Bahamians Are Now In Charge Of The Atlantis Resort

Atlantis Paradise Island is probably the most famous resort in the Caribbean, and has come a long way over the years. The area was initially part of the Paradise Island Hotel & Casino, which incidentally was controlled by a Donald Trump company. Over time Trump divested from the company, and a South African hotel owner named Sol Kerzer purchased Paradise Island. He gradually turned it into something more closely resembling what it is today, and the resort is now connected to Marriott International.

Now the resort represents a stunning collection of beautiful and entertaining attractions. True to its namesake, it focuses a great deal on water, known for its sprawling waterscape that includes aquariums, lagoons, and a gigantic water park. Altogether this gives the resort a welcoming family atmosphere that makes it a perfect travel destination for just about everybody.

It’s also still home to a huge casino. Guests enjoy themselves at poker rooms, blackjack tables, roulette wheels, and even at a sizable bank of slots and video slots that in some cases bring the popular slot titles on the web back into an in-person venue. Online casinos have gotten a lot of attention for taking casino entertainment and managing to improve on the classic experience, but at a venue of this size you’ll find a lot of crossover in the gaming options. But at a resort like this you also have the added benefits of beautiful surroundings, cocktails, and people to socialize with!

Atlantis has also come to have a broader reach in influencing the surrounding island, rather than just serving as a tourist destination and economy booster. The most notable recent example of this kind of influence is the resort’s efforts to restore a coral reef that was badly damaged by Hurricane Matthew. The work is being done by the Atlantis Blue Project Foundation, which is fully dedicated to using resort revenue to save and preserve life in the surrounding seas. It’s an impressive initiative for a place primarily known as a hub of decadent entertainment.

With all it offers to tourists and the surrounding area alike the Atlantis resort has never actually been under the control of locals—until recently. We outlined the history of ownership at the outset of the article, but until this year even the hotel operations were always under control of foreigners. That changed in June when the resort announced that for the first time ever, Bahamians would be at the helm of hotel operations. The announcement is part of a stated effort to “Bahamianize” the property moving forward, which one might interpret as making it more authentic.

Specifically, veteran hoteliers Stuart Bowe (who’s been in charge of portions of the resort since 2015) and Russell Miller (who was general manager of a Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans) will be in charge of hotel operations under the leadership of president and managing director Howard Karawan. It remains to be seen what changes may come about at Atlantis as a result of these appointments. But it’s nice to see one of the most significant properties in the region being turned over to the control of locals.