Don't Go To Curacao
 

I took Fodor's advice and went to the Floris Suite Hotel and had the absolute worst vacation. First the hotel tired to give me an inferior room that was gloomy and dark. The room they switched me to looked OK to begin wit. But, the patio was not useable because of mass quantities of mosquitoes and there were LARGE cockroacches in the room. forget about using the kitchenette - as there was NO diswashing liquid and the microwave was do high you had to be a giant to reach it. Then the doors had tannsparent panels so that there was always light in the room at night.

The beaches were gorgeous - but we had to pay $15.00 to even walk on them. And the smoking all over the island was too much - even in restaurents.
Now for prices - the food was out of sight. And for the first time, an expensive restaurent in Riffort that Fodor recommended switched a bottle of wine and tried to bill us double!!
This was a vacation to remember - but not in a good way!!!

I really don't think oe bad hotel and restaurant are enough to make me tell people to avoid an entire island!! We loved our time in Curacao and would return any time.

We were all set for a vacation to Curacao for April, but found the airfare too high to justify the trip. I've read several other comments about the high prices of food and drinks. Since they don't really offer a good selection of AI hotels and don't really want any, it's difficult to get people to travel there.

I have to agree that with one bad hotel/restaurant experience, it's a bit harsh to advise people not to go to Curacao at all. Maybe a little more research prior to traveling would have helped. Did you not have any positive experiences? A full trip report would be much more helpful for people deciding to travel there or not.

We will eventually get to Curacao. Just now is not the right time for us. I hope your future travels will be better.

We also loved Curacao and part of the charm was trying all the great restaurants. Before we left everyone told me how expensive it was and I did not find it to be expensive at all, I thought everything was comparable to what we pay in Philadelphia and reasonable compared to some other islands -- have you been to Bermuda, Bahamas or Barbados lately? We're afraid to go back to them because years ago we were paying $8 - $10 for a drink we can only imagine what it is now! We loved the Curacao Marriott and the european/caribbean charm of the island and will return. We also rented a car and found the driving to be easy.

It's just insane to tell people not to go to Curacao because you had a bad experience at a hotel and restaurant!
We stayed at the Marriott and had a spacious room. The staff was very gracious. We loved swimming in the pool and sunning ourselves on the beautifully landscaped property.
Curacao makes a great choice for a getaway with lots of time to relax and play. We loved the environment of the restaurants and didn't find them anymore expensive than anywhere else.

We have visited 13-14 Caribbean/Bahamian islands including Curacao (3 times-2001-2005)and several othrs 2-4 times over the past 30+ years and could not disagree with you more.
As for food, Grand Cayman dinners of equal or lesser quality are equal or lesser quality are as expensive as are St. Lucia, St. Maartin, Virgin Gorda, St. Barts, etc. The snorkeling at the WEST END is in the top 5 best now in the Caribbean because of the affects of global warming elsewhere. While sightseeing is not a top priority there it is as interesting as Grand Cayman, Bonaire, St Martin, St. Thomas (except for maybe a few hours of shopping), Anguilla, Aruba. etc.. Hotets are not that fancy except for Hura but the rates are not like St. John,Virgin Gorda, St. Barts, Barbados, etc.
The weather overall is more consistently good with less rain than many in Caribbean/Bahamian though summer is a 4-5 degrees a bit warmer and Sept./Oct. can be windy(20-25mph).
It;s a very nice vacation spot.

We loved Curacao! I agree that you can find food for whatever price you want to pay. The small cove beaches are incredible, the people very friendly and helpful, and the snorkeling great. We bought a timeshare at Sea Aquarium and plan on enjoying this island on a regular basis. Renting a car does seem to be essential to enjoy the island to the fullest.

welcome to fodors travel talk. i tried to find anything on fodor's site about the floris hotel and could find nothing. could you post a link to the fodor's info you used?

This is the original poster's first post. Perhaps it's just someone who has a grudge against Cucacao or wants to keep tourists away????

This is the original poster's first and ONLY post. Perhaps it's just someone who has a grudge against Cucacao or wants to keep tourists away????

If the review is true unfortunately having a bad hotel to stay in can influence the view on an entire island. But I don't see what was terrible about the hotel, mosquitoes and roaches are everywhere in hot climates, I've only ever found well equipped kitchenettes in US condos so no surprise there is no dishwashing liquid.

We didn't find Curacao expensive and had many inexpensive meals in Willemstad near a beach (there was a row of trailers serving various local dishes), I don't think AI is necessary in Curacao. The Marriott had inexpensive buffets some nights, about $15-20 each. The concierge at the Marriott was very helpful in recommending inexpensive local eating places and the hotel is lovely.

We also never paid to enter any beach, some do ask for entrance fee but I do not recall it being $15.

Curacao is a planned first destination for us and obviously this "reviewer" has not impacted our plans. A lack of knowledge - or a bad attitude - can often generate one disaster after another...

Apart from that I have looked at the Marriott and other hotels, any recommendations?
Thanks!

I am glad to hear so many of you enjoy Curacao as we do. The only hotel that looked run down (from the outside and lobby ONLY) was the Hilton but there are 5-7 nice places in the $200-$250 (except holidays). The only restaurant we really did not enjoy was the Portofino at the Marriott butt if you search the talk form you will find 7-8 often mentioned very good places for dinner.

We stayed at the Breezes Superclubs in Curacao 6 years ago and loved the island. We went all over with tours and on our own and found it safe and the people very helpful and friendly. We ate out a few times over the 2 weeks we were there inspite of staying at an all inclusive, and found the meals comparable to what we pay at home in Canada. We are returning in Feb. 09 for another 2 week stay at the Breezes and are really looking forward to seeing what has changed...hopefully not too much. I hope that MLWille's write-up doesn't discourage people from going to Curacao as it is a really nice island and we have travelled all over the Caribbean and Mexico for the past 18 years.

Where on Fodor's was this hotel recommended? On this forum? In a guidebook?

Sorry but it's ridiculous to say not to go to an entire island simply because you were not pleased with one hotel and one restaurant.

I'm curious what would you expect a hotel to do to get rid of the mosquitos on your outdoor patio?

Ooops didn't realize this post was an old one.

We went to Curacao 4 years ago and it is one of our favorite islands of the many we have visited. We stayed 4 nights at the Marriot and 4 at Kura Hulanda to experience them both. The architecture, restaurants, shopping, and especially the beach are simply amazing. I would return in a heartbeat. We travel to Mexico and/or the Caribbean 2-3 times per year. I agree with one of the other posts that airfare is very expensive to Curacao right now. I watch it regularly and when it becomes reasonable again, I will book it for a return trip. I love how unique Curacao is!

Moquitos outside in the Caribbean??? A few bugs in the room in the Caribbean??? Oh the madness!! LOL. Geez...most of us here make a few phone calls ahead of our arrival to the islands, and pay extra to make sure there will be NO BUGS during our stay!! You must of missed that in your research...

Oh and no dish soap?? My God, I would of demanded my money back right there, and hopped on the next flight home. Can't even imagine living without my dish soap!! Don't even get me started on the Microwave being too high....how dare they!!!

I can fully understand all of your complaints, and I'm very sorry that even with your extensive research, it didn't work out for you. And Thank you, I will definitely stay WAY clear of Curacao because of the incredible tradgedies you had to suffer through.... ;-)

Just a comment that this hotel does get some pretty bad reviews, as well as some good ones, on Trip Advisor. Many of the bad reviews are from European travelers.

For what it is worth.

I am back supporting a visit to Curacao. Per my 2 earlier posts for relaxation, good, not terrific beaches, very good snorkeling in the WEST END, 7-8 very good restaurants (I'd pass on Ft. Nassau and Portofino in the Marriott)with prices as hogh as Grand Gayman where it is not easy to find 6-7 equally good restaurants though they have several good ones at comparable prices as do the Barbados, Martinque, etc.
The sightseeing above water is limited but enough pleasures for at least 1 interesting day.
If you sign-up on kayak.com they will track the fares for you for the dates you are interested in going. I have found rates to destination s going down without any reason by 20% and I book it then a week later the higher rate is back.