The last word I'd use to describe Atlantis is "cheesy." IMHO, it is absolutley gorgeous. Now, it's not that undeveloped island natural beauty, but it is an incredible, man-made, themed resort.

The Coral Towers are most central, and the Beach Towers furthest away. The Royal Towers have slightly larger rooms, and the grandest lobby architecture.

Your kids will have a blast, and adults can find the slides fun too! However, do you think your kids would get bored being at a "water park" for 5 days? My son, who was around 11, got a little restless after 3. He loves "touring" and cannot sit in the sun or play in a pool all day. My 13 year-old daughter could have stayed another week! The Dig aquarium is really cool, and my son loved exploring the various aquarium displays through-out the property.

The breakfast was very expensive. About $12 for continental, and $20 for buffet. Lunch poolside was about $10-$15 per person. Murray's Deli was always a better deal for any meal! The dinners ran about what you'd expect for a resort: $20-$35 per adult entree.

If you can afford it, I think it's a fantastic family trip.

Hi, i stayed at the atlantis twice on my husband's company's dime. The first year, we stayed in the royal towers in a room overlooking the beach/pools. All meals in the cheap or moderate restaurants were paid for, though 2 of the more inexpensive restaurants ( one chinese and an italian) were pretty terrible. Overall, had a nice experience, though definitely more disney than private caribbean villa. The second year, i guess the company wasn't doing as well, so we were put up in the coral towers, in a room overlooking a construction site out front (not overlooking beach), and meals for spouses were not included. Since we had to pay for my meals, i noticed the quality of the food and it was not worth paying money for. The deli was a reasonable option, as were the poolside snack bars. There was a very nice restaurant at the sister resort up the beach - on the other side of the sheraton. It was called the Ocean Club (not Beach Club, which is even worse than the coral towers) and was much more upscale and serene than the main property at atlantis. The Ocean club had a country club feel (expensive!), had its own pool and beach, however guests could either walk to the atlantis beach and pools (LONG) or take a shuttlebus. I would definitely go to the Ocean Club for a 5 night stay, and would probably get one of the meal plans (though note that the cheaper meal plans do not cover meals at the better restaurants) so i did not have to worry about the cost of meals once i got there - takes the fun out of it. karen

Just like schmerl, we loved Atlantis and would go back, without our teenage son. Yes, the food is expensive, but we brought water and snacks and found places that were more reasonable than others (like the deli or walking into town and eating). Atlantis is not cheesey (and I've been to Vegas 7 times, Atlantic City once, and Niaraga Falls 3 times) - more like the better parts of Vegas. There are lots to do - but I wouldn't stay for a week unless swimming/beaches are your thing. We are such an active family when we travel (love history), that 4 days is plenty. We took a snorkel trip (booked through Atlantis's sports desk) that was fabulous. So, go and enjoy yourselves!

Tina, do you remember the name of the company that you booked with for the fabulous snorkel trip that you wrote about? Also, does anyone know how far in advance you can book the restaurants? We aill be going in April?

I dont think Atlantis is cheesy at all. In fact that was the best resort I've EVER been to, and believe me, I've been to A LOT. I thought the whole thing was just incredible, and a thousand times better than..pfft..Las Vegas Hotels.

Like Robert, we were in the Bahamas for our honeymoon in the 70s. At the time Atlantis was the Britannia Beach and very exclusive. It had one of the few 5 star restaurants in the world on site. One of the James Bond movies was filmed on location in the restaurant area and the lagoon.
Disneyfication has changed many people's ideas of travel, what to expect and what to see.

Yes, travel and expectations have changed drastically over the past 30 years. Just for kicks I did a google search to see how many times the words Atlantis and tacky or cheesy came up together (with Bahamas included to weed out some of the unrelated material). Quite a few people have chosen those descriptors when detailing their opinions about Atlantis.

There's no right or wrong. Some people detest Domino's pizza, some love it.
Some people buy Pontiac Azteks.
Look up opinions about Olive Garden. Or WalMart. Some topics really divide people. Atlantis seems to be one of them.
(But while Atlantis does not fit the dictionary definition of cheesy (meaning cheap or shoddy) I don't think many people would call it classy or elegant either).