Atlantis Paradise Island to Join Marriott’s Autograph Collection

Marriott has announced that Atlantis, Paradise Island in the Bahamas will be joining their distinct Autograph Collection starting in the fall.

From Marriott’s press release:

“Having Atlantis, Paradise Island join our Autograph Collection is a milestone achievement for the brand and the company,†said Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International, Inc. “We are excited to partner with Brookfield and put the full power of Marriott behind one of the world’s most spectacular and popular resorts, while adding to our global resort portfolio in a key destination where we know our guests want to travel.â€

Marriott will provide a $100 million mezzanine loan to the project, and Atlantis will operate under a long term franchise agreement.

For those not familiar, the ocean-themed Atlantis Paradise Island resort has 3,400 rooms, the largest casino in the Bahamas, water slides, 40 restaurants, bars and lounges, and 50,000 marine animals. Amazing, but it’s also a pretty expensive place to stay.

Selecting random dates of February 20-23, 2015 the lowest rate I could find was for the “Value” Beach Towers at $225, and that was nonrefundable. The best available rate came to $260 a night.

This is during the middle of February, so more popular vacation dates are more expensive unless you can find a sale.

Plus, this doesn’t include any of the food packages.

Right now Marriott’s only property in the Bahamas is the The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, which is part of Marriott’s Vacation Club (Timeshare).

I think the best part about Atlantis, Paradise Island joining Marriott’s Autograph Collection will be the ability to make award bookings using Marriott Rewards points. One of the most interesting redemptions may be for The Cove Club rooms, which features an adults only pool, Club Lounge access, and spectacular ocean views. Oh, and it’s often $700++ a night.

Not yet on Marriott’s website, Atlantis, Paradise Island will be available for booking through Marriott channels starting in the fall (no word on date yet) once they’ve officially joined their Autograph Collection. I’ll be sure to do an update once we get more information. For now, all bookings are still via the Atlantis website here.

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