We’ve just kicked off our summer travel with a four night stay at one of the newest resorts in the Bahamas – Baha Mar Resort in Nassau! So was Baha Mar worth it? And how does it compare to the other famous Bahamas resorts? Here are all the best (and worst) things about our stay at Baha Mar!
What's in this Article? (Jump ahead here.)
Baha Mar Location & Resort Map
First of all – where is Baha Mar? The hotel is located in Nassau, on the main island of New Providence in The Bahamas. It’s located on the famous Cable Beach, which has long been a popular tourist destination. Across the water, you can see the cruise port, Paradise Island, and the world famous Atlantis Resort.
Here’s a map of the area surrounding the Baha Mar Resort:
The resort itself is pretty enormous, with three different hotels, a 15 acre water park, and reportedly (according to the hotel themselves) the largest casino in the Caribbean. Here’s a map of the property to give you an idea of just how large it is!
The easiest way to find your way around the resort is to download the Baha Mar app, which has a handy built in map and list of the daily activities.
Getting to Baha Mar
From the airport, it’s easiest to simply get a taxi to Baha Mar. Of course, the hotel will be happy to arrange a car service if you request it. But there are always plenty of taxis available as you exit baggage claim, so there’s really no need to book a car service ahead of time, unless you have special needs (like wheelchairs or car seats). In fact, I find it is almost always faster to just walk up to the taxi stand rather than try to meet up with a pre-arranged driver.
If you are arriving to Nassau on a cruise ship and visiting Baha Mar on a day pass, you can also easily get a taxi from the cruise port. Alternatively, if you book your day passes thru your cruise line, they will usually include round trip bus transportation in the rate.
The Three Hotels- Hyatt, SLS, and Rosewood
Once you’ve decided to make a trip to Baha Mar, you have another decision to make. Which specific hotel should you stay in? There are three hotel properties at Baha Mar, all sharing the same resort grounds. Every hotel has access to the shared pools (with a couple exceptions noted below), the massive Baha Bay Water Park, the small aquarium, and other resort amenities. Here are all the Baha Mar hotel options!
Grand Hyatt Baha Mar
The Grand Hyatt is the main hotel, with approximately 1800 rooms (out of roughly 2200 total). You’ll find mostly standard hotel rooms here, with some full suites available. There is also a section of the Grand Hyatt called The Reserve, which offers higher end suites and a few extra perks. If you take a look at the resort map above, you’ll see that the majority of amenities like pools and sports facilities are located at the Grand Hyatt.
SLS Baha Mar
If you’re looking for a party vibe, SLS is your spot. It has just over 300 rooms and sits directly adjacent to the water park. You’ll find most of the resort nightlife over here, plus an adults only pool. It’s also where you’ll find the Privilege Pool, which is an exclusive area requiring a day pass (also adults only). Note that the SLS can be very lively at night, which also means rather loud! This is great if you’re joining the party – less great if you’re putting little ones to bed. Choose wisely.
Rosewood Baha Mar
If you’re looking for a little more luxury, the Rosewood offers a higher end option. It’s a smaller property with just over 200 rooms, that sits on the far end of the resort, away from the water park hustle and bustle. The Rosewood has a private beach area and a private pool, which are only accessible to Rosewood guests.
If you want all the nitty gritty details, check out my full side by side comparison of the Baha Mar hotels here.
Our Room at The Grand Hyatt Reserve
We opted to stay at the Grand Hyatt Reserve, which is a specific section of the hotel that features higher end suites and a few special amenities. We chose this as we wanted a room with more space, but still wanted to be located at the main hotel near all the action. (Plus a suite at the Rosewood is waaaaay out of my budget.)
We stayed in a One Bedroom Residence at the Grand Hyatt Reserve, located in the East Tower. The room was enormous – basically the size of a small apartment. There was a separate bedroom with a King size bed, which was great for a little privacy.
In the main living area, there was a sitting area with sofa and chairs, plus a small dining table. I was surprised to find out that these suites do not have a pull-out sofa bed, despite having room occupancies of 4+ guests. But they were happy to bring in a rollaway bed for our son, and there was plenty of room to set that up as well.
The master bathroom was massive – with a bathtub and huge walk in shower. And there was a second half bathroom as well! Also very convenient when travelling with kids.
The balcony was large, spanning the full length of the suite with doors from both the living room and bedroom, and had a view over the Rosewood to the beach and ocean beyond. Note that the rooms are kind of facing out to the sides of the building – so none really have a direct head on view of the ocean.
For all the details on the room itself, take a look at my full review of the Grand Hyatt Reserve at Baha Mar. And be sure to check out my detailed comparison of all the Baha Mar hotel options as well!
The Food & Restaurants
I was pleasantly surprised by the food options at Baha Mar, especially after being very disappointed with the food at nearby Atlantis last year.
There are 45 different restaurants and lounges on the property, so there are plenty of options for everyone. I will warn you though- the price tags are high! (I literally paid $24 for a hot dog yesterday at lunch.)
You will also need to make dinner reservations in advance of your stay. We lucked out with a relatively uncrowded weekend, and there were still no reservations to be had between 6-9pm if you didn’t book ahead. So be sure to take care of this at least a couple months in advance of your trip.
Here are a few of the places we tried and enjoyed:
Cleo-This Mediterranean restaurant at the SLS was one of my personal favorites, probably because I’m a sucker for tapas style meals. I just love trying lots of different little things. They had both small plates meant for sharing and entrees. We ordered the saganaki, which they flambee tableside, and that was fun! The salmon kebabs were also really good and my son had both the kids pasta and steak kebabs from the kids menu.
Costa– Costa is a Mexican-inspired restaurant located within the Rosewood was also a really nice experience. The food here was very good as well, especially the Mahi tacos. But the real highlight here is the koi pond that surrounds the restaurant. If you’re with kids, the hostess will give them some food to feed the fish, who are very friendly and eager to take their bribes. It did take a while to get seated here, despite the reservation, but the food was worth it.
Katsuya– Katsuya is the sushi restaurant at the Grand Hyatt, and was my least favorite of the trip. It wasn’t bad – just nothing to write home (or blog) about. The location inside the casino is a little off-putting and the sushi was a bit below average. To be fair, we live in Florida and are used to getting very fresh seafood.
Marcus– Marcus was the most upscale of the restaurants we tried, and it was worth the cost. This seafood restaurant had a great variety and very fresh offerings. And the location right on the beach gives it great ambiance as well. If you need a special occasion restaurant on your visit – this is the one I would recommend.
Pizza Lab- This little pizza restaurant is located inside the Grand Hyatt, and is a great spot to grab a snack or quick meal. The pizza was very tasty and service was quick. You can take the pizzas to go as well.
Stix– Stix is another quick service option at the Grand Hyatt, with some fun and tasty menu options.
Sugar Factory- Sugar Factory is very popular with families due to their over-the-top dessert menu. But know that you can also just stop there and order desserts to go. Or skip the restaurant and hit up the small candy store there instead. Pro tip – the candy shop also sells ice cream!
Food Trucks– You’ll find a variety of food trucks out by the beach serving up everything from conch fritters to hot dogs. We found this to be the most convenient option for grabbing lunch by the pools.
The Drinks!
Now if you’re anything like me, it doesn’t feel like a vacation until there’s a fruity drink in your hand. And you won’t have any trouble finding one here. But be ready for the prices – a simple mixed drink (like Tito’s and soda) adds up to about $20 with taxes and service charges! Ouch.
But here’s an insider tip: You can pack along your own drinks. I probably wouldn’t roll into the hotel pool with a cooler, but if you have discreetly pre-filled your mug, no one is going to bat an eye.
You can either have your taxi stop at a grocery store or your way into the resort, or you can order to your hotel via Instagopher. (We did the latter on this trip, and it worked really well!)
Note that unless you are in a full suite with a kitchen, there is no mini fridge in the room. (Just a minibar.) But you can request one for a charge of $50 per stay. You can also request a microwave for $50, which is nice if you have little kids and want to heat up food in the room.
We ended up bringing along a few snacks for the room, and ordering ourselves a case of water, club sodas, and a bottle of vodka for room drinks via Instagopher.
And be sure to check out my Baha Mar packing list for more tips on what to bring along!
The Service
I’ve heard mixed reviews on service from other travelers, but I found everyone working at the resort to be really friendly and helpful. The check in staff and valet were great, and our room was ready early when we arrived. All the servers and bartenders were helpful and friendly. No complaints here. It may have helped that it was not a very busy week, and likely also helped that we stayed in The Reserve.
Activities at Baha Mar
Now this is what you’re coming to the Bahamas for, right? The beautiful beaches and adventure packed water park? Here are a few of the best activities at the resort.
Baha Bay Water Park
The Baha Bay water park is a real gem. If you’re travelling with kids, this is where you will end up spending most of your time! My favorite things were the lazy river and the wave pool! There are also several big water slides, a flowrider for surfing practice, and a huge sprayground and climbing structure for the kids.
I also liked that they have a nice area for the littlest kids, with tiny slides and a splash pad. In my opinion, this is an advantage over Atlantis for families with very young kids.
I was a little disappointed to find that the water park and all the hotel pools closed up at 6pm. In my opinion that is quite early for a beach resort, and not something we are used to seeing at our local Florida beach hotels! But I will note that Atlantis also closes up their pools very early, so maybe this is a local thing. Or just a way to force you into the restaurants and casino!
Baha Beach Club
Baha Beach Club is a private area inside of the Baha Bay Waterpark. In order to access this area, you must rent lounge chairs or a cabana for the day. You get access to a beautiful beachfront infinity pool, reserved chairs, and the chairs (but not cabanas) come with a food and drink credit that is worth almost the full price of the chair rental.
So we rented chairs one day for $100 + tax/chair, and got $300 in food and beverage credit. Now you have to use that credit at the beach club on the same day. But like I said earlier – food is expensive. We ordered lunch there, plus drinks throughout the day, and didn’t have trouble spending it all.
The Beach
The water in the Bahamas is always incredible- that color blue just doesn’t exist in many places. It’s amazing. And they had plenty of beach chairs and towels to go around. We didn’t run into any chair hog situations here – there seemed to plenty of space available.
Now, I have been to Cable Beach many times, including long before Baha Mar existed. And it’s a beautiful stretch of beach. But I was disappointed that the resort has built a massive dock right in the middle of it. This really mars the view in my opinion, and we didn’t feel compelled to spend as much time at the beach here as usual.
You also won’t have much luck with snorkeling here. Take a snorkeling excursion or head over to Paradise Island for more marine life.
The Pools
So… many… pools. There are enough pools at Baha Mar that I could probably write a whole article just about the pool scene. There really is a pool for everyone here. We actually ended up spending more time at the pools than the beach at Baha Mar, which is unusual for us!
Our absolute favorite pool was the Dean’s Blue Hole pool, which features a cliff for jumping! How fun is that? There is also a waterfall and cave that you can swim into, where you’ll find an aquarium full of sea life.
We were also big fans of the Fortune Pool, which has an oversized hot tub and a great DJ and party vibe in the afternoons. It was a fun spot to hang out before heading up to get dinner in the evenings.
There were several options for an adults only pool as well. And if you are into the cabana scene – they will be happy to take your money for that at basically every pool. There is even one pool that is exclusively for cabana people.
The Sanctuary
The Sanctuary is the marine habitat area, which is frankly quite small and not super impressive. It features touch tanks where you can pet sting rays, turtles, and a few other sea creatures. There is a fee to visit this area – either as a tour or as a self guided experience. Take a look at the chart below to see the options and prices.
In addition to the Sanctuary, there is an aviary where you can visit and feed the birds. And there are several other wildlife encounters where you can interact with critters like tortoises, macaws, or flamingoes. Tip: Look for the free Flamingo Parade on the schedule, for a chance to see the flamingoes up close without doing a whole tour.
We took part in the Tortoise Encounter, and that was a lot of fun and worth the $35 price tag. We had a chance to touch and feed the tortoises, and the animals seemed pretty enthusiastic about the whole thing too.
Oh, and don’t miss out on seeing the aquarium from inside the pool at Dean’s Blue Hole pool. Just take a swim into the cave (you’ll know it when you see it!) and you will be looking at the touch tanks from down below!
Sports Areas
We also really enjoyed the sports area over at the Grand Hyatt, which had a ton of activities to choose from.
Tennis – There is a complete tennis facility with numerous courts and lessons available. There is a fee to reserve court times and you should reserve in advance if this is something you’re interested in.
Croquet and Bocce Ball – Both totally free! You can check out equipment at either the tennis club or the mini golf stand. We had the chance to play several rounds of each and croquet was a highlight for my kiddo
Mini Golf – There is a complete mini golf course as well! Mini golf was $25/person, which I think is pretty steep for mini golf. But it took us a good hour to play through the course and was a nice break from the beach.
What We Liked Best & Least About Baha Mar:
Overall, we enjoyed our trip to Baha Mar but there were some definite hits and misses throughout the weekend. Here are the things we loved, and the things we didn’t like so much.
The best things about Baha Mar:
- The water park – especially the wave pool and lazy river!
- Beautiful Room at The Reserve
- Great pools!
- Never felt crowded (could have been a lucky week!)
- Good food.
The worst things about Baha Mar:
- The price tag! I expected things to be overpriced, but the food and drink prices were pretty insane.
- Pools closed at 6pm!
- Not very much to do in the evenings.