My husband, Ian, and I were lucky enough to travel to Nassau, Bahamas a couple weekends ago to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary. It was a very last minute decision, so we didn’t have a whole lot of time to plan out the trip. And although, swimming with pigs in Exuma is a TOTAL bucket list item of mine, trying to navigate travel to those remote islands would have taken a full day out of our already short, 4-day vacation. So Nassau it was! In the end, we chose to book our accommodations at Baha Mar, which turned out to be the best decision ever.
Our original intent had been to, obviously, get out of the resort for part of the time and actually SEE THE BAHAMAS, right? However, the weather had other plans to “rain on our parade”, LITERALLY. It was stormy and rainy for two out of the four days that we were there, so we ended up being more confined to the resort than we’d initially planned. And by “more confined”, I mean we legitimately never left it. But luckily, we chose the right resort to be confined to. It ended up being one of the most fun four days that my husband and I have had in a while. And not to brag here, but we have A LOT of fun together on a very regular basis. 🙂
The fact that we had such a great time, in spite of the rain and us not getting to actually explore the Bahamas, was totally thanks to Baha Mar. The resort had pretty much everything we could have ever wanted or needed in order to have a great time. Which is why I decided to write up a blog post on all things Baha Mar! I think it makes an amazing resort to call ‘home base’ if you are ever considering vacationing to Nassau in the Bahamas. Also, side note, ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ were at Baha Mar in their last episode and will also be there in tonight’s episode. So, tune in to watch if you want more information about the resort than what I give you. I have, however, put together as detailed a guide as I possibly could, containing all of the best places to eat, drink, swim and relax, mixed in with some personal re-capping of my husband and I’s adventures while we were there.
day 1 –
Okay, so we arrived in Nassau, Bahamas on Wednesday, February 13th around 4:30 pm. Quick side note, flying into the island, we had just missed a thunderstorm that had rolled in, so outside the windows of the airplane we could see all of the dark, stormy rain clouds in the distance. It was eerily magical looking, and then, right in the middle of it all, I spotted a giant double rainbow. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen a rainbow from up in the clouds, but it’s even more beautiful than seeing it on the ground. So, if that isn’t the way to start a trip, then I don’t know what is!
Getting to the resort:
Once we’d landed, arranging travel from the Nassau airport to Baha Mar was an absolute breeze. We didn’t have any travel pre-arranged with our resort, so we were banking on figuring it out once we’d landed. Can you tell we aren’t very diligent planners? But, within seconds of walking out of the airport, you will see a plethora of taxis parked directly out front for you to choose from. Piece of cake! It also took less than 15 minutes to get from the airport to the resort and cost a total of $30, so it was literally a walk in the park.
Upon arriving at the resort, we were immediately taken aback at how massive and grand it was…
about the resort:
The resort itself is still relatively brand-new, having opened in April of 2017. There are three separate hotels on the property that make up the Baha Mar complex. The first hotel, and the more budget and family-friendly hotel of the three, is the Grand Hyatt. This is the main hotel, which contains the casino. The entire resort kind of revolves around the casino. It is at the center of it all, and it is the largest casino in all of the Bahamas, featuring over a thousand slot machines, as well as hundreds of tables offering blackjack, poker, etc. My husband and I aren’t into gambling ourselves, but if we were, I don’t think it would get much better than a casino with an ocean-view and an unending number of dramatic chandeliers dotting the ceiling. Can you say, most luxurious casino ever? The second hotel of the bunch is definitely more suited to couples and is by far the trendiest, the SLS. I think this hotel would make a PERFECT place to stay for a bachelorette or bachelor party. It is very lively and hip. The third and most expensive hotel, is the Rosewood. We didn’t spend much time over in that area of the resort though, so I can’t say I know much about that particular hotel. In grand total, the Baha Mar resort is home to over 40 restaurants, bars and lounges. Yes, over FORTY. Additionally, there are a plethora of activities to take part in while you are here. From 11 pools, a golf course, tennis court, state of the art spa, and ginourmous fitness center, you will never be at a loss for things to do. Also, all of the resort is situated on Cable Beach, which is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in all of the Bahamas. Score! The beach is really quite large too, and Baha Mar offers multiple water activities, such as paddle boarding, kayaking, snorkeling, sailing, etc. All of which are available at your convenience and included in the price of your stay! Major score!
about the rooms:
My husband and I chose to stay at the Grand Hyatt, as it was the most affordable option. Since the resort is still so new, all of the rooms are equally clean and beautiful. Also, regardless of which hotel you choose to stay at, you still have access to all of the facilities and pools at the other three hotels on the property. In my opinion, staying at the Grand Hyatt is definitely the way to go. After we checked in to the resort, we headed upstairs to our room to check out our accommodations for the weekend. And she was definitely a beauty!
All white, clean, and modern, our room had it’s own private balcony, as well as marble counter tops and floors throughout. Each room also comes equipped with it’s own in-room iPad, listing every resort detail that you could possibly want to know, which I found to be a very convenient addition.
My suggestion for your very first day in paradise would be to EXPLORE, EXPLORE, EXPLORE! The resort is truly massive, so the very first thing we set out to do, once we’d dropped off our bags in our room, was to get to know where everything was located. After exploring for a bit, the hubs and I wound up in the Jazz Bar, where we ordered some shrimp tempura and the most DELICIOUS cocktail I think I had the entire trip, a cucumber jalapeno infused martini. YUM.
After a little exploration and a yummy snack, we were more than satisfied, so we headed upstairs to get ready for our dinner reservations. We made all of our dinner reservations the week before we arrived at the resort so that we wouldn’t have any trouble getting in anywhere. It was insanely packed the weekend we chose to visit, so I would highly recommend doing the same and making prior reservations. I am SO glad that we thought to do this in advance.
For your very first dinner at the resort, eat at Katsuya, Baha Mar’s sushi restaurant. I don’t know about you, but anytime I first arrive in a tropical paradise, I want to eat all of the fresh seafood that I can get my hands on, and Katsuya did not disappoint. The ambiance of the restaurant was very dim, sultry, and hip, and the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno is an absolute must-try!
At Baha Mar, there are a plethora of nightlife options to choose from, so after dinner, we decided to head back to the Jazz Bar. If you know me at all, then you know I’m a sucker for live entertainment, which is why it was to the Jazz Bar that we went. With live entertainment NIGHTLY, there was no where else I wanted to spend my first night in paradise. I also desperately wanted another one of the amazing cucumber jalapeno infused martinis I’d had earlier! We spent the remainder of the evening sipping and swaying to tunes like “RESPECT” and “Sexual Healing” until just after midnight, when we headed back to our room to rest up for our first full day in paradise.
Day 2 –
Unfortunately, we awoke on Thursday (Valentine’s Day) to more storm clouds and rainy weather. But I was determined not to let anything get in the way of my husband and I having a great time! We started off day two by ordering the most delicious breakfast in bed from the very convenient iPad located on our nightstand. I would highly recommend, if you ever have the chance to stay at Baha Mar, to spend one full day on purely pampering yourself. There’s definitely no shortage of opportunities to do so and Valentine’s Day made it the perfect day for my husband and I to do just that. After breakfast, we treated ourselves to a couple’s massage, which we’d also scheduled in advance of coming on the trip.
The ESPA spa is one of the most beautiful spas I have ever laid my eyes on. It is quite literally dripping in white marble and crystal light fixtures. Our 60 minute couples massage was incredible and after it was over, I was so relaxed, that I was almost tempted to curl back up in our bed for a few hours. But instead, we headed over to the fitness center to get a workout in. The fitness center is located directly next to the spa and was also extremely impressive and large. One of my favorite parts of the gym were the stationary bikes that were out on the balcony overlooking the ocean. I also loved all of the little details, including a mini fridge filled with cold eucalyptus scented washcloths to clean off your face after a strenuous run on the treadmill. Yes, please.
Finally, we made it down to the beach, although the sky was still looking quite ominous. By that time, we were very hungry so we decided to try out one of the utterly adorable food trucks that are scattered all across the property. The majority of them are located out on the beach itself. The food truck we finally landed on was called El Jefe. Their menu boasts items such as street tacos and patron jalapeno margaritas, which was exactly what our taste buds were craving.
about The Food:
With over forty restaurants at Baha Mar, obviously we weren’t able to try even half of them. However, of the places we were able to try, almost every single one of them was absolutely delicious. Here were some of our favorite places to eat at Baha Mar:
El Jefe Food Truck- a bright pink Air-Stream turned margarita and taco/burrito truck down near the beach. There are lots of these cute little food trucks scattered all across the resort. Most of them are located near or directly on the sand. Some of the other food trucks served things like gourmet hotdogs, BBQ food, etc.
Cafe Madeline- this was perhaps my favorite restaurant in all of Baha Mar, (maybe a tie between this and Cleo). It is the cutest little spot for breakfast with the most adorable decor. Also, the outdoor balcony terrace is set-up with plenty of tables in case you’d like to eat out there. Breakfast was the only meal we ate here, but it was to die for. Their avocado toast was amazing, definitely a must-try. They also had the coolest mimosas I’ve ever seen – champagne mixed with a scoop of whatever flavor of sorbet you want. (I chose to try the mango sorbet and it was delish!) Some other awesome little details about this spot, is the fact that they have what is known as a ‘ripple machine’. You can upload a selfie from your phone to the ripple machine app and then it will print your selfie onto the top of your latte… How cool is that!? Also, you can purchase a pre-packaged picnic basket from Cafe Madeline to take down to the beach for a romantic picnic on the sand with your hunny. So cute, right?!
Katsuya- the delicious sushi restaurant that we ate at on night one. You can read more about it above.
Cleo- tied with Cafe Madeline as my favorite restaurant at Baha Mar. Cleo is located in the lobby of the SLS and focuses on Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. The chic, all-white, Hampton-esque beach decor was uber trendy and the shareable small plates on the menu were mouth-wateringly delicious. Without a doubt, the brussels sprouts are a MUST-TRY. My husband and I order brussels sprouts as an appetizer at almost every restaurant we go to, and these were by far some of the best we’ve ever tried. I would suggest ordering multiple items and sharing them all with the group you’re with, because you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. It all tasted amazing.
Da Poke Bowl- this is what they’ve replaced the conch shack with, so as disappointed as I was to learn that, this little boardwalk shack was still unbelievably yummy. Definitely try the Spicy Ahi poke bowl. It contains spicy mayo, avocado and green onions and it was the bomb! This place really hits the spot after a long day of sunbathing on the beach.
The Swimming Pig- the hubs and I ended up here by accident one night after we’d overslept our original dinner reservations and did not end up making it downstairs until close to midnight. Yes, MIDNIGHT. What can I say, we were quite the party animals on this trip. We were literally STARVING by the time we made it out that night, only to learn that almost every restaurant was already closed. That is, except for the Swimming Pig. I can promise you though, that it did not disappoint! We grubbed so hard on all the greasiest food we could get our hands on and everything tasted like perfection. Maybe that was partly because we were so hungry, but it was definitely one of my favorite meals of the trip. We tried their chicken wings, truffle fries and flatbread pizza and I’d give all three a 10/10, easily.
Daqs- another little boardwalk beach shack that was perhaps the cutest thing I’d ever seen. They make daiquiris, which, obviously, can be assumed by the name. The awesome part though, was that they had two little stationary bikes out in front of the shack for you to place your blender on top of and actually blend your daiquiri up yourself by pedaling the bicycle’s pedals. How cool is that?!
Okay, so back to my husband and I’s ‘Day 2 recap’…..
After we’d ordered ourselves some delicious tacos and margaritas from El Jefe, we set out to find a spot on the beach. This ended up being extraordinarily easy since, due to the vicious looking storm clouds rolling in, there wasn’t a soul out on the sand. I, however, found the ominous clouds and crashing waves to be oddly peaceful. I’m also a huge lover of thunderstorms, they’re seriously one of my favorite things in the world, so I forced Ian to sit out there with me while we ate our food and enjoyed the peacefulness of it all.
Sure enough, after about 15 minutes, I got what I deserved as the skies opened up and poured on us. We took off to seek shelter, although, it was totally pointless, because by that time we were already pretty much soaked to the bone. It only rained for 20 minutes though, then the clouds passed and for the first time of our trip, the sun started to finally creep out! We were able to find a pool with no one else around and ordered ourselves some delicious poolside cocktails and chilled in the deserted hot tub. I don’t know about you, but for me, there’s really nothing that a swim-up bar, a frozen margarita and a little time in the hot tub can’t fix. Even a torrential downpour while you’re on vacation.
We stayed down by the pool until about 6pm, then headed back to our room to shower and get ready for our Valentine’s Day dinner. We had made reservations at Cleo for V-Day, and let me tell you, it was incredible! It’s a tapas restaurant, so we split all kinds of yummy small plates, each of which seemed to be better than the last. As previously stated, try the brussels sprouts!
After dinner, we headed up to the Skybar, which is Baha Mar’s only rooftop bar/lounge. It’s located above the SLS hotel and has an insanely gorgeous view of the ocean and equally amazing craft cocktails. For whatever reason, the bar was relatively deserted that evening, so Ian and I found ourselves a cozy little corner overlooking the ocean and spent the end of our Valentine’s Day enjoying each other’s company underneath the gorgeous starry sky.
Day 3 –
Finally, on day 3 of our trip, we awoke to the most beautiful sunny skies and not a cloud in sight. For breakfast we headed to Cafe Madeline, one of my very favorite restaurants, which I’ve already explained much about above. This is where I ate the most delicious avocado toast, as well as tasted the yummiest sorbet mimosa I’ve ever had. Definitely going to be copying that drink this summer.
After breakfast on Cafe Madeline’s outdoor terrace, we headed down to the SLS’s Privilege Pool for a full day of partying, complete with a DJ, pitchers of drinks, and champagne guns.
about The Pools:
There are a grand total of 11 pools at the Baha Mar resort. Clearly, we weren’t there long enough to spend a significant amount of time at all 11 of them, but we did have the opportunity to walk around and get a good look at most of the them. Here are my top pool recommendations:
Dean’s Blue Hole- If you have children, this is definitely the place to be! There are mini cliffs to jump off of, as well as an aquarium built in to the rock/cliff formations which houses sharks and other fish that you can swim right up next to. It’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself!
Drift- This was one of my personal favorites. The bar next to this pool is super cute and colorful, and there are a bunch of cool little white structures scattered all around the pool that you can get a seat under, and that will, every so often, cascade water out on all four sides. I know that was probably a terrible explanation, so here’s a picture of it below.
Elixir- This pool is one of the smaller pools. It’s the pool that my husband and I had all to ourselves the day that it rained. The reason I like it so much is because in the middle of the pool there’s a little platform, on which three over-sized daybeds sit. If you’re lucky enough to get a spot on one of these for the day, it makes for the most perfect place to sunbathe, in my opinion!
Fortune- This pool was typically very crowded while we were there, but for good reason, as I believe it’s the only pool with a swim-up bar in it. The hot-tub next to this pool is also quite large, so it’s not a bad place to spend your day enjoying the beautiful Bahama weather along with some delicious ‘in-pool’ cocktails.
Bungalow- If I had to choose only ONE pool to spend a full day relaxing next to though, Bungalow would be my pool of choice. It is the main pool for the SLS hotel and it is definitely the most trendy pool of the bunch. Also, it’s poolside bar has the most yummy food and snacks.
Privilege Pool- Okay, so this is the pool that we headed to after our breakfast at Cafe Madeline and OMG, is it wild. Complete with it’s own DJ, blow-up flamingos and a legit fog gun, this pool is totally the day-party spot. I think the day that we were there, it was actually a little more tame than it normally is. Supposedly, a bunch of NBA players were supposed to show up, but for whatever reason, did not, so I’m not sure they were letting in as many people as usual. But regardless, the hubs and I had an absolute blast. We made friends with another couple from Canada and partied with them for HOURS. I’m talking all day long, people. The drinks were definitely flowing, I’ll just say that! One thing I would HIGHLY recommend if you want to experience the Privilege Pool, is to call ahead to make lounge chair reservations. If you don’t have reservations, you most likely will not get a spot to actually sit on by the pool. Ian and I didn’t actually have a place to sit until mid-day, and even then, reserving the lounge chairs will cost you an arm and a leg, so doing so is totally up to you! We were totally fine with just chilling in the pool all day long too. Reserving a lounger is optional and not a necessity in order to get in to the Privilege Pool. However, if you don’t have reservations, make sure to get a spot in line early before capacity is reached. I believe they start letting people in at 11am. It’s like trying to get in to a night club, so prepare yourselves, haha.
We had so much fun that day, that I totally forgot to take pictures of the whole crazy scene, but I did manage to sneak in and get a few pictures of the pool the following day before it opened.
After partying at the Privilege Pool all day long, to say we were pooped, would be a giant understatement. We went back up to the hotel room for a nap and fully intended on making our dinner reservations later that night. However, we laid down at 4:30pm and literally did not wake up until 10pm that night! I was definitely a little bummed that we wasted so much of the evening, but we decided to rally and got ourselves up and ready to go! We finally made it out the door at MIDNIGHT, haha. It was definitely not easy and felt like we were back in college again, but we ended up having a blast that night.
After going on a ridiculous hunt for food, we discovered that the only place with the kitchen still open was the Swimming Pig, so that’s where we headed! The food was insanely delicious and the atmosphere was so much fun! The bartenders were hilarious and very friendly and even changed the music for my husband and I. We were jamming to all the classics from “Sweet Caroline” to “Come on Eileen”.
After dinner, we headed to the Monkey Bar, which is located in the SLS’s lobby and was, without a doubt, my favorite bar/place to hang out in the evening. The bar is super lively and definitely had what I’d consider a “place to be seen” kind of vibe. After we hung out at the Monkey Bar for a bit, we headed to Bond Nightclub for the rest of the evening. Yes, Baha Mar even has it’s very own exclusive night club, which doesn’t even open until 11:00 pm on the weekends. I can hardly believe that we were out until 3am that night, but we did it! We were really trying to live it up as much as possible, because that just is NOT our life back home in Denver.
the nightlife scene:
Other than, of course, the casino, which is packed pretty much from sun up till sun down, and is especially packed at nighttime, there are a number of bars, lounges and venues to choose from for your nightlife fix. Some of my husband and I’s favorites were:
The Jazz Bar- This honey-dewed lounge boasts an elevated stage behind the bar where a white baby grand piano sits atop it, and live jazz bands play NIGHTLY. Yes, nightly.
Skybar- The SLS’s rooftop bar that overlooks the ocean. The decor is very LA meets the Hamptons-esque.
Monkey Bar- The SLS’s lobby bar, that’s uber stylish and is THE place to be in the evenings.
Swimming Pig- Has a slightly dive bar feel to it, but in a really great way! It’s one of the only late night spots that serves food.
Bond Nightclub- Baha Mar’s website touts Bond as being “Cable Beach’s most exciting nightclub..” which provides “a luxe interior, a state-of-the-art sound system, and performances by world-renowned DJs that you won’t hear anywhere else in the islands.” I think it’s safe to say that Bond is worth a visit at some point during your stay at Baha Mar.
day 4 –
Having stayed up until 3:00 am the night before, naturally, we slept in a bit on our last full day in paradise. Once we were up, we got ready to head out for a full day at the beach. For breakfast, we stopped at El Jefe (the taco food truck) for some breakfast tacos (which were AMAZING) and a little hair of the dog! We were really lucky in that we got, perhaps, the last two open seats available out on the sand. It was really packed that day! But we had a great time soaking up the sun rays and we even got up the courage to take a little dip in the freezing cold ocean!
After a perfect morning spent on the beach, we headed to Da Poke Bowl for the most fantastic spicy tuna poke bowl I’ve ever had. Afterwards, we tried out the super cool daiquiri blending bicycles at Daqs. So much fun! We were in desperate need of a pick-me-up after that, so we headed to Cafe Madeline to do something I’d wanted to do since we’d first arrived at the resort. Can you guess what it was? Getting my face printed on a latte of course!!! Duh!
We were still dragging a bit from our wild night out, so we headed back to the room to take a little tiger snooze before heading back out for our last night at the resort. 🙁 We didn’t have dinner reservations for that night, so we were hoping to kind of just wing it and get lucky.
Unfortunately, that plan did not work out so well for us. This is why I said early that I’d HIGHLY recommend making reservations prior to arriving at the resort. (Most of the restaurants can be booked through the Open Table app.) Since we weren’t able to get in anywhere that evening, we chose to grab one last yummy cocktail at the Monkey Bar, our favorite. Then, we headed to the Jazz Bar to order some small bites for dinner and spend our last evening the same way we spent our first night at the resort, with some awesome live jazz music! Turns out, even the food at the Jazz Bar was first-rate. We ordered shrimp tempura, crab cakes and a prosciutto flatbread pizza. It was all super delish! Also, I decided to try out another one of their amazing martinis and ordered the watermelon martini. It did NOT disappoint!
We stayed out as late as we possibly could, but ended up calling it a night a little before midnight. The next morning we had an afternoon flight, so after one final breakfast at Cafe Madeline and one final hour of pool-time, we headed back to our rooms to pack up, then grabbed a taxi cab back to the Nassau airport.
It was literally one of my favorite trips to date with my husband, and I truly credit so much of that to Baha Mar. I would 100% recommend this resort to anyone and everyone, and I hope that one day I will be able to make it back there again. If you’ve stuck around this long, then thanks so much for reading! I hope that you’ll find this post helpful in planning your own Baha Mar vacation!
