My husband and I just got back from a week long stay at the Marley between Christmas and New Year's. We choose the Marley because we wanted to stay at a small boutique style hotel with an intamite feel. We statyed in "Talkin Blues" room which was fine, but it only had a very small window 1 ft by 2 ft that did not let in any light. The bathroom is so dark you can not see to shower or get ready. The room was clean though. There are only 2 rooms that have ocean views. The Legend and one Love, I understand these are very large and have balconies that open onto the ocean. I think that these are the only 2 rooms worth staying in, but even then..the service at this hotel is so poor that it is still not worth it. I have traveled throughout the carribbean and I am fully aware of "island time". That does not begin to describe the lack of effort or care of this Marley staff. The receptionist is also the bellman, hostess, maid, cook, bartender, and security. There is literally no staff and I was told the hotel was at full capacity. My husband and I ate at Simmer Down for dinner one night and we were told that there was no white wine, no red wine and no liquer at all to drink. We both had the Jerk shrimp which was good, but we paid the same price at Lucciano's (which is amazing) and had incredible service, food, and ambiance. We also ate at Cafe Mattise which was our favorite on the whole island. Ok, back to the Marley... the hot tub was so dirty that the water was brown and it had 3 inches of sand in the bottom of it. The pool was equally unclean. The outdoor lighting above the hot tub was so rusted that the can lights had fallen out of their sockets and were dangerously hanging above your head. The outdoor shower to rinse your feet off from the ocean before entering the pool was of course broken, thus all the dirt in the pool. The small indoor dining room had not seen a paint brush in years. The walls were dirty and scuffed with black marks everywhere you looked. It was my husband's 36th birthday so I had decided to get him a couples massage. The massuese (receptionist) was very late, so we sat there in our robes, I asked if I could have a drink of water while we waited for her, which I was later charged 2 dollars for. On our last day we were checking out of the hotel and we were asked how our stay was, we were honest about the terrible service so they offered to serve us lunch on them....we took them up on their offer. We should have learned our lesson because of the 4 items listed for lunch on the menu...they had none. THis is not a joke. I ordered the pasta and my husband ordered a sandwich, the receptionsist came back to say they did not have either available. I asked her what they did have and she eventually went to get the "cook" who only had one dish available. I wish I would have paid more attention to the negative reviews I read before booking the Marley. Our trip was simply a waste of money because of the Marley, we would have changed hotels but the whole island was booked because of the holiday.

We booked our honeymoon at the Marley, but ended up staying only one night and switched to the Atlantis. The hotel itself is quite pretty and unique, but there were lots of issues:

- Ants in the room. If there were no other problems I could have accepted this, but it's still disappointing when you think about how much you are spending per night here!
- We arrived after a very long flight, went to take a shower and they had shut off the water to do some repair. It would have been nice to be warned this was happening! They got it back on pretty quickly, but still.
- The restaurant here is a joke. We tried to go to Simmer Down for dinner and they were not serving anything off the regular menu, only a prix fixe menu that was much more expensive. Also, you could only pay in cash. Why this ridiculous policy?? As a tourist I want to carry as little cash as possible. No wonder there was no one here.
- Breakfast was also a strange experience. They said no chef was around, but that they did offer a free continental breakfast of coffee, juice, bagels and fresh fruit. The food was good, and service was pretty fast. Then he presented us with a bill, which he said was only for accounting purposes and we wouldn't be charged. Why do I have to sign for something which is free??? I'm still not entirely sure that we weren't charged for it, and either way, that is extremely confusing.
- They advertise free wifi in the rooms, but the room we were in barely got a signal at all. We had to ask three times to get an ethernet cable brought up to use instead.
- Not much beach area. The waves come right up to the front of the hotel, so forget about taking a long walk on the beach here.
- Walking anywhere in this neighborhood is dangerous. There are no sidewalks and only a small shoulder. We tried to venture out to find places to eat and it is a bit of a hike to get anywhere. You can take the #10 bus, but it only runs until 5 or 6 pm.

Overall we felt this hotel had so much potential and we really wanted to like it, but we just wouldn't have been happy had we spent our entire vacation here.

When I was seaching for an event location for our 30 person sales team, I looked at many restaurants in and around the Atlantis where we were staying, and none of them offered anything unique. My group was adament about finding a spot with a nice view of the ocean (many come from landlocked parts of the country) and there were not many choices. I am so glad I stumbled across Simmer Down at the Marley Resort because we had the most spectacular and unique event imaginable. From the cocktails and passed appetizers by the sea wall overlooking the ocean at sunset, to the spectacular dinner in the courtyard, Chef Devan and his team treated us to an amazing experience. If you need an event unlike the standard restaurant experiences in Nassau, I strongly suggest a visit to Simmer Down and the Marley Resort! Everyone listed our evening there among the highlights of the entire trip!

We chose Simmer Down on a whim, as we'd already dined @ Cafe Matisse & Luciano's & didn't want to go to dinner anywhere on Paradise Island. Our evening turned out to be a memory of a lifetime! First of all, the courtyard is absolutely beautiful, w/ only a handful of tables lit by candlelight, fresh tropical flowers & white tablecloths, w/ beautifully carved British Colonial furniture. The tropical drinks from the Stir It Up bar were creative & outstanding. Sipping our drinks, tucked into a corner table, we were feeling like we were in a dream - and then the music started! Five or six of the most talented jazz musicians we've heard in a very long time...playing basically for us, as there was only one other person sitting @ a small table. The entrees were sensational, w/ just enough spice to add some heat, and very creatively combined w/ vegetable sides. Eventually a large private party got underway, but in the meantime, we were treated to a most memorable evening. Before leaving, we went through the photo gallery containing some amazing & evocative B & W photos of Bob Marley. Perfect!