This is a wonderful little property, and has been under new management, with new owners since last year. We just recently returned from a 7 night stay, and I must say that since the only real 'negatives' on tripadvisor specifically refer to the previous owner and what sound like crazy, rude antics by "someone named Lionel" who is NO LONGER there; it really is unfair to judge the property based on those older, out-dated reviews --- they simply just no longer apply to this wonderful place. In addition to new (sane) professional management, Romora Bay Club has been recently updated, with fresh coats of paint inside and out, making an array of hillside buildings and cottages that is a colorful feast for the eyes --- and exactly what one would hope to see in the Bahamas. Bright blue, yellow, and even a pink and purple building, terrace the hillside along with the colorful flowering plants, tall palm trees, and lush verdant foliage. The gardeners and landscapers work hard to keep this place looking beautiful. It is very lush-- and set on a gentle slope down to the dock. There are stairs, concrete pathways, and paths to maneuver --- a consideration for elderly, or disabled patrons, perhaps. For us, it was an easy walk up and down, and fun little pathways, etc. Pretty lighting at night gives Romora Bay club a romantic and festive overall feeling, with tiny white lights on the trees, and railings, etc... Our experience was truly wonderful, with an amazing staff, great room (clean with bright white floor tiles, a fresh coat of white paint, and expensive, cozy, tasteful, and luxurious linens and best of all a pillow top bed -- this was the true "heavenly bed".) Our room was equipped with a good strong A/C and also a nice ceiling fan, which was great, as we used mostly JUST the ceiling fan, and this is quieter and more pleasant. We had cable tv -- with all the major U.S. channels (plus BBC, etc), a very cool small CD player, with speakers, a nice daybed/sofa for lounging and a charming wood and leather chair, in the room. Beautiful concrete style front porch with 2 small chairs, a table, and a comfy wooden lounger. Great water pressure in the walk-in style shower, -- nice hot showers! The room was always sparkling clean! There are 20 some rooms total, with our favorites the 9 rooms in a small cluster of buildings towards the front of the property -- 3 rooms to a building. We did not see the larger, condo style rooms towards the back of the property. One note: These rooms are NOT soundproof -- thin walls it seemed -- however, with the CD player, ceiling fan, or AC running, this wasn't really an issue. We found we just LOVED the harbor side of Harbour Island --- more so than the beach side, truly, as it has a more 'charming' and 'quaint' waterside view -- one can always "go" to the beach, anytime, but being on the harbor side really added to our vacation. THIS is the side of the island for the amazing nightly sunsets, and Romora Bay has a wonderful new waterside bar & restaurant, right down by the water. We spent many evenings in this casual and open air bar & restaurant, with a less expensive and lighter fare menu than the fine dining (outdoor patio) restaurant, and elegant dark wood bar in the main lobby. The small infinity edge pool is cozy -- with luxurious wooden loungers and soft full chair pads (18 of these striped in blue and lime green -- around the pool). As we were there off season, this was never crowded. There are many little 'nooks and crannies' where pink painted palm tree "adirondack" style chairs have been placed, and all rooms had a small porch or patio with furniture -- so, it would seem that even in the busier season, there are plenty of private spaces to relax with a book, or get some sun. We liked that there was shade as well --- a gazebo, a few palm thatched tiki covers, and 5 pretty & bright pink Cabanas, that face the dock. These have been placed on a very small concrete terrace to which sand has been added. This is quite small -- but, we found this soooo charming, and relaxing to sit and feel the sand between your toes, even when not on the beach side of the island. Plus, with the cabana, you had both privacy, and shade. The pool was perfectly adequate for our needs, nicely heated, and had a small 2 foot deep area for children, though be aware that this pool is not 'big' or splashy as far as luxury pools go -- by any means. I would imagine if you are the type looking for a "swim up bar" and a 10 acre pool complex in which you can play volleyball and cavort, you would not be considering sleepy and quiet Harbour Island anyway~! Romora Bay is an older property, and as such, has a few very minor character flaws, but, these only add to the character and charm of this place. For example, a couple of spots of concrete around the pool are chipped/faded, some of the light pink painted decking is peeling (just a bit -- not as much as in some previous photos I had seen) and some of the pathways around the property are a tiny bit rough -- things like this.. or a few cracked tiles in the shower --- but, this is NOT significant. Still, it is not fully polished and doesn't have the sheen of a 'brand-new' property. If you like charm and TRUE character more than 100% spit and polish -- you will LOVE Romora Bay Club. The people of Harbour Island are amazing, with a welcoming, festive spirit -- and the staff at Romora Bay reflects this! We were treated like old friends, from the first day and were very impressed with the professional and friendly staff and management! Just a couple of tips on travel to Harbour Island: 1. Like many places in the Bahamas or Caribbean, there can be occasional island wide power outs -- Our cottage DID have a generator -- but, the managers need to manually turn it on -- so there may be a short time lag -- where it might be pitch dark for a few (10-15 minutes or so) so, a good idea to bring a flashlight. 2. The Pink Sand beach is AMAZING -- stunning -- though be aware that here are not a lot of "beach services" -- so when going to the beach -- you have to plan to bring what it is you need. You can lunch or get drinks at one of the high end resorts (Pink, Coral Sands, Or a place we liked best was Sip Sip -- they had nice stairs down to the beach, cart parking, and there was a bit of shade near the hillside). There was not much else right there though, so bring your own towel, drinks, etc.. We didn't spend much time ON the beach because of this -- no shade or cabanas unless you are a guest at a resort that has their own. A few entrepreneurs had some older plastic chairs to rent, but, we didn't see any umbrellas... 3. Be sure to visit the local restaurants in addition to the big, expensive ones at the resorts -- we liked Angela's Starfish, Avery's, and Ma Ruby's. 4. We felt that we did indeed need a golf cart rental for the duration of our stay -- we're in our early 40's and can walk a good distance, but, the town itself is fairly spread out, and though a few places are technically walking distance -- it's a looong walk. When it's very hot, or at night, you'll be glad you have your cart. We would have felt very isolated without it. About $50 a day, with one day free if you get a 7 day rental. This was brought right to the resort, and when we checked out just left the keys at the desk -- easy! You probably will want to factor this in to costs though, as it didn't seem all that feasible to haul things to the beach, or go into town twice a day, walking. 4. Costs are expensive for food on the island. Romora Bay dinners were about $30-40 for an entree -- sounds steep, though in line, or less than other places like Rock House or the Landing. The local establishments are much, much less -- simple fare, and modest local places, that we liked a lot. The food everywhere on the island was excellent -- fresh conch salad, grouper, etc... Romora Bay does have somewhat less expensive options at the "Sunsets on the dock" waterside restaurant, like $8 for (large sized, grilled) hotdog with fries, $15 cheeseburger, or a caesar salad with grilled chicken or salmon for $16. Margaritas and tropical drinks were $8, a Kalik beer $5. Food, & Drinks were absolutely delicious both at Romora Bay and elswhere. 5. The bath linens and towels are luxurious and nice fluffy clean white, however, the swim towels, were just average small swim towels -- check these out at the desk. You might want to bring a large beach towel of your own to take to the beach, as the ones provided by RBC were small pool swim towels, not large beach towels. Overall, do your research on Harbour Island and Eleuthera, and if you decide that a very small, quiet island is what you are looking for, then Romora Bay Club is probably the best kept secret, and best deal, on the island!! Thanks to all the staff who made our stay great -- Kendra, Michele, Jonathin, Sandra, Juanita, Matthew and everyone else!! And, YES, this is the kind of place where you will get to know almost everyone by name! (As well as Rosie and Goldie -- the 35, and 55 year old parrots -- who we are happy to hear are being included in upcoming renovations, and will be getting their own new, large spacious digs!










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