I recently went to the atlantisbahamas.com which is now managed by
Brookfield Hospitality Management (the jury is out if that is a good thing for this resort or bad thing).

I don’t know about you, but I always find the Bahamians to be very welcoming. So, on one of the days when I was lying in the sun, trying to get as tan as a Bahamian I struck up a conversation with the lifeguard on his stand next to me. He had all kinds of opinions about the resort after working there for a couple of years. He didn’t seem too impressed with the new management company and felt the property was being used in a real estate game by constantly being bought and sold, so the management companies could make money. He also thought, families would still go to the Atlantis even though Bahamar.com in Nassau or the NEW Bahamian Riviera, as it’s being called, was opening soon with a Rosewood, SLS Lux and Grand Hyatt.

In spite of the real estate transaction, the resort is and has been amazing to go to with kids and families. Where else can you get beautiful tropical weather, celebrity chef restaurants that are actually good! (A must go to is the Todd English restaurant, Olives.) As well as gambling, high-end resort amenities and an amazing water park.

After a few minutes of chatting with the lifeguard, he started to ask me what I was drinking in my starbucks mug. “A skinny vanilla latte”, I said, naturally, what else would it be? Well, I guess I should have known I was now going to be told how there are horrible chemicals in processed coffee and food, right? While the sun is blazing away and all I wanted to do was jump in the pool he said, I should be drinking organic ground coffee from beans and do I grow my own produce?? When he found out I lived in New York, I think he gave me an I-can’t-grow-organic-produce pass due to our cold weather. It was a funny to know every country is obsessed with organically grown foods.

So, of course I came home and ran to my favorite coffee hang-out, Tazza.  They have 20 something different flavors of coffee and some are organic, they even have the grinder right next to the beans! My lifeguard friend would be so impressed that I made the switch to organic coffee beans for my morning coffee. And to my surprise, I like it much better!

Who said you can’t learn a thing or two while you’re on vacation?