One&Only Ocean Club

Frommer's Review

Tranquil, secluded, and intimate, this is Paradise Island's most exclusive address, with sky-high prices to accompany the refined ambience and pampering service (the best in The Bahamas). Although it's owned by the same entity that controls the much larger Atlantis, huge efforts are expended to separate it from the clients at the less personalized, more family-oriented mega-resort. In fact, though Atlantis's facilities are available to the residents here, that same privilege does not extend in the opposite direction. As such, you'll find a boutique-style hotel with a highly visible security force that, to a large degree, is cloistered from the much splashier venue nearby.

The spacious and elegantly furnished rooms are comfortable, with king-size beds, gilt-framed mirrors, and dark-wood armoires. The marble bathrooms are massive, each containing a bidet, twin basins, a tub, and a shower.

The resort's real heart and soul lays in the surrounding gardens, designed by the island's former owner, Huntington Hartford II, heir to the A&P grocery fortune. This resort, in fact, was once the site of his private home. The formal gardens surround a rebuilt medieval French cloister set on 14 hectares (35 acres) of manicured lawns. Graceful 12th-century arcades are visible at the crest of a hill, across a stretch of terraced waterfalls, fountains, a stone gazebo, and rose gardens. Larger-than-life statues dot the vine-covered niches on either side of the gardens. Begin your tour of the gardens at the large swimming pool, which feeds a series of reflecting pools that stretch out toward the cloister.

A new addition is the kid-friendly pool, replete with aqua toys and a waterfall.

This is also one of the best-developed tennis resorts in The Bahamas, and the white-sand beach adjacent to the hotel is the finest in the area.

What could arguably be called Paradise Island's best dining is at the resort's Dune restaurant, a creation of culinary legend Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Facilities:
2 restaurants; 3 bars; 2 pools; 18-hole golf course; 6 tennis courts; health club; spa; steam room; shuttle to Atlantis casino; room service; babysitting; laundry service; dry cleaning; nonsmoking rooms

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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