Oct 21, 2014, 12:08 pm
Last edit by: RedSun
Good details in this post: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30029755-post302.html
The Atlantis is made up of 4 towers that will participate for redemption stays. They are as follows:
Atlantis, Beach Tower - Do not participate in Marriott reward booking(?) (old Category 7)
Atlantis, Coral Towers - New Category 5 (35k) (old Category 8 (from March, 2018 https://www.marriott.com/marriott-rewards/use/category-update.mi)
Atlantis, Royal Towers - New Category 6 (50k) (old Category 8)
The Cove Atlantis - New Category 7 (60k) (old Category 9)
Apparently, you cannot redeem points for a stay at The Reef Atlantis, but you can earn points on a paid stay there.
Points are earned for room rate only. No points on incidental spend. Platinum Arrival Gift (PAG) is 500pts or food/drink amenity. $20 internet fee* is NOT waived for Gold/Plats per Marriott's T&Cs. For rooms that will have more than two people aged twelve or over, there is an "additional adult charge" per person. *For Royal, Coral, Beach Towers, internet is included as part of the daily resort fee of $50.
"For clarification purposes, the daily charge is not a resort fee. The additional charges associated with the stay currently include mandatory gratuities and a utility service fee per person per day. The amount can vary by unit type by building. These additional charges have always been in place at Atlantis."
ADDITIONAL CHARGES:
Guests of Atlantis, Harborside Resort, The Cove and The Reef Atlantis are subject to an 20% charge per night that includes taxes, the Paradise Island Tourism and Development Association levy, the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board levy and compensation for servicing your reservation. In addition, guests will be required to pay a mandatory gratuity and utility service fee of (i) up to $25.95 per person per day depending on unit type for Atlantis guests, (ii) up to $20.70 per person per day depending on unit type for Harborside Resort guests, and (iii) up to $65.95 per person per day depending on unit type for The Cove or The Reef Atlantis guests. If you purchase a pre-paid package these charges are already included in your package price. If you do not purchase a pre-paid package, these charges will be assessed upon check out at the property. Please be advised that all mandatory gratuities, taxes, levies and service fees are subject to change.
As of 01-Jan-2015, In addition to the previous 20% tax on room rate and purchases, there is an additional VAT of 7.5%, 12%* (as of July 1, 2018), making a total tax on room rate and purchases of 37.5%. This also applies to additional adult fees (for more than two person ages 12 and older staying in the same room), but does not apply to the mandatory gratuity and utility fees. https://thenassauguardian.com/2018/05/30/vat-hike-to-12-percent/
*If you booked prior to the VAT increase, you should be able to have the original 7.5% VAT honored. https://thenassauguardian.com/2018/06/07/hotels-and-resorts-allowed-to-honor-prior-bookings-at-7-5-vat/
Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas participates in Marriott Rewards as follows:
- Points or Miles may be earned for reservations booked through www.marriott.com/atlantis or by calling 1-855-696-4732.
- Points or Miles will not be earned and Points cannot be redeemed for reservations booked through Atlantis Paradise Vacations, Atlantis.com, or AtlantisBahamas.com.
- Reward booking can be done online from Marriott website. You can also book stays with points advance (borrow points). The cancellation policy is normally 14 days in advance.Points may be redeemed for stays only by calling 1-855-696-4732. At this time, redemption stays cannot be booked online.
The Atlantis is made up of 4 towers that will participate for redemption stays. They are as follows:
Atlantis, Beach Tower - Do not participate in Marriott reward booking(?) (old Category 7)
Atlantis, Coral Towers - New Category 5 (35k) (old Category 8 (from March, 2018 https://www.marriott.com/marriott-rewards/use/category-update.mi)
Atlantis, Royal Towers - New Category 6 (50k) (old Category 8)
The Cove Atlantis - New Category 7 (60k) (old Category 9)
Apparently, you cannot redeem points for a stay at The Reef Atlantis, but you can earn points on a paid stay there.
Points are earned for room rate only. No points on incidental spend. Platinum Arrival Gift (PAG) is 500pts or food/drink amenity. $20 internet fee* is NOT waived for Gold/Plats per Marriott's T&Cs. For rooms that will have more than two people aged twelve or over, there is an "additional adult charge" per person. *For Royal, Coral, Beach Towers, internet is included as part of the daily resort fee of $50.
"For clarification purposes, the daily charge is not a resort fee. The additional charges associated with the stay currently include mandatory gratuities and a utility service fee per person per day. The amount can vary by unit type by building. These additional charges have always been in place at Atlantis."
ADDITIONAL CHARGES:
Guests of Atlantis, Harborside Resort, The Cove and The Reef Atlantis are subject to an 20% charge per night that includes taxes, the Paradise Island Tourism and Development Association levy, the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board levy and compensation for servicing your reservation. In addition, guests will be required to pay a mandatory gratuity and utility service fee of (i) up to $25.95 per person per day depending on unit type for Atlantis guests, (ii) up to $20.70 per person per day depending on unit type for Harborside Resort guests, and (iii) up to $65.95 per person per day depending on unit type for The Cove or The Reef Atlantis guests. If you purchase a pre-paid package these charges are already included in your package price. If you do not purchase a pre-paid package, these charges will be assessed upon check out at the property. Please be advised that all mandatory gratuities, taxes, levies and service fees are subject to change.
*If you booked prior to the VAT increase, you should be able to have the original 7.5% VAT honored. https://thenassauguardian.com/2018/06/07/hotels-and-resorts-allowed-to-honor-prior-bookings-at-7-5-vat/
Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas participates in Marriott Rewards as follows:
- Points or Miles may be earned for reservations booked through www.marriott.com/atlantis or by calling 1-855-696-4732.
- Points or Miles will not be earned and Points cannot be redeemed for reservations booked through Atlantis Paradise Vacations, Atlantis.com, or AtlantisBahamas.com.
- Reward booking can be done online from Marriott website. You can also book stays with points advance (borrow points). The cancellation policy is normally 14 days in advance.
Atlantis, Bahamas an Autograph Collection [Master Thread]
Jul 28, 2018, 1:25 pm
#301
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 63
Reward Stay @ Atlantis
Hi everyone. I am thinking of using the hotel portion of a MR Travel Package (Cat 8) at Atlantis, and have a few questions:
1) Do you recommend the Royal or Coral tower? I am allergic to cigarette smoke, so I'm not sure which tower is more smoke-free;
2) Above and beyond the points and incidentals (F&B), what am I paying for on-property? Is there a resort fee? Do I have to pay for the water park, aquarium, etc.?
3) As MR Platinum, should I expect any special treatment, or no?
Any and all insight you have on staying at Atlantis on points would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time.
Warm regards,
Pat
1) Do you recommend the Royal or Coral tower? I am allergic to cigarette smoke, so I'm not sure which tower is more smoke-free;
2) Above and beyond the points and incidentals (F&B), what am I paying for on-property? Is there a resort fee? Do I have to pay for the water park, aquarium, etc.?
3) As MR Platinum, should I expect any special treatment, or no?
Any and all insight you have on staying at Atlantis on points would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time.
Warm regards,
Pat
Jul 30, 2018, 6:53 pm
#302
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Silver, AA, WN, DL
Posts: 4,091
So I just called a Atlantis reservation number (305-671-2693, after being directed there by the main Marriott number) and they said there would be about $163 in charges per night for 4 people at the Royal. That seems like a lot, I was expecting some extra charges, but the extra $50 per person over 2 seems excessive. Is there any way around any of the charges? Thanks.
Edit: So it seems like a lot of people recently have had this experience, but didn't actually have to pay it at the resort. I didn't read too far back in the thread because the Atlantis phone rep said it was something new that they recently started. Any more experiences people have had there are welcome.
Edit: So it seems like a lot of people recently have had this experience, but didn't actually have to pay it at the resort. I didn't read too far back in the thread because the Atlantis phone rep said it was something new that they recently started. Any more experiences people have had there are welcome.
Hi everyone. I am thinking of using the hotel portion of a MR Travel Package (Cat 8) at Atlantis, and have a few questions:
1) Do you recommend the Royal or Coral tower? I am allergic to cigarette smoke, so I'm not sure which tower is more smoke-free;
2) Above and beyond the points and incidentals (F&B), what am I paying for on-property? Is there a resort fee? Do I have to pay for the water park, aquarium, etc.?
3) As MR Platinum, should I expect any special treatment, or no?
Any and all insight you have on staying at Atlantis on points would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time.
Warm regards,
Pat
1) Do you recommend the Royal or Coral tower? I am allergic to cigarette smoke, so I'm not sure which tower is more smoke-free;
2) Above and beyond the points and incidentals (F&B), what am I paying for on-property? Is there a resort fee? Do I have to pay for the water park, aquarium, etc.?
3) As MR Platinum, should I expect any special treatment, or no?
Any and all insight you have on staying at Atlantis on points would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time.
Warm regards,
Pat
Based on all the calls and chats to Atlantis and actual stay, here is what I can say:
- Atlantis allows maximum of 5 people per room; technically 4 adults and 1 child (age 4 and under).
- That said, the award rate allows you to have 2 adults and 2 (or 3) children in the room without extra fee. Any adult(s) over the 2 allowed will be $50/adult/night +tax. I don't suspect there's any way around that; even if you tried to sneak a couple of people in, the room key is programmed to indicate how many wristbands to be given out at the waterpark; and they do monitor that. There are people along the property that I saw would look for guests and their wristbands. No wristband means you are denied access to the waterpark along with parts of the hotel property during certain hours (I suspect during the "cruise ship" guest hours during the day). Casino is of course welcomed to all.
- They still charge a "resort fee" of $50+ night; which is unavoidable. This includes access to the water park/aquarium, 2 bottles of water/day, and high speed wifi internet access for up to 5 devices. If you need to switch devices, you will need to call the IT Helpdesk and give them the last 4 of your MAC address so they can remove it and allow another device to connect. Bottles of water can be collected at any store on the property (including gift shops and restaurants).
- As Gold, there were no benefits (though we did get a few extra certificates for bottles of water). No upgrades available; though to be fair, I did look up room availability during our time there and the place was sold out.
- When you book a room that specifies 2 Queens, I found that it would have a surcharge on the number of points. If you book a room that is "1 King OR 2 Queen", you are charged the standard number of points. Base on my conversations with the hotel, if you book 1K OR 2Q, and indicate you have more than 2 people in your room, they prioritize you to have a room with 2 Queens. However, if you wind up being unlucky and get 1 King, they will provide you a rollaway bed without a fee (there is no space for a rollaway in a standard 2Q room). So save yourself the points and just go with the 1K OR 2Q, unless you absolutely must have a confirmed 2 Queens.
- Prior to the Coral being upped to Cat 8, I would have said Coral since it was newly renovated and 1 category less. However, Coral never had regular room rate, it always required a premium for confirmed 2Q's. It made the total number of points even more expensive than Cat 8 Royal. I decided to just go with Royal using standard number of points.
- Now that they have made Coral into a Cat 8, go with the Royal; the Coral and Beach were built back in the 60's. The incredible (and it truly is incredible) lobby/aquarium is located in the Royal Tower. The Marina Village at Atlantis (food/shops) is closer to Beach and Coral though.
- Waterpark closed at 7PM, even though there was still plenty of sunlight (July; don't know if seasonal hours).
- Water rides (like the 60 foot slide) requires minimum 48"; some rides allow adults to accompany child if they are shorter, but those are mainly for the tube rides.
- Room wise, nothing to write home about. It looks like a regular hotel room with tropical motifs.
- If you take a shuttle, you can pay an additional $10-$15 for a stop at the local supermarket to get groceries. We bought a couple jugs of water and drinks at the grocery store; I originally felt embarrassed having to haul the bags from the grocery store; until I saw multiple bell hops carting 2 or 3 cases of water from other incoming guests (then I didn't feel so ridiculous).
- It is true that food is expensive there: $11 for a can of Spam; $8 for a small plastic container of strawberries; $6 for 1/2 gallon of milk. You can save a few bucks if you want to slum it and bring some noodles/cereal for breakfast/lunch/dinner. That's obviously a personal preference.
- The minifridge in the room is one of those automated ones, so you cannot just empty it out and stash your own stuff. Minifridge rentals are available for $15/day.
- Gratuity is baked into everything you buy/order. All restaurants have tip included.
- There is a meal plan option; however, the cheapest is $85/adult/night + gratuity, and you must purchase it for your entire stay. That alone made it a deal breaker for us as 3 adults would have racked up over $2,100 in food alone (and that was the cheapest plan with 2 meals/day). https://www.atlantisbahamas.com/dining/diningplans
- The service was hit and miss. Met some with great service, and some who were indifferent.
- There are a lot of "excursion" activities that cost money; so depending on your budget and interest, it can add up. Do make reservations at least a few days in advance (prior to arrival is even better). We were unable to book an activity for the little ones 3 days out because they were all booked. This may not be an issue during low season, but for first week of July, it was certainly busy.
- If you eat off-site (less than 10 minute walk past the property) at Anthony's, it is a little bit cheaper. There's also a tiny market and Dunkin Donuts in the same shopping plaza.
- Taking a cab back to Nassau is around $20; ferry is $5/person and you will wait for a long time (up to 20 minutes or more) unless you time it just right and you are one of the last ones to board and the ferry leaves full.
- We limited ourselves to being mainly on the resort, and one day off site. We weren't particularly interested in going elsewhere since the little ones just wanted to play all day at the waterpark.
- As mentioned here, Comfort Suites is a viable alternative if one is looking for a cheaper point of entry to the waterpark. However, for Beach Tower, I did see rates as low as $180/night + resort fee, so may not be all that different.
One last item: if anyone is wondering if I would go back, the answer is yes. It certainly is a matter of perspective, but given that my kids were too small to go on the rides, they want to go back when they are tall/old enough and I think it is worth it.The resort grounds itself is amazing and the waterpark/pools/beach are great fun. The kids saw stingrays, hammerhead sharks, sawfish, sea turtles, all while walking the grounds. That doesn't even include the aquarium and underwater tunnels.
I know that the place is expensive, but I consider the property to be more than just a resort with pools. It is a property that has to also pay for specialists in maintaining aquariums, marine animals, waterpark, etc. That means there is a higher overhead; so I am sympathetic to the additional cost involved. Now that I have been there, I can say I see why. But if one doesn't value those things, it's also understandable why it's not worth it.
Aug 1, 2018, 4:41 pm
#304
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Silver, AA, WN, DL
Posts: 4,091
Aug 13, 2018, 10:16 pm
#305
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 5
Award stay for family of 4 questions
Can anyone confirm???
We tried booking the 160,000 point 1 king or 2 queen for the family of 4 based on the prioritzation of queen being given to larger groups. The app wouldn't let me book so I called Autograph Reservations and although I told her we had a family of 4, she booked me as a single now that I looked at my confirmation.
She said that she can't book party of 4, but she can put in the notes that there's 4 of us. She said that as the kids are 14 and 17, we'll have to pay $50 per night per kid in addition to the $50 per day resort fee and $5 per person per day for housekeeping. Does this all sound right or is it as crazy as I think it is. The 5 nights free will cost $900 and I may only get a king room for the 4 of us.
Any thoughts or advice are appreciated. The information and lack of knowledge from each person I speak with at Marriott is astounding.
We tried booking the 160,000 point 1 king or 2 queen for the family of 4 based on the prioritzation of queen being given to larger groups. The app wouldn't let me book so I called Autograph Reservations and although I told her we had a family of 4, she booked me as a single now that I looked at my confirmation.
She said that she can't book party of 4, but she can put in the notes that there's 4 of us. She said that as the kids are 14 and 17, we'll have to pay $50 per night per kid in addition to the $50 per day resort fee and $5 per person per day for housekeeping. Does this all sound right or is it as crazy as I think it is. The 5 nights free will cost $900 and I may only get a king room for the 4 of us.
Any thoughts or advice are appreciated. The information and lack of knowledge from each person I speak with at Marriott is astounding.
Aug 14, 2018, 11:36 am
#306
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Silver, AA, WN, DL
Posts: 4,091
Can anyone confirm???
We tried booking the 160,000 point 1 king or 2 queen for the family of 4 based on the prioritzation of queen being given to larger groups. The app wouldn't let me book so I called Autograph Reservations and although I told her we had a family of 4, she booked me as a single now that I looked at my confirmation.
She said that she can't book party of 4, but she can put in the notes that there's 4 of us. She said that as the kids are 14 and 17, we'll have to pay $50 per night per kid in addition to the $50 per day resort fee and $5 per person per day for housekeeping. Does this all sound right or is it as crazy as I think it is. The 5 nights free will cost $900 and I may only get a king room for the 4 of us.
Any thoughts or advice are appreciated. The information and lack of knowledge from each person I speak with at Marriott is astounding.
We tried booking the 160,000 point 1 king or 2 queen for the family of 4 based on the prioritzation of queen being given to larger groups. The app wouldn't let me book so I called Autograph Reservations and although I told her we had a family of 4, she booked me as a single now that I looked at my confirmation.
She said that she can't book party of 4, but she can put in the notes that there's 4 of us. She said that as the kids are 14 and 17, we'll have to pay $50 per night per kid in addition to the $50 per day resort fee and $5 per person per day for housekeeping. Does this all sound right or is it as crazy as I think it is. The 5 nights free will cost $900 and I may only get a king room for the 4 of us.
Any thoughts or advice are appreciated. The information and lack of knowledge from each person I speak with at Marriott is astounding.
I do not believe that it is $5/person/day for housekeeping. It should be per day only. I have had conversations with agents that would confuse per day with per person as well as per person per day (resort fee was once mentioned to me as per person per day, which the agent meant per day).
It was hit and miss with booking via website; some days it worked, some days it didn't. I also had an issue with number of occupants in my booking; it didn't reflect the additional adult and 2 kids, for some reason it only showed 2 adults. I called Marriott and had them update the reservation; the change was not reflected on the website so I called back and they mentioned it was noted in the reservation. To be absolutely certain, I called the resort reservation directly and had them pull up my reservation, and the Atlantis agent was able to confirm that the additional occupants were noted. Upon check in, there were no issues.
I will also note that the Marriott website reservation number is not the same as the reservation number used by the Atlantis property; so it may be necessary to find that number separately.
Depending on when you are staying, and whether it is a big deal to stay onsite, it may be better to save the points and take a look at Comfort Suites. The rate is typically less than Beach Tower and no additional occupant charge unless over age of 16, so you save an additional $50/night.
Oct 11, 2018, 12:32 am
#309
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: JRF
Programs: AA Gold, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, National Executive Elite
Posts: 1,784
If staying 4 nights as Total Rewards Diamond, any chance the property will do anything for Plat Premiers? I take it will count as if I booked through an OTA?
Also, how poorly treated are the dolphins in captivity? Is it enough to make the entire stay depressing?
Also, how poorly treated are the dolphins in captivity? Is it enough to make the entire stay depressing?
Oct 22, 2018, 1:24 pm
#310
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
Same exact question.....except the part about the dolphins
Nov 9, 2018, 6:31 pm
#313
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 989
Hi guys, does anyone know why the Beach Towers are no longer available for points booking via marriott? Also, the Coral towers don’t seem to have any award availability either for standard rooms when it’s a one night stay. But is definitely available for stays of 2 nights or more. Is there a trick so I can use my annual free night (35,000) here?
Last edited by babypuwet; Nov 10, 2018 at 8:31 pm
Dec 9, 2018, 6:52 am
#314
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
Checked in yesterday....
I didn't push for any benefits, but i did push for how our reservations are handled
The check in person and the casino host had the same answer, so......
Basically we are checked in as a "Casino guest" so, we aren't a guest at the hotel, we are just occupying the room
No benefits - I was also told that benefits are the result of a paid stay (either $$ or points) but between being comped the room and being a guest of the Casino, that they don't provide any normal Marriott Autograph benefits
One thing that irked me is they put a $450 hold on my CC (I don't care about the hold per se, but $450, I think that is a bit steep but oh well)
I am oddly fine with this - other than the fact the prices are literally stupid for stuff - but you do get 2 free bottle of water daily - that saves you like $7 a day LOL
Wifi is surprisingly fast
Thats all I got - enjoy your stay
Dec 10, 2018, 4:32 am
#315
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 222
Checked in yesterday....
I didn't push for any benefits, but i did push for how our reservations are handled
The check in person and the casino host had the same answer, so......
Basically we are checked in as a "Casino guest" so, we aren't a guest at the hotel, we are just occupying the room
No benefits - I was also told that benefits are the result of a paid stay (either $$ or points) but between being comped the room and being a guest of the Casino, that they don't provide any normal Marriott Autograph benefits
One thing that irked me is they put a $450 hold on my CC (I don't care about the hold per se, but $450, I think that is a bit steep but oh well)
I am oddly fine with this - other than the fact the prices are literally stupid for stuff - but you do get 2 free bottle of water daily - that saves you like $7 a day LOL
Wifi is surprisingly fast
Thats all I got - enjoy your stay
I didn't push for any benefits, but i did push for how our reservations are handled
The check in person and the casino host had the same answer, so......
Basically we are checked in as a "Casino guest" so, we aren't a guest at the hotel, we are just occupying the room
No benefits - I was also told that benefits are the result of a paid stay (either $$ or points) but between being comped the room and being a guest of the Casino, that they don't provide any normal Marriott Autograph benefits
One thing that irked me is they put a $450 hold on my CC (I don't care about the hold per se, but $450, I think that is a bit steep but oh well)
I am oddly fine with this - other than the fact the prices are literally stupid for stuff - but you do get 2 free bottle of water daily - that saves you like $7 a day LOL
Wifi is surprisingly fast
Thats all I got - enjoy your stay