Holiday Inn Sunspree Aruba
 

I got a great deal through Delta vacations for an all inclusive package at the Holiday Inn Sunspree on Palm Beach, Aruba! It looks wonderful and I know the hotel has been there a long time, but has been remodeled. It is right on the beach. They have a few restaurants, theme nights, a casino, a few bars, shows, etc. This is a September trip and I figure Aruba is out of the hurricane path too. If anyone has been to this resort and casino in Aruba, please feel free to give me your feedback. Much appreciated!
Thanks.

I also got an all-inclusive deal from Holiday Inn in Aruba and was hoping to find out whether I am getting a good deal. End of June for 7 nights for $1200 pp. If you don't mind, could you comment on the ball park of your "great deal" just so I know whether to take the one I was offered or not.
FYI here is their site: www.holidayinn-aruba.com/

The Holiday Inn has a great beach area and you can walk to all the other high-rise hotels. Have spoken to friends who have stayed there and their only negative comments were that the pool was very small and the food not the greatest. There were some surcharges on premium brands of alchohol and some of the higher priced food items on the menu.

Lucik:
Ours is a little over $1300 p/p. It is including roundtrip airfare, transfers to and from the airport to the hotel and back, a deluxe oceanview room, and the all inclusive package including all food, drinks, taxes, tips, watersports, etc. Yours sounds like a good deal for that price. What are you getting included in yours and where did you get the deal if you don't mind me asking? We are going in September. This is for 7 days also.

This hotel has an excellent beach. Pool is smallish considering the number of rooms (600?).

Were you given an alternative of non-inclusive for less money? If so, it might be worth a comparison. Aruba has lots of good restaurants in various price ranges and it's easy to get around.

Good choice during hurricane season.

MyBelle,
I haven't yet found out all the details of the $1200 deal so I'll speak with the travel agent and get back to you. I am not sure if its worth going there after all, since I did a search for Holiday Inn in Aruba on this forum and many people don't recommend it... you may want to do some more research as well.

If you figure that the packager of this deal probably paid around $300 per ticket air (generous assumption), and you take a double occupancy package, then you're paying $1900 for 7 nights' lodging, food and drinks.

The listed room rate for an oceanview at this hotel is $119/night on Expedia (which is, of course, a rate you get without any package).

119 X 7= 833.
1900 - 833= $1067.

So you're really paying $1067 for 7 days of food and drink.
That's $152 per day of food and drink.

So....this package is a deal IF:
--you would normally spend more than $152 per day EXCLUSIVELY AT THE HOTEL ITSELF on food drink for 2 people (no eating or drinking off premises allowed, or this must be added on to the overall price).
--you can't get airfare for anywhere near $300 per person in low season (summer).

I don't get the impression it is a bad place at all. I just think that everyone has different opinions. The lobby is newly remodeled and from the internet photos, etc. it looks perfect. The rooms look clean and nice and I have family who used to go here yearly many years ago. The pool is described as HUGE and I can't imagine they would use that description if it was a "tiny" pool. They would just say pool or tropical pool or something like that. Just an opinion. Palm Beach is the nicest beach on the island I am told and this hotel sits right on that beach! The flights from the Washington area for Aruba right now are over $650, so I think the package is quite a deal. Lucik, your package is even lower, but it could be what you get for your package. I am not sure. Mine is through Delta vacations. I also heard that there are many repeat visitors to this hotel because of the great deals and beach. I think with the upgraded room, etc. it should be fine. I was just trying to get opinions from the posters here as well. What are your fears Lucik? Hope all works out for all of us considering it.
Thanks.

We stayed 5 nights at this hotel a little over a year ago. It was very clean and the rooms were spacious. It was nothing fancy but as I said very clean and the staff were extremely friendly. The beach is nice and all kind of water sports are available right there. There is a place in the lobby where you can book other things on the island and rent cars or jeeps for the day or week. The food was good, not 5 star dining but we were perfectly happy and the bread and pastry cart at the buffet restaurant was great. They had really nice bartenders and the drinks were not watered down (I promise).

I highly reccommend the jeep safari on the island. We had a ball. We did not make it to Baby Beach (My one regret of the vacation).

Hope this helps. We have been planning on going back to Aruba. Very clean island. Near zero crime rate and wonderful people.

Have a great trip,
April