When we were booking this property there were some things that weren’t clear to us, having never visited the Bahamas and being unfamiliar with the location. The house is very nice and very comfortable. It has high ceilings, modern appliances, and many bathrooms. It does feel like an authentic Bahamian experience, which is what we were looking for when we were booking. There were seven of us and young children, one less than two-years-old. For this reason we wanted as much space as possible for playing, napping, and hanging out. We also wanted to be able to store and prepare food and have some privacy so we could have our meltdowns without bothering anyone. This property provided all of those things. The location to the beach is incredible- the ocean comes right up to the step off the back gate. It is very cool. We did not spend too much time on the beach because during our visit there were what seemed to be biting sand flies (Thanksgiving). My husband’s feet had many bites so we did not take the kids to play in the sand. The location was among other similar homes, but also vacant properties and new development. It was a mix, but we decided not to go for walks in the neighborhood for our general impressions of the area. Specifically, there were stray dogs, guards at the nearby strip mall, - places I would not go to alone though my husband did. We did see locals walking with strollers though so it may have been fine. Also, we felt safe while at the property, which is gated. The island is not that big so driving out to a public beach (we liked Jaws Beach) and restaurants did not take long. Also the roads were a straight shot so it was easy to navigate in a rental (driving is on the left side of the street, but our rental had the driver on the left side as in the US). The hosts were also very nice. We took advantage of their pantry service and it was so nice to arrive and have the fridge stocked with groceries. They were also very nice when we damaged a chair.
I was not sure what to expect for the higher-end nightly rate. The value of this property for us was the space and the pool (which is heated too). It was a very nice property with very nice hosts. The kids had a blast and I am still happy with our decision to find an alternative to the resorts.