Viking Hill Oceanfront Hostel, Nassau

It is on West Bay Street on the western shore of New Providence, about eight miles west of downtown Nassau. Lynden Pindling International Airport is about 1.3 miles east, roughly a five-minute taxi at about twenty-five US dollars for two passengers. Several listing sites quote 2.5 miles, which is wrong.

By telephone. There is no staffed desk here: you give your expected arrival time when you book, call the property on the day, and somebody comes out to meet you during the late-afternoon and evening arrival window, which runs to nine at night. Rooms are given up by ten in the morning. Guests who arrive without doing this find nobody there.

There is no restaurant on site. Breakfast availability depends on the rate you select and no hours are published, and several guests report that the tea and coffee facilities listed were not actually stocked. Every room and dormitory has a kitchenette, and grocery delivery can be arranged for a charge. Bahama Grill and Travellers West are both a short way along West Bay Street.

Parking is free, at a nearby location with no reservation possible, and there is street parking too. Guests consistently mention that the approach is a steep incline, so take a low-clearance hire car up it slowly. No vehicle size limit is published. Remember that the Bahamas drives on the left.

The mixed and female dormitories give you a bunk in a shared room with a shared bathroom, at the lowest price. The studios and the one-bedroom apartment are entire units with a private bathroom, a private entrance and a kitchenette. Given what guests say about the shared bathroom and the single working ring on the stove, the private studio spares you the two things people complain about most.

No, pets are not allowed. The property is non-smoking throughout with a designated smoking area outside. Children of any age are welcome and there is no minimum check-in age, though a cot for a child under two carries a nightly charge and no extra beds are available.

A refundable damage deposit of fifty US dollars is taken in cash when you arrive and refunded to your card within seven days after an inspection. A credit card is required at check-in and the room itself cannot be paid in cash. Visa, Mastercard and Maestro are accepted. Cancellation and prepayment terms vary by rate and show before you confirm.

On foot, but not directly across the road. The shore opposite the property is a rocky seawall rather than sand. Orange Hill Beach is about six tenths of a mile east, a twelve-minute walk, and Love Beach about seven tenths of a mile west, a fourteen-minute walk, with roughly forty acres of protected reef about a mile off it. Both have reef close enough to snorkel from the shore.

Yes. That was the property's name until around October 2022, when it was renamed Viking Hill Oceanfront Hostel & Resort. Both names still circulate on listing sites, which is why the same place appears twice in search results. It is operated by SeaLifeCaribbean LLC, trading as Bahamas Vacation Club, who also let a separate set of cottages that are not part of this listing.

Take the number 10 jitney. It runs east along West Bay Street to Cable Beach and downtown for a dollar twenty-five a ride, cash only with exact change, roughly from six in the morning to six or seven at night, with little or no service on Sundays. A taxi covers the same ground in twenty to twenty-five minutes for about thirty-two dollars. Taxi fares are set by zone with no meters, so agree the price before you get in.