RIU Paradise Island Hotel - Reviews - New Providence Island

So after our amazing experience at the Sandals All-Inclusive, we figured we would give the RIU a try. We wanted to take a fairly inexpensive vacation on short notice, and we came up with RIU Paradise Island. It was the end of January when we went. I still love the whole all inclusive thing, free food and drinks, no tipping, it's great.
The RIU had the most amazing restaurants. The foods at the reservation only places were delicious. They also have the general buffet open each night, you can dress down, and you don't need a reservation.
The lobby of the hotel is huge, and there is a bar in the center of it. They have some tables around, and a big screen TV, which came in handy since A) It rained almost 3 days straight, and B) the football playoffs were on.
There is a little door behind behind the lobby bar, that is to a huge room. They have nightly shows here, which are a blast. The event coordinator does a really good job, very entertaining.
There is a large outside pool and jacuzzi area, with a swim up bar/bar area, and a ping pong table. The beach is right below the pool area. I found that if you lay out right below the pool area, you will probably be in the shadows of the hotel. :o(
The rooms were great, I think every room had a balcony.

There was an area you could sign up for excursions. You have to pay for those of course, but if you like snorkeling and adventure, take the Stuart Cove Snorkeling trip. You get to snorkel at 3 sites, 1 site had the downed plane from jaws, and the last site is a swim with sharks. Seriously, no cage, just you snorkeling in the ocean with hundreds of sharks. It was amazing, do it.
This hotel would have been so much more fun to me if it didn't rain for 3 days. When it's raining, there is a limited amount of things you can do. They don't have as many fun activites as Sandals. The RIU is located right beside the Atlantis, so when we were bored we went there. They have a casino and some night clubs there. I wouldn't pay to stay at the Atlantis, but it was fun to use their facilities.
I do think the RIU is worth the money, I had fun here, it just wasn't Sandals, but it's cheaper than Sandals, so I guess you get what you pay for. I would stay here again if I had to do it all over, I just wouldn't go to the Bahamas in January next time.