on a 15% service charge, so there is no impetus for the staff to do more than the bare minimum. In addition, there is another service charge - 10% of your room bill - added on at the end of your stay. For service that fluctuates between rude and disinterested, this is an insult.

The common spaces are well done, but the rooms themselves are personality-free, done in generic chain hotel style. Details are ignored - grass needs mowing, lounge sofa cushions are falling apart, half the lights on the tennis court are out, the pool is greenish, the beach attendent is constantly M.I.A., it takes three conversations with three different (and uninterested) parties to get a dinner reservation, the restaurant manager was almost comically officious and rude etc. etc. In the end, our suite at the Coral Sands - for three adults and an infant - came in at $822 a night before taxes and add-ons. Factor in the extortionate government room and resort taxes and you're in for some end-of-stay sticker shock. Definitely not worth it. On Harbor Island, it's all about the beach, which is three miles long - do yourself a favor and find somewhere else besides the Coral Sands Hotel to stay.