If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD310.50), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Welcome to the hotel of your island-luxe fantasies: set on a palm-studded private estate overlooking a marina, The Island House in Nassau is the Bahamas’ coolest hotspot. Lounge in the super spa, hit the in-house cinema, dine on first-rate fresh fish… or just laze by the pool and let the laid-back staff (clad in hipster check and double denim) hand you endless cocktails.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A bottle of Bonney's by Ocean's Collide, the hotel's own-label wine; GoldSmith members are also treated to free airport transfers
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Rates
Double rooms from $310.50, excluding tax at 12 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional resort fee of $60.00 per room per night on check-out.
More details
Rates don’t usually include breakfast (from $6).
Also
The hotel has a 48-seat cinema: it shows recent releases daily, and – as all good cinemas should – has its own bar. Book a sofa for the plushest viewing experience.
At the hotel
Cinema, gym, yoga studio, squash court, free WiFi. In rooms: TV, free WiFi, air-conditioning, black-out curtains, hairdryer, minibar with wines, spirits, soft drinks and snacks.
Our favourite rooms
For the best views of the sun setting over the marina, book an Ocean-View Room on the second floor; if you’re more of a wake-up-and-stumble-straight-to-the-pool type, go for a Poolside Cottage.
Poolside
You’ll find the large heated pool by the spa, flanked by classic white sunlougers.
Spa
The only Bamford spa in the Bahamas is right here: book ahead (there are three treatment rooms) and luxuriate with a massage or facial from the thoroughly lovely staff.
Also
On the fitness front, there’s more than the standard hotel gym here: sporty locals flock to the island’s only squash court, the anti-gravity yoga studio and the ballet barre classes. (The actual hotel gym itself is pretty impressive itself, too.)
Children
Accepted, but not particularly catered to. It’s more of a grown-up hideout.
Other local restaurants with food this good are generally on the stuffy side – dining at any of the Island House’s eateries is a far more relaxed affair. Come as you are (well, within reason… your robe and slippers would be pushing it, obviously).
Hotel restaurant
For Mediterranean fare, there’s the hotel’s Mahogany House restaurant; laid-back Thai dining is on offer at Shima, where you’ll dine among unique works by local artists. Both offer a 500-item wine list, too. The Coffee Bar bakery and deli is set for breakfast and lunch daily.
Hotel bar
Each of the three restaurants also has a bar, as does the cinema. In the Coffee Bar, drinks are poured 7am–10pm (and there’s a happy hour each Thursday). Mahogany House serves drinks from 11am to 11pm, including the hotel’s own Bonnie’s Revenge wine. And in Shima, sip cocktails 6pm–11pm; we recommend the lychee martini or a cucumber cooler.
Last orders
Breakfast 7am–11am at the Coffee Bar, or lunch at your leisure from 11.30am to 3pm. Mahogany House serves lunch from 11am to 3pm and dinner 6pm–11pm, and Shima’s open for dinner each night 5.30pm–10pm.
Room service
Order snacks and small meals to your room during restaurant hours.
You can’t get a better setting: Nassau’s the accessible central hub of the Bahamas' string of islands, and the hotel's just outside the city.
Planes
Touch down at Lynden Pindling International Airport (it’s just a three-hour flight from New York, and around half an hour from Miami). From there, the Island House is just 15 minutes away.
Automobiles
There’s free valet parking on-site.
Worth getting out of bed for
Finally ready to tear yourself away from the pool, the cinema and the spa? It's time to get acquainted with your surroundings. Head out on a Bahamian art and cuisine expedition with Islandz Tours, perhaps, or explore the Exumas (and feed stingrays) on a private day trip with Power Boat Adventures. Not quite wild enough? Go diving with sharks or discover the wrecks surrounding New Providence with Stuart Cove.
Local restaurants
You can easily rotate your way around the three on-site restaurants for a few days without getting bored, but Nassau’s also home to a host of other dining options. A few of of the best are Café Matisse, a charming Italian spot with a beautiful courtyard, in an elegant colonial-style building behind Parliament Square, and Arawak Cay and Lukka Kari, both serving up Bahamian flavours. Arawak Cay’s collection of food stalls tends to be a hub of hunger-based excitement (try the conch salad at Frankie Gone Bananas), and Lukka Kari downtown has some top local dishes on the menu.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this boutique hotel in Nassau, a full account of their luxury Bahamas break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quickpostcard from the Island House in the Bahamas…
The Guestbook
Whenever you book a stay at a Smith hotel or villa, we’ll invite you to review it when you get back. Read what other Smith members had to say in The Island House’s Guestbook below.
We loved
Our family of four stayed at the Island House for two nights before heading to the more rural Exumas. We enjoyed the super-comfy and beautifully decorated rooms, well-appointed bathrooms, excellent dining at the Coffee Bar, Mahogany House and Shima restaurants. The pool was relaxing and unpretentious. The gym has everything you need (plus squash courts!). The yoga class was wonderful, too.
Don’t expect
While we were there with our kids, don't expect water slides at the pool or kids menus. It's definitely a grown-up place that welcomes kids.
Rating
ByMia, BlackSmith
Stayed on 28 Mar 2019
We loved
Excellent all round.
Rating
ByJohn, BlackSmith
Stayed on 1 Mar 2019
We loved
The room was large and beautiful with a great shower, comfortable beds and a large terrace. The pool is delicious, the yoga was challenging and the relaxation amazing. All the restaurants served delicious food.
Don’t expect
Four Seasons service. It's polite and helpful but not overly in your face.
Rating
ByLeora, BlackSmith
Stayed on 14 Nov 2018
We loved
We stayed in Cottages 25 and 26 with our three children (aged 20, 19 and 15). All of us were looking for rest and relaxation. The Island House was the perfect four day/three night getaway for that. Our college kids spent one night in Atlantis with friends (we had dinner at the Dune) but otherwise we were all completely smitten with The Island House. We took classes (barre, anti-gravity yoga) and used the workout room. We swam in the lap pool, ate at the Mahogany House and Shima (both fantastic), and watched a movie in the Cinema. We all had spa treatments (facials and massages). Everything was amazing. The staff is super friendly and the property is beautiful.
Don’t expect
Huge crowds or posers. Everyone is really there for the R&R. No pretense. Very private and respectful.
