“Beautiful resort, lot’s to do”

Full review of our 5 night stay at The Reef. Went on an impromptu trip for my birthday from Feb 26- Mar 3. It was me, my mom, and my 6 year old son. Husband and 2 year old stayed behind in Boston due to my husband’s limited vacation time and my 2 year old unreliability on airplanes/ in life in g… more

Full review of our 5 night stay at The Reef. Went on an impromptu trip for my birthday from Feb 26- Mar 3. It was me, my mom, and my 6 year old son. Husband and 2 year old stayed behind in Boston due to my husband’s limited vacation time and my 2 year old unreliability on airplanes/ in life in general (we’re in the throws of terrible two’s). Quick and easy flight but customs line looked bleak as we walked up, though I would say was only 45 min. Got a transfer both ways with Sandra’a Transportation which was $65 each way for the 3 of us and was prompt and easy peasy. At the Reef I had emailed and asked for 2 queen beds and they noted my request but of course at check in was told that the best they can do is a cot.. womp womp, didn’t particularly want to spend my 42nd birthday sleeping that. They also said the would not have a room with 2 beds available for the duration of our trip so we had to make due and did some couch/bed swaps, there were a few sleepless nights of being punched in the face by a little tornado all night. I wanted to get a suite but the only reason we got a single room was because of the double beds 😩 On a positive note the room was on the 22nd floor and had excellent views. In general I enjoyed the hotel, housekeeping did a good job, everything worked so nothing to complain about. Elevators are very fast and there is no wait time. I did ask for an extra hour at check out (at 12) and they said that would cost $165 (eye roll) The heated pools were such a plus, because the unheated ones were definitely chilly, the ocean was quite nice though and the water and beach are excellent. We LOVED the rapids river, must have gone down in at least 8 times. There are so many pools which were fun to explore, I don’t think we ever made it all the way down to the other side of the resort. The Dig was very impressive. I thought it would be one small tunnel but it’s a massive and beautiful aquarium, so much better than our Boston one and we were the only ones there when we walked through. I absolutely loved it. The resort is gorgeous and manicured. Get ready to do a lot of walking. My son had a rolling backpack as his carry on and we ended up using that to get our stuff around, it was glorious. If you’re at the Reef there is no easy going back to the room so you had to bring whatever you needed with you which was quite a bit for us and my shoulder killed after the first day. There are many different shuttles but they all have their stops written on the side so take a look before getting on. Generally the waits were not long though some shuttles were packed. My biggest gripe is the food. It definitely put a damper on the trip. The prices are high for sure but it’s more the quality/ availability/ options that got to me. From the Reef everything is FAR. If you’re hungry you either have to make a trek somewhere or get Starbucks? And options there are very limited. I was just very tired of pizza and burgers which are not my general go to. We also all got something by the end of the trip that we are still recovering from, nothing horrible but definitely some kind of a stomach bug. We did 2 dinners that required reservations and played it by ear the rest of the time. Chopstix was not a favorite. For an almost $200 dinner (my son did not eat) for 2 it was very blah. My moms tiger praws were great but everything else was tasteless. The space is pretty lackluster as well. On my actual birthday we went to Fish and the ambience there was much much better. Very pretty and very close to the Reef which was a big plus. My cocktail (apollo no. 3) was good as was the Pulpo. My mom had some kind of fish and the presentation was ehh, she said the taste was good but not for the price. The ceviche was probably the worst I’ve had, no flavor at all. Got my son the butter noodles and it was literally a bowl of the blandest elbow macaroni and nothing else for $15. It was definitely sad looking. But overall enjoyed dinner, came to about $250. Our total for the stay was $865 I believe (with the $225 credit) so right where I thought we would be. The tipping machine drive me nuts, no way am I typically tipping $6 at Shake Shack for like a Shake and 2 burgers. You feel like a scumbag if you put zero but it feels like you’re being taken advantage of otherwise. Also the water.. pretty yucky. We brought a brita bottle and I assumed we could use it as a filter only to find out the filter is on the straw and you couldn’t pour the filtered water out. Water at the resort is not cheap- got a fairly small cardboard bottle at the store and it was $10.. I was like whaaaat?! I love the idea of the reusable bottles they give, I just wish they had good tasting water. The Brita bottle did work at eliminating the taste. Loved the global entry/ tsa pre check at the airport before getting on the plane. Generally everything was simple but the lounge was full and the wait at Wendy’s took forever. Seating was also limited and our flight was delayed a few times but not too terribly. Overall I enjoyed the trip a lot but I think I prefer all inclusives with my kids, just easier while they are little. We might be back in a few years.

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“Beautiful Resort with Expensive Restaurants.”

The Reef is a very beautiful hotel with excellent pools and beaches. Hotel desk needs training. Atlantis is comprised of several hotels. Not all hotels have restaurants or stores. The Reef had just a Starbucks and a small convenience store. NO RESTAURANT. The nearby Cove had four restaurants, but a… more

The Reef is a very beautiful hotel with excellent pools and beaches. Hotel desk needs training. Atlantis is comprised of several hotels. Not all hotels have restaurants or stores. The Reef had just a Starbucks and a small convenience store. NO RESTAURANT. The nearby Cove had four restaurants, but a bit of a walk. All resort restaurants where very pricey and all cashless. Room service at the Reef was poor. We had baked pizzas one night and raw burgers another. The bargain places to eat are the snack shacks located at most hotel pools, beaches, and water park. The food and drink prices were very reasonable. The snack shack waiters and waitress's were vey nice and quick. Again it is all cashless.

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