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Aruba Holiday Inn Beach Resort - All Inclusive Trip Report
May 27, 2000 through June 3, 2000
Sent in by: bookwith@aol.com
Booked our holiday through Sunquest Vacation, flew from Toronto Canada on
Canada 3000 air bus. Our flight left Toronto 1:30pm arrived in Aruba 6:10
(20 min early ) Canada 3000 staff was great, my son 8 years old got to go up
and meet the pilot and take pictures Purchased a toy plane of Canada 3000
$12.00, on board the plane, made his flight more memorable. This was his
first time on a plane. In Aruba bused to Holiday Inn by Depalm, stopped at a few other
hotels to drop guest. At Holiday inn there was a small line up for check in, but
thanks to the bulletin board became a priority
club member and there was no one in that line, used our card for free room upgrade to
ocean view tower B 7th fl room 720 overlooked pool and great ocean view. There is an ice
machine and laundry mat on this floor. It was a nice room.
Car rental: I wish i would have rented a car on line before i left. Some rentals had no
cars left. Rented from Toyota right next door
to Playa it is cheaper to rent for three days $108.00 + insurance $6/day. Also National is
in the lobby of Holiday Inn they have a great 3 day rental $96/+ insurance. I checked for
rates before i left but after adding the insurance most places were around the same price.
In my opinion it is the only way to see the island, freedom of a car. We had no problem
driving or finding our way around the island. You just have to drive with a little more
caution. Most places you drive to you will see all the tour buses and jeeps, so why not
drive yourself.
Sunquest/Alba tours had an orientation on Sunday morning at the Sonesta Hotel
at 9:30 am. They bused everyone there from Holiday Inn and some of the other Hotels. What
a waste of 21/2 hours of your time, especially if your only there for one week, but if
your have not been reading the bulletin boards and following all the good advice then it
is helpful. It was mainly advertising
for Depalm tours and expensive stores and some restaurants. Then they try to get you to
book your tours which means you don't leave until everyone is back on the bus and stop and
drop people off. This is where it is great to have a car, drive yourself and leave when
you get your free coupons or after the
draw. The good part is they give you some booklets which have a free ferry
ride to Depalm island, they also draw for a free t-shirt, ask questions about
the Atlantis and if you are correct you receive a free pass, one free pass to
snorkling,etc.
Tours:
We went on the Atlantis, we thought it was great. We used our camcorder, and our pictures
turned out great. It was a very unique tour. After the tour they were supposed to give out
certificates saying you survived the tour, they no longer do that, instead they take your
picture before you get on the boat, and upon returning sell them at $9:00 US, this was a
little cheesy. Also they do not sell any toy submarines for your kids, this was truly
disappointing.
SNORKELLING TIPS: We snorkelled with life jackets the whole time, we brought from home. It
is very easy to drift into very deep water. We felt safer
especially because of our son. It was nice to be able to float and rest and
talk to each other. This made our child's snorkelling experience more
enjoyable and gave us peace of mind. We brought an underwater disposable
camera 800speed, and photos were pretty good. Buy camera at home, before you go or expect
to pay 2X as much. Bring aqua socks and use them on all of your snorkelling trips to
protect your feet.
Snorkelling:
We took no tours. We had our car and the money we saved by not taking snorkelling tours we
bought good snorkelling equipment and practised at a recreation centre at home as someone
had suggested on the bulletin board. that made
it very comfortable, especially for our 8 year old. We felt we were not bound by the time
limits on some of these tours.
Baby beach. Just beautiful, what a great place to take your children,
Snorkel along the reef to see the most fish. There were some jeep tours there and they
were all honking and waiting for the rest of their tour to get out of the water.
Arashi Beach: Very sandy, only saw a few fish, did see a star fish, but
we
may have not gone out far enough. Also a gorgeous beach.
Malmock Beach: This was incredible, just snorkel to where all the tour
boats
are parked. There is a parking lot for your car with stairs going down to the
beach, there is also a bus stop in front. Make sure you bring aqua socks here
there is a lot of coral and rock. There are a lot of tiny crabs on the
rocks, look for them. Very interesting canyons and valleys in the water, and
lots of colourful fish. This seemed to be a favourite stop for all the
snorkelling tours.
Depalm Island: We used our free ferry tickets to get there. You are not
allowed to bring any food or drinks to the island. It was pretty rough that day. Make sure
to bring aqua socks here. The big blue parrot fish are incredible, some people were
throwing bread and the fish were almost jumping out of the water. Stairs lead right into
the water, be careful a little slippery. They had a nice sundeck to lay out and suntan and
lots of loungers.There is a bar and restaurant on the island.
Paddle boats/kayaks are free through PelicanTours if you are all inclusive,
just go to their pier. There was never a poblem or line ups. Sunfish sailing
is no longer available. There are also no more bicycle rentals there.
Windsurfing: Aruba board
sailing just past the Marriot Hotel rents boards,
per hour $20. $30/2hours, lots of people were sailing here. They have harness
lines on their booms. Vella Windsurfing right beside the Marriot rents $40/2hours lots of
people here windsurfing also. Sailboard Vacations just a little further down only rents
per half day$35. or full day. Never sailed there, there were very few people here, but wow
what a selection of boards and sails.
Holiday Inn Food: Breakfast is buffet style at the boardwalk, they have
an
omelet bar where you can get eggs to order. Excellent selection bagels,
crossiants,english muffins, toast, cereal, bacon, sausage(cold and dry)
scrambled eggs, hashbrowns lots of fresh fruit, juices, coffee, tea, milk,
etc., the Miramar is an adjoining seating area for overflow of the buffet
area. You can also eat in the front lobby bar, coffee, tea, continental style
for something quick. The busy time for breakfast seemed to be at 8:30, but it
is a short wait time to get seated.
Lunch Boardwalk was buffet again. / Sea Breeze located outside towards the C tower
on the beach. What a lovely place to eat lunch. Burgers, fries, good caesar salad, wings,
fish fingers. The food was good and so was the service.
Dinner: We ate at the Miramar 3X and had no problem getting reservations, do it on
your way into breakfast. There were no extra surcharges on any of the food items, if you
are all inclusive. The menu steak(great), vegetable
lasagne, good french onion soup, half roasted chicken, the food was very
good. It was very casual in the restaurant. Pelic Coco Lounge you can eat in the bar or
just outside at the tables, finger foods, pizza, wings, fries, chicken fajitas, as usual
the food and service was good Boardwalk buffet style depending on what night it is, they
have different theme nights.
Scoops located in the Sea Breeze patio open during the daytime, ice cream,
milkshakes, sundaes, this was a nice treat for the kids.
Kids club at Holiday Inn: It all depends on how many kids are there. They
post the activities on their board right in the lobby beside national car rental. Opens
from 9-5. Your kids can also eat lunch there with the staff and other children. It is
located right next door to the health club towards the C tower. Activities included sea
shell collecting, t-shirt painting (this was a great hit with the kids), craft making
(nice souveniors),board games, pool games, and a walk to the Hyatt Hotel to see the birds
and gardens. The centre was pleasant. The staff was very helpful and kind to the children.
Helped them with their crafts. Our son enjoyed the centre, but he likes to do crafts.
Time Share: You will be approached to go to the La Cabana time share it
takes about 1 1/2 hours, if you don't eat there. You get 4 -tshirts (are junk they shrink
about 2 sizes) and one free towel. Plus choice of bonus gifts, we
opted for the casino chips at their casino and no problem cashing them in
$65.00. They say NO OBLIGATION to get free gifts, but sales person started
whining that we should not be wasting his time if we are not interested in
buying time share. We were clear at the beginning we wanted to see the condo for future
stay or rental, but he still gave the whole pitch. I don't know
who would ever think of buying property without knowing fully the fees,
reserve funds, all the legal details that one might want a lawyer to look
over, also noticed in the Aruba paper lots of time shares for sale at close
to half the price. But this is just our opion.Take your free gift and run.
Also in town we won as everyone does who fills in the ballot box next to
Atlantis Sub, a free trip, we did not bother, going to this timeshare.
Overview of Holiday Inn : Excellent value for the money. The pool was not
as posh as the Hyatt or as large but never really crowded, the beach at the
hotel is probably the nicest. Never had a problem getting lounge chairs.The
water at the beach was warm and calm., with a sandy bottom. Some of the
inclusive drinks like the daiquiris seemed watered down. Beer was Polar, and
Miller on tap. Never had to wait long to get served at the bars. Tipping was
appreciated but never felt it was expected. Staff was always pleasant and
eager to please you. Maid service was great,they came back in the evening to see if we
needed fresh towel, etc.The food was as you would expect in a
buffet style, nothing fantastic, but ok. The Monday Night beach barbecue was a lot of fun,
played the games and had lots of fun. The week we were there the Limbo show was
cancelled,we were disappointed at that. It was a nice family casual place to relax, it was
not a 5 star luxury hotel. The front open lobby was very inviting. It was a comfortable
place to stay. The walkways around the hotel were quite enjoyable after dinner, if you
have time check out the Hyatt is is 5 star all the way.
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