Hi, planning on Aruba all-inclusive Feb 2002 and need to know which of these is the best all-inclusive? How many restaurants and bars? Best beach and food? Best rooms? Location ? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi Donna, my wife and I stayed at the Divi,mega all inclusive about 5 years ago and enjoyed it. Not sure if it has been kept up, but the food was good and the rooms were nice.

Hi Donna, <BR> <BR>Do you want to be in the lowrise section, or the highrise section?

HI Donna... two years ago my husband and I went to Aruba. We were going to stay at the Marriott which is at the far end of the strip, until my Aunt (also my travel agent) convinced us to stay at the Divi. While we were there, we visited most of the other hotels. You can walk from one end of the beaches (down by the Divi) to the high rise end. It's probably a few miles each way, but Aruba is safe and if you're up for a walk, it's a nice one. If you are going into town, you'll need to take a cab or bus anyway, no matter where you stay. We absolutely loved the Divi and would certainly stay there again! Here's the differences we noticed: The High rise hotels were nice (Hyatt, Wyndham, Marriott, etc..) but you felt like you were in any other Hyatt or Marriott, etc...You could see the beach and ocean, but you weren't really right on the beach. The thing that we loved most about the Divi, was that it felt more "islandish" you really felt like you were on a tropical island and not just in another high rise. The beach at the Divi was probably a bit more narrow but longer than most of the high rise beaches, however it seemed less crowded than the high rise beaches. The divi felt more resortlike. The food was good, I never think food at all-inclusives is spectacular as they are cooking for mass amounts of people. The thing that's nice about the all inclusives, is that you just keep trying food 'till you find what you like! The Divi was not necessarily the most luxurious, the Hyatt certainly was that...I would describe it more like casual and clean. The rooms were neat and clean and we had a balcony room on the second floor of a two story beachfront building (this is the best room to get). The view was spectacular, the resort never seemed overly crowded (which some of the high rises did) and the hotel workers were all very friendly. We also felt that the type of people we met at the Divi were exactly the type of people we would enjoy vacationing with. I would say most were middle to upper middle class, fun loving, friendly not snobbish. We like to gamble so the fact that the Divi was right next to a nice casino (walked there every night)and stopped at the beach bar at the divi everynight afterward for their famous brick oven pizzas and grilled cheese sandwiches! I hope that helps!

Laura, I guess I never considered the difference between a lowrise and highrise. What are the pros and cons? Vicki, thanks for all your info. It almost sounds like the Divi is what we are looking for. We want to relax on the beach, gamble a little in the evening and have a few good meals. What restaurants would you suggest at this resort as well as in town? How were the drinks? Did they serve top shelf? What tours would you suggest? Thanks again, Donna

There seems to be four Divi resorts in Aruba. You may want to cut and paste the web site below for hotel reviews. Once you're there, just click on the hotel name you're interested in reading about, then reviews, and arrow down. I've found this to be a great website which sometimes has pictures as well. <BR> <BR>http://www.wheretostay.com/caribbean...uba/index.html

you will hate the DIVI - it is like a motel 6 on a beautiful beach and the food was terrible! Stay at the Hyatt or the WyndHAM AND DO NOT GO ALL INCLUive in Aruba too many really nice restaurants. I personally hated Aruba - too americanized and too tour oriented = also not as safe as everyone would like you to beleive!!!!!