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Points hotels in the Bahamas and Caribbean are few. The addition of Courtyard Nassau Downtown/Junkanoo Beach, Marriott’s first property in the Bahamas (see press release), does not do much to bolster the lineup for the leisure traveler.
The hotel is Marriott Rewards category 6, which is 30,000 points/night. Many promotional certs from Marriott are capped a category 4 or 5. Any property above that bar should be justified.
This is converted from the Sunset Resort Nassau. The hotels is is across the street from the busy Western Esplanade Beach in downtown Nassau, mainly for hobnobbing with locals and the cruise ships crowds from the nearby terminal.
Nassau is one of the least appealing cities in the region and when cruise ships are not in port it is deserted. At night it does not feel safe. When I was there in January I went to one of the few open eating establishments, a takeout place where I was accosted by a panhandler until staff, themselves protected by barriers, shouted him off.
If in Nassau for business, the better choice is the British Colonial Hilton Nassau down the block. For leisure, the advice from Bahamas travelers is to go anywhere but Nassau, however you can base yourself on Paradise Island at Atlantis or the connected Comfort Suites Paradise Island, a great value point redemption with full resort privileges at Atlantis and its waterpark.
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Nassau is an absolute dump, set up as place to separate naive and inexperienced travelers from their money. If you’ve already booked a cruise that includes Nassau, just stay on the ship. Indeed any of the flat, barren islands in the Bahamas are best left to their residents. Cruise line “private islands” are there to get you off the ship and on to the sand, where you’ll run up big bar tabs getting drunk and sunburned. They’re cheap getaways to be avoided.