The Island House — Hotel in New Providence

The staff are the most elite service team. Dee is exceptionally pleasant and helpful. Kira went above and beyond to make sure I was comfortable, and all my needs were met. Fred at the beach did his work with such pride and humility and is a gracious soul. All the staff at Yellow Bell, the drivers that took me to and from nearby destinations. I appreciate them making this experience palatable because the management needs a lesson in communication and emotional intelligence. I had an unfortunate experience staying at this boutique hotel. I booked a weekend getaway and decided to try this hotel rather than the larger resort I normally do. I had the most unpleasant experience and if I could give the management of this property zero stars, I would.

I blog as a hobby, and I decided I would blog about my trip and highlight this smaller boutique hotel. This would require photographs. I sought out one of the most sought-after professional photographers on the island and booked him. He advised me to clear with the hotel that we would be able to take photos. For context, I have shot photographs for my blog at exclusive resorts, including membership resorts such as The Boca Raton, The Faena, The Rosewood Bermuda, and The Standard. As a guest, I did not need permission at these resorts to have a photographer take professional photos on the property as long as the other guests were not interrupted. I contacted Island House a week in advance by telephone several times to work out the logistics and create a contingency plan if I was not able to take photographs.

The staff was lovely and very professional, advising me this request would be escalated to the events manager, and I would be contacted. I never received a telephone call. I checked the website to see if there was information regarding photography and there was no mention of photography guidelines. The night before I traveled to the island, I got an email apologizing for the inconvenience and saying that there was no fee to shoot in my room but a fee to shoot on the property. I told them the fee was not an issue, and I would pay the fee.

I confirmed the photoshoot on arrival at the hotel. I presented the email that I received. I was advised that my credit card would be charged the extra fee, and I was good to go. The day of the photo shoot became a nightmare. My team arrived and were escorted to my room. If you know anything about the creative process, the energy of the team and environment are the catalysts for the images. My team and I decided that we would stop shooting to let guests walk past, that we would avoid shooting in areas with guests, and that we would be as quiet as possible.

Halfway through my first segment of the photo shoot, a British lady with short, curly hair runs toward us, yelling, who told us we could not shoot. No greeting, not finding out who we were or if any of us were guests. My team stopped shooting immediately. Then she proceeds, saying who authorized this you cannot shoot. I have no idea her name and she clearly does not know that I am a guest. I advised her that I was a guest, and she proceeded to raise her voice and demand my name. I told her my name and pronounced it for her. She never provided her name or role so she could be anyone or no one. The photographer had already done test shots prior to us starting the photo shoot to make sure we did not capture any person or thing other than myself and scenery. The nearest guest to us was 50 feet away behind us at the pool. This changed the entire mood for our photoshoot and this employee was unprofessional. This is unacceptable colonial behavior. She never returned to apologize to the team and me for her savage behavior.

It is unfortunate because the staff made up of Bahamian nationals are truly gems and make the resort what it is. Bahamians are some of the best people...

My family and I spent a week at The Island House in January, and I can't say enough good things about every aspect of our time here.

Beach - do not be deterred by the fact that TIH is not beachfront. The quick ride in a very charming British style taxi was logistically very easy to coordinate and the beach itself is one of the nicest I have been to. Because it is a small private beach, there is no jockeying for beach loungers the way you would at a big resort, and there wasn't a second thought to whether our belongings were safe.

Rooms/Hotel Property - we stayed in a poolside suite which was perfectly situated - close enough that our son could run back and forth to the room as needed, but tucked away behind the beautiful landscaping and foliage to ensure privacy. The design aesthetic throughout the hotel - rooms, restaurants, and outdoor lounge spaces - was perfect. Beautiful, relaxing, comfortable, inviting, and everything felt easy and accessible.

Fitness Studio - while I didn't get a chance to use the fitness facilities, I did two yoga classes with two different instructors who were both excellent (and I have high standards in this department). The studio is not very big which makes it feel like a nice private class, but there is a limit on the number of attendees so be sure to book your spot early.

Food/Service - I have combined these two because we have a unique situation (our 7 year old is anaphylactic to wheat and nuts) which makes the food/service combination very important to us. After 7 years of "vacations" which required access to a kitchen and grocery stores, we decided to look into boutique hotels that might fit our needs. After reading other reviews, and reaching out to the restaurants and manager to ensure they could accommodate our requirements, we decided to book our stay. The attention to detail around my son's meals, and the communication among the restaurants' teams was unbelievable. At no time did we feel like we were limited in what my son could order, and every single dish we had at Shima, Mogano, and Yellowbell were absolutely delicious. The wine selections were excellent, and the cocktails were so fresh and unique. My sincerest thanks to everyone on staff at TIH from the drivers, to the front desk, to the restaurant teams, and everyone on-site (landscapers, cleaning).

As you can tell, I would highly recommend TIH to anyone looking for a quaint, relaxing, service oriented boutique experience. We are already planning...

Our story is a bit unique. We were staying at an Airbnb that was burglarized, and the Island House was the only hotel that had a room available for us, in the middle of the night no less! We arrived at 2am and they even had a porter there to take our bags. Because we were a group, the gave us a room that had more space which was very appreciated (they only had one room available so we had to all squeeze in). The next morning they advised that the rate they quoted was for two, and that there would be an additional charge for the extra persons. But they would honour the first night's rate quoted upon arrival which we appreciated. We had also mentioned getting a cot, when we returned from breakfast the next morning it was all set up (and quite luxurious for a cot!). I had missed bringing my toothbrush in the chaos of trying to pack up at the Airbnb, and they gave me one. They also gave us some vouchers for refreshments which was really nice. Everyone was very sympathetic to our story.

This is a beautiful hotel and property with only 30 rooms. It's in a beautiful part of the island, feels quite exclusive and upscale. The pool is huge and plenty of loungers. They also offered fitness sessions in a lovely studio. There is even a movie theatre! There are three restaurants onsite which are fabulous, two which are fancier for dinner, and one that is for breakfast, lunch and drinks. We ate at all and our dinner at Mogano was the best of the trip. Shima was also amazing. The daytime restaurant turns into a bar in the evening. The grounds are beautiful, everything was spotless and the staff were so lovely, polite and helpful. When there was a mishap with the shuttle we ordered to take us to the airport, they quickly jumped into action to arrange another one which came quickly so we weren't late for our flight. Another perk of this hotel is that while it isn't on the ocean, they have a partnership with a local beach club and you can use it. Just have to ask reception for the shuttle to take you over, it's about a 5 minute drive. The beach there was wonderful, amazing water and sand, no need to pay for towels, chairs or umbrellas, it's all included for hotel guests. You can also get drinks and food there.

The Island House literally saved us. After the chaos and upset of being burglarized and having to vacate our Airbnb, this was an amazing place to relax, enjoy the last days of our trip and try and forget our ordeal. I would...