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!!!!!!!!

After traveling all over the world, I must say The Reef, Atlantis was one of the best places we visited. We had some problems with the Airlines and ended up getting to Atlantis at Midnight our first night, but we extended our stay 1 day and everything was fine.

We arrived late in the evening checking into a 2 bedroom Ocean Suite. We had 4 children which hadn't eaten in hours; so room service was nice. Yes it was expensive, but if you're going to book suite that cost $1500 / Night then the food should not be a concern.

The first morning was spent shopping as the airline lost our luggage for 2 days. We had to spend $800 to equip our party of 8 with swimsuits, shirts, sunscreen and all the other stuff you need day to day.

We had 4 children with us so the guys and the kids spent the afternoon at the exclusive Cascades Pool and beach. Our wives went to the grocery store across the bridge and bought food for a week. We had a full kitchen and it was nice once we visited the grocery store because we could have breakfast and lunch in the room. We spent $250 at the store and it saved us at least 7 or 8 hundred dollars.

Attractions: Awesome. I especially liked The Current (Lazy River) and the Power Tower. The entrance to The Current is close to the Cove being on the other side of the Baths pool. With many places to jump off you can visit many of the other pools and rides without walking great distances. Every employee we met treated us with a high level of service. We lost some Jewelry on the Mayan Temple (Leap of Faith) slide and they shut the ride down and dove to find our Jewelry.

Warning: Be warned that this slide is extreme and you better have a good hold on your items. I had the jewelry in my pocket; tied around a string attached to my suit and still lost it. The 50 foot drop through the shark talk was worth it!

The dig was great, the kids loved it! I could write a lot about all the great things to see at Atlantis but I don't want to ruin it completely :)

The Food: The food was good, we had nothing bad. Dune: Eat the Lobster or the Salmon (great atmosphere). Nobu: Lychee Martini and the Chef's Choice Omakase (My mouth is still watering for the Toro Sashimi, the best tuna I've had in my life). We also ate at the Mesa, Marketplace and Johnny Rockets. The Marketplace had a Large selection of choices and everyone in our party was satisfied. We went to the Hard Rock one night and the place was deserted. We had Very slow service but this was no fault of Atlantis. If you like Wine like I do then you should visit the store in close to the harbor that has Spirits at a very affordable price. Seaglass was fun for a late night smoke and Corona, but watch out for those $100 minimum tables when you have had a few drinks.

Overall: We have stayed at the Ritz and the service you will receive at "The Reef" is comparable if not better. Every need was addressed promptly. We didn't have any tooth past or brushes and they sent up complimentary items. The Bell staff checked on our luggage with the airlines and arranged delivery before we even we knew it. We decided to stay an additional night which ended up giving us 36 extra hours and the staff was very accommodating. A few reviewers have written that they didn't think the service was that great, but when our washer/Dryer didn't work it was replaced promptly and our every need was addressed quickly. We stayed at the Grand Wailea (Hawaii) in February and I got in a fight with the front desk about a room voucher and because of which we will not be staying at the Grand Wailea again.

The Bad: The other side of the resort.... People, People and more people (Did I say lots of people). When we went to the Beach Towers, Coral Towers, Imperial Towers and the casino, we experienced huge crowds. I'm sure the rooms are nice but we really enjoyed the exclusive side where the rest of the guests were not allowed to go. You can tell that the other side of the resort is not as well maintained. You will find maintenance guys in wetsuits cleaning the fountains close to the cove where as over on the other side you will see fountains that are not cleaned daily. So if you're ready to pay 20K+ (party of 8) for a week of paradise then "The Reef" is the place to go.

Just returned from four nights and five days. The rooms at the Reef were incredible as were the views. the service, for the most part, was impeccable. the waterpark was packed but we went early so were able to enjoy. the reef has a private pool so there was never an issue getting seats by the pool.

Couple things to watch out for:
I booked through the 800# and specifically asked if we could have a room with 2 double beds. I was told that no such room existed. Well it turns out that it does exist. If you don't mind sharing a room with up to 4 people, you'll save yourself a heck of a lot of money.

We had requested early checkin which we didn't need since our flight was delayed BUT when we arrived at 5 (checkin is at 3), the rooms were still not ready. Worse yet, the gave me a hard time when i requested a late checkout of an hour.

The water was ALWAYS luke warm. did not have a hot shower once during our stay.

Conceirge was totally useless. the free guides we recieved in the airport were more helpful

Food and drinks are overpriced. there are a few City Markets nearby. We actually found a small store in Nassau by the ferry (it was near the Hard Rock). stocked up on water, beer and chips. you can walk around with an open-container so buy your alcohol cheap!

we had an awesome time and i would definitly go back--with a suitcase full of food ;)

We just returned from the Reef at the Atlantis and had a great time. The Reef and the Cove are set apart a bit from the main building (The Royal Towers), but if you're looking for a calmer, quieter, more upscale experience, this is the way to go. The properties are less than a year old, and very well appointed, from the common areas to the guest rooms. The standard guest room was plenty big enough for the three of us. There was a king bed and a full sleeper, divided by a little quarter wall. The rooms at the Reef also have kitchenettes - a small refrigerator and stove top. We did see people carrying in groceries, although as far as I know, you have to go off property to get them.

Between the two buildings are three very nice swimming pools - one for adults only, and the other two for all guests. The one in the middle is the best for kids, with beach entry, and a large area of shallow water. They have a schedule of activities by the pools for the kids - such as arts and crafts, swim games, etc. These two buildings are also right on the beach, which is a nice added benefit. The lounge chairs on the beach and at the pool are nicer than the ones at the main towers.

Of course, you have full access to all of the amenities of the entire resort. There are shuttle buses that run in between all the buildings - they did not always run very frequently, but they were good enough (just leave yourself some extra time if you are trying to make a dinner reservation at the main building).

As plenty of other people have noted, the food prices are outrageous. The hotel now has a meal plan and it is DEFINITELY worth it. We traveled with our 5-1/2 year old daughter, and she ate for free. The gourmet meal plan (the middle level) gives you a choice of about 12 restaurants out of the 23 or so on the property. The Mosaic restaurant in the Cove is a very nice buffet, where we ate breakfast daily. Dinner there was also nice. Do make your dinner reservations before you arrive, though, as we had trouble getting reservations at a couple of restaurants we wanted. We did eat at the Bahamian Club - steakhouse, LOTS of food - and the Cafe at the Great Hall of Waters (surrounded by the fish tanks). Both were good. A couple of notes on the meal plan - lunch is not included and gratuities are not included. When you eat at a restaurant, you sign the room charge as if you're paying the entire bill, and then they adjust it for the meal plan on your final hotel bill when you check out. NOTE: Check your final hotel bill very carefully - my entire bill was wrong, because they included meal charges for our daughter, when the meal plan clearly stated that under 6 were free. They were very gracious, however, about fixing the bill promptly. Note also that prices for things vary across the resort. We found good prices in the very nice Starbucks in the lobby of the Reef. Also, the sundries store in the lobby of the Reef had reasonable prices on large bottles of water.

A couple of other things to note:

We did the shallow water dolphin encounter at Dolphin Cay right on the property (it is actually located within close walking distance to the Reef and the Cove). It was a great experience, although very expensive. They do offer slightly better prices on-line, and weren't willing to discount at all when we bought our tickets upon arrival. The shallow water encounter was just fine for our 5-1/2 year old - she's on the small side, and the water still just went up to about her waist. Everyone has to wear a wet suit (which they provide) - although not entirely sure why. The dolphin swims right up to you and you can touch it, etc. They have a photographer in the water taking tons of pictures, which of course you can buy at the end of the program. After you have your encounter, you're welcome to hang out on the little private beach there and watch the dolphins swim and play for as long as you like that day (doesn't extend to any future days).

We had one morning of rain, but found plenty to do with our little one. They have a "build a bear" workshop in the Beach Tower, which occupied about 30 minutes. They also have a movie theater, where they were playing family movies like Alvin & The Chipmunks.

A few final notes on the water attractions for those with little kids. The little water playground by the Royal Towers is great for the little ones - lots of little slides, things to climb on, water sprinkling down, shooting up, etc. The lazy river ride is also great fun, and my daughter loved it. It does have some small "rapids," although my usually pretty timid daughter didn't mind it. You go around in an inner tube. With a small child, it's easiest to take out a double tube, and either hold your child on your lap, or if he or she is big enough, let them sit in front of you. Life jackets were available.

All of the other slides are large, and in my judgment, not appropriate for small children. If your big kids (or you) want to do the big slides, one note on the Power Tower. It has a couple of tube slides and a couple of body slides. When we were there (not sure if it's always like this), you could only access the tube slides via the lazy river. So you had to go around the lazy river (about 25 minutes), and then veer off to a current that takes you to the Power Tower, where you go up the tower in your tube on a conveyer belt, followed by the 45 second ride on the slide. While it was a good slide, in my opinion, it wasn't worth the 40 or so minutes that it took to get there - I would've preferred to walk up a bunch of stairs.

Overall, we had a great vacation - there's something for everyone there.