My husband and I stayed at the Coral Towers at Atlantis April 24-28th. Originally, we were set to stay 3 nights at the Paradise Island Harbour Resort and the last at Atlantis, but were frightened by the negative reviews about Paradise Harbour and opted to stay at Atlantis the whole time. The resort's grounds are breathtaking...the marine life is spectacular. Be aware, though, that all activities other then simply swimming in the pools cost extra (using kayaks, climbing the rock wall, using snorkeling gear, going to a comedy show, etc).

Check-in went well, and the front-desk staff was very friendly. Upon exiting the elevator on the 7th floor, we were met with an odd, musty odor. Furthermore, when we got to our room, we were kind of disappointed. For the price you pay, the room itself reminded me of one at a nicer Holiday Inn. The balcony had a nice view, but the sliding glass door was off its track and only opened up about 2 feet. (If you are trying to pinch pennies, you can stay at the Comfort Inn which is right next to Atlantis, where you get full use of Atlantis' activities at about 1/2 the price; we knew this but expected a bit more from the room at Coral Towers).

Food is EXTREMELY expensive. We read other reviews before we went, and were fully expecting to pay prices similar to our honeymoon on Maui, where a hamburger was $15. We ate lunch at Dune (at the Ocean Club) and paid $26.50 for a hamburger (plus a mandatory 15% gratuity). Also, everything has the gratuity tacked on; even if you go up to a bar and order it yourself. My husband and I went for a quick meal at one of the poolside grills and got 2 chili dogs, 1 order of fries, and 2 sodas and paid $36 with the gratuity. We also spend $196 at the Great Hall of Waters restaurant on 2 entrees, 2 salads, and 2 sodas. The food was very good (I wouldn't say excellent), but the service there was terrible. I am a waitress and am usually sympathetic to my fellow waitstaff, but we saw our server 3 times: once to drop off our salads and entrees, and once to drop off the bill. (someone else brought our drinks, and no one checked back to refill them.) I realize we were on an island where everything is shipped to and naturally costs more, but the prices seemed absurd.

Some tips:
if you are going to Nassau, take the ferry. It costs $3 per person each way. A cab cost $14 ($17 with a tip) each way. Be careful, though, because the ferries stop running around 6 pm.

Eat at Carmine's early in your trip. Everything is served family style in huge portions, and you can keep the leftovers in your hotel refrigerator. Our $44 spaghetti bolognese fed both of us for 2 meals, and there was more left over.

Anthony's (not affiliated with the resort) is located across the street, and is reasonable for breakfast (we didn't eat there for any other meals). The food was good, and the service was great.

The famous Friday night fish fry at Nassau was not what I expected; it is a row of restaurants (as opposed to individual vendors).

If you heavy drinkers, there are several liquor stores across from Atlantis. A bottle of Absolut was $120 delivered to your room from the resort, but you could buy it for $14 at the store across the street. Plus, they have sodas that don't cost $5.

Recently returned from a 6 day stay at the Atlantis, Paradise Island and stayed in the Coral Tower with my wife and daughter. I'll start with the Good: weather was terrific; pools and grounds were tremendous, which include an enourmous "lazy" river that contains "rapids" and is attached to water slides, many choices of pools, as well as large water park type play area for children and all are staffed by lifeguards; beach is nice with wave runners available to rent. Our Oceanview room in the Coral Tower was clean and adequate, however, nothing great. In addition to the above, there is really no reason to leave the Atlantis property as everything that one would need is available there, however, at a cost. Activities include rock climbing wall, and swimming with dolphins. Finally, entire facility seemed clean and all employees seemed to be nice, obviously if treated in kind. Of note, the Coral Towers are connected to the Royal Tower as well as the Beach Tower. Very nicely located as the grounds are very spacious.
The BAD: the cost of "food". Paying for gourmet but not getting gourment. Finally: FERGIE - excellent! - higlight of the trip.

My husband and I went to Atlantis for our 1 year anniversary.

Here is the good and bad of it.
Good- They upgraded us right away from the Beach Towers to the Coral Towers (a little nicer but at the cheaper price). We got to our room, which was nice and charming. Nothing to exciting. And since we were on LA time (3 hours behind) we were starving. We ordered room service which was AMAZING. Best french fries I think I have ever had. Food was delicious, presented very well.
When I woke up in the morning and went outside, I got a great surprise. There were black sharks directly next to our outside balcony in a very thin lagoon. Crazy that no signs were posted! And they were so tame and calm. My husband actually touched one and it just chilled. There were actually 5 sharks huddled together! And a beautiful side view of the ocean. Very nice. Pools were every where and beautiful. Beach was empty and stunning. The entire location is sooo romantic and gorgeous to look at and walk around. We really loved it. We never got bored, always something fun to look at and walk to. The water slides were fun and all the wildlife was lovely. We didn't gamble but walked through the casino. It was perfect for gambling if you want to do that. We went to the nightclub which was OK. Well designed, fun music. A little bit of an uncomfortable crowd, but that is what it is like when you travel sometimes.

BAD- The housekeeping people were EXTREMELY loud. And since we were 3 hours behind, it was 4am for us (7 am their time) when we started to hear them yelling/talking in the hallways for the next 3 hours. It was incredibly annoying. I complained to the management and there was no change. For the first 3 days of our trip I was awoken by this and it was pretty awful. (The next 2 days we stayed at the Cove- review on that under the Cove)
All the food at Atlantis is INCREDIBLY expensive. We didn't do the food plan (knowing that we eat less than most people/ and enjoy very high quality food). But we were amazed how expensive it was (And I eat in Beverly Hills all the time/so I am used to expensive food). The bathroom is a bit small (but fine for the price). No other complaints!!!!!!!

Stayed at the Atlantis Resort week of April 14, family of 5 (kids 9-7-4). Overall we had a great time, but as many reviewers have posted, the food is insanely expensive. We knew this going in, so we planned accordingly. So some tips:

1) Pack water or other beverages in your checked luggage. For us, we packed a 12pk of Mt Dew, four 10 pks of juice boxes, 12 20oz waters, and 16 8oz waters. We distributed these among our checked luggage to keep the weights down below 50 lbs for each pc of checked luggage.

2) Pack snacks and other dry food goods in your carry-ons. We packed things like Teddy Grahams, PopTarts, Dole Fruit Cups, NutriGrain bars, etc. Enough for the stay, and in case the kids got the munchies at the airport or at the pools. By doing this we simply ate breakfast in the room, and since the kid's snacked during the day at the pool.. no one got hungry for lunch. Our food bill for 6 days/nights, family of 5 at the resort was less than $700.

3) Pack a collapsable cooler. Fill with ice each morning and take your beverages with you to the pools. No one asked any questions, and didn't seem to mind.

4) Bring beach toys from home if you can. You'll pay a premium at the resort for something you can get at Walmart.

5) Do eat at Bimini Road. Best food we had for the price. Other economical food choices are the pizzaria and Johnny Rockets. We did eat at the Great Hall Cafe... not worth the money. There is also Anthony's Grill (not associated with Atlanthis) which is located just outside the resort near the entrance. Good food and decent prices.. There's also a Quizno's right next door. Over the bridge there's an Outback and Domino's.

We did do the timeshare presentation for Harborside Villas. Only because they gave us $125, tee's for the kids, and a 6X8 Atlantis photo frame. Had to give up 3 hours of our time though. Do it in the morning if you are so compelled, the resort pools and rides don't open until 11AM and close at 6pm. Beaches are open all evening as they are considered public, just be aware there are no lifeguards or beach attendants on duty after 6pm.

Would we go back... probably... but not for another 3-4 years. Atlantis is in a 7-phase development project, and have only completed thru Phase 3.