Out of this world
Rosewood Baha Mar (Nassau)
GETAWAYS • Bahamas
As I strolled across Baha Mar’s sprawling casino floor — plush red carpeting underfoot, slot machines buzzing and whirring, a band warming up at Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club — I caught a glimpse of the aquamarine Caribbean Sea through floor-to-ceiling windows and thought: it’s Vegas, plunked down in the Bahamas. To be clear, that’s not a bad thing, especially for anyone with a weakness for gambling, drinking, and dining out, all in an opulent world unto itself, not to mention poolside sunbathing and plunging into the salty sea.
Comprised of three distinct hotels — Rosewood, SLS, and Grand Hyatt — Baha Mar opened in 2017. The 100,000 square-foot casino (the largest in the Caribbean) serves as connective tissue for the thousand-acre resort nestled on Goodman’s Bay on the northside of Nassau in the Bahamas. You can also wend your way along the paved oceanfront beach walk to access each hotel and their unique poolscapes and beachfront setups. The resort is also home to an impressive waterpark, multiple spas, a tennis center, a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, and much more.
In true Vegas fashion, Baha Mar is a gastronomic funhouse, home to more than 45 restaurants and bars, some helmed by flashy celebrity chefs, like Marcus Samuelsson. Food Network notable Scott Conant opened a new Italian restaurant, Leola, in November. And I was visiting to attend a truffle dinner hosted by Daniel Boulud at his namesake Café Boulud as part of the resort’s annual culinary and arts festival in October. It was an utterly glorious five-course affair with highlights including slow-baked salmon in créme de vermouth with white truffle and leeks that Boulud spent an hour and a half perfecting with his team earlier that day.
I stayed at Rosewood, Baha Mar’s most luxurious destination. Part of that luxury comes from its exclusivity. At 221 rooms (compared to Grand Hyatt’s 1,800 and SLS’s nearly 300), Rosewood guests have exclusive access to the hotel’s poolside and beach amenities, as well as the rest of the resort. The rooms are comfortable, plush, and spacious with a modern beach house aesthetic. Oceanfront rooms enjoy a view above the resort’s treetop canopy and out to the sea.
During my stay, I was impressed by Rosewood’s chic Manor Bar with its plush colonial-inspired design, excellent cocktails and genteel waitstaff, perfect for happy hour or a nightcap. Café Boulud transforms into Breakfast Café in the morning, serving one of the best hotel breakfasts I’ve enjoyed lately, featuring a decadent quiche Lorraine, soft scrambled eggs with caviar, and indulgent almond croissants. There’s also the fantastic Costa Mexican restaurant in a lovely al fresco setting surrounded by koi ponds.
While there’s plenty to keep you occupied at the resort, do yourself a favor and venture out to get a taste of local Nassau culture. As the capital of the Bahamas with a population of about 225,000, it’s considered the big city. The local fish fry is a nightly tradition. Make a beeline to Goldie’s, a waterfront conch house for outrageously delicious cracked conch and other local seafood delicacies served in enormous portions and priced for locals. Everything pairs perfectly with a Goombay Smash.
Then there’s Graycliff, a 1700s-era mansion built by a pirate that an Italian family bought in the 1970s and runs today as a boutique hotel and restaurant. It’s eclectic in a wonderfully bonkers, specifically Caribbean way, home to a purported $20 million wine collection. Swing by for dinner or a glass of wine in the lounge where you’ll find on display freeze-dried conch chowder that flew to space on the same all-female mission as Katy Perry, as well as a Graycliff chef’s cousin, certificate of flight and all .
With flights from Miami at barely an hour, Baha Mar goes a long way in providing its own galaxy to run amok in Nassau. –Shayne Benowitz
→ Rosewood Baha Mar (Nassau) • Winter rates from $1322/wkdn night/king.