Arthur's Place on the Beach on Grand Bahama Island

My wife and I stayed with our daughter and two small grandchildren (4 and 1) at Arthurs Place on the Beach from Jan 9-16, 2012. It was exactly as advertised (in fact is extremely good value) and is ideally suited for families with small children and for those who really aren't there for nightlife given the distance from Port Lucaya and Freeport (20 or so miles). The property is well-maintained, with a large back yard area fronting right on the beach which goes for miles in either direction. I think we may have seen a total of 10 people on the beach during the entire week yet we always felt secure as there a number of occupied, high quality residences in the immediate neighbourhood. The Owner, Arthur, was very helpful in assisting us with directions and ensuring through Theresa his caretaker that we had some milk in the fridge for our late arrival and had a crib all set up for us when we got to the house. The beach is a real selling point-soft sand and at low tide you can walk a good 300 metres out into the water and hunt for shells; we saw manta rays and flying fish as well as picking up a few live conchs (small ones). The house is not far from the National Park which is worth a visit- much to our surprise we saw raccoons in the park and were advised that they were introduced in the 1920's. We also enjoyed the Garden in the Groves with our little ones.

We would be extremely reluctant to rent anywhere east of Gambier Point as the communities are quite isolated and appeared run down. Bishops at High Point was the only local place worth visiting- great food at a reasonable price in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Cracked conch and BBQ ribs are his specialties. The Port Lucaya market was fun but the International Market is not worth a visit unless you want to buy fresh fish in the parking lot- the snapper was to die for. Highly recommend Billy Joes on the beach in Port Lucaya- very laid back but great food-particularly the grouper.

Arthur did advise before we left Australia that it is extremely difficult to get provisions for the house locally so we strongly recommend shopping at Solomons before you go to the house-and buy up big unless you want to drive 20 miles to get milk!

Anyway, a wonderful stay, a relaxing week and we have no hesitation in providing Arthur's Place with our highest recommendation!

Mike and Penny Clarey, Birchgrove (Sydney) Australia

Arthur & Melba's property is beautiful, the view is amazing. We had great weather everyday,snorkeled,walked for hours on the beach,toured the island. The people were very friendly, pleasant, appreciated our business. Back at Arthur's this house is perfect for families, room for togetherness yet designed for privacy. The beach was our private haven where we spent most of our time,remote, beautiful. Camp fires with a full moon at night, life was good.

I stayed at Arthur's house in April with my family and have already decided this will be an annual trip!! The house is beautiful and tastefully decorated, and the view from the back is awesome!! The master bedroom and bath are great, the other bedrooms are really nice as well. The kitchen is great, everything you need is there. I would suggest taking as much snack food as possible the prices in the grocery store are about triple what you would pay at home.

As for the beach I can't begin to tell you how beautiful it is, low tide you can walk out in the water really far and high tide is great for snorkeling and swimming. My two year old nephew just loved the beach he called it his "big sandbox". We collected tons of shells and sand dollar and bisquits. We swam out to the reef right in front of the house and it was great! We also made out own little Corona commercial on the beach, the adirondack chairs are great!

The owner recommended a few local resturants located up the beach and the food was really good and the staff very friendly.

You will need to rent a car to drive into Freeport/Port Lacaya but the straw market, casino and fish market are well worth the ride. The straw market where the cruise ships dock was very nice as well. The people are very pleasant and seem to want to go out of their way to please you.

There is a national park right down the road which we visited and had a great time exploring the caves, walking through the wet lands and on the beach.

This was the best vacation I have been on in a long time and I would definately recommend Arthur's House if your looking for a secluded quiet get away with family and friends.