I recently completed a five-night comp stay in Atlantis, Paradise Island, in The Bahamas. Learn how I spent very little during the stay and met the four-hour gambling requirement with minimal cost.
In 2025, I earned Caesars Rewards Diamond Elite status (75,000 Tier Credits), mostly from online Blackjack and in-person Video Poker play during 10x Tier Credit multiplier promotions. One of the more interesting perks of this earned status is a comp stay in Atlantis, five nights in the nice The Cove tower with no resort fees (compared to lower Diamond tiers that get a lesser tower and require resort fees).
Getting There and Eating There (kinda)
I flew direct from Philadelphia to Nassau. The first flight cost 15,000 American Airlines miles and $6.60 in taxes or fees. The return flight, also direct, cost 12.5k AA miles with $112.93 in taxes and fees (sadly, an extra $100ish for leaving The Bahamas). I booked a round-trip shared shuttle service for $46.20.
To save money on food, I used grocery rewards from Acme and Giant (Pennsylvania) for trail mix, packaged tuna, tortilla wraps, cheese crackers, and other snacks. Resort food is costly, especially with the automatic 10% gratuity, even on grab-and-go items, and a 15% ‘value-added tax,’ whatever that means.
As far as I know, there were no ways to use discounted gift cards for food, and options like DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats are not available. This is absolutely not a destination for frugal-minded travelers who would prefer to use casino comps and credits to save on food, so I came prepared with food in an extra checked bag, comped with AA status. I’m so appreciative of the great food value in Las Vegas and Atlantic City!
What Atlantis Gets Right: Beaches, Pools, and Aquaventure
While food is a major weakness of the resort, the beaches, pools, and the waterpark were big pluses in my opinion. The comped stay comes with free access to the Aquaventure waterpark that includes waterslides, the Rapids River, and many pools. You’ll also see rope bridges, an underground aquarium, and other attractions throughout Atlantis.
Unfortunately, the stay is comped only if you gamble for four hours, but fortunately, the gambling requirement is extremely lax and low-cost. The Atlantis player’s club is not worth pursuing, so there’s no reason to gamble a large amount and play at a normal speed, because you can instead bet very small and play slowly to satisfy the four-hour requirement.
I sat at a not-so-great 8/5 single-line Jacks or Better Video Poker game, playing $1.25 a hand, pressing the deal or draw button approximately once every two minutes while listening to YouTube or podcast content. Rather than ‘trying to get lucky,’ ‘gamble for fun,’ or ‘hit a big jackpot,’ giving up expected value on a game with a bad paytable, I played close to the minimum required for a low amount of exposure. Rather than playing four hours during one session or day, I spaced my play across multiple days and verified my hours with the player’s club representative.
Final Thoughts: Would I Do It Again?
I had fun during this stay enjoying the large hotel room, the waterpark, and warm temperatures. Although the high cost of food and the four-hour gambling requirement were negatives, I was overall happy with the stay and would return.
As always, gamble responsibly!
For a video tour of The Cove hotel room, see my recent video. I will also upload more Atlantis videos.