Here's part of a very long trip report I completed last week. If anyone is interested in the entire report which is too long to clog up this board, or wants to see some 100 plus pictures of GBI, go to my amateur website at http://www.fortunecity.com/oasis/bahia/443/index.htm <BR>Hope it helps someone planning on a trip to GBI.<BR><BR>Danny<BR><BR>GBI Vacation Trip Report, February 2002 <BR> <BR>We just got back from our 8 day trip to Grand Bahama Island. This was our 17th year visiting GBI and we love it as much as always. This will be an extensive report so if you are reading it you may want to look for specifics on things which interest you. I'll be covering the Our Lucaya Resort extensively, the Port Lucaya Marketplace and Marina, the Bahamia Resort (soon to be Royal Oasis Golf Resort and Casino), some restaurants, and a few other tidbits learned while there.<BR><BR>Our Lucaya Resort<BR><BR>This place is truly beautiful. The grounds are amazingly landscaped and kept immaculate by the staff. There are three hotels that constitute the resort - Reef Village, Breaker's Cay and Lighthouse Point. All are nice but grouped by price from high end to low end are Lighthouse Point, Breaker's Cay and Reef Village. Lighthouse Point is the hotel most isolated from the hustle and bustle of the entire resort. It is up on the far end of Port Lucaya next to the Port Lucaya marina channel coming in from the Atlantic. It's a completely refurbished hotel, formerly the Lucayan Resort and Casino. However, about the only thing left from the old resort is the Lighthouse and the hotel room area. Even the hotel rooms are virtually new, since they nearly stripped everything to the bone and rebuilt. Prices are higher here, and whether or not it is intended to be this way, I include the Lanai Suites as part of Lighthouse Point. Those go for $1,500 bucks a night and include a butler. Better have big bucks to rent these babies. The regular rooms are not nearly as expensive but are more than the other two hotels. There are two pools here, the Infinity and a lap pool. The Infinity is not a phony name. When you are in it you cannot tell you are not in the ocean. Amazing engineering. Waves Bar and Grill is located here also, along with a Jacuzzi. The Senses Spa is also part of Lighthouse Point and have so many different kinds of massages and body treatments I couldn't even begin to describe them. There is also an extensive exercise room here used by all hotel guests.

I beg to differ with regard to Our Lucaya. It was recommended to us and it is a place I will never return to. I have never had such poor service like I had at Our Lucaya. The check in at the Manor House for the Breakers Cay took forever (1 hour). The brochures tell you that they have a heated pool at Breakers Cay, well guess what when the temperatures are in the 60's- their 70 degree pool doesnt cut it. Their hot tubs were not hot. We actually got in them to try to warm up and to do some outside activities and we were literally shivering. I did complain 2 times about the temps of the facilities but nothing was done about it. I wont deny thatthe grounds are beautiful and the Bahamians are friendly but no doubt about it they expect a 20% tip. It is very annoying to me that no matter where we ate on the island they charge you a 15% service charge- and out of 7 days I did not have 1 dinner with good service and then they stand over you while you sign your bill to make you feel guilty about giving them more of a tip. Upon leaving the island they charge each person a $18 dept tax, 12% fee and $7.50/person/day at the hotel. Anyway, from now on if I want a caribean vacation I will vacation in the Keys

If you want a caribbean vacation, why not go to the caribbean not to islands in the Atlantic Ocean?

Pardon me, I should have said "caribbean like" vacation. Thank you for correcting me on my ignorance.

Sorry Lori, but for the record I disagree with most of your comments. Not one time, not once, did we experience anyone hanging over our shoulders expecting more in the way of a tip and we were there for 8 days. The $18 departure tax is at the airport and your comment seems to indicate it was associated with the hotel. It is not. We were on a golf package and therefore the 12% fee and service charges were included, but those charges are in effect at all Bahamian hotels, especially the 12% tax. Some choose to include it in the room rates and others, actually most, do not, unless you are on a package deal that includes the charge. Sorry you had a bad trip, but I do not agree with you. We ate at Willy Broadleaf's several times, Churchill's Chop Shop once, and Barracuda's a couple of times. No problems with staff in any way shape or form. If you read my trip report (further down the board), you know I complained about service at the Prop Club and China Beach, but didn't eat at China Beach. Even the Prop Club wasn't something that would lead me to condemn the resort. Something makes me think your major peeve is the fact the tips are included on all bills, and that ticks off many people. That's something that is also true in almost every restaurant on the island. Not good, but that's the way they do business. 70 degree water temperatures, by the way, are almost sauna level for those of us in the Northeast U.S. where the ocean temps rarely reach 70, and the jacuzzis were actually too HOT the day we wanted to go in, not too cold. They have their problems at Our Lucaya, but I don't think they rate the condemnation indicated in your reponse, but we are both entitled to our opinions.<BR><BR>Danny