Aruba Trip Report - Allegro Beach Resort
July 18 - July 24, 2000
Sent in by: Steve & Rosa
We booked our trip to the Allegro
Beach Report three weeks in advance through Ocean's Window Travel Services. They found a
package for us from
Adventure Tours and we were very excited to be staying on the beach in an
all-inclusive resort. We researched the Allegro Resort on this site and noticed the mixed
reviews. While we were concerned, we were still optimistic due to the many good reviews we
read.
I did not feel comfortable with our
travel arrangements because I could not
seem to get the travel agent to send us an itinerary. We had confirmation
numbers - but something in the back of my mind told me something was wrong. I finally
stopped at the travel agency and demanded to receive something the day before we left.
They provided a packet with proof of payment, dates and confirmation numbers.
This trip immediately followed a
trip we made to Las Vegas where we stayed
at the Venetian Hotel (a new luxury hotel on the Strip), so we were already
in the mood for a good time and were accustomed to first class
accommodations.
Upon our arrival we found out that
the Allegro had absolutely no record of
our planned stay. To make matters worse, they only had one room left. They did honor our
travel arrangements (thank god I got the package from the travel agent) and we immediately
felt grateful that we averted a complete vacation disaster. As we quickly learned,
however, our poor experience with our room likely surpassed even the worst write-ups we
read on this web site. Of course we noticed the dated interiors, but we had no problem
with dated furniture, etc. We took exception to our bed that had a sagging mattress even
though it had a thick pad. We also thought that updating things such as wallpaper isn't
too much to ask when you are marketing yourself as a luxury resort. These were first
impressions upon entering the room, and we quickly learned we could do a lot worse.
We walked out onto our second story
balcony hoping for a spectacular view
only to see we were looking out on several large butane tanks in the middle
of a large asphalt area. On the far side was the fence separating the Hyatt from the
Allegro. So we did not expect to spend all day in our room. We can manage in this room,
right? Wrong. Early the next morning we were awakened by loud machinery turning on and
off. (We believe this machinery
is related to water pumps located near our room that turn on when people
are taking showers) We went to the front desk and they told us they were
booked up and they could try to put us in a different room in a couple days. We tried in a
couple days and they did not have anything. We tried the next day and they said they had
one room - but the pool music was blasting against the glass balcony door and we would
have to wait until the current occupants were re-located. We thought we could do better.
They never offered us anything else. We had activities planned and did not want to spend
our time at the front desk and let the remaining days slide by.
Of course everyone knows that the
Allegro does not reserve specific rooms
for specific people who purchase many of their packages, and therefore you
can only hope you get a good room. This fact merely made us think we were
obviously a lower priority than the many other people who were arriving and
leaving daily. In any event, we were not able to peacefully sleep late during our entire
stay.
Concerning the service and food at
the Resort - we thought both were very
good and a value for what otherwise can be a very expensive place to take a
vacation. If you are looking for cuisine comparable to that served on many
luxury cruise ships, then you will be disappointed. We met some people in
our flight out of Aruba who stayed at the Allegro and felt this way. The food is good but
not great. It could be greatly improved by adding more variety from one day to the next.
We, however, did not go to Aruba to gain weight, and were satisfied with the variety of
food served. Furthermore, the drinks were always available and we found the people in the
restaurants and bars to be very friendly and helpful.
We ate at Carusso's (A restaurant
inside the Allegro by reservation only)
twice and found the food, wine and service to be excellent. This dining experience is more
limited in availability and more formal than the other
areas to eat at in the resort.
Perhaps the best things about the
Allegro are the common areas outside.
The pool is ideally situated and there are many palm trees. The beach is larger than
normal with many places to relax without being too overcrowded.
We made frequent use of their catamarans, and they had on-site arrangements for diving and
other water sports. We did spend most of our time outside which helped lesson our
dissatisfaction with our room. Of course not enough can be said about the weather - it was
great!
I made three diving trips and was
more than satisfied. Arrangements can be
made within the Hotel, and the dive boats pick you up on a dock between the
Allegro and the Hyatt. My most enjoyable dive was a night dive that I cannot even attempt
to do justice with a description. I also dived several reefs and a ship wreck. Since my
wife does not dive, she relaxed on the beach or played in the casino while I was gone. She
seemed content with this arrangement - and staying at an all-inclusive resort was
definitely a plus given my interest in diving.
We rented a jeep (Suzuki Samari)
from Avis (located within he hotel) and
spent a very enjoyable day touring the island. Just a side note concerning touring the
island - the natural pool is not easy to find. Also, the only roads to the pool are jeep
roads and many people may find them difficult. There are signs asking people to park
their jeeps and walk, but it is a one hour walk just to get there. Most people with jeeps
ignore the signs and drive. It still takes about 20 minutes to get there, and that should
give you some indication of the condition of the roads. Our jeep had a half top, and were
glad it did since it was very hot and it rained several times. If you rent a jeep with no
top you will be very sunburned.
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