- Joined
- Mar 10, 2007
- Messages
- 6,792
- Reaction score
- 317
- Points
- 518
- Location
- 'burbs of Cincinnati, OH
- Resorts Owned
- Used to own: WKORV-N; SVV - Bella
Hubby and I are at HRA right now. It's probably our last trip as VSE owners as we are selling SVV. HRA was the last of the Big 3 resorts we've visited in the network. Pretty sure that my gut was correct and that this will be my least favorite destination, just because we are not Disney kind of people. But I think we'll be fine as long as we stick to the plan of spending most of our time away from the water parks. FTR I'd go to Vegas and stay out of the casinos, too.
My first impressions:
Bahamians are, hands down, the nicest locals we have met during our travels. They work hard, they're friendly and they'll converse with you about anything. St. Maarten locals were nice enough, but Bahamians are in a class by themselves. Like night and day compared to St Johnians, who are like surly cousins in comparison.
Condition of the HRA resort is on par with the older phase of WSJ and SDO. Facilities are in good shape and the villas are roomy, but much is in need of some paint and Tilex. I'm sure the room updates will be sweet.
We were placed in first floor rooms. Terrible view and I really miss a nice lanai. And the grills! Ah well. Exchangers can't be choosers.
Food2go was very prompt and they delivered during the requested time. Big downside is the food prices are lot higher than you'd pay in the store on your own + a $10 delivery fee. Example. Onion was 2.20 vs .95. 6 pack of bagels was 5.99 v $1.89. So they get you coming and going. If I did it again, I'd stop at the Quality Market on my own and forget the delivery service.
Sandra's taxi was prompt. Driver, Philip, was a delight. Very friendly and pointed out some local dives for us to check out. We opted to stop at the market to get lunch items since delivery was rot scheduled til 7pm and we were ready to eat off our arm. Met sexy Sandra in the parking lot of the market. She was super nice. Driver said that everyone loves her because she is hard working and loyal. He said a lot of people call her Santa cause she takes care of a lot of kids at Christmas time. Aww.
Pocket wifi Bahamas has been a disaster. We received the device on time but the box was cut and there is no return envelope. I emailed the owner on Thursday and there is still no response. I prepaid for a return envelope and I don't have a return address. He'd better respond soon or I'm just going to keep it until he responds to me.
Also after .75 days of use, it has cut us off. It said we used our 1 gb of included data and we still have 6 days to go. I can't find anything on the site that say there is a data cap. In any event, I prepaid $135 for the device plus two day shipping, which gave me less than one full day of service. Yippee. Now I'm on HRA Internet so I'll spend close to $300 for Internet between the two devices.
Atlantis is crazy. It's like a water park on steroids. It's rained like cats and dogs since we arrived so we haven't gotten to use the pools, but the hot tub at HRA is nice!
I brought along a lot of food and also had some delivered so we've only eaten out once, at Margaritaville. It was $75 for two entrees, two Kalik beers and one frozen drink for me. So pretty typical of what we pay at home.
Hoping that tomorrow the sun will come out!
PS I don't mind the bed but my husband's back is killing him. He woke up and said, "This bed sucks."
My first impressions:
Bahamians are, hands down, the nicest locals we have met during our travels. They work hard, they're friendly and they'll converse with you about anything. St. Maarten locals were nice enough, but Bahamians are in a class by themselves. Like night and day compared to St Johnians, who are like surly cousins in comparison.
Condition of the HRA resort is on par with the older phase of WSJ and SDO. Facilities are in good shape and the villas are roomy, but much is in need of some paint and Tilex. I'm sure the room updates will be sweet.
We were placed in first floor rooms. Terrible view and I really miss a nice lanai. And the grills! Ah well. Exchangers can't be choosers.
Food2go was very prompt and they delivered during the requested time. Big downside is the food prices are lot higher than you'd pay in the store on your own + a $10 delivery fee. Example. Onion was 2.20 vs .95. 6 pack of bagels was 5.99 v $1.89. So they get you coming and going. If I did it again, I'd stop at the Quality Market on my own and forget the delivery service.
Sandra's taxi was prompt. Driver, Philip, was a delight. Very friendly and pointed out some local dives for us to check out. We opted to stop at the market to get lunch items since delivery was rot scheduled til 7pm and we were ready to eat off our arm. Met sexy Sandra in the parking lot of the market. She was super nice. Driver said that everyone loves her because she is hard working and loyal. He said a lot of people call her Santa cause she takes care of a lot of kids at Christmas time. Aww.
Pocket wifi Bahamas has been a disaster. We received the device on time but the box was cut and there is no return envelope. I emailed the owner on Thursday and there is still no response. I prepaid for a return envelope and I don't have a return address. He'd better respond soon or I'm just going to keep it until he responds to me.
Also after .75 days of use, it has cut us off. It said we used our 1 gb of included data and we still have 6 days to go. I can't find anything on the site that say there is a data cap. In any event, I prepaid $135 for the device plus two day shipping, which gave me less than one full day of service. Yippee. Now I'm on HRA Internet so I'll spend close to $300 for Internet between the two devices.
Atlantis is crazy. It's like a water park on steroids. It's rained like cats and dogs since we arrived so we haven't gotten to use the pools, but the hot tub at HRA is nice!
I brought along a lot of food and also had some delivered so we've only eaten out once, at Margaritaville. It was $75 for two entrees, two Kalik beers and one frozen drink for me. So pretty typical of what we pay at home.
Hoping that tomorrow the sun will come out!
PS I don't mind the bed but my husband's back is killing him. He woke up and said, "This bed sucks."
Last edited: