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Marriott Aruba Beach Resort
Trip Report - April 10-16, 2000
Sent in by: Thomas J Muccio
I have recently returned from my honeymoon in Aruba, and I must say, this was the best
place we could have chosen. I had been to several places in the Caribbean in the past,
such as Jamaica, Bahamas, Cancun, St. Martin, and Barbados, so trust me when I tell you
Aruba is the place to go. We arrived Monday afternoon. The first thing I noticed was the
Aruba Airport was air-conditioned - something you may not find on other Islands. I took
the advice of a trip report I read on this web site and paid the $20. for a cab to the
Hotel, thus saving an hour or so using the bus transfer included in our package. This is
important if you are staying at the Marriot as it is the last Hotel on the strip.
Hotel
The Marriot can be described in only one word - Paradise. I was concerned at first as I
was told that it was at the end of "Hotel Row" and was out of the way - this was
not an issue. You could catch a bus in front of the hotel and be anywhere within 10
minutes. The buses, like everything else on the Island, was totally safe. The people there
are a mixture of Europeans, South Americans and others from neighboring islands. There was
no poverty, all the people were very friendly, and the police were courteous. The only
problem we had was they did not have a room with a King Size bed, which was what we
reserved. One was available the next day, but was a smoking room. We didn't want to waste
time moving everything so we stayed in our room. We had an ocean view on the 5th floor
which was breathtaking. The hotel pool was beautiful. There was an outdoor jacuzzi, a pool
bar, and a beach bar. Despite what we read in other reports, we had no problem finding a
hut on the beach. We did prefer to stay by the pool. Although most of the umbrellas were
occupied by the pool, the Marriot has palm trees surrounding the pool, making shade
available throughout the day. We visited the hotel casino a few times. It was never too
busy and all games were available. Plenty of Slot Machines too. During our stay there was
an Island wide power outage. The Marriott handled it very well. they had generators which
kept the lobby, bar, and halls lit, and handed out flashlights to all the guests. While
some hotels were completely "blacked out", the Marriot Hotel was still
enjoyable.
Restaurants
We went to the Buccaneer on our first night. This was the best seafood we had on the
Island. On the outside, the restaurant seemed typical, but the food was great. We also ate
at Twinklebones where they had a floor show. This was recommended from another Trip Report
and was well worth it. Our last night dinner was at Tuscany's in the Marriot Hotel. The
lobster was excellent. The menu was not too big but they will make anything you want. My
wife and I did not drink much and sometimes past up dessert. Typical restaurant bills ran
from $60. to $100. for dinner. We had light lunches either at the Hotel, in town, or at
the Wendy's up the block (They also have a Subway!). For Breakfast, we would have tea and
a muffin at the TCBY located in the Hotel. Big breakfast buffets were available but we
were so busy having fun, we
didn't want to spend the time.
Fun
On the day we arrived, we went right down to the Activities desk, booked and paid for all
our tours and trips. This was a great time saver. We went snorkeling over the Wreck of the
Antilles thru Fun Factory II tours which was excellent. The water can be a bit choppy at
times due to the wind. I would recommend bringing your own snorkeling equipment as there
are plenty of beaches with coral to snorkel over and the water is calmer. The next day my
wife went skydiving!
She loved it. We did a 3 hour horse back riding trip along the beach through Rancho
Notorious. As experienced riders, we were a bit disappointed. They first separated the
riders by experience prior to mounting up. The only reason was to give the inexperienced
riders the more gentle horses - we all rode together on the trail. Once on the trail, they
announced that they do not gallop on group tours, only on private trail rides.
Had I known this, my wife and I would have gladly paid the extra $20. for the private tour
and the opportunity to give the horses a work-out. The horses were beautiful and were a
pleasure to ride. We also took the 1/2 day jeep tour. This was fun but I would recommend
the 1/2 day tour as it could be a bit too much driving around in the hot sun. We also went
deep sea fishing. Again the water was too rough so we ended the trip early. Shopping in
town was excellent. There is absolutely no haggling. We found great deals on clothes in
department stores off the main streets (again, this was a safe place to explore.). Based
on a recommendation from this web site, we took the Ko
Ko Kunuko bar tour. We did this on the night of the black-out which added even
more fun! All the places we went to were lit by candle light, and we were all singing and
dances in the bars and streets! A good time was had by all.
Summary
Using this web site to learn about the different places and things to do in Aruba made
this one of my best vacations. I would definitively like to return to Aruba. I wouldn't
recommend renting a car as there are plenty of buses and cabs, so you can party all you
want and not worry about the ride home! If you would like to explore on your own, you can
rent a car for the day. They will drop it off at your hotel in the morning and I think
they will even pick it up at the end of the day! The Marriot Hotel had everything from a
hair salon to a jewelry store and all the water sports as well! We didn't have time use
all the
facilities available to us at the Hotel! Both my wife and I did not get sunburned.
Although we did not lay in the sun much, we were out and about every day. We used sun
block 50 and applied it liberally every day and wore hats. Not getting burned made our
trip more enjoyable. Hope you enjoy your trip!
Thomas J Muccio
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