Aruba Trip Report - Allegro Resort

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Allegro Resort

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First Visit - Allegro Resort
October 21 - October 28, 2000
Sent in by: Chris & Gary

We visited Aruba from Oct. 21st through the 28th, 2000 and stayed at the Allegro Resort. The only negative thing we can say about the resort is that we had to wait 4 hours for our room key after checking in at about 12:00 Noon. However, the resort offered guests use of the temporary rooms to change into beach attire and also gave us all-inclusive bracelets so get lunch and drinks.

Needless to say, it's a bit of an inconvenience to drag a large bag to the beach with the items worn on the plane and the items one would not want to leave with the porters. Also, one would like to go to a room with one's bags to unwind and unpack a bit without waiting 4 hours and interrupting relaxation time at the beach or pool. So, the resort DOES need to work on this inconvenient stretch of time. Also, our hairdryer in the room did not work the first night we were there, and it was not fixed until the next morning. The front desk seemed to try to get a maintanence person up to fix it the first night - to no avail!

Once we had our room, we had a wonderful time. We stayed on the 9th floor with a pool/ocean view. We upgraded our room from a standard to a deluxe due to some of the feedback form other resort guests on the internet. However, I would imagine (after peeking into some rooms!) that if you had a room on the 7th floor or above, (even or odd number in either tower) you would have at least a partial ocean view. The odd room numbers do not face the pool; the even ones do face it. The pool area is beautiful and the pool bar is nice. Look for Quintina at the pool bar - a pleasant, shy, wonderful, hardworking lady. Also, Mario was very nice at the pool and beach bar.

The food was certainly plentiful and was good overall. Nothing fancy, but filling, and of course, all you can eat. Caruso's was nice and the waiters excellent who were having a really good time and trying to have the diners do the same. The food was good - not outstanding, (we're probably spoiled by the Italian cuisine in our area at home) but if you wanted to eat there again, the guest services people tried to accomodate the request. The beef tenderloin at the pool restaurant was excellent. We had heard that drinks were strong at the resort - but maybe it's because we're from Pittsburgh, but we did not find them to be so. They weren't weak, except at the beach bar, but they weren't what we would consider strong!

Michael at the disco lounge was very nice and a good bartender. He taught me the Merenge (sp??) and had a good time with his guests. The music
at the disco lounge was definitely attuned to the young crowd. We would
have liked to have heard more Latin music there. (We can hear American
oldies and rap anytime!) We did not see any of the shows at the ballroom, and the one buffet we tried there with the prime rib was only average. The seating in the ballroom is mostly large, firehall type tables with tablecloths.
We would probably eat our evening meals next time at either the pool area restaurant (Tradewinds/Papayas) or Caruso's. We would also eat a few meals out on the town.

The casino is rather small, but cute. It has (as best we can remember) about 4 Blackjack tables; 2 roulette tables; 1 Carribean stud poker table; 1 craps table; 1 Let it Ride table; about 100 nickel slots; about 150 quarter slots; about 50 dollar slots, and about 5 $5.00 slots. They had about 50 poker & keno machines. The casino had a live band - which was very good but very distracting - many nights. They also had free bingo twice per night at 10:30 PM and at about 11:15 PM. The drinks (mixed and otherwise) were free if you were gambling.

The grounds were very nice and well kept. The room was clean and maidservice was good. Bathrooms were clean. The room was a typical hotel
room - nothing fancy, but rather typical of the Carribean in general. The king - sized bed was really comfortable as were the pillows. We were not able to hear other guests from our room. We had a balcony that overlooked the pool and beach. Sunsets were, of course, outstanding. The beach has a walkway that is really nice & that links the other hotels. The beach area of the Allegro is very nice and only surpassed by the Allegro at the Turks and Caicos Islands (Provo) in our experience.

We found the prices at the hotel shops to be reasonable. We did not go anywhere else during our stay other than the Hyatt and the Radisson to gamble! Both of those casinos are quieter than the casino at the Allegro, but both had just as many, if not more gamblers. The dealers at the tables at the Hyatt & Radisson were, in general, a little friendlier than those at the Allegro casino.

October must be the month for rain. It stormed one morning and sprinkled another morning. We chose to sleep-in the morning of the storm. In conclusion, the negative feedback about the Allegro must be - in general - from people who are very picky and should probably spend more to stay at a posh hotel! We think we're discriminating enough, having traveled to 4 other islands and having stayed at alot of hotels in the U.S. and in the Carribean, and, frankly, we can't see what all the negative feedback is about in reference to the Allegro Resort. (We usually go to the Turks & Caicos, and have been to St. Croix; Grand Cayman, etc.)

Of course, the Hyatt is posh, but you'll certainly pay alot more to stay there. Are the rooms that much better? Is the food that much better? The pool area of the Hyatt is beautiful, and the caged tropical birds are stunning. But it all
depends on what you want to spend on your hotel! So, go to Aruba and stay at the Allegro without fear! Have a wonderful time! Hope this little tome is helpful - Chris & Gary from Pittsburgh.