# Back From Harborside-A Different Point of View



## califgal (Jul 2, 2007)

We were at Harborside for nearly 2 weeks.  I exchanged our studio side of Maui and got the premium 1 bdrm, stayed an extra 5 nights in the same unit and then moved to Atlantis for the last 2 nights.

When we checked in I politely asked for a high floor and was surprised to recieve the request!  We were on the 4th floor of bldg 3.  The unit seemed to have more storage than the Maui units and I liked the decor-- nice colors and patterns of the fabrics, the unit was new and fresh.  The bed was very uncomfortable as well as the pillows, we felt like we were sleeping on  a rock!

We had been to Atlantis 7 years ago so we are familiar with the high prices at the restaurants.  We had breakfast in every day.  The shuttle service to and from Atlantis and  Harborside is geat.  However because of the distance we hardly went  back to the room for lunch, but did bring our own sodas.

While Atlantis is fantastic, we did feel somewhat trapped.  We took the ferry into Nassau one day and shopped around a bit, went to the pirate museum which was pretty good, and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.  The next week we rented a car for one day and drove around did a bit more sight seeing.  We felt Nassau had lost its charm.  There are less variety of shops.  We remembered seeing more art gallery types of shops before, I don't think I saw one in the few main  blocks of Bay St.  

In Nassau are lots of buildings that are falling apart , deserted , and most of the buildings could use paint, maybe this was due to recent hurricanes?  But I don't remember hearing about the Bahamas being hit in the last couple of years.  Also it looked like there was far more poverty and creepy characters on the streets.  This was very sad to see.

We were also surprised at the 15% gratuity added the EVERYTHING!! at Atlantis, even a candy bar !  I doubt the poor workers see the whole 15%.  Also at restaurants it has diminished the service. I should say that we only went to the "cheaper" family places like Bimini Road at the Marina Village etc.

The day we had our car, we went to the Out Back Steak House at the end of the bridge.  The food was good compared to Bimini Road and Murrary's Deli etc. Once you go over that bridge it is vastly different.  When we came out of Out Back, before dark, like 8-8:30 there were already drunk sacry men walking around the streets.  There also was  a security guard inside the door at Out Back.  We live near San Francisco, so we're around all walks of life here in the bay area. My husband was even a bit alarmed in Nassau.

In the local paper there was a letter to the editor from a native Nassau resident who had gone to college in the U.S. and worked here the last 10 years and then decided to come back home to Nassau.  He wrote that he was shocked at the decline of Nassau and the poor attitude of people in the work force. So, it confirmed to my husband and myself that our perceptions were really valid.

The water slides were fun and ocean is fabulous,and we love the way the lost world of Atlantis is recreated, but we won't be back any time soon. For us when you consider 2 flights from California, the outragous costs at Atlantis, the decline of Nassau, and the non practicality of renting a car we decided we prefer Hawaii.


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## barndweller (Jul 2, 2007)

Thank you for the mini review, Califgal. 

I had the same conclusion after going to Mayan Palace in Riviera Maya. We also live in Ca. & we have been going to Hawaii almost every year since 1976. Friends kept telling us that Mexico was so much cheaper & the ocean & beaches were so much better. So we decided to try it. The airfare was more than we have ever paid to get to Hawaii. We found the plane trip long & stressfull & once we arrived we felt "trapped" at the resort. Prices were the same or higher than we have found in Hawaii and the beaches were nothing special. We did see a lot of evidence of poverty but that is true everywhere we travel. I must say that service & staff were outstanding but that was about it. We won't bother with Cancun again but return to Hawaii for our tropical vacations.

With the decline in quality of service & the escalating cost of almost everything, for those of us on the west coast, a trip to Bahamas, Mexico or the Caribbean is not so appealing as it once was.


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## califgal (Jul 2, 2007)

I have to say that we do love the beach at Paradise Island, more than Hawaii, Hawaii is close but just not the same....yet for the overall points we discussed we'll be headed back to Hawaii!


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## Steamboat Bill (Jul 2, 2007)

Living in South Florida....we are tired of typical Bahamas locations and perfer Grand Cayman, Turks & Caicos, USVI, BVI, etc.

If the US ever opens the door for travel to Cuba, the Bahamas will probably sink into the ocean.


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## bigeyes1 (Jul 2, 2007)

We had the same view back in Jan. 2005.  We also noticed a HUGE difference when we walked over to the other side of the bridge from the Harborside/Atlantis.  

There were many homeless people lying down on the sidewalks begging for handouts, drunks walking around with their whiskey bottles, and animals (esp. dogs) were everywhere.  It was so sad to see because that was/is true reality.  

Our experience at the Harborside resort didn't fare so well, either. We ended up in an extremely smoky room.  After three nights, we had all that we could stand and left early on our trip.  

Having said that, the Atlantis was an experience in itself.  It was beautiful, elegant and flamboyant.  It was just so doggarn expensive. 

Nassau really needs to concentrate on taking care of their residents.  They're suffering and it shows.


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## JudyS (Jul 3, 2007)

bigeyes1 said:


> ...Our experience at the Harborside resort didn't fare so well, either. We ended up in an extremely smoky room.  After three nights, we had all that we could stand and left early on our trip.....


Wow, that's a problem!  Smoke is one thing that really worries me if I ever manage to trade into Harborside.  Doesn't the resort have any way to clean the carpets or bring in an air purifier?  In some other resorts that I've been to, I've told the resort that I had a problem with smoke and they promised to air out the room & use an air purifier before I arrived.  Did Harborside offer to do anything to help with the smoke problem?  

As for the poverty -- I've never been to Nassau, but I didn't feel especially safe on Grand Bahama island when I went about a decade ago.  People kept approaching me to try to sell me drugs.  Grand Bahama is on my "do not return" list.  The Caribbean has lovely beaches, but unfortunately many of the islands have problems with poverty and crime.  

If I do go to the Harborside, I'll be sure to pack food and a cooler to help avoid the steep prices!


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## bigeyes1 (Jul 3, 2007)

Oh yes.  The staff did try to help us.  They brought in an air purifier while we were gone.  This only helped for a few hours and then it came back even stronger than before.  We requested to be moved into an non-smoking room, but they said they didn't have one available.  

When we went on a timeshare presentation, we found out this timeshare doesn't believe in the non-smoking policy and that none of their units are non-smoking.   They didn't think it was fair to their owners who smokes. I kept asking, "What about the owners who DOESN'T smoke?"  Never could get a response on that.  

If I'm not mistaken, I thought I had read Harborside was going to make a few units non-smoking???  Hopefully, someone will come along with more accurate info on this.  

Because of our experience, we won't be going back to Bahamas.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE their beaches, especially Cove Island beach.  Beautiful white sandy beaches and gorgeous sunshine.  But because of our experience at Harborside and safety reasons, Bahamas will not be on our list of places to go again.  

Now Kauai..  We'll go there in a heartbeat.  Granted, not white sandy beaches, but the people and the overall environment is truly "our paradise".


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## pointsjunkie (Jul 3, 2007)

that's funny fellow strwood TSharer's were in hawaii and had their car broken into and did not feel very safe. it seems the problems are all over. when you were on the atlantis property did you feel safe? we don't leave the"compound", just want some imput about the safety at the atlantis.


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## bigeyes1 (Jul 3, 2007)

Oh, we felt safe while we were in Paradise City.  But once we walked over to the bridge onto the other side, that's where we saw the real world.  It was sad.   

I know there are crimes and poverty everywhere. It's just we didn't like our experience while staying at the Harborside resort.  Then when we saw the "other side", that was just one more bad mark against Bahamas.  

To each his/her own..


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## califgal (Jul 3, 2007)

We felt safe at Atlantis, but when we're anywhere new we like to explore for an outing or two which is not pleasant in Nassau any more.

Luckily our unit was smoke free.  There are lots of smokers there however.  People smoking at the pool and beach in the humid hot weather...very shocking to see....you'd think they'd have a heart attack in a minute.


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## Steamboat Bill (Jul 3, 2007)

bigeyes1 said:


> When we went on a timeshare presentation, we found out this timeshare doesn't believe in the non-smoking policy and that none of their units are non-smoking.   They didn't think it was fair to their owners who smokes. I kept asking, "What about the owners who DOESN'T smoke?"  Never could get a response on that.



Wow...that is "NEW news" to me....and would be a deal killer for me as far as buying or wanting to trade into Atlantis.

I have posted on several threads on the high priced timeshares at Atlantis and get surprised at the high prices and high MF they command.

I am going in August, but staying in the Royal Towers.


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## JudyS (Jul 3, 2007)

bigeyes1 said:


> ....When we went on a timeshare presentation, we found out this timeshare doesn't believe in the non-smoking policy and that none of their units are non-smoking.   They didn't think it was fair to their owners who smokes. I kept asking, "What about the owners who DOESN'T smoke?"  Never could get a response on that....


It's a shame that they couldn't do more about the smoke.  Shampooing the carepts might have helped.

When we toured the Sheraton Vistana Villages about 18 months ago, I got the impression that many of the Starwood properties allowed smoking in all of their rooms.  (This was true at the Vistana Villages, but we didn't have a problem there with smoke odor.)   The sales rep tried to sell to us anyway, saying we could use our Starpoints for non-smoking hotel rooms instead.  Buying a timeshare _just_ to use the hotel rooms -- now, that sounds like a bad deal!   

I did a trip to the Caribbean (St. Martin/ St. Kitts/ Nevis/ Antigua)  last winter.  I loved it despite the problems in some areas with poverty.  Each island in the Caribbean is different, so I wouldn't necessarily give up on the whole region just because of problems in the Bahamas. 

By the way, Bermuda (which is not in the Caribbean) is a very affluent area and I doubt they have much crime problems.  Beautiful pink beaches!


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## jalexander (Jul 3, 2007)

I found the same thing - Harborside is nice, but the service terrible - I had to threaten to call Starwood corporate to get a toilet fixed!   

As for the Bahamas in general - in all of our travels we have never felt as if so many people were trying to cheat us.  Example - even though cab rates were supposedly "fixed", we never paid the same amount twice - some would try to charge us extra for the baby, some would try to make us share cabs with others (while charging everyone a full fare).. Downtown Nassau was no different.  We always felt like people were trying to rip us off..


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## azsunluvr (Jul 3, 2007)

You're making me nervous! We went a few years ago and had none of these problems except poor service in the restaurants. I'm going with girlfriends in September. I'm boning up on rates, etc, to make sure I know what I should be paying.


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## Transit (Jul 3, 2007)

I was in a I bedroom deluxe in June. My resevations clearly stated it was a no smoking room.This may be because the room didn't have a lanai. The room had no odor of smoke,however Atlantis does have a Vegas like atmostsphere and smoking is allowed almost everywhere.This was one of the best vacations I've taken in a long time. I think Harborside is a fantastic resort....


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## califgal (Jul 3, 2007)

Yes  people in the Bahamas will try to cheat you if they can.  Regarding the taxis...the rates are posted in front of the hotel and at the airport.  $27 to the airport from Atlanits for the first 2 people and $3 per person thereafter.  On our way to the airport from Atlantis a cab driver tried to tell us the price was $45 for the 4 of us he also  was charging for the luggage!!  He insisted that was the goverments prices!  I told him we'll take another cab and took our first suitcase out of his cab.

Atlantis itself really takes advantage   $2.50 for a basic postcard of Atlantis, general Bahamas postcards are .75.  Soon they'll be charging for a cup of ice from the bar!  

There's a reason there's not any grills at Harborside....Atlantis will loose out on dinners out!  Although we were told that some grills were ordered and most likely on the docks waiting to be unloaded if they could  only find them!  We were also told that if there are grills you might have to pay someone to grill FOR you!!  Now I'm not one for cooking dinner when we're on vacation, but when we're there for 2 weeks, grilling a couple of nights would have been a nice change.


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## DavidnRobin (Jul 4, 2007)

Thanks for the honest review from a BayArea perspective - one can expect the poverty - and it is very sad, but the smoking is a deal-breaker - we will never go there.  It is amazing how many people outside of our area smoke (especially after getting back from Vegas...) - it is a personal issue for me (I work in cancer research...).

Smoking is the *only *self-induced cancer - 90% of non-small cell lung cancer is caused by smoking (and 2nd hand smoke!) - once diagnosed - the median life expectancy is ~6 months - it is like sufficating slowly.  (If you smoke - STOP - Don't make excuses - Put the Pack Down!)
{end of rant...}


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## califgal (Jul 4, 2007)

I'll say again that we were lucky to get a smoke free unit.

The many smokers didn't bother me since we were never in the casino for very long.  It was just really shocking to see so many smokers, and I'm sorry to say many of them were men over 40 whose stomachs looked like they were nine months pregnant!!  I'm not exaggerating!


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## pointsjunkie (Jul 5, 2007)

we own at harborside and have been there many times, we never had a problem with smokers. all the restaurants are smoke free, there are no smoking areas at the pools, and there is smoking only on the terrace at harborside,and a $200 fee for room cleaning if you smoke. sorry you had a bad experience. can't wait to go back in may next year.


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## tomandrobin (Jul 5, 2007)

We were at Harborside 3 weeks ago, it was our first time to Atlantis. We did not smell and smoke in our room. At the Harborside Resort we saw little smoking, but there were clean ash trays in the cabinets. The resturants were non-smoking, but we were surprised by all of the smoking in the Atlantis Resort public areas, Lobbies, and the Casino. 

As far as being ripped off by the locals, its like everything else in life. You need to be an informed consumer. If you don't like what they are trying to sell you, walk away. 

The prices at the resort resturants are ridiculous, but you can manage some very nice meals without paying an arm and leg. Our total food and activity bill for our week stay was around $1200. We had 2 adults, 18, 16, and 14 year old with us. Our most expensive meal was at Carmines and that was around $370 for 13 people!


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## JudyS (Jul 5, 2007)

pointsjunkie said:


> we own at harborside and have been there many times, we never had a problem with smokers. all the restaurants are smoke free, there are no smoking areas at the pools, and there is smoking only on the terrace at harborside,and a $200 fee for room cleaning if you smoke. sorry you had a bad experience. can't wait to go back in may next year.


So, does this mean that all the rooms at Harborside are actually non-smoking, and the OP must have had a room where a previous guest broke the rules?





califgal said:


> ...The many smokers didn't bother me since we were never in the casino for very long.  It was just really shocking to see so many smokers, and I'm sorry to say many of them were men over 40 whose stomachs looked like they were nine months pregnant!!  I'm not exaggerating!


Califgal, do you have to walk through the casinos a lot to get to other places?   I know that is true of many Vegas hotels.

As for men who look nine months pregnant, that's not always due to lifestyle.  My husband is extremely careful about what he eats and gets a ton of exercise (at least an hour a day, on average), but he just can't lose any of that "spare tire."  The tendency to put weight on in the abdomen instead of other areas seems to be hormonal/genetic.  However, abdominal fat is definitely a major risk factor for heart disease (my husband had a heart attack in his 30s, unfortunately, despite his healthy lifestyle), so anyone with that body type has an added reason not to smoke -- as if anyone needed one!


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## pointsjunkie (Jul 5, 2007)

you have to walk through the casino to get to the spa and many of the water slides. but you could walk totally outside and get to the same places. there are a few no smoking tables, and some slots. not many. the traffic of course flows throught the casino, like every other casino/hotel.


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## bigeyes1 (Jul 5, 2007)

I really hope this resort is now enforcing the non-smoking policy in their units. They weren't doing this during our stay with them over two years ago.  As I've stated earlier in this thread, they (the staff and sales lady) admitted none of their units were non-smoking.  Maybe this has changed since they have afterall  added a new phase (or is it two) to their property. It would only be fair for the non-smokers to have non-smoking units at Harborside. 

Harborside is a beautiful resort in THE perfect location.  It was close enough to the Atlantis, yet far enough away for the peace and quiet. We really enjoyed our walks to and from the Atlantis because of their wide sidewalks.  And the views of those yachts! Wowee! 

FYI, we had Unit 1708 which was a Premium one bedroom unit located in Building 7 on the first floor.  It was near the lobby.  Hopefully, others can avoid this unit.


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## mariawolf (Jul 5, 2007)

We own multiple weeks at Harborside and have never had a problem with smoke--neither has my brother who also owns there.
However, how sure are you about this cleaning fee--I understand Marriott charges if you smoke in their rooms but hadn't heard this at Harborside--if true it is a good thing!


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## JudyS (Jul 5, 2007)

Thanks for all the replies!


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## califgal (Jul 5, 2007)

For the record, I just want to say I did not mean to insult any overweight men.  I just get concerned about a person's health.


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## sharktzu (Jul 5, 2007)

*I'm just back from Harborside also*

We just returned from a week at Harborside also, but we had a really great experience there. First of all, I was blown away by Atlantis itself. The resort offers alot of ammenities that no other starwood resort can offer. The Aquaadventure water park was fantastic. The dig and resort theater were great. I enjoyed having a casino nearby. My wife loved the beach there most of all. I took my parents on the trip and they were also blown away. So much so, that we did what I swore I wouldn't do again...yes, I bought a developer unit. You can all slap me around. I deserve it. But my family had so much fun that we all wanted to be able to return to Harborside so we bought an EOY. We spent a couple of days over in Nassau but really didn't have a problem with how the town felt. We walked over the bridge one day without any problems. We did note alot of closed shops and restaurants. I thought that it was probably due to all the development on Paradise Island. That would make it harder for businesses in Nassau to compete. It will be interesting to see how the development on cable beach will affect the area over the next couple of years.


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## pointsjunkie (Jul 6, 2007)

did you requalify your hawaii TS at the same time, if you bought it resale? congratulations on your purchase. we love it there. can't wait to go back in may.


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## sharktzu (Jul 6, 2007)

Unfortunately not, we purchased Maui pre-tug. I did use an explorer package that I puchased in April. I gave up purchasing a WMH plat, because my wife didn't want to spend the money, then ended up spending more on purchasing a developer Harborside week. It was a stupid move from a financial standpoint, but it's a resort that my wife and family want to be able to go back to often, so I went with it.


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## Westin5Star (Jul 6, 2007)

sharktzu said:


> Unfortunately not, we purchased Maui pre-tug. I did use an explorer package that I puchased in April. I gave up purchasing a WMH plat, because my wife didn't want to spend the money, then ended up spending more on purchasing a developer Harborside week. It was a stupid move from a financial standpoint, but it's a resort that my wife and family want to be able to go back to often, so I went with it.



What was the price / size / season of your purchase?  

Why didn't you buy resale on this purchase if you weren't requalifying a week?  

Either way congrats on your purchase and I hope that you and your family enjoy it.  I also appreciate your feedback on your great experience as I had just bought my resale HRA sight unseen.  I was getting a little worried with many of the other posts although I am used to Tijuana so I doubt Nassau would bother me too much.


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## sharktzu (Jul 6, 2007)

We paid $33,400 for a 3 bedroom plat EOY. I looked at the resales I could find online, but didn't see any deals that blew my socks off. I knew I'd pay more with the developer, but thought the developer vs. resale price difference was componsated for by not having to hassel with the bahamian real estate laws and searching for the best deal. How did the purchase of your resale go? Was it that much of a hassel? What kind of price/unit did you get? I'm just curious. Depending how things go, I might be up for getting another unit down the line. This three bedroom is sort of pledged to family reunion type get togethers, so at some point it may not be enough. I was mostly worried about being able to trade back into harborside. I got lucky this time, but really didn't get the type of units I wanted. My family didn't want to take the chance of not getting back in when we wanted it.


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## tomandrobin (Jul 6, 2007)

sharktzu said:


> We paid $33,400 for a 3 bedroom plat EOY. I looked at the resales I could find online, but didn't see any deals that blew my socks off. I knew I'd pay more with the developer, but thought the developer vs. resale price difference was componsated for by not having to hassel with the bahamian real estate laws and searching for the best deal. How did the purchase of your resale go? Was it that much of a hassel? What kind of price/unit did you get? I'm just curious. Depending how things go, I might be up for getting another unit down the line. This three bedroom is sort of pledged to family reunion type get togethers, so at some point it may not be enough. I was mostly worried about being able to trade back into harborside. I got lucky this time, but really didn't get the type of units I wanted. My family didn't want to take the chance of not getting back in when we wanted it.



Is your week fixed or float? Did you happen to get the price for the gold season 3 bedroom? Oh...And I have to agree with you about Atlantis. We were all blown away by the resort and everything it had to offer. I had waited years to go there and the resort was beyond my expectations.


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## sharktzu (Jul 6, 2007)

I didn't get the price for the 3 bedroom gold.  We were orginally told that all of the 3 bedroom plat were gone, so we were going to get a 2 bedroom plat which would have been about 26,500 for an EOY. At the end we asked them to check inventory again, and the 3 bedroom came up, but we were told that was it. 
We couldn't even purchase an EY if had wanted to. Their were fixed plat weeks left, but they were more money and we weren't really interested in a specific week, so we got the floating week. On our deed it says week 51, not that it really means anything. I agree, Atlantis exceeded my expectations as well.


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## mariawolf (Jul 6, 2007)

Last I heard all the 3 bedroom platinums and 2 bedroom non lockoffs were sold out but I do think they have stuff come back into inventory through trades for another unit or people who may just walk.  I looked for a week 52 to buy resale but couldn't find one any less than developer prices and actually got a corner resale unit that I bought--I think it was one they got back as at that time they were selling phase 2 and this was in phase 1 facing the marina.
I can't wait to see all the new things--we didn't go this last year==let our son use our week 1 and aquaventure opened the week after they left.
We have our week52 reserved and our week 1 so I am hoping to go for two weeks--if not Atlantis family fun said I could list my one bedroom for $4200!
Have to decide what I am going to do!


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## sharktzu (Jul 6, 2007)

$4200 for a one bedroom! Wow! I realize that its a holiday week, but yikes! I think the week we bought was one of those that came back to them in the system.


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## califgal (Jul 6, 2007)

We went to the timeshare presentation and we were quoted about $22,000 for a 2 bdrm lockoff in gold season


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## mariawolf (Jul 6, 2007)

I rented my week 52 myself  the first year of ownership on TUG for $3500--that year it included  Christmas day and we didn't want to be away then--seems folks who rent find it a bargain as the hotel charges more and charges the tax etc. on top--- so I noticed that there was one like mine for $4200 now==still not sure what we are going to do but the premium weeks do draw high rent! More than pays for both of my maintenance fees which are really high!


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## Westin5Star (Jul 7, 2007)

sharktzu said:


> We paid $33,400 for a 3 bedroom plat EOY. I looked at the resales I could find online, but didn't see any deals that blew my socks off. I knew I'd pay more with the developer, but thought the developer vs. resale price difference was componsated for by not having to hassel with the bahamian real estate laws and searching for the best deal. How did the purchase of your resale go? Was it that much of a hassel? What kind of price/unit did you get? I'm just curious. Depending how things go, I might be up for getting another unit down the line. This three bedroom is sort of pledged to family reunion type get togethers, so at some point it may not be enough. I was mostly worried about being able to trade back into harborside. I got lucky this time, but really didn't get the type of units I wanted. My family didn't want to take the chance of not getting back in when we wanted it.



I bought a 2BR PL LO resale for $27,000 + about $2100 in closing costs.  I also looked at the 3BR but, like you said, couldn't find anything on the resale market that blew my socks off.  If you do look for resale, I would recommend Michelle Danato at GMC.  Her office did a great job and dealt with the Bahamian gov't and lawyers for me.


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## Ken555 (Jul 7, 2007)

bigeyes1 said:


> If I'm not mistaken, I thought I had read Harborside was going to make a few units non-smoking???  Hopefully, someone will come along with more accurate info on this.



When I was there in May, I believe I had a non-smoking room. I always request non-smoking. I certainly didn't smell any smoke at all.


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