Warwick Paradise Island

Ron and I were looking into taking a short cruise to the Bahamas to tide us over until our trip to Maine. I was about to suggest that we get a day pass at Warwick if our cruise went to Nassau when Ron said, “Instead of taking a cruise, why don’t we stay at Warwick?” We were on the same wavelength! :-)

Warwick is an all-inclusive adults-only resort on the harbor side of Paradise Island. The hotel was built in the 60s and has had several different names over the years. We’ve been wanting to check it out since it became a Warwick property in 2017. I was curious to see how it compared with RIU Palace Paradise Island, where we have stayed a couple of times.

Although Warwick isn’t on Cabbage Beach, it does have a large lazy-river style pool, a lap pool and a boardwalk that protects a small made-made beach. We loved standing on the boardwalk and watching the yachts and tour boats riding up and down Nassau Harbor. Our room was a Water View room on the 9th floor facing east towards Montague Bay. When we booked the trip, I didn’t realize that the Water View rooms didn’t have balconies. We had a nice view, but I really missed having a balcony and wished we’d upgraded to a Harbor Deluxe Balcony room. Next time… The room was simple but comfortable with touches of bright yellows and pinks, a king-sized bed, and a tiny bathroom.

Water View room

main pool

lap pool

A couple of days before our trip, I emailed the resort and was able to make reservations for the three specialty restaurants – Edgewater Grill, Abbiocco and Tings on a Stick. Abbiocco, the Italian restaurant, was my favorite. I could have filled up on the antipasto bar, but my minestrone soup, pappardelle with Bolognese sauce and tiramisu were yummy too. Edgewater Grill was an outdoor restaurant on the boardwalk that served seafood and steak. Tings on a Stick was the Asian fusion restaurant. I’m not sure how it got its name, but I guess it must have served kabobs at some point. There was also Chickcharnie’s for pizza and late-night snacks and Verandah, the buffet restaurant. We only ate at Verandah for breakfast, but it was fantastic. There were “real” scrambled eggs (not the watery powdered stuff), cheese grits, chocolate croissants and lots of fresh fruit – blueberries, blackberries, watermelon, papaya and even dragon fruit. There was also a self-serve waffle bar with whipped cream and fruit toppings. I’ve had a thing for waffles lately and have been bugging Ron for a waffle maker for my birthday. :-)

This was a low-key trip for us. We usually like to do some kind of tour and had thought about booking one of the powerboat tours, but it was too windy. Instead, we just hung out in the pool or walked all over Paradise Island. We did A LOT of walking. One morning we went to the Cloisters, the remains of a 13th century French monastery. The stones were brought to the US in the 1920s by William Randolph Heart, then moved again to the Bahamas in 1968. Now they are part of the Four Seasons Ocean Club and stand on the hill overlooking Nassau Harbor.

the Cloisters

Marina Village

Another day, we walked to the Food Truck Village next to the Straw Market. One of Ron’s goals for the trip was to have some local food. While he was researching places to eat around Paradise Island, he discovered The New Duff, which uses steamed buns to make individual servings of duff, a traditional Bahamian dessert. In addition to their main location near downtown Nassau, The New Duff has a food truck at the Food Truck Village. We ordered the guava duff, which came smothered in a rum butter sauce. I was afraid there was too much sauce, but I was wrong. I ended up practically licking it out of the container. :-)  It was so good!

In the evenings, we went to Atlantis to try our luck in the casino. I played Blackjack and Ron played the slots and we both lost. Oh well… Afterwards, we wandered around the aquarium and through Marina Village to see all the huge yachts, each one bigger than the last. The 100-foot yachts were the small ones! It has always been a dream of Ron’s to take a boat to the Bahamas. We’re going to have to figure out how we can make that happen.

Atlantis at night

Of course, we couldn’t go to the Bahamas without spending some time at the beach! Although Warwick isn’t on Cabbage Beach, it does have a shuttle that runs back and forth to the beach every half hour from 10 until 5. I thought the shuttle would drop us off at the public access next to RIU Palace but instead the driver took us to the Paradise Island Beach Club, just east of the Ocean Club. What a beautiful spot! We almost had the beach to ourselves. We walked to the secluded cove past the jetty, then we swam in the crystal-clear water. I really think Cabbage Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Before heading back to the hotel, we had a drink at the beach club’s bar. The bartender, Randall, was great and was able to make us Sky Juice, which sadly wasn’t available at Warwick. The bar also had a full food menu, something we’ll keep in mind for a future trip.

Cabbage Beach

It was a short getaway, but it was fun and relaxing. I loved the time at Cabbage Beach, discovering the rum butter sauce at The New Duff, meeting some great people around the pool, and checking out a new (for us) hotel. I would definitely stay at Warwick again, but next time we’ll spring for a balcony room. Now we’re looking forward to Maine, which will be a completely different kind of trip.

Junkanoo artwork at Warwick