This was our first time visiting The Bahamas, and our travel agent recommended The Albany as a less-crowded option to Atlantis. It was unbelievable - practically empty. Apparently, June and July are off-peak and the beginning of hurricane season, so there were no crowds. It literally felt like we had the entire resort to ourselves. We were oftentimes one of only 4-5 other families on the beach and at the pool areas. The resort is immaculate, and the landscaping is beautiful. The resort has several shops, including a Dylanās Candy Bar, a golf store, and a boutique clothing shop called The Emporium, which carries luxury apparel. Most of the merchandise in The Emporium is similar to what you would find in Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, and Bloomingdales. I do think The Albany would benefit from having a small souvenir shop that carries local crafts or Bahamas-themed gifts vs. golf items and luxury apparel. ||||We rented Villa E6 for our group of 4 adults and 2 children. Our villa had a large plunge pool and a private walkway to the beach. The main resort pool was a short 1-minute walk on the beach from our villa, so we were very happy with the location. The villa was picture perfect, spacious, and nicely decorated. It had a small laundry machine/dryer unit and a kitchen furnished with high-end appliances. The bathrooms in our villa were wonderful, stocked with Molton Brown toiletries. Plush towels were replenished regularly, including pool towels, and the beds were all quite comfortable, though the pillows were flat. WiFi connections were quite strong in our villa and throughout the entire resort property. ||||Check-in was done in the villa, which is quite convenient after a long day of traveling. There was a lovely basket of snacks to welcome us, which included Deep River chips, Pringles, nuts, granola bars, etc. They also provided coffee pods, but did not have any tea bags or sugar packets. We pre-ordered groceries from their grocery service, Purveyors, so our refrigerator was already stocked upon arrival, including a few extra drinks and a bottle of champagne. Note: Purveyors charges a 20% delivery and set-up fee on top of the already high prices. If you forget something, you can visit the onsite store and pick up the item(s) yourself to bypass the delivery fee. Items are very expensive, but seemed par for an island resort, where everything is flown in or brought in by boat. Some sample prices are below:|| 1) 3 pack Romaine lettuce $7.60|| 2) 16 oz. package frozen Cascadian Farm broccoli $5.95|| 3) 1 lb. lean ground beef (sirloin) $11.77|| 4) Chobani Greek yogurt - fruit variety, 6 oz. $3.23|| 5) Haagen-Dazs pint, chocolate $10.45 (OUCH ā for a pint)||||The Bahamas is expensive because there is a 12% VAT tax added to everything. Be prepared ā itāll hurt. Also, restaurants automatically include a 17.5% service charge to their bills, so depending on how much you like to tip when dining out, be aware that you may be leaving an extremely generous tip.||||Despite the resort being relatively empty, there was a rogue guest, who decided to hit golf balls onto the beach. One ended up hitting my mother in the leg. We called security, and an officer arrived within 4 minutes. He inspected the property and beach area, but was unable to find the culprit. Either way, we were very impressed with the response and genuine concern for my mother.||||Our reservation included free breakfast at their golf clubhouse restaurant, Nineteen. We encountered the BEST staff here every single day. We were joyfully greeted by Charles, Matthew, and Alex, and to say we were spoiled by their service is an understatement. They did everything they could to take care of us, from bringing our favorite drinks almost immediately upon being seated to customizing our orders to accommodate my sonās food allergy. The food was delicious too. The menu offers tasty pancakes, made-to-order omelets, breakfast sandwiches, a variety of breakfast meats, fresh fruits, pastries, and juices. ||||Due to the off-peak season, the other restaurants onsite rotate hours, so you have to check the resort app to see which one is open that day. We ate at Aviva restaurant our first night, which was our only option, and we were greatly disappointed. They were doing a special tasting menu by NY chef Galen Kennemer. The food was not very good at all, especially considering the high cost. The cost was $85 per person for 3 courses, $95 for 4 courses, and $110 for 5 courses. Typical of a tasting menu, the portions were quite small. We ate at the other resort restaurants throughout our stay, and they were fine, but breakfast at Nineteen was the best. We learned that you could also order pizza delivery from Dominoās, which we did one night. They deliver right to your villa doorstep. The Dominoās location that delivers to The Albany can be reached at (242) 362-8000. ||||Our children loved the main pool, which had 2 slides (1 open-air, 1 covered) as well as a fun waterfall area. There is also another pool for younger children called Treasure Island, which has shallow water, smaller slides, and a pirate-themed play area. There are no life guards on duty, so parents must supervise their children. The beach water was clear and calm and cleaned of seaweed every morning. My youngest son would comb the beach for seashells every day, and he found plenty. We didnāt see any fish in the water, which was disappointing, but maybe we needed to venture farther out into the ocean. ||||While The Albany is expensive (as is everything in The Bahamas), we were incredibly impressed with the service at the resort. All of the staff really seemed to want to make you comfortable and do whatever was needed to make your stay truly memorable and enjoyable. For example, when they realized we were traveling with my elderly parents, who have limited mobility, one of the managers, Sasha Carey, provided us with an extra complimentary golf cart, which was so thoughtful of her. Whenever we were driving around the resort in our golf carts, we were greeted by staff with smiles & waves. Just a note ā it does get dark in the evenings, which limits visibility. There were times we had to use the flashlights on our smart phones to navigate home. When we were getting ready to check-out, our shuttle service was going to pick us up 30 minutes after the official check-out time, which is 11:00 AM. However, The Albany team allowed us to stay in our resort until our driver arrived, which was 11:30 AM, at no extra charge. The later check-out was a non-issue to them, and we were very grateful. We have stayed at resorts in the past with very strict check-out times. Thank you to The Albany for considering your guestsā comfort and always providing top notch customer service. Overall, it was a great family vacation, but vacationing in the Bahamas is expensive as is The Albany. My only recommendation to The Albany would be to improve dining options by providing more variety, especially during the summer months, and offering meals that are more affordable for their guests. Otherwise, we will definitely return for...
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