Hotels

In the hotel descriptions , we've listed regular room prices, or "rack rates," but these are simply for ease of comparison. They are likely to be accurate for smaller properties, but you can almost always get a better price than what's listed below at the larger hotels and resorts.

Read our section entitled "Package Deals," before booking a hotel separately from your airfare. If you do book your own reservations, always inquire about honeymoon specials, golf packages, summer weeks, and other potential discounts. In many cases, too, a travel agent can get you a package deal that would be cheaper than these official rates.

Hotels add a 12% tax to your rate. Sometimes this is quoted in advance as part of the net price; other times, it's added as an unexpected afterthought to your final bill. When you are quoted a rate, always ask if the tax is included. Many hotels also add a 15% service charge to your bill. Be sure to ask about these charges in advance so you won't be shocked when you receive the final tab.

Taxes and service charges are not included in the hotel reviews below, which lead off with a selection of hotels within the heart of Nassau, followed by accommodations in Cable Beach. Most visitors prefer to stay at Cable Beach since the resorts here are right on the sand. But you can stay in Nassau and commute to the beaches at Cable Beach or Paradise Island; it's cheaper but less convenient. Those who prefer the ambience of Old Nassau's historic district and being near the best shops may decide to stay in town.

Cable Beach

Cable Beach has always figured high in the consciousness of The Bahamas. Since Atlantis premiered on Paradise Island, Cable Beach has flourished, and occasionally suffered, in the shadow of its more dramatic counterpart.

Cable Beach derived its name from the underwater telephone and telegraph cable that brought electronic communications from the outside world. For years, it was a rural outpost of New Providence Island, flanked by private homes and a desirable shoreline that was a destination for local residents. Its first major touristic boost came with the construction of the old Ambassador Beach Hotel, now the site of Breezes Bahamas. In the 1980s, a building boom added the string of condos, timeshares, and hotels, all designed to serve the holiday needs of sun-seekers and casinogoers, that have defined the area's appearance ever since. The district boasts a wide variety of restaurants and sports facilities, lots of glitz and glitter, and one of the country's two biggest casinos (in terms of square footage).

In 2005, a consortium of major-league investors, coalescing under the Baha Mar logo, pinpointed Cable Beach as the eventual site of one of the Atlantic's most far-reaching resort developments. In 2007, they inaugurated a plan that will radically alter the present landscape of Cable Beach, adding to the overall competitiveness of Nassau in general and its northern seafront in particular. Expect big changes between 2009 and 2012, when a multitiered redevelopment program presumably will alter the status of Cable Beach as what might -- if all phases of the redevelopment are completed as planned -- become one of the world's most talked-about casino and resort destinations. The project's investors also own and operate Cable Beach Resorts and Crystal Palace Casino.

Major infrastructure changes will include a revised layout of West Bay Street, one of New Providence Island's busiest traffic arteries, to direct traffic away from building sites for as many as four additional name-brand hotels. The overall vision will include dredging new lakes and marinas, creating water traps for a thoroughly redesigned golf course, demolishing some older buildings within the Cable Beach compound, and extensively enlarging the existing casino.

The project also calls for constructing a new string of resort hotels, each of which will cater to a different resort market. A W hotel, for example, will accent avant-garde design and, it's hoped, attract a youthful, trend-setting clientele. Another property will offer more conservative -- and probably somewhat plusher -- comforts geared to the haute bourgeoisie. And serious gamblers looking for Las Vegas flash will gravitate toward a new incarnation of a Caesar's Palace. The makeover melee will also include intelligent reuse of some of the existing structures, including a radical rethinking of the Wyndham and Sheraton properties.

Even in its current form, Cable Beach has many loyal fans, some of whom think Paradise Island is too expensive, too snobbish, too contrived, too artificial, and too derivative of a Disney-inspired theme park. Stay tuned for further developments -- and expect endless delays; at press time, government officials were complaining that the massive project wasn't moving at its anticipated rate.

The Art of Massage -- The Red Lane Spa at Sandals Royal Bahamian Hotel & Spa in Nassau has repeatedly made the top 10 list of spa resorts in the Condé Nast Traveler reader's choice survey. The decor features walls and floors of Italian Satumia stone, rich mahogany doors, and a collection of pre-Raphaelite prints in gilded frames. One service offered, Massage Duet, allows couples to learn the art of massage from a professional so that they can practice on each other in the comfort of their hotel room.