Meliá Nassau Resort, Bahamas

Property Type – 4 Star

Property Category – Modern, Resort

Address – West Bay Street, Nassau, New Providence Island (Formerly Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort & Casino)

Room Type We Stayed In – Level Room Beachfront but we got upgraded to Level Junior Suite

Experience

Let me start by thanking Trip-Advisor for all the reviews that suggested to book a “Level” Room otherwise our 5-year anniversary celebrations could have been a disaster. Maybe the word “disaster” sounds a lot but honestly speaking this Hotel has tons of issues! This is nowhere a 4-Star property, I would rather call it a 3-Star.

We went there for 5 days starting 25^th Feb till 1^st March. Room cost per night during that season was USD 700.00 for “Level” room, same as Atlantis. There were 2 main reasons why we chose Melia?

1. It has better beach than Atlantis and is an “All Inclusive” property what we needed with a 14 months’ toddler.
2. All cruises stop around Atlantis and they can buy one day pass for full day access to Atlantis, that makes resort more of a fish market during day time.

This was our first beach holiday with our 14 months’ boy who is still exploring food hence we decided to stick to an “All Inclusive” resort. So the choices were Sandals, Warwick Hotel, RIU and Melia. Sandals and Warwick both are Adults property so that narrowed down to Melia or RIU. We decided to go ahead with Melia and booked a “Level” room.

Here I am sharing all positives and Negatives of Melia Nassau “Level” Room.

Positives

1. The Level rooms offer a wide range of superior services and facilities exclusive to guests staying at “The Level”. Such as, access to The Level Beach Area, The Level Lounge and iMac Business Center access as well as private check-in.
2. The Level guests also receive preferential bookings at the restaurants, an expanded choice of premium top shelf liquors throughout the resort, room service, The Level bathrobe/slippers etc. Beds were very comfortable. Landscaping and pools were great too.
3. Level guests can enjoy exclusive Continental breakfast at The Level Lounge, Exclusive Hot prepared breakfast at O’ Grille beachfront restaurant. You can also enjoy breakfast at Marketplace which has possibly got everything you can think of.
4. Now talking about restaurants & hotel services, Tapas Bar was extremely busy throughout our stay and waiting time was 1 hour. Thanks to the manager who was very helpful and literally sneaked some snacks and juices for us.
5. Oh!! One more thing, I also wanted some oranges for baby but all the Resort restaurants dint have any oranges so I requested one of their room service guy who bought me few oranges from the market for our baby.
6. Food is good and had European influence. Level guests had exclusive beach area with superior chaise lounges where we had room service available throughout the day. Food and drinks were served all day at the beach. No local sellers could sell their stuff at Level beach area which was another great thing and gives you more peaceful time.
7. Also, our room had extremely poor WIFI but after complaining they installed a router in our room and the matter was resolved same day.

Negatives

Here is the list of Negatives and why I would not choose this resort again!!

1. Though we had exclusive Level check in, we still had to wait for nearly 30-45 minutes which was ridiculous with tired and hungry toddler and a long flight. It was not even busy but they only had one person at check in. We checked in at 3 PM which is supposed to be peak hours so technically check in staff should be double really!
2. Tapas bar always had one hour or more waiting time and then food is not really worth waiting. It looks great but does not taste that great in Tapas bar.
3. Hotel is definitely not clean as per 4 star standards. Carpet has got marks and needs complete makeover. Hotel desperately needs renovation considering its per night cost! First impression as we entered hallway leading to our room was actually horrifying but thank god for the decent room which kept our hope alive for remaining 5 days.
4. Music is very LOUD! You can hear the music even in your room. If you are looking for relaxing calm holiday, then this hotel is certainly not for you. Also, forget about having cup of tea or reading a book in the balcony as its too noisy due to Music.
5. Yes, there is room service and food available for level guests throughout the day but it took them 2.5 hours to serve Burrito and after all that wait, they brought us chicken wrap by mistake!
6. As we both are non-alcoholics, we requested the bartender a Virgin Mojito but they had no Mint. We kept asking for 5 days but they had no mint for the whole time we stayed in the hotel. I mean which resort or island hotel won’t have mint?
7. We booked our dinner at Aqua restaurant for 7 PM but the lady at the restaurant entrance could not find our reservation and told us our table is reserved for 8.30 PM. I was literally surprised that who decided our dinner time when we had confirmed reservation for 7 PM. She actually wasted few minutes unpleasantly discussing this and then said no problem our restaurant is vacant so it’s okay and you guys are welcome! This was a sucker moment as she literally spoiled the mood before dinner. I mean was all those questions/discussions really required? Servers were lazy, expression less and thankless in Aqua but food was nice. However the saving grace was their serving manager, he saw Veeru had dozed off so he arranged two chairs together and brought a blanket and pillows, that was really very kind and sweet of him.

In regards to Hotel location, its nearly 15 minutes bus ride from downtown. We took bus number 10 outside Hotel and went to Downtown, visited Junkanoo beach and tried Bahamas famous restaurant “Fish Fry”. My husband had Jerk chicken where as I ordered snapper and conch salad which was delicious. Of course, I ended my meal with Caribbean rum cake. There is a juice shop opposite hotel where they make fresh juices and smoothies. That was the best thing as we are non-alcoholic and our 14 months’ toddler love having smoothie or juice every day. We paid USD 5.00 per glass but it was all worth. It’s located in the straw market where you can also pick up Bahamian souvenirs and help supporting local business.

So based on all above, I can definitely say – It’s a NO GO for my family!

The Breakdown

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