The Cove at Atlantis

We have been to the Bahamas before and have always stayed at the Rosewood in Baha Mar. We heard a lot of good things about Atlantis and decided to give it a try. We stayed at the Cove hotel for 5 days and it was a HUGE disappointment. No service to speak of, no organization, it’s chaos. Here is just a sampling of our troubles: (1) took 25 min waiting in line to even check in to the hotel, (2) two days in a row we were on elevators that broke down (yes two different elevators), (3) we frequently waited in line just to use the elevator to our room (meal times and when people are leaving the pool en masse), (4) it took 20 min waiting in line to confirm registration for a dolphin swim program - and to make matters worse, the woman registering us changed our program time to a later time without even telling us so we ended up waiting on the beach for a good 45 min, (5) waiting for photos after said dolphin program took another 45 min, (6) rented a cabana one day and we were asked for cash tips by three different workers at the cabana (at a cashless resort). The service at the cabana didn’t even warrant the 15% automatically added to the bill, let alone additional cash. For example, while servers started their shifts at 11 am, we had to wave down hostesses three times from 12-12:30 to ask her to please find someone to take an order for us. When we left the cabana to go swim we were asked several times if we could please be back by the time various workers’ shifts ended so we could pay them in cash. After I explained for the hundredth time that I did not have cash on me, one hostess asked if she could give me her number so I could text her the following day, give her my location, and have her meet me for cash. While the cabana experience at least avoids the Mad Max fights for pool chairs, overall it was a very unpleasant experience and it was also very expensive for how bad it was (for reference, we have rented cabanas on three separate occasions at the Rosewood at Baha Mar and all of them were worlds better - and cheaper, even with drinks and food included and a dedicated host!) (7) when calling the front desk it took 20 min waiting on phone to even speak to a front desk member, (8) ordering food near the pools is a disaster - one time we waited 10 min to order and then had to wait 20 min for sandwiches, were told to pick up drinks elsewhere and then come back for the fries that weren’t ready…of course no one in any of the different places had any idea what we ordered. So the whole thing took 45 min and yes the sandwiches were cold when we finally tried to eat them (also don’t order the burgers they tasted very wrong). Let’s see, (9) we had room service on the first day with dishes that remained dirty in the room for 2 full days. (10) Booked a boat tour months in advance which was cancelled the night before. This could have been weather for which no one is to blame - but we did see other boats out. (11) Half the waterslides were closed on any given day. After 5 days we still didn’t get to ride all of them. The grand finale - (12) we booked a stingray experience for which the confirmation explicitly stated that we had to arrive 20 min early. We did so…and were told the check in desk wasn’t open yet. It was to open AFTER the email told us to arrive. We waited with other families until the time we were told it would be open. When no one showed up we asked an employee for help and were told it would open 15 min later. Finally after that time passed as well with no one showing up, the families decided to band together and walk around and find where the stingray leader might be. We found him. He had no idea we were late bc we were not being helped. A family with us was then late in leaving for the airport. NUTSHELL: This entire experience was as crowded as Disney but without the organization or smiling faces. No worker acted like they enjoyed their job let alone wanted to make the experience better for guests. We spoke to a gentleman who said he visited a lot in years past but service started deteriorating starting four years ago and now, given where things were at, he would never go back. I, too, will never go back. You know it’s bad when on the way to the airport my 10 year old said she would have preferred to be in school rather than make this trip to Atlantis. This was by far the worst trip I have ever been on, and my daughter agrees.😡 Baha Mar, we never should have left you.

My husband and I revisited Atlantis after a couple of decades and stayed at the Cove. We loved the variety of pools, beaches, and restaurants and I would definitely stay there again. A few things need attention - many of the sunshades on the chaises were broken; beach and pool chairs can be hard to find after about 10am and the discarded towels left on many chaises aren't picked up so it's hard to know what chaises are available. The piped music around all the pools is annoying - better to turn it all off! Our room at the Cove was nice, but the patio/lanai was unusable due to balcony maintenance which we were told about after check-in. Despite this, we would happily visit again and found the employees to be very friendly and welcoming.

Stayed at the Cove which is an upscale tower in Atlantis. It’s very nice and if crowds and resort lines aren’t your thing, it’s the way to go. Natural textures in shared spaces make it feel upper end and relaxing. The grounds of the entire property are well maintained and manicured. And the resort in general is clean. There are some negatives that are hard to look past. First, the service. Lots of staff but they tend to stand around and not help. They’re not engaging or the least bit friendly. Very odd for so many service people to not have a service personality. Strange is the music choices. All American music. Nothing Caribbean. Think “what is love, baby don’t hurt me” vibes by the pool. Or The Gambler remixed. Next is the food. A few places are closed. It can be pretty expensive for what you’re getting. Sometimes cold and needing to be sent back. And they run out of things; guacamole, olives, desert, certain beer. The list goes on. We were looking forward to more seafood options and it’s hard to come by for casual fare. They ran out of clam chowder. All in all there’s a lot to do here and the busses to the other properties are efficient. Although night after night the drivers overload them and then when everyone is on tell people they can’t stand and everyone shuffles back off. Ridiculous. Because there doesn’t seem to be many off property options I wouldn’t come back to the Bahamas. But more so because of the service making you feel like you’re putting people out for wanting to place an order.

The Cove is an awesome destination. The staff separates it from other premium destinations. It meets every single criteria for an incredible vacation

Indigo suite was booked and views were incredible but for the price was disappointed that room was infested with ants, and carpet was wet (guess they tried to shampoo some areas) and smelled awful. Carpet was very dry dirty and would recommend replacing with tile or something cleaner.