The Royal Islander was a nice clean mid-scale hotel across from the International Bazaar. The staff was courteous and helpful, especially the owner. The only real problem is that there were very few guests at the time we went. Of course, the International Bazaar is a shell of its former self, and the owner told us that the closure of the nearby casino had really made it difficult for them. The hotel stay was really a pleasant experience, but we found ourselves constantly hopping a bus to Port Lucaya to find things to do or to find a place to eat. The hotel does have a coffee shop/small restaurant. We ate breakfast there a couple of times, and it was okay. They provide a free shuttle to Xanadu Beach about every hour. It's a quieter beach than the one in Lucaya and is very nice.

My stay at the Royal Islander was excellent! My advice is don't buy a Volkswagen as a substitute for a BMW or Mercedes. The RI is a clean, well kept hotel property. I would rate give this property 3 starts out of 5! An excellent 3 star hotel at that. If your expectation is a 5 star hotel, that's it's not! The price was right, the service great, the staff was very friendly. I met the owner, she was very friendly and wanted to make sure our stay was pleasant. Overall the staff went overboard to make sure you were happy. Currently this part of Freeport is not so great due to the 2004 closing of the Royal Oasis. This killed the famous International Bazaar. This is all going to change. The Royal Oasis property down the street has been bought, the management company now in place. Within a couple of years this area will be booming again.

So my advice is if you want a clean, friendly place to stay that's priced reasonable, stay at the Royal Islander. If you want a 5 star experience along with a 5 star bill, then stay somewhere else.

If you expect 3, 4, or 5 star accomodations, this is certainly not the place for you. The only reason I didn't give it a 1 star is because the room and bathroom was relatively clean and tidy when we arrived. I went during spring break and the company we booked the hotel through tried to comfort us by sadly saying, "at least you're on spring break and you won't have to spend much time in here." They still use the key system so who knows who has keys/access to your room. The island is beautiful and the people we met were really nice. There is not much lighting around the outside at night and we sometimes found it hard to find a cab that would take us there after night fell. If you can find anything else around the same price or maybe a bit more, I'm sure it will be WAY better than this place.

We booked a cruise on with Discovery Cruise Line and learned that The Royal Islander is recommended by the cruise. I then looked it up here on Trip Advisor. I read the mixed reviews and was very nervous to book my stay. We went in and were expecting the worst but we were so HAPPY once we got there. When you pull up it doesn't look very exciting, but once you enter you can tell they have renovated. The pool looks brand new and is beautiful. There is a secluded hot tob with a waterfall that runs into it and it's beautiful. The lounge chairs are also new and very comfortable. I saw many people who have posted here in the past has stayed there prior to the new rooms. It looks as though some rooms are still being worked on. Our room was SPOTLESS. The bed was HUGE, the room was HUGE, there was a great armoire that had a TV and drawers and a refrigerator inside. The bathroom also looked brand new. All the workers were VERY friendly. We even came back to the room on Valentine's Night to a complimentary bottle of champagne!!! (pic)