Marriott Ocean club vs Surf club during busy holiday weeks

Yes the Surf Club will be packed President's Week along with all the other resorts. If you have to travel that week, get up early each morning and reserve your spot. You might be able to reserve your beach chairs the day before for a small amount. I think it used to be $15 a day for a palapa and a few chairs on the beach. But I don't know if they still do that.

They are both overcrowded but Ocean Club slightly less. We were there last Feb, stayed @ OC & started every day negotiating for a place to sit despite having made advance rez for palapas....the pool hut staff kept messing up....double booking & things like that so you saunter over to your "reserved" palapa to find an entire family camped out there b/c they too had the same number!

So, even though we are Marriott owners & we love Aruba, we have decided not to go back to Ocean Club or Surf Club.
We are trying to exchange through II into Costa Linda(I think that is the name of it....there are 2 Lindas...Playa & Costa & I get them mixed up..... on Eagle Beach where the beach is far superior to Palm Beach & less crowded.

You want Costa Linda. It is on a very wide beautiful sandy beach. You will love it. Playa Linda is next to the Holiday Inn on Palm Beach.

You might try the Radisson. We stayed there last Thanksgiving and really loved it. The hotel has gorgeous ocean view rooms, and a lovely, wide beach with lots of palapas. The pools are only OK, but the whole resort has a much less zooey feel during prime vacation times than Marriott Ocean Club, which we stayed at once during February school break. ( NEVER AGAIN!)

Thsnks so much to everyone for the responses. Just to clarify - I picked those clubs because there are 5 of us in the party (2kids,my husband and my father) so the big two bedroom suites made the most sense. All the other hotels want at least $400 a night just for a room (more like $500) so the suite made sense. Costa Linda is sold out our Feb dates.
Anyone have other ideas?

When we were considering a trip with my inlaws, I looked into TIERA DEL SOL, a golf resort with villa accomodations that's about a five minute drive from Eagle Beach. We ultimately decided to stay at The Radisson, but I was very tempted by what I saw on their website.

ilasik, I agree that you need the 2BR/2BA for 5 people. For this trip, if you can get OC or SC,then go with it. As I have previously indicated, OC is less crowded than SC. At SC people were on top of each other...literally! It was a zoo over there last Feb. When we walked past SC everyday, we had to walk into the water to pass SC b/c the SC people had their chairs lined up right down to the water's edge. And, some even had theirs in the water! We were so glad we had chosen OC. However, that said, for one trip, I think it wld be ok. Are you Marriott owners & trading in through II? If so, have they confirmed availability for you? Are you considering any other Marriott locations?

Thanks, shirleyk, for your comment re: Costa Linda? How does it compare w/ Marriott OC & SC in terms of furnishings, pools, restaurants, etc? ( Shd we start a separtate thread for this?)

Thanks oceanbreeze. We are not affiliated with the Marriott in any way. I just got a good deal on airfare to Aruba during the kids' vacation and booked Ocean Club thru regular Marriott website (so I have had a reservation there for months but keep wondering if I need to book something else since I can still cancel the Marriott). I appreciate your reassurances - we are sort of set on Ocean club, have not been to Aruba in 17 yrs and the kids have that terrible Presidents' week for break.

I didn't realize that you've already got reservations at the Marriott Ocean Club.Definitely stick with those, since it may be nearly impossible to find reasonable accomodations anyway during President's Week!