My girlfriend and I got back from our week in Aruba (from April 20, 2002, to April 27,
2002). I am 28 years old, and she is 27 years old, and we both live and work in Manhattan.
We stayed at the Radisson, and overall had a really good time.
First, let me say that the people that seem to give their trip reports either loved or
hated the place they went. It's really hard to get a good impression of a resort or an
Island from 20 or 30 reports out of the thousands of people who visit Aruba each year.
Most people that I spoke to before my trip who had been to Aruba previously absolutely
LOVED it. Many of my friends had been there numerous times, and that's why we decided to
go.
I've been to Jamaica (Hedonism III), and Turks and Caicos (The Club Med called Turquois),
and each place has its good and bad.
Aruba:
1. The Radisson was really nice. The landscaping was beautiful, the service was wonderful,
the food was good, there were plenty of watersports, and the concierge desk was really
helpful.
2. Compared to Manhattan, the food and drinks were actually cheaper than what we would
spend on an average Friday night. I've read reviews that lament over expensive drinks, but
we never paid more than $6.00 for a drink, so I have no idea what those other whiners were
complaining about. We also never spent more than $50 on a dinner, and we ate at some
really nice restaurants.
3. Overall, most of the resorts seemed really nice, but if I had to rank them it would be
like this: (1) Hyatt--amazing landscaping, better restaurants than the Radisson, and
really nice people. A little bit more social than the Radisson too; (2) Radisson; (3) Wyndham
and Allegro, and (4) the Marriot. I really didn't like the Marriot at all. The pools and
landscaping were really poor compared to the other hotels, and it was really, really far
away from the other hotels. The beach also wasn't as nice as around the Radisson and
Hyatt.
4. The best part about the Island is how nice everyone is who works there. The service you
get everywhere is just great. I didn't encounter one rude person. It was incredibly
different than the time I went to Jamaica, but I'll talk about that below.
5. My girlfriend and I went scuba diving (we took the one day resort class), took the full
day Jeep tour, and went on the Kukoo Kunuku
booze bus. All the events were great. We ate at Madam Janette's (fantastic), and
Valentinos (really good), and the Italian restaurant in the Hyatt, which was also really
nice. We went to lots of the bars in the hotels for Happy Hour and had a good time too.
We're not big meat eaters, so we didn't try any of the steak houses, but we heard they
were good too.
6. Overall, it was a really nice, relaxing vacation.
7. Now, as for the negatives, the Island just isn't very social. You do not want to go to
Aruba if you're single. There's just nothing to do at night besides the casinos, and they
obviously aren't a good place to meet people. There's only two good bars: Carlos and
Charlies, and Iguana Joes, but even those two places get old very quickly. The bars at the
hotels are empty after 10:00pm. There's just nothing to do at night if you don't want to
gamble. We were shocked when we walked along the board-walk around the hotels on Saturday
night at 10:00pm, and found that no one was hanging out at all. The Allegro was probably
the most social place, but even the Allegro is a ghost-town compared to Hedonism III, or
Turquoise. I also wish there was an 18 and over resort. There were too many kids and
families at the Radisson. There were also a ton of older couples. It's tough to really let
loose when 1/2 of the people on the booze bus are over 50. In this sense Hedonism III, and
Turquoise are much more fun.
Hedonism III
1. This is a really tough place to review. I loved the resort. It was
fun, the people who worked at the resort were nice, and there was a ton to do during the
day and at night. It was also surprisingly luxurious. It was nicer than the Radisson in
Aruba.
2. The beach was miserable though. It's a man-made beach on a bay, and is by far the worst
beach I've ever been to. None of the brochures for Hedonism III mention anything about the
beach. New York beaches are far, far nicer.
3. However, Runaway Bay (where Hedonism is) is a terrible area. It was terribly poor.
There were armed security guards that patrolled the outside of the resort. You never saw
these guards unless you left the resort, but when my friends and I left the resort it
really surpised us.
4. Also, I really had a negative experience with the native Jamaicans off the resort. I
went to the Blue Lagoon, which was awesome, but every five minutes the tour guides were
agressively asking for tips. They are just very agressive about tipping, and really rude
if you only tipped them $3 instead of $5 or $10. I had this same experience each time I
went off the resort. It's the polar opposite from Aruba, where the Arubians were the
nicest people I've ever met.
5. The only way I'd ever go back to Jamaica would be if I went to Negril. It's supposed to
be nicer, but I don't have first hand knowledge of this.
6. If I were a single female however, I don't
think I'd ever choose to go to Jamaica. One of my friends almost got mugged in the airport
after he needed to go to the cash machine to get exact change for the tax you need to pay
when you leave. The fact that the airport employees won't make change is ridiculous, and
my friend was followed to the cash machine by some man who was immediately arrested by the
cops. It was just terrible, and I don't
think I'll ever go back, even though Hedonism III itself was a blast.
Turquoise:
1. I went there about 3 years ago, and my biggest complaint was that you had to pay for
drinks. There were nowhere near enough bars, the bartenders were rude, and the drinks were
ridiculously over-priced. I hear that now there is a package that includes drinks, so
hopefully that's been fixed.
2. Club Meds generally aren't the most luxurious places. The rooms are sparse, the pool is
o.k., but nothing special, and the grounds are average compared to the Hyatt or the
Radisson in Aruba. Also, the line-dancing, and some of the nightly events are corny, and
even though the food was o.k., there was no place to eat outside the resort, and after a
full week you really didn't want anymore of the same meals every day.
3. Club Meds, like Turquoise are really social though, and there's a ton to do.
4. Hedonism III was much more fun than Turquoise, just because at Hedonism III there were
no rules. The bars closed when the last person left, the pools never closed, and really
you could do anything and everything you wanted. Turquoise had rules: when the pools
closed, when the bars closed etc. It just wasn't as much fun.
Botton Line:
Aruba was the nicest overall island I've ever been to, but I wish there was some more
nightlife. If there was a Hedonism on Aruba I would never go anyplace else for a nice
beach vacation.
Jay Markowitz
