Hilton or Melia Day Pass - Buy In Advance or Wing It?

[frisbeewife]

I'll be in Nassau on June 29 with my 3 grandsons. They'll be 15, 14, and 6. And I'm 59 with bad knees. Anyway, I'd like to take them to a beach with some amenities (chairs, food/drinks, umbrellas would be great) and both the Hilton and Melia day passes sound like a great idea. But should I buy them ahead of time or wait until we get there? If the weather is bad I won't want to spend all that money on a washout, but I know the Hilton at least does get full. I assume there's no refund on non-used day passes, right?

 

Another question - do either of these resorts have a lot of stairs to deal with? My knees really don't like stairs.

 

Thanks for any advice!

[mrobstad]

Wing it for the Melia.....that way, it's weather permitting.

[geegee1]

If you are going to go to the Hilton I recommend buying the pass in advance. The one time we did not we were told by the front desk that no more were available. There are no stairs to contend with at the Hilton.

This past February, the winds were really strong and cold out. We walked to the hotel since we were afraid we were going to be charged. The front desk said something to the effect that you don't want to come here today, don't worry about the charge. They were true to their word and they did not charge us.

[mbe30]

We found that as well at the Hilton. It wasn't cold but was rainy. We went to the hotel since the online confirmation stated that we would be charged, but they asked us if we were sure that we wanted to be there and that we would not be charged if we left. Makes me feel comfortable booking with the, again considering that we won't be locked in with bad weather.

[lions1995]

I just did a day pass at Melia last week.

 

Yes there are stairs up to the entrance. And then down yo the beach.

 

We pre purchased the day pass. We got there around 1:00 since done in the party wanted to shop. So we had to stand in the line with those checking into the resort to pay the differnce ( only pay 20% online, the rest at check in). Eventually some one did come and helped us "check in" in front of those with rooms.

 

The surf was really bad. Seaweed everywhere and not very clear water. We were still able to go into the water, but it would have been a lot nicer if the water was calmer.

 

The swim up pool/bar was drained and doing renovations. The other pool was pretty cold.

 

Food was not cheap - cheapest was a ceasefires salad for $13. Hot dog was around $15 ( though it was more like a sausage). Cheeseburger was $20. They came with about 5 tortia chips.

 

Taking the jitney took about 20 minutes each way.

 

If I had to do it again, I probably would do the Hilton. My other option was the RIU, but the surf would have been bad there as well.

[SeaWatcher65]

We had fun riding the jitney bus there. Definitely a fun experience kidding around with the Bahamians on the bus. The weather was windy and a little cool for swimming so we went to Melia and did not get a pass. We sat on the beach right in front of Melia (public) and there were only a couple people selling stuff (dresses, hats, bead necklaces, etc.). We talked to the Melia attendant on the beach and asked about the pass -- he said we only needed it if we wanted to use their pools or chairs on the beach. We were free to use their restaurants. We used the lobby restroom no problem.