This hotel is a 2 star hotel. Everything is functional and somewhat clean but very outdated. There are tiles missing from the shower. Our shower's knob kept falling off. The room is carpeted(old carpeting). The beds are very old and quite worn. The comforter and blanket were definitely worn. The staff was ok. One lady kept wanting to "offer an orientation to show us how to get around the island and offer us a free drink." This translates to TIMESHARE, which we avoided all together. There was loud music one night at the bar so families, do not come here. Your children will not be able to get any sleep.

You are close to the Lucayan Marketplace by car. The market was a bit dead. Actually, the whole town seemed dead. We just went there and ate mainly. Zorba's was good. It is a greek restaurant but also has Bahamian cuisine. We stopped at Rum Runner's the first night and ordered the lobster basket (broiled lobster and fries) for $15. Other local places we ate at were Simply Native and Pepper Pot.

Activities - We snorkeled near Paradise Cove and at Gold Rock Beach (located at Lucayan National Park). $3/each person at both places if you have your own snorkel gear. Gold Rock Beach was gorgeous - true paradise. We snorkeled out to the rock and saw some cool fish.

Everyone seems to rent their cars from Brad's, located at the airport.

OMG....worst hotel I've ever stayed at, thank God it was only for one night, as we got to Freeport a day in advance before our time-share check in time. The wooden door to the room had warped holes in it where light showed through, as well as the sliding glass door not being easy to open and shut, and very unstable. The room was NOT clean, one small bar of 10 year old soap on the vanity.....caulking in tub and vanity was peeling away, and molded/dirty. We asked for extra set of bath towels and it took til the morning we checked out to get them, along with a second phone call request. Upon check in, they jump immediately on you to go for free drink, and free breakfast next day to get the speel on timeshares....be prepared to tolerate them bothering you over and over for that. Entire place was stingy....needs total renovation and paint. The pool is very small and the decking was loose and boards sunk in in areas where u walk. The beds were uncomfortable, as wear was evident, mattress sunken in. The carpet in the room seemed not be even vacuumed....sink and small fridge were old and we didnt trust to use them because of uncleanliness.....all I have to say is if you are on a budget, don't even go here....it's not worth it at all....I travel ALOT, and this place ranks a negative 5.....

We "won" the trip with Security Travel, as well. Raul called and talked my wife into switching to the Redwood from the Bell Channel. He said the location was better. That is the only good thing. We should have stayed with the Bell Channel to start with. After one night at the Redwood we called Raul and told him to switch us back to the Bell Channel. Definitely not for someone looking for fine linens and waiters. But it was clean, spacious, decently appointed, and more than served the purpose. For six of us, the restaurant got pricey--around $50-$70 per meal. The food was good, though, especially the seafood dishes. There is definitely a cast of characters in the bar at any given time of day and "laid back' is definitely the mood. But, it is fine for anyone of any age because everyone is respectful and friendly. The dive shop is more of a base for the dives than a "store". they sell a few things such as underwater cameras and so forth, but it's not a place to get outfitted. The divemaster is a friendly guy and knows his business. We needed some laundry done and got it all taken care of for $20.00--six peoples' worth of dirty clothes washed, folded, and brought to the room. I thought that was a heck of a deal. They don't "charge' per se, but you just offer a gratuity like with everything else on G.B. The only real gripe I Could come up with is that the day we left it seemed like Genie and the staff quit caring since we weren't spending any more money. Could just be me, though. We enjoyed our stay, though, and would go back.

We had a blast at the bell channel, and highly recommend it for a good diving experience. The staff are all so friendly, and you'll get to know them all during your stay. The typical day for us: wake up, breakfast in the cafe (cheap 4-5$), hang out by the pool, go diving, return and head to happy hour (3.50 beers) and trade stories with all the other divers, locals, and ex-pats who frequent the bar daily around 5pm. This is a great place to stay if you like meeting good people. During the week that we stayed, even though the island was pretty quiet with less tourists than usual- the Bell channel was full a few of the nights. Evenings are nice, you can walk to port lucaya (10min- there's a shortcut too) or just hang out at the pool and sip some rum. Most nights there were 7-8 people hanging out chatting on the deck, and pool is 24hrs.
The beds were fine, I didn't really notice if they were hard or soft but we had a room with 2 queens and had no complaints. Rooms are big with couch, tv, dining table, shelves and all rooms have big decks with table/chairs with views over look the channel. Sometimes you can see big fish and seahorses in the water.
There is a free shuttle to a really nice long beautiful beach (at island seas resort) that goes twice daily, so you can use the chairs and palapas.
Never saw or heard anything about timeshares at bell channel.
I can't say enough good stuff about this place, it was a great experience and was so much better than going to a huge resort where you'd never meet any other guests.