My wife & I traveled to
Aruba on Thursday 6/21 for our 10th anniversary, this was our second trip. The day started
great but upon arrival at Newark we discovered Continental had cancelled
our outbound & return. After a lot of discussion they put us on a flight to Miami
& then on American to Aruba arriving at 9 PM vs. 1:30 but the American crew was great.
I called the Marriott from
Newark and they took care of letting the rental car know I would be late. We picked up our
rental car from Econo and they had everything ready. We checked in
quickly and were put in an upper floor suite at the hotel which was beautiful and
overlooked the pool & ocean. The next day we ate breakfast at LaVista in the Marriott.
The French toast is excellent but the breakfast is overpriced even the buffet which was
good but not great. We went to the beach and had no problem getting a chair, the
attendants will put a towel on the lounge in a way it does not blow off & for a couple
of singles it's worth it. The beach is great and the breeze keeps it from getting too hot.
DO NOT FORGET TO USE SUNSCREEN OR YOU WILL BURN. We put 15spf on everyday repeatedly &
tanned nicely.
Lunch at Waves bar, great salads reasonable. Happy hour, cold daiquiri's. That evening we
went to Sunset Grille at the Radisson. Food & service excellent but inside is too
noisy, reserve a table outside. We spent the rest of the evening wandering through various
hotels and casinos trying to win our fortune. The next day back to the beach in the am
& then checked into the Ocean Club & lunch at Champions which was good, maybe a
little overpriced but it is a resort. Then off to the airport to pickup our 2 daughters
& friends ( Do not leave 18 year olds with an empty house for 12 days at any cost). We
stayed in the guest suite & we gave them the one bedroom but had the room on another
wing (close but not that close). The guest suite was nice for us & comfortable, the
one bedroom for the girls was great, the look on their face when we checked them in was
precious they were shocked at the beauty & the views from both rooms were great.
That night for our anniversary we went to Flying Fishbone, I made reservations 2 weeks
prior & we were right at the water & had a fantastic meal. My wife had the shrimp
& blue cheese & I had lobster both excellent.The appetizers and desserts
especially the treats with the coffee were great, a sparkler & balloons to perk it up
and service was relaxed & perfectly time.For a 3-1/2 course meal & wine for 2 it
was $120.
The next day beach time at the Ocean Club, just as nice as the Marriott lunch at the
pavilion was very good & reasonable (turkey wrap & fries & a salad &
drinks for $18). Went to Kong Hing for food shopping (cleaner than Ling's & wider
selection).The pools at the hotel and the Ocean Club are beautiful and lots of places to
relax, different areas around the pools with either quiet or by the bar or kids area.
Sunday evening was dinner at a friend's house. On Monday beach time, banana boats (great
time!) lunch at the Pavilion & dinner at Ventanas, at Tierra del Sol golf course,
beautiful view, great service & the food was extremely good and creative. That night
the girls went on the Kukoo Kunuku bus & LOVED IT!
Tuesday, breakfast at Deli France by Kong Hing back to the beach and dinner that night we
went to Pago Pago which was OK, the Wyndham needs a little sprucing up. Weds. beach &
we took the girls to Ventanas, at Tierra del Sol, for the Surf & Turf special ($25 for
lobster tail & filet great deal) and they loved it (we paid they liked that too.)
Thursday they went horseback
riding at Rancho Daimari
(promised snorkeling but never received) loved the riding though, one went on ATV & enjoyed it but
VERY DUSTY!. That night Tuscany's with the girls, food was much better than last year and
reasonably priced (within the context).Friday after trying to deal with one of the ladies
at the concierge about the no snorkeling (she was a little rude but the management took
care of that) then we went to the beach & the girls went to DePalm Island for
snorkeling & fun & loved it. That night they went on Tattoo and had a good time.
Friday night we went to Lagoona at the Radisson which we had told our girls to go to &
they raved so off we went. Very nice setting and a great meal value & quality ($18 for
cashew chicken with salad bar & the main meal was a platter that 2-3 people could have
eaten so we had leftovers & will go back in the future), Saturday night we went to Le Dome which was superb, price about
$110 for a 3 course meal & wine about the same as a New York French restaurant without
the stuffiness (but not the view of Flying Fishbone). My wife had sole wrapped around
salmon & I had rack of lamb both superb & the desserts were WOW!!!.
Saturday sent the kids off, back to the beach & that night ate at Ruinas Del Mar
(wanted to go to Ole' but it has closed) we were disappointed at the meal here. The
special was gone , the food was lukewarm & service fair. The setting outside was
beautiful though. Monday, to the beach & then off to airport & home.
A great trip overall. In conclusion the properties were beautiful, well maintained, the
pools were gorgeous & had areas for everyone a good design, the beaches awesome, 10
minutes of rain one day, few bugs, friendly people everywhere, plenty of restaurants the
prices are reasonable when you consider everything is shipped in. We read & relaxed
but we had been to the national park & exploring before. The phone service, well you
go to the SETAR offices by the Hyatt & buy a phone card $18 for 29
minutes to call home (do not use AT&T card from phones IT IS AN OPERTOR ASSISTED RATE
EXPENSIVE buy the SETAR card). Shopping is pretty good, no price games like Mexico, good
quality items. The Sonesta & Wyndham need updating. The only drawback is the airfare
must go down, you can fly to Las Vegas or Californi for 1/2 & it's the same distance.
Great Trip !
John Barnett
