Aruba - my notes
Apr 30th, 2003 | 09:50 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2
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Aruba - my notes
OK - Just back from a week in Aruba. I picked up some good info here and other message boards, so I thought I'd give back my views.
My wife and I are in early thirties from NYC and travel frequently but this was first time in Aruba.
Hotel:
We stayed at the Marriott. The room was very comfortable - the mattress on the king size bed was perfect (I saw posts saying they were flimsy/uncomfortable - nonsense!). The room was clean, bright, large and the bathroom was spacious and had double sinks. We upgraded to a pool/garden view - I think the upgrade to the ocean view would be a waste - unless you are on the two top floors - otherwise the view is obstructed by palm trees. By the way - the terraces were quite nice and NO, no evidence of mosquitoes.
We (being nosy) did check out the other "high rise" hotels and they all were very nice.
Beach:
The beaches were spectacular - clean white sand (not rocky at all) and the water was a brilliant greenish/blue. You could literally walk out a couple of hundred yards and not be over your head. The water was warm and calm - no waves at all.
Yes, we did notice some topless sunbathers but it was a minority and, how can I put this delicately, the woman who had their tops off were last women you would ever want to see nude. It correlates to the men wearing Speedos. Seemed to be an inverse realtionship to the size of the belly and amount of back hair to the size of the Speedo. Disturbing when seen but small in overall numbers.
Palapalas:
At the Marriott - people did line up early in the morning for Palapalas - 6:30. There is no charge (at least while we were there). The people who lined up got the first row near the beach. Better solution - sleep in - head down at your leisure to the towel hut - get a palapla in the middle or rear to store your gear and then get a couple of chairs placed right at the water's edge. At the Marriott, a staff member will get your chairs and set you up - give them a couple of bucks - they'll remember you and they work hard.
Dinning:
Aqua Grill - very mediocre
Amazonia - Fantastic (don't fill up on salad bar or side dishes)
Que pasa - Great food - informal atmosphere
Salt and Pepper - Wonderful Tappas - informal
Tabasko - Excellent food - relaxed elegance
El Gaucho - all the reviews are spot on - great!
Count on dropping roughly $70 - 120 on dinner - that includes drinks/wines. Chilean wines are your best value on Aruba.
Happy Hours/Bars/Tropical Drinks:
4 -7 seemed to be the most popular beach happy hours. We spent ours at the Moomba Beach - between Marriott and Holiday Inn. $1.25 Balashi Beer and good music - techno/rap/alternative. Good young locals crowd. More of a 20-30's hangout. Sunday happy hour rocks there. We also found lunch at this place to be the best and most cost effective.
Local Beer Report:
Balashi - very good
Amstel Bright - excellent
Polar Beer - weak
Fun, slushy Tropical drinks are pretty weak everwhere. Prices ranged from $6.50 - $8.50. Better bet is to get an alcohol free version (they pour soooo light on alcohol based drinks)and save a few bucks on a drink.
Not much of a bar/pub scene that we saw- Carlos N Charlies seemed to get that knucklehead crowd we prefer to avoid - think lots of backwards wearing baseball hat guys!
Did have great Mojitos and Mulatos at Cuba's Cooking and Rhumba's was nice for drinks/food.
Aruba is not for singles looking to hook up. Ain't gonna happen. Very family and couple oriented.
Cabs/Rental cars:
My two cents - take cabs. Not that expensive - easy to get - you don't have to worry about driving, directions, parking, drinking...
Cabs from the Marriott to town were $10 each way. You can absolutely walk from Marriott to reastuarants like Aqua Grill/Salt and Pepper/Amazonia- nice walk along the beach and cut through Holiday Inn lobby. Cab ride sets you back $6.00 each way instead.
Dress Codes:
Based on what I read - I thought it would be a little dressier than we encountered. I wore khakis with polo shirt combo. Majority of men wore shorts/bathing suits with horrible hawian shirts and golf type shirts and flip flops. Personally, without sounding pretensious, I found it rude and inconsiderate. Your in a nice restuarant on vacation and you can't dress up a little? At least out of respect to you wife, restuarant or fellow patrons? Go to the GAP and spring for a couple of outfits.
Phones:
Only major hassle. Hotels are damn expensive - $4.95 a minute - phone cards are useless - no phones anywhere seemed to accept them. Best bet, I thought was email - $3.00 for 15 minutes was a good deal.
Safety:
Never, ever felt unsafe anywhere.
Anyway - just our impressions - hope they can help someone else.
A tip 'o the beer to Joe Strummer's memory.
My wife and I are in early thirties from NYC and travel frequently but this was first time in Aruba.
Hotel:
We stayed at the Marriott. The room was very comfortable - the mattress on the king size bed was perfect (I saw posts saying they were flimsy/uncomfortable - nonsense!). The room was clean, bright, large and the bathroom was spacious and had double sinks. We upgraded to a pool/garden view - I think the upgrade to the ocean view would be a waste - unless you are on the two top floors - otherwise the view is obstructed by palm trees. By the way - the terraces were quite nice and NO, no evidence of mosquitoes.
We (being nosy) did check out the other "high rise" hotels and they all were very nice.
Beach:
The beaches were spectacular - clean white sand (not rocky at all) and the water was a brilliant greenish/blue. You could literally walk out a couple of hundred yards and not be over your head. The water was warm and calm - no waves at all.
Yes, we did notice some topless sunbathers but it was a minority and, how can I put this delicately, the woman who had their tops off were last women you would ever want to see nude. It correlates to the men wearing Speedos. Seemed to be an inverse realtionship to the size of the belly and amount of back hair to the size of the Speedo. Disturbing when seen but small in overall numbers.
Palapalas:
At the Marriott - people did line up early in the morning for Palapalas - 6:30. There is no charge (at least while we were there). The people who lined up got the first row near the beach. Better solution - sleep in - head down at your leisure to the towel hut - get a palapla in the middle or rear to store your gear and then get a couple of chairs placed right at the water's edge. At the Marriott, a staff member will get your chairs and set you up - give them a couple of bucks - they'll remember you and they work hard.
Dinning:
Aqua Grill - very mediocre
Amazonia - Fantastic (don't fill up on salad bar or side dishes)
Que pasa - Great food - informal atmosphere
Salt and Pepper - Wonderful Tappas - informal
Tabasko - Excellent food - relaxed elegance
El Gaucho - all the reviews are spot on - great!
Count on dropping roughly $70 - 120 on dinner - that includes drinks/wines. Chilean wines are your best value on Aruba.
Happy Hours/Bars/Tropical Drinks:
4 -7 seemed to be the most popular beach happy hours. We spent ours at the Moomba Beach - between Marriott and Holiday Inn. $1.25 Balashi Beer and good music - techno/rap/alternative. Good young locals crowd. More of a 20-30's hangout. Sunday happy hour rocks there. We also found lunch at this place to be the best and most cost effective.
Local Beer Report:
Balashi - very good
Amstel Bright - excellent
Polar Beer - weak
Fun, slushy Tropical drinks are pretty weak everwhere. Prices ranged from $6.50 - $8.50. Better bet is to get an alcohol free version (they pour soooo light on alcohol based drinks)and save a few bucks on a drink.
Not much of a bar/pub scene that we saw- Carlos N Charlies seemed to get that knucklehead crowd we prefer to avoid - think lots of backwards wearing baseball hat guys!
Did have great Mojitos and Mulatos at Cuba's Cooking and Rhumba's was nice for drinks/food.
Aruba is not for singles looking to hook up. Ain't gonna happen. Very family and couple oriented.
Cabs/Rental cars:
My two cents - take cabs. Not that expensive - easy to get - you don't have to worry about driving, directions, parking, drinking...
Cabs from the Marriott to town were $10 each way. You can absolutely walk from Marriott to reastuarants like Aqua Grill/Salt and Pepper/Amazonia- nice walk along the beach and cut through Holiday Inn lobby. Cab ride sets you back $6.00 each way instead.
Dress Codes:
Based on what I read - I thought it would be a little dressier than we encountered. I wore khakis with polo shirt combo. Majority of men wore shorts/bathing suits with horrible hawian shirts and golf type shirts and flip flops. Personally, without sounding pretensious, I found it rude and inconsiderate. Your in a nice restuarant on vacation and you can't dress up a little? At least out of respect to you wife, restuarant or fellow patrons? Go to the GAP and spring for a couple of outfits.
Phones:
Only major hassle. Hotels are damn expensive - $4.95 a minute - phone cards are useless - no phones anywhere seemed to accept them. Best bet, I thought was email - $3.00 for 15 minutes was a good deal.
Safety:
Never, ever felt unsafe anywhere.
Anyway - just our impressions - hope they can help someone else.
A tip 'o the beer to Joe Strummer's memory.
May 1st, 2003 | 09:36 AM
#3
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 346
Likes: 0
Excellent, detailed review.
As for your complaints about people's sloppy dress, etc...that's one of my peeves about Aruba. Not universally true, but many people who gravitate to Aruba are low on the social conscience scale. It seems a lot like the Las Vegas type crowd. Not upscale by any stretch.
But if you ignore the touristiness and tourists, Aruba does have great beaches and weather, and some decent hotels.
And compared with other Caribe destinations, the low crime rate is a very welcome difference.
As for your complaints about people's sloppy dress, etc...that's one of my peeves about Aruba. Not universally true, but many people who gravitate to Aruba are low on the social conscience scale. It seems a lot like the Las Vegas type crowd. Not upscale by any stretch.
But if you ignore the touristiness and tourists, Aruba does have great beaches and weather, and some decent hotels.
And compared with other Caribe destinations, the low crime rate is a very welcome difference.
May 2nd, 2003 | 06:04 PM
#4
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
Thanks for the notes -- informative and amusing (particularly the commentary on nude bathers)! My husband and I are going to Aruba late this month. We are in our late 20s and live in Philadelphia. From your commentary, you and your wife seem similar to us, so I'm curious about your opinion -- did you happen to do or see/know anyone who did any of the booze cruises or buses? Were they the "backwards wearing hat guys" or other types of people?
May 2nd, 2003 | 06:55 PM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
We went on the Kukoo Kanuku (sp?) party bus trip in Aruba last September and had a good time, but we were not as impressed as we expected to be. My husband and I are in our early thirties. The crowd ranged from honeymooners in their twenties to a large group of 40-somethings that were celebrating a buddy's birthday. I wouldn't classify anyone on the trip in the "backwards wearing hat guys" category.
It was fun, and I'm glad that we did it. But I don't think that I would do it again. One time was more than plenty. We thought it was awfully expensive, given the quality of the dinner and consdering how watered-down the free drinks were. Also, a lot of your experience will depend on the dynamics of the group. It was a little bit of a downer that so many people in our group already knew each other.
It was fun, and I'm glad that we did it. But I don't think that I would do it again. One time was more than plenty. We thought it was awfully expensive, given the quality of the dinner and consdering how watered-down the free drinks were. Also, a lot of your experience will depend on the dynamics of the group. It was a little bit of a downer that so many people in our group already knew each other.
May 3rd, 2003 | 08:59 AM
#7
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Hi Travelbeck,
From our perspective, it seemed like the people we saw heading to the booze cruise bus it was not our scene. Initially, we thought it would be fun but it seemed to be a much younger, aggressive spring break kinda crowd. Very Limp Bizkit type of guys if you catch my meaning. - hope that doesn't sound snobby. Let me know if you have any questions.
From our perspective, it seemed like the people we saw heading to the booze cruise bus it was not our scene. Initially, we thought it would be fun but it seemed to be a much younger, aggressive spring break kinda crowd. Very Limp Bizkit type of guys if you catch my meaning. - hope that doesn't sound snobby. Let me know if you have any questions.
