Hi All,
My wife and I are thinking of going to Aruba for the first time (Oct28-Nov3) and we want to know if anyone could recommend and help us pick a Marriott hotels listed below for our stay. We could use some Marriott Reward points.

Palm Beach area:
Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club
Marriott Aruba Surf Club
Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino

Oranjestad area:
Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino

Also, any preference between the Palm Beach area and the Oranjestad area? Do we need a car rental? We want to do some tours, sightseeing, relax at the beach and pools, etc.

Thank you!
David

Definitely Palm Beach. All three Marriotts there are all together in one mega resort. Surf Club is brand new, opening this month, they are condos. Ocean Club also condos (we will be there October 31 - November 7). Marriott Resort 7 Casino is the regular hotel. You have access to all facilities no matter where you stay. If it's on points you will probably be at the hotel, unless you want to use lots more points for the condos. I would rent a car if you plan on touring the island and going to a lot of restaurants outside the resort. However, it's not absolutely necessary, there's a great bus system to downtown and it's easy to get cabs. Last time we had a car to go to all the restaurants and because my husband went to the golf course every day. Also went to the natural pool, etc.

Thank you Eileen. Any special or do-not-miss point of interest, restaurants, places you could recommend?

David

Definitely the Palm Beach area. I can recommend the Ocean Club - we loved it there. Having a full kitchen, living area, big bedroom and bathroom works well for us. The Surf Club looks like it will be great once it's complete but it's no where near completion and I wouldn't chance it this year.

The Marriott Stellaris has a great pool, beautiful beach, and is a bit separate from the other chain hotels, which are on top of each other. We loved it there. And, we used the bus to get around, which was cheap and very easy to get around in. The Renaissance used to be Sonesta, I believe, and although it's on the water, there is no beach there. You need to be taken by boat to their beach [unless I'm mistaken -- did not stay there, just looked at it, prior to it changing hands]. It is very close to town and shopping and a larger selection of restaurants, which are the plus for this location.

Well, it's been a few years but all the meals we had were good. We particularly liked the restaurant at Tierra Del Sol (golf club) for its wonderful view and great food. Also enjoyed the italian restaurant up by the lighthouse, also great view. Papiamento has a pretty setting (tables around a pool).

Thank you all again. We will probably go with Aruba Marriott Resort.

My next concern is the hurricanes. If I travel between Oct 28-Nov 3, should I get the travel insurance? Someone posted that Aruba is safe from the hurricanes.

Regards,
David

Aruba is outside the hurricane belt, which is a real plus for travel that time of year.

I had this same question. Which hotel did you choose and how did your trip work out?

My husband and I just returned from Aruba last night. We booked the trip 12 hours before we actually left. We had a trip to the Turks and Caicos planned for the same days but Hurricane Frances hit and we found out about 12 hours before our flight left that it was cancelled. We found a last minute deal on line to the Renaissance Resort and Casino. It definately was not the 5 star resort we had planned on staying at in the Turks, however, it was still nice. It was very clean and the staff was great. We really enjoyed riding the boat over to the private island that you have use of. This was never crowded and we got to see a lot of wild-life. The beach was great and there was a lot of shade for my husband. The other properties are newer, but we liked that we were staying on the beach yet still by downtown so we could walk to all the restaurants and shopping and night life. I was very concerned at first because we had researched our trip to the Turks and Caicos very thoroughly before booking the T&C club. This we booked with little to go on except that we could get a room there in less than 10 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave. Like I said I wouldn't describe it as luxurious but I wasn't disappointed either. Good luck, I hope you enjoy your stay in Aruba.

Hi We stayed at the Marriott Hotel and found it to be a lovely hotel and grounds. You can't go wrong with the Palm beach Marriotts. They are at the end of the strip and all together. You may use the facilities at all three. The food is great all over the island so I wouldn't choose a meal plan-maybe just breakfast. A couple of restaurants we enjoyed were El Gaucho and Chalet Suisse. We did not rent a car, we cabbed it. I think we would rent a car next time and see more of the island. The hotel in town (Oranjestad) is in a busy area and the beach is a boat ride away. I personally would not choose that location.(that's my opinion) We ate at the Marriott's Simply fish restaurant on the beach. I thought it was okay. The setting is very nice. The Tuscany (italian) restaurant is supposed to be their best. You can walk to several hotels and small restaurants. You will have a great trip! Oh and the hurricane question...Aruba is under hurricane watch right now, but in general this island rarely sees hurricanes. I believe one of the other posts mentioned the last one was in 1961.