It was our first trip to the Bahamas and our travel agent recommended the Royal Islander. I took my hole family, ten people. What a mistake we made listening to her. It was a total night mare. No running water in our dressing area sink. they said they would fix it as soon as we left. Thank you very much.
The staff acted like they wished we weren't there and they treated us so. They refused to fix any problems and wouldn't help with any shuttle or taxi scheduling. When we were having trouble with an excursion shuttle they wouldn't even make a phone call to see were the shuttle was so they wouldn't forget us. Well when after seven requests they finally decided to make the call 20 minutes before the excursion was set to sail they told us if we hurried and caught a taxi we might be able to get to the ship in time. and that was a prepaid excursion. the good news is I paid for it with a master card so i will get my money back.
We had many other things that a friendly staff could have helped alleviate but since the staff din't really care It was a night mare. When i told them that I was totally disgusted their response was that they didn't need us. This is their home. Whatever that means.

Take a word of caution and if you do decide to go to the Bahamas, stay away from the Royal Isander.
Terrible isn't even close to how bad they are.

We stayed at the Royal Islander as part of a Discovery Cruise package, which somebody else put together for us and when we heard our hotel was not on the beach we tried to change it on arrival at the Discovery Office at the port, but they were not interested. By the end of our little stay (3 nights), I was able to appreciate our hotel as being much better than anything else we had seen, as far as inland hotels were concerned. It looked nice from outside and was quite pleasant once inside with the lobby looking over the swimming pool and Hot-tub area with lots of greenery and trees. There was a little restaurant attached to it which was handy the first evening, because after walking around and finding nowhere suitable to eat, we returned to the hotel to eat and was pleasantly surprised. The rooms are acceptable for a short stay and clean although the bathroom/shower area was a little dated Unfortunately there is an adjacent Nightclub which you are more than aware of until very late. You do have to take taxis everywhere, or catch the local bus from outside the hotel and for $1 it takes you to the main town. There was a shuttle bus to a beach which was OK but the best place to go was Tranquillity Shores, a taxi ride of $16, which we went to kill time prior to our return cruise. Well worth it. The hotel was fine for the short stay, but next time I'm on the beach!

My bf and I went for New Year's eve last year. The hotel room was nice, but I found the concierge to be quite pushy in regards to making reservations for tours, etc. There was also a $35/ person hotel tax that we were unaware of, which took away from our alcohol funds!! The staff was generally helpful, although it took forever to get extra towels. The only other complaint I have is that its in the middle of no-where! The bazaar is across the street, but its definitely not everything the brochures make it out to be. There is a great little restaurant that we went to in Freeport, not far from the hotel (we walked to it) that had really amazing food. Other than that, you have to take a taxi EVERYWHERE!!! The taxi service is shotty at best... usually you have ride with 7-8 people to get a decent fare ($5/person). I suggest you take the bus which is $1/person to pretty much anyplace. Plan for the extra cash to get around. Hope this helps someone out! Wish I had known then what I know now. Oh! and the pool is NOT heated!!!!! the jazucci is nice though.

My wife and I visited the Royal Islander in late July. The hotel was generally clean and convenient; the people friendly. However, the open-air bar across the street was so noisy it actually vibrated the walls to the beat of the music. We did not sleep well during the course of our 3 night stay. The management is aware of this problem but "can't do anything about it." We loved the island and will likely return someday but we would not stay at the Royal Islander again as long as that bar across the street remains in business!