Curacao ?? anyone ??
Apr 5th, 2005, 03:33 PM
#2
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We LOVE Curacao. Absolutely go. You will find some of the best Indonesian food in the Caribbean as well as French, Dutch, Swedish and Swiss. Many of them are wonderful. Bistro Le Clochard was our favorite. Jaanchi's is an open-air restaurant with mouthwatering lunches of local types of food. De Taveerne is very elegant and romantic. Small World is tasty. And Froets is fun and an outdoor place. Marriott is the best place to be. Three restaurants, 2 bars, nice pool, 2 hot tubs and a big beach. I would recommend that you rent a car for at least one day to explore.
Apr 6th, 2005, 09:17 AM
#3
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HI JerseySue,
We traveled with three teens to Curacao last year for Spring Break and enjoyed it very much. We stayed at the Marriott, it was a lovely full-service resort, beautiful pool area, lovely beach, alot for the girls to do, and nice for my husband and I. The food was good. Make sure you go into town, it was lovely and nice to walk around, we felt very safe.
We did not feel as adventurous as Knowing did, so we just took a shuttle into the city. We did feel, as do the posts here, that the Marriott was the best place to stay.
Enjoy! T.
p.s. One rec if I may, when flying, if you connect, try to connect in the states, such as Miami, etc. We connected thru Aruba, and it was not as streamlined because of customs, as it could have been had we connected thru Miami.
We traveled with three teens to Curacao last year for Spring Break and enjoyed it very much. We stayed at the Marriott, it was a lovely full-service resort, beautiful pool area, lovely beach, alot for the girls to do, and nice for my husband and I. The food was good. Make sure you go into town, it was lovely and nice to walk around, we felt very safe.
We did not feel as adventurous as Knowing did, so we just took a shuttle into the city. We did feel, as do the posts here, that the Marriott was the best place to stay.
Enjoy! T.
p.s. One rec if I may, when flying, if you connect, try to connect in the states, such as Miami, etc. We connected thru Aruba, and it was not as streamlined because of customs, as it could have been had we connected thru Miami.
Apr 6th, 2005, 10:39 AM
#4
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I found Curacao to be a very charming island and would happily return for an extended visit. The colorful dowtown is fun to explore and I whiled away a lovely afternoon just wandering around.
I found the island to be a very pleasant after Aruba, the other stop on my itinerary.
I found the island to be a very pleasant after Aruba, the other stop on my itinerary.
Apr 6th, 2005, 12:11 PM
#5
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Depends on what you like to do. If your idea of paradise is to just get away and relax then Curacao is the place for you. We did 3 days there and 7 in Aruba and were those durations reversed we would not have like it. However for just getting away from it all Curacao is fine. Bon dia. 
Apr 7th, 2005, 04:32 AM
#6
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Hi, I just returned from Curacao and the Marriott. I really enjoyed the island and thought the Marriott was a very nice resort for the price -- a good value. Here's a rundown on the restaurants we went to -- Bistro Le Clochard -- outside tables have a great view of the harbor and the famous row of pastel, dutch-style buildings that you see in the all the Curacao ads, food was just average. Astrolab Observatory -- absolutely gorgeous setting outside in garden with lots of foliage and fountains, very romantic. Food was very good. If you go make sure you get a table outside, so much better than inside. Hook's Hut - fun setting right on beach, service was poor, food okay. Wine Celler -- the food was good but I was not impressed with the setting (it lives up to its name, very closed in -- I like to be outside on vacation) and they had annoying piped in music playing. Service was okay but not great. Jaipur -- we got lots of appetizers because there was so much we wanted to try, food was good, setting is gorgeous (outside, with pools and waterfalls). Both Astrolab and Jaipur are in the Kura Hulanda complex which is really an interesting place to see with a great atmosphere. If I go back I would like to stay a few nights at the Kura Hulanda Hotel before going to a beach hotel like the Marriott. In fact, I noticed that Kura Hulanda is going to be opening a new beachfront resort which looks great. The Marriott also has a casual waterfront outdoor restaurant which was good for simple meals at lunch or dinner. We loved driving around the island and visiting different beaches, we also took a nice snorkeling boat trip on the Insulinde which was great and very reasonably priced ($30 pp). Overall, I found the island to have much more personality and destinations such as Turks & Caicos and Aruba, very interesting mix of cultures, and I thought the prices were reasonable (but I'm used to Philly prices). The only disappointment was that my husband is an avid golfer and the golf course was in poor shape. It is operated by the same folks who manage Tierra Del Sol in Aruba but Tierra Del Sol is much better.
Apr 7th, 2005, 08:41 AM
#9
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Hi again JerseySue,
Say, thought I would mention, I had posted a trip report on Curacao and the Marriott one year ago. I just now typed Curacao into the text search, and it is thread #132, in case you are interested...
T.
Say, thought I would mention, I had posted a trip report on Curacao and the Marriott one year ago. I just now typed Curacao into the text search, and it is thread #132, in case you are interested...
T.
Apr 7th, 2005, 12:16 PM
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I read from the forum the snorkeling is not very good. We are avid snorkelers and would even consider chartering a 25 ft. power boat and captain for 1/2 day. Are there 2-3 really good spots out a bit that would make the $300-$400 worthwhile? I must admit we were not impressed with Bonaire but we where there a year after "Mitch" and the surface coral had been badly damaged.By now it has probabably grown back a bit. Belize, Roatan, Honduras and St. John are my favorite places.
