Riu Palace Paradise Island - Better food than Mexico but needs to be updated

How's that for a long title to a post?
I was kind of pessimistic about this resort. I have been to Riu's in Mexico and did not like their food at all. It was a pleasant surprise that the Bahamas had good food! Everything else was slightly lacking though:

We checked in and took our bags to the room (they don't have a bell hop that offers to do this for you) and the rooms are old! They had redone little parts like the sink in the bathroom and the bedding but the carpet had holes and the furniture looks 15 years old. All the rooms are ocean view which is nice but you also have a view of Atlantis's oldest tower and some big rusty thing.
The mini bar was decent. No juice but pretty decent. I like that it's regular Diet Coke and not Coca-Cola Light like in Europe or Mexico.

The resort is very Spring Break. It has 1 pool with 1 swim up bar and just tons of chairs. The beach is a public beach with lots of jet ski operators waiting to sell you a ride. The water is very choppy. Not the Paradise Island water I was picturing. If I was 10 years younger and a hard core party person I would be all over it. The Riu's do have a minimum check in age during March and April though so it wasn't high school students.

Although the food is good, having to make dinner reservations is not so good. They let you make 2 reservations at a time but they only take reservations from 8 - 9am each morning. I don't know anyone who likes to get up at 8am to stand in a line. Ridiculous. (So I sent my husband. Ha!)

They have several different styles of food to pick from and the buffet each night has a different theme. I didn't realize until I went to the Bahamas that it's all import island (Duh!) so this is why everything tastes very American.

They had some fun stuff at the resort - similar to all other Riu Palaces. They had a theatre/club room and had dancing or karaoke or a band each night. There was also a sports bar with several tvs and video games. They also had snacks in a refrigerator you could re-heat 24 hours a day. They had plastic containers of fresh fruit which worked out perfect when we had to leave before breakfast opened one day.

This resort is right next to Atlantis Beach Tower. Like you walk out of the lobby and around the hedge and you are in the Beach Tower lobby. Super convenient. You can walk through the Beach Tower and Coral Tower lobbies and be right at the marina which was awesome at night. Musicians and multi million dollar yachts to entertain everyone.

There aren't many all inclusives in the Bahamas. The service was mediocre and the hotel needs updating but since there is only 1 on Paradise Island I guess they don't care!

Posted in: all inclusive , beach