This hotel is my husband and I's ultimate place. Tons of things to do, good food, water park and pretty scenery. The employees on the other hand kind of shocked me. The could care less if they gave good customer service. This was the case at the check in points, the guys operating the water slides, at the restaurants, at the gift shops ETC! Of course there was also an exception to the rule person and my husband and I would look at each other in shock when someone would smile and be friendly.
I would also like to say that we are usually overly friendly. I despise rude Americans. I am not sure what the Bahamian's problems are.
We tried several different restaurant while we were there. Seafire Steakhouse in the marina (the waitstaff was good, hostess not so much). We had the crab and lobster cake for the appetizer - amazing. We split the caesar salad (it's way big enough). I ordered the pork chop with Bearnaise and crab and Chris ordered the surf and turf. Surf and turf here is short ribs and 6 oz lobster tail for $62 (no sides included. shesh!). We split the sides which was mashed potatoes (I was against this since we live in Oklahoma and I was right - nothing special) and cheesy cauliflower. The cauliflower is amazing! They broil it and then inside is all this fall apart cheesy goodness. Oh wow.
The other fine dinning restaurant we tried was Mesa Grill. This is at The Cove - the most exclusive tower on site at the Atlantis. We pulled up in a cab and I asked the bell hop where Mesa Grill was. His response was "Down there to the left". No smile, nothing. Really? This is people's first impression of The Cove which is usually $1000+ a night? Not impressed. We ordered the Goat Cheese dip which was pretty good and I just kept thinking "I've had better at places like Cheevers (their queso dip is amazing) or at 1492 in Oklahoma City". It wasn't bad but for a famous chef's restaurant I wasn't that impressed. I order the shrimp tamale for my entree even though it was on the appetizer menu. AMAZING! Chris had the mahi mahi. I stole a bite and it was good but I didn't steal another bite. We did the Deep Dish Banana Cream Pie for dessert. This was actually really good but I was so full that I didn't eat much. Maybe just go there for a tamle and pie?
Another thing we tried while we were there was Snorkel the Ruins. This is where you take a guided snorkel in Atlantis's aquarium. For me I thought it was a big fat waste of $109 per person. The reason it is guided it because you can't dive down and you can't touch anything. You can see all the ruins from the windows of the aquarium. It was short and the water is cold and I say SKIP THIS!
The people at the check are crazy rude. We went about 20 minutes before it was suppose to start and they are like "You cant check in until your start time" (I found this super weird because I could have sworn they told me to check in 30 minutes early to get the wet suit on to be ready). When they would finally let us check in they were like "Go stand by that mail box and someone will come for you." It was just cold and unfriendly. A lot of people that come and do this snorkel might be coming off a cruise ship. This is their first introduction to Atlantis and this could make or break whether they would come back. What's the deal?
We loved the marina area. Lots of restaurants of all levels from a Quiznos to fancy schmancy steakhouses. The huge yachts were there to gawk at and lots of performers or little jazz bands. The shops stayed open too. There's a Ben and Jerry's that was super popular.
The water park is awesome. We were there the first part of April and it was crowded but not over the top. The lazy river was our favorite. Its a mile long and then at one point it's a fork where you can pick the rapids or to do this big slide. It was neat. I could have stayed in there all day. There were all different levels of slides. The lockers were $9 to rent for the day for the cheapest one. At the end of the day when the cruise ships left, it cleared out (and I'm sure people were getting ready for dinner) but we could go down the slides over and over without waiting. The wait wasn't that bad during the middle part of the day.
The Cove beach is the best beach. The Atlantis beach slopes down really bad and it's super choppy. They charge cruise ship people $69 per person to come sit on their beach (not worth it!) or $129 for the water park.
All in all, it's a fun hotel. They told me they are 2nd to Disney as far as family destination resort. I say they need to visit Disney and see how their customer service and friendliness is far superior.
9:37 AM
Lia Vincent
The loud pool as they referred to it was fun during the day. They had an entertainment team that hassled everyone into playing silly games. I was talked into a beer drinking competition and a competition called "Super Wife" which ended with Chris having to give me a lap dance. It was hilarious and we won 1st place. I wish we had it on video. I have my prize snow globe in my room displayed proudly. 
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