Riu Hotel: A Piece of Paradise On Paradise Island Bahamas

We just got back from the Bahamas yes­ter­day. Absolutely beau­ti­ful once you are at the hotel. Trip to hotel is not the best thing to view. Hotel is amaz­ing and staff is so friendly. The hotel sits right on the beau­ti­ful beach front. Our room was clean. It had a great view of pool and ocean. We just ate at the buf­fet the whole trip, food was aver­age. Don’t think the spe­cialty places are worth the wait in line, though I over­heard the food was great at the Steak­house. The mixed drinks are strong and you get your money’s worth. Love that it’s all-inclusive.

I really enjoyed my stay here. The food was great, a dif­fer­ent theme every night. Bahamian night was our favourite. Rooms were nice although you wont spend much time there, with the pool and swim up bar. I’ll be going back again a year from now and I can’t wait. Rec­om­mend the Riu over any of the oth­ers I vis­ited while I was on the island.

Down-side: they only have MGD cans of beer, enter­tain­ment is ok, but wish they had danc­ing, and the ped­dlers, but that is every­where in the Bahamas. Also fridge in our room did not get very cold. They only stock it every two days as well. This hotel is the best, may not have fancy rooms, but who needs that. I look for­ward to return­ing, I miss the place already! It is a much bet­ter deal then the hotel next door to the left, which it takes three min­utes to walk to and is also worth check­ing out but not stay­ing at. You will love this place!

They do not offer room ser­vice and you are not allowed to bring food out of the restau­rants. We would sug­gest bring­ing snacks for the times when the restau­rants are closed. There is a charge for using the phone in your room (even with a call­ing card) and they do not have a pay­phone. We used the pay­phone at the Atlantis Resort which was just a quick walk next door.

There is a deli/grocery a few blocks away near the Blue Mar­lin, a good restau­rant. Water and snacks are cheaper than the hotel. You’ll save buy­ing T-shirts and things in Nas­sau. The Green Tur­tle by the Marina is a nice change of pace with rea­son­able drinks and a lengthy happy hour.

Watch out for Seag­ulls when eat­ing out­side. Wheel and deal with the waverun­ner ven­dors, they come down in price. Straw mar­ket is over rated, but you can get good deals on stuff .Also they will harass you to buy, if not inter­ested just say ‘no thank you’. Carry on your sou­venirs on the plane; I had some stolen from my lug­gage. Dol­phin Encounter is a must, worth the price to swim with them.