ChumpireFanzine
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First things first: 1 dollar = 1 Bahamian dollar.||It was our first visit to the Bahamas. We are not resort people. We chose this hotel based on what we read and saw at a “booking” site. The location seemed good, too. What did we know?||Now we know. We enjoyed our stay. ||Everything you need is 100-200 yards from your room: swimming pool; dining room; honor bar; lending library; board games and puzzles; ladder golf; and beach.|Your kitchen/fridge amenities will depend on your room. ||If you plan an extended stay, here is what we learned. A 700 liquid refreshment shop is an easy 1/3-mile walk away to the east in the Caves commercial center. They have water, beer, soda and liquor at reasonable prices (take a bag). Groceries are a #10 jitney ride (have dollar bills and quarters for bus fare) to the east on Bay Street. Let the driver know uou want to go to Quality Supermarket. They will take care of you. A bus stop to get back to the hotel is in front of the supermarket. Take #10 and let the driver know you are going to Orange Hill. ||The breakfast and lunch menus are fixed. We enjoyed the food we ordered. The kitchen staff has been there for a while. They take pride in their food. The dinner menu can change daily. They have a QR code so you can see what is available after 4pm. We enjoyed our dinners, too. ||The honor bar is self-serve and you mark what you pulled from the fridge. They offer soda, water and beer. If you want wine or mixed drinks or fancier beer, ask a server. Coffee is free and available all day long. Food and drink get charged to your room. 10% tax and 15% tip will be added. That is ok. You will see it all when they print your bill. Fair is fair. And their prices are reasonable.||They offer beach towels. The beach across the street is pleasant. The water is wonderful. You may spot little crabs on the beach and critters in the water. We saw much more sea life when we hit Love Beach (2 miles west). Still, you have a beach RIGHT THERE. They have a rinse-off shower at the top of the stairs that lead to the office/dining room/bar. ||We did not use the pool. We were in cottage 1, right at the entrance, steps from the beach. The pool looked good. ||We booked studio. They offered a cottage upgrade at a reduced upcharge. We took it. Cottage one is a big room with a full kitchen, four-burner stove and all. There are dishes, utensils and pots and pans to use. You get a king bed, a table with two chairs, two nightstands, two lamps, a closet, a ceiling fan, a/c, TV, a shelf/desk and a small balcony with tiny table and two chairs. The balcony view is great. You see people, traffic and the ocean. We loved it. There is a room safe to use at $2/night. We used it. The bathroom has plenty of shelf space and a tub/shower. |Our wish for cottage 1 would be for dressers and more/brighter lights. We made do. ||The people at the front desk will take care of you. All you need to do is ask. They can arrange taxis and help with tours. The staff will do a room refresh daily for towels and restock necessities as needed. You will have to wash your own dishes. With your own dish soap. It is only fair. ||We are not fancy travelers. If the decor is “dated”, so what? The most important thing is that it is not broken.||You are in a sweet spot. Your taxi to/from the airport will run $30 or so. It depends on the driver. Your jitney rides will run $1.50-2 per person. It depends on where you go. The driver will tell you what you owe. As stated earlier, have $1 bills and quarters on hand. They can make change, but not from big bills. |If you go west, you will find bars and restaurants in a cluster about a mile down Bay Street. Love Beach and Nirvana Bar are 2 miles west - the end of the line for #10. |If you go east, you have so much to see. #10 reaches the end of its run in the tourist zone of Nassau proper. There is a block of Frederick Street that is an informal bus temrinal. Other routes will take you on East Bay Street to Montagu Beach, Atlantis, etc. We never used other routes. Taxis are pricey. Use them to get to and from the airport. Anywhere else, prepare to empty your wallet. ||We were very happy with our stay. We had good weather. We hit the beach. We learned that there is so much you can do between the hotel and downtown Nassau via jitney - in the daytime. We will stay here again. We saw many people use the hotel as a stop on the way to and from other islands since it is close to the airport. They keep coming back because it is good.
