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Manchebo Beach Resort - Trip Report
Trip Report July 16 - July 23, 1999
Sent in by: Janice
My husband and I have done quite a bit of traveling-- a few cruises and a
land vacation in Negril, Jamaica and we are a very young at heart 50ish couple. This trip
to Aruba was our first and it won't be the last!!! We had a
wonderful time, so much so that we will be back in Aruba for the day on Friday, April 20,
2000 (Good Friday)!! We will of course, be spending the day at the Manchebo!
The Manchebo Beach
Resort: We were in room # 1 which is located closest to the beach at the end
and facing the Pega Pega Beach Bar and Grill. The room is about the size of any standard
motel room-- not big but not small either. It is decorated in pleasant soft blues, greens
and pinks and has a cool tile floor. The room has a safe, refrigerator and two security
locks on the sliding door to the patio--- one is a charlie bar and the other is at the top
of the door. Everything was in good condition, clean and well maintained. There was hot
and cool water and the air-conditioning worked fine-- you can adjust the thermostat for
your comfort level. Also there was a ceiling fan with adjustable speed control. The TV
worked fine-- even had closed captioning
which was great for me since I am partially deaf-- a very pleasant surprise!
A remote for the TV is in the room. Since we were on
the ground floor, we had two patios-- one is a concrete patio right off of the sliding
doors, with 2 chairs and a table and a large plant. Then you step off that patio to a lawn
area with another 2 chairs and a small bistro lamptable which lights up at night-- very
romantic! That bistro lamptable has a switch that you can use for high light, low light
and off.
Their restaurants were excellent. There are 3 restaurants--
the Pega Pega
Beach Bar & Grill, the Aruba Bistro, and the French Steakhouse.
We had
our breakfasts at the Aruba Bistro which is ala carte and not buffet style. Thus our food
was good, plentiful and hot! The fruit and juices were cool
and fresh. We ate dinner at the French Steakhouse 3 times and it was absolutely outstanding!
I'll describe the French
Steakhouse later in this
report among the other restaurants we ate at.
The beach at the resort was exactly what the pictures
described-- huge,
white, sandy beach and just gorgeous to look at! We did see some topless
sunbathing and really, that is no big deal. The sunbathers were discreet,
put their tops on when walking around or going into the water. We had a
lot of fun watching the pelicans do their "dive-bombs" into the water to
catch their fish--- and they always got their catch! I was in the water at one
point and one of the pelicans made a dive just yards from me, close enough for me to get
splashed on! We had no problem getting shade huts at any time
of the day-- we had one close to our room so it was easy to bring our patio table to our
hut for our bucket of ice, etc. And we could keep an eye on our room as well. We also saw
lots of iguanas-- two were quite big, about
3 feet long and the others were smaller. By evening, the iguanas are gone.
Speaking of wildlife, as far as insects are concerned, we never saw any cockroaches nor
did we have any problems with no-see-ums, mosquitoes,
and any other stinging insects. We did see plenty of birds-- mostly doves,
pigeons and wild parakeets. The birds do like to be hand fed, but were not
a nuisance near the patio restaurant dining areas. There were some flies,
but just a scattering-- not even a bother.
The entire resort area of the Manchebo could
be described as a motel, but
I think that description does the resort an injustice. It is so much more
than a motel. The guest area buildings are two stories, with the lobby
area, and the restaurants are on the ground level. The Manchebo
offers so much more than the typical motel- a wonderful beach, shade huts, 3 restaurants,
a gift shop, a beach bar, an outstanding tour desk, an efficient and courteous front desk
staff and great service. The housekeeping staff kept the rooms clean, supplied fresh
towels and linen every other day, kept the lobby and restaurants clean; the groundkeeping
staff kept the grounds and garden areas in good condition.
Restaurants: We ate dinners at the
following restaurants--- the French Steakhouse, La Petite, and Gasparito's. We had a
dessert at the Chalet Suisse. The French Steakhouse was our favorite restaurant of the
trip-- we had mouth-watering, delicious, juicy, thick churassco steaks; calamari, fried in
light breading with a tartar sauce; salmon; Aruban chicken; fried banana fritters. All of
the food we had at the French
Steakhouse was just outstanding-- ooh-la-la!!! Their service is impeccable,
and the dining
experience was quiet and romantic. We also ate dinner at another excellent restaurant-
Gasparito's. I had the Chicken Keshi Yena (chicken stuffed with gouda cheese-- yum!) and
Jim had a fish platter. La Petite at the Playa Linda resort got mixed reviews from us- I
enjoyed my seafood on a hot stone special-- the seafood was fresh and as soon as it cooked
to my taste, I removed it to the side and mixed it in with the vegetables and sauce. It
was very, very good. Jim had the surf and turf on a hot stone-- but didn't like to do the
cooking for $50!! He said it was "ok". One night we decided to have a dessert--
chocolate fondue at the Chalet Suisse. The chocolate was that deep, rich, dark chocolate
you find in Dutch or Swiss chocolate, not the diluted, lighter, milk chocolate we commonly
find in American restaurants that serve chocolate fondue. The fondue came with pieces of
bananas, strawberries, mandarin oranges, mangoes and a pound cake with the consistency of
cheese cake. The fondue was sinfully decadent and delicious!!
We never ate lunch-- never hungry enough since we always
had good breakfasts at the Manchebo--
except one day I did go over to the Pirate's Nest for lunch at the Bucuti resort--- very
good shrimp! And I had lots of colorful, interesting iguanas and lizards for company!
Activities: We did lots of beach time, the
Mi Dushi Sunset cruise, the Kukoo Kunucu Party Bus, and a half day island tour. The island
tour touched on the highlights of Aruba-- Mt. Hooliberg, Natural Bridge, Casabari Rocks
and a visit to the Aloe factory. Very interesting tour --- watch your head when climbing
the Casabari Rocks! That was fun!
Also visited the Alta Vista Chapel--- beautiful, carved
mahogany altar! During the course of the tour, we saw the countryside, the wilder coastal
side of Aruba and lots of pretty cunucu houses. The Kukoo Kunucu Party Bus was a
blast!! The bus is colorfully decorated, open air with plenty of mariachis to rattle with!
We start off to the California Lighthouse for a Champagne Toast to the sunset-- plenty of
champagne to go around for refills! Then a visit to the Minister of Protocol's home with a
short tour of the home, a free drink and an Aruban dinner which was very good-- beef and
vegetables marinated in a delicious sauce. The dinner was in the outdoor patio area of the
Minister's home with lovely gardens and a small pond. After the dinner, we visited four
bars and the last bar we visited was at Carlos and Charlies's. Music and dancing was
plentiful and the drinks potent. You get a free drink at each bar you visit-- anything
except frozen drinks. We had such a good time and would do it again! On the last full day
in Aruba, we took the Mi Dushi Sunset
sail as a way to relax, enjoy the sunrise and the drinks and say good-bye to
Aruba. Snorkeling and the rope swing were other activities you can do on this sail. Open
bar drinks and light sandwich fare was included in the rate. Our captain really did look
like a pirate-- complete with dark, swarthy appearance, red bandana scarf and a ring
earring in one ear--- he looked like he stepped out of the pages of Treasure Island!! He
even caught a flying fish for his dinner while on the sail!! The ship is a small schooner
type vessel, with high masts and sails, with a living and dining area for the crew below
decks.
A head was available for passenger use. Some of the
passengers, including
my husband Jim had turns at "manning" the wheel! Alas, the sail was over
all too soon! That is another activity we will do again!
The BB Happy Hour: We had a group of
people together at the Pega Pega Beach Bar for a Happy Hour--- we had a good turnout of
nice people who found us by looking for the Smiley Face table!! The Manchebo
resort graciously provided hor'd'oerves and everyone seemed to have had a good time. I was
a bit nervous about hosting this party as I have never done this before--- but it appears
that the party went well. We met interesting people including Mark and Daphne and Eddy.
Quite a few people were celebrating birthdays and anniversaries at that time! It was nice
to match the faces with the names from both the VisitAruba
and Aruba On-Line Bulletin Boards! I feel it made our trip that much more personal and
special.
Shopping: We did spend one afternoon in
Oranjestaad for some shopping.
Jim bought some T-shirts; I bought an Aruba 2000 calendar, Aruba pins,
Aruba shot glass, an Aruba suncatcher, Minature Lalique perfumes, Ponche Crema, a purse, a
cunucu house that can be mounted on a wall, a Blue Delft thimble for my printer's shelf at
home, and a Dutch lace blouse. We also went to one of the local grocery stores to purchase
soft drinks, snacks and gouda cheese to stock our mini-refrigerator in our room.
Beach Time: Most of our beach time was
spent at the Manchebo.
However,
we did check out the Palm Beach area and it was pretty but busy and much narrower when
compared to the huge, wide Manchebo
and Eagle beaches. I can see that the competition for shade huts would mean early to the
beach to get them! We also walked the boardwalk there and saw other hotels which looked
really beautiful. We did see the construction site of the Radisson and agreed that this
resort is no way near being ready!! Based on caribbean time, it probably will be ready by
December of 2000!! We saw no construction going on at all-- it was nothing at all going on
there. In my humble opinion, the prettiest resorts were the Hyatt, Marriott, Costa Linda,
and the Bucuti. The best beach is at the Manchebo and Bucuti resorts--- Manchebo Beach. The
Amsterdam Manor resort also was very attractive with lots of Aruban and Dutch
architecture. The Allegro, Wyndham, Holiday Inn and the Phoenix looked nice but we didn't
see inside. The grounds at the Hyatt is a sight to see with their gardens, lagoon with
black swans and scarlet ibis. The high
end luxury resorts would be the Hyatt, Marriott and the Marriott Ocean Club. The Manchebo
resort is not the prettiest when compared with the other resorts, but this little resort
(71 rooms) packs in a big punch with their gorgeous beach, and wonderful restaurants, and
great personable staff!
Air Aruba:
No problems going down to Aruba-- on time, meals were good, service efficient and
courteous. We opted not to use the transfers and grabbed a cab as soon as we cleared
customs and got our bags-- good decision as we got to the resort ahead of the others who
chose to use the transfer service. On the way home, there was a delay when the plane had
radio transmission problems. Instead of taking off at 3:30 PM, we left Aruba at about
7:15PM. In the meantime, we were provided meal and drink vouchers. The airport itself is
almost finished. The arrival and departure lounges are now air-conditioned; the gift shop
area in the departure terminal are also air-conditioned. However, the check-in terminal
area is still not air-conditioned yet and it was very uncomfortably warm and sticky. The
lines, mercifully, at check-in, was short when we arrived at check-in 2 hours ahead of
departure time (on a Friday). Once we took off, no other problems except for U.S. customs
clearance in Philadelphia which was a nuisance but we got
through it and reboarded the plane.
This is already too long, but hope this trip report answers
some questions.
If you have any other questions, just e-mail me. We had a wonderful time and are looking
forward to seeing Aruba again in April 2000! We will be on the 16 April 2000 cruise on
Carnival's Inspiration which makes a port of call on Friday, April 20th. We hope to see
some fellow BBers and Mark, Daphne and Eddy again!
Ayo,
Janice Barkley
(jhbarkley@erols.com)
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