Best Hotels in the Bahamas

Bringing tranquility to otherwise-crowded Paradise Island, the 105-room Ocean Club's personal butlers, beautiful pools (one for adults, one for families), restaurant from Jean-Georges, and access to Atlantis' water park, casino, and other attractions make it one of the Caribbean's best resorts. In 2010, beachfront rooms in the Crescent Wing were remodeled, but its smaller standard rooms, and, at times, less fawning service can be disappointing for the price.

It's the top lodging on Grand Bahama -- immaculate grounds; great beds; convenient, scenic location, and a spa and fitness center (which were renovated in 2011). Given that the entire complex has about 1,300 rooms -- it can take 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other -- there's a wide range of rooms, features, and dining options, but it can feel a bit impersonal.

Brimming with activities for kids and teens, Atlantis is a veritable Caribbean Disneyland. In addition to all the basics -- babysitting, cribs, rollaway beds, kids' club -- the resort has 11 spectacular pools (including several kids' pools), a 141-acre water park, a speedway for racing remote control cars, and a marine habitat with sharks, stingrays, and dolphins to swim alongside -- and that's just a small sample of all the attractions. In addition, for teens, Atlantis has an elaborate shopping center, a rock-climbing wall, teen-focused spa treatments like "Acne-attack" facials, an under-18 nightclub, and, on occasion, a pop-star concert of the Jonas Brothers variety.