SLS Baha Mar — Hotel in New Providence

Beware of overbookings and lies about your promotional credits

Upon arrival at SLS on March 27th, we were told the hotel was OVERSOLD and we could not stay that evening. We'd have to check in the next day. We had spent thousands of dollars to be here for 4 nights, and after flight delays that had set us back many hours, this was not the news we wanted to hear. Their solution was to put us in the Hyatt on property for the 1st night and we could come check into SLS the next day. Mind you, they still charged us full price for the SLS room rate for that 1st night, even though we were displaced. Upon leaving the resort 4 days later, our concerns are still not settled. To summarize:

The manager, Dante, offered us as compensation due to the displacement of:

1. An upgraded room for the 3 nights at SLS
2. A $500 resort credit

We took our luggage to Hyatt where check-in took over 30 minutes because the Hyatt staff were confused about the situation. They ended up calling SLS to sort it out. We didn't unpack much knowing we had to check out in the morning.

That evening, we went back to the front desk to confirm the $500 credit offered would be INCREMENTAL to the $250 food & beverage credit we had gotten when booking online as part of the promotion a few months ago - so we'd get $750 credit in total. We were told our promotional credit was only $100 (not $250) and we would get an incremental $400 credit, making it a total of $500. When we asked for enough credit to cover what we paid for the 1st night stay, Dante said we could either take the incremental $400 offered, or we could .... plot twist ... CHECK OUT OF THE HYATT IMMEDIATELY AND STAY AT THE SLS TONIGHT and FORGO THE ROOM UPGRADE they offered. "Wait, there is a room for us now?!" We were confused. Why did we waste an hour at SLS being told there was no room for us then another hour going to Hyatt and checking in and NOW you want me to waste another hour to check-out of the Hyatt and come back to the SLS tonight?! What a long and exhausting day. This honestly ruined the entire mood of our vacation that we took from work and family, which is unfortunately rare for us. We ACCEPTED THE INCREMENTAL $400.

Fast forward to the day we are leaving. We still thought the front desk was lying about our promotional credit. We believed to have $250, not $100 credit. We called the Baha Mar reservations line and asked them to look up our reservation and confirm what our promotion was. Sure enough it was $250 food & beverage (F&B) credit plus 4th night free. To make sure this was accurate, we then called the SLS front desk and they confirmed the same promo and also noted that THERE IS NO PROMO FOR $100 at this time. ($250 is a standard SLS promo at Baha Mar. We had the same credit last time we stayed here in 2022.)

At checkout, we explained that out F&B credit was $250 and we should have an incremental $400 on top of that. We spent an hour at the front desk and the manager (not Dante) refused to give us the proper compensation we were promised, which was $400 incremental to our promotion - but they tried to lie about what our promotion was. Wow. It gets worse. She called Dante and he disagreed with our logic. We had to leave for the airport after wasting ANOTHER HOUR trying to sort this bull shit out.

I will never stay here again. Warning for future customers: (1) Take a screenshot on the computer of your promotion - they state it in your confirmation email. You have to call reservations to confirm your promo terms. (2) If they are oversold: receive IN WRITING by a manager what you are being offered and ensure it is in addition to your promo credit. They should be completely unrelated. Don't try to compensate me with something I was already getting. How stupid do you think your customers are?

In summary, we received a $250 credit and a room upgrade for all of this headache. Really regret leaving my husband and kids for this unrelaxing vacation. Also note the SLS pool was closed on our last day for a private event, with no...

On arrival the hotel was lovely, friendly staff, great reception area and the rooms were lovely and comfortable. Great view, clean and nice in room amenities (although you have to order ice to be delivered to your room). The pools, beaches and complimentary amenities were all great, clean, accessible and comfortable. Most of the staff were great, some at the hotel bars (not third party venues) were dismissive and entitled which wasn’t the best. Nykel at the baha beach club was an absolute delight and made our day experience fantastic and special.

The Baha beach club is comfortable and recommended. The $125 fee is to secure your bed and goes towards food and drink, this is easily spent as the prices are steep. Two drinks and some food and you’ll easily spend that. The food and drinks were what I would consider good. Expecy your extra shot to be $14.

The second day we booked here was not the same experience. They were understaffed and we could not get service for most of the time. I ordered a ceviche and I requested information on allergies when it arrived in a non typical dressing, they couldn’t answer with confidence and I had to send it back. I ordered a fruit platter and coconut water. The fruit platter took 1.5hrs and the coconut water never arrived. When we finally asked for the bill, we had to get the ceviche and coconut water removed.

The food experiences were overall excellent. The Carna steakhouse was a great steak, Mac and cheese had a touch too much truffle but everything else was delicious.

Marcus, on the beach, hands down the best meals, staff were great, nice cocktails that they tailored to our taste and amazing food. Lamb chops, potatoes, fried chicken and Mac and cheese are highly recommended. The view, ambience and cocktails make for being a great early evening dinner and drinks spot.

Katsuya, nice but overrated. The gyoza were almost raw and we sent them back, the staff were awesome and got us a new set quickly which was appreciated. Tasty but average drinks and food.

Manor Bar was a great vibe, very chill but expensive. $39 with a tip for a margarita with casamigos, but it was an excellent marg I must say. Staff were friendly and chatty.

We attended a sip and paint that was super fun. Shanise the host was wonderful, funny and chatty and the class overran but with no complaints from us or Shanise and we were allowed to take any open wine from the class with us. Recommend the class for a fun activity to break up the day.

Overall, the experience was good and it did tick a lot of boxes despite the niggles mentioned above. We expected high prices and had no issue with that. However the resort fee is then subject to a 15% service charge and 10% VAT so went from $60 to $96 which is not clear and feels like it isn’t for value. We had a late flight after checkout and there was no complimentary area/room to shower and change, which I have never experienced especially at a high end resort. We were told we’d have to pay for a day pass on top of the $400 resort fees we’d just paid which left a bitter taste. The resort fees being higher than expected also led to us questioning why there was a 15% service charge on absolutely everything; food, drinks and activities. The VAT at 10% is totally fine but the service charge was excessive and didn’t seem to add any value and then you’re expected to tip on top of that and some staff made it clear they were not happy if you didn’t tip for them giving you a Diet Coke poured in a plastic cup.

The excessive service charges do not equate to extra services, amenities or treatment and add up pretty quickly which is really what will prevent me from visiting this resort again even as someone who has the luxury of financial flexibility to enjoy a splash out vacation.

As someone who fasts and eats only one small lunch and a large dinner with max three alcoholic drinks a day (light drinker), to spend $1200 on food and drink with service fees in just four days, was exorbitant and did not feel like value...

Let me start with the good, this was our first time visiting the Bahamas the overall Island and Baha Mar resort is beautiful, clean, and scenic. The staff near the water amenities such as the waterpark, pools which are gorgeous, and the beautiful beach area were very friendly, helpful, and accommodating. However, a recent July 2021 SLS hotel stay my family and I had was not quite up to our expectations. We arrived at the resort to check-in and were told the resort was "cashless" and that no less than $1000 had to be put on a credit card for anything we wanted to spend had to be billed to the room. I was not told prior to our arrival, as I booked this reservation several months in advance. I was not informed prior that I would need to put a credit card on file for incidentals. I had to ask in more detail as to why this was needed as the front desk associate did not explain in detail until I pressed as I had cash on hand. To say the least this was a bump at the start of the hotel stay and trip. (whereas upon check-out, I saw another guest pay with a large sum of cash)

In addition, we were traveling with a handicapped senior adult and with the reservation asked for certain accommodations prior, such as wheelchair use, and a room closer to the elevator. The wheelchair use turned out to be a disappointment as it took a while to get and my room was billed for it prior to checking out, when I was instructed, I would only be charged if it wasn’t returned at check-out! So, in the middle of a celebratory dinner, I had to leave and get this error cleared up off my bill at the front desk to cover the meal. The fee was reversed however very embarrassing and frustrating. The next issue was the overall resort food selections there weren’t much and profusely overpriced and the service wasn't that good in the resort. Accept at the restaurant Fi'Lia, the food and service there was very good. Also, many of the main in-house and restaurant resort staff were not always friendly, at least to us, and not efficient. The SLS hotel front desk was constantly short-staffed, the concierge was often of no help, most times were on the laptops and not assisting the guests. I also attempted getting a scooter for my senior traveling with me and none were on-site, they were located at another resort several miles away and then the company that issued them was closed! I also had to go get this information from the neighboring hotel Grand Hyatt.

The SLS hotel room did not have enough towels, washcloths, toilet paper for the three of us in the room, we had to often ask for replenishment. There is NO door in the bathroom, only a curtain. The bathroom sink took time to warm and when using would splash all over. The shower design was not the best, as we had to totally step in to turn on, and there were no NON-slip strips in the shower, where we constantly were concerned about slipping and falling. The balcony did not have adequate seating and/or a table to sit out and enjoy a meal as a guest.

There aren’t many activities to do after a certain time for adults, aside from the casino or drinking at the bar, albeit it’s still a pandemic there should be other activities to experience. The Sky Bar was nice, however too many plants as it lessens the space for guests to enjoy and dance. Finally, the hotel was to inform us as guests that we needed to get covid rapid tested 2-3 days prior to our check-out however they did not and I had to spend an additional $120 for the three in my party once at the airport for it to be done. The front desk SLS hotel manager did offer a last night gesture of fake champagne for our uncomfortable stay but by that time we were ready checkout. We enjoyed the Bahamas, unfortunately not this hotel/resort. Definitely needs to be more staff on hand, better communication, more courtesy to guests, and not left to feel like we are just dollars to the resort, a more personal feel would give a much...