Could you please recommend a great hotel/resort for my upcoming Aruba vacation? <BR>My husband and I have never been to the island so we want to stay somewhere really nice w/great service, beaches, food, close to shopping, etc. Thanks for your help.

Hyatt and Radisson are the best.<BR><BR>Both are large. If that offends you, Bucuti's the best small one.<BR>

Natalie:<BR>Type Aruba into the text search box and you'll find many long debates about the best hotels in Aruba.<BR>The best are the Hyatt, Radisson, Wyndham and Marriott.<BR>I think Hyatt is best, but there are many opinions about this.

My recent two trips to the Radisson Aruba are posted at:<BR>http://www.visitaruba.com/guestarea/tripreports/trip374.html<BR><BR>and<BR><BR>http://www.visitaruba.com/guestarea/tripreports/trip230.html<BR>

What does ISO mean? This is a message board not a chat room.

To Anon, ISO.... In Someone's Opinion ...This board is for information and Natalie has a good question and received valid answers.

Or, In Search Of. Yes, Natalie had a good question and people answered nicely and without downgrading others. For a small, informal place, not as nice or luxurious, we liked the Divi because it is all inclusive which we prefer. Most people do not recommend it here though, but we liked it.

We stayed at the Marriott and it was wonderful. It is actually the only one I've noticed being rated as superior on recent travel awards sites. The Hyatt has beautiful grounds and is located more in the middle of a row of hotels if you want more action. I liked the Marriott because it was a bit separate from the rest, making for a more relaxing atmosphere.

Sam,<BR><BR>I am not doubting that Natalie is receiving goof info. It is that the use of abbrevs like ISO should be limited. People unfamiliar with the chat abbrevs wouldn't know what was being asked. I thought ISO was a travel group or something. At least the message should have included it spelled out.

Just got back from Aruba in July and stayed at at the Allegro because it was with a group and we wanted all-inclusive. It was much better than I had anticipated. We did however, venture over to the Hyatt right next door and although I haven't seen the roooms, the grounds are beautiful. More grand than the others we saw there. We ate at the nicest restaurant and it was excellent and the setting was very romantic including tiki torches and waterfalls. We sat at their beach bar one night and they were having karioki (?) and everyone at the bar was singing together. Fun! There was a live music group at the other outdoor lounge upstairs and we danced there and it was very romantic. We've been to other places in the Caribbean including the Ritz at St. Thomas, the Hyatt at St. Johns, the El Conquistador in Puerto Rico and if I went back to Aruba, I'd stay at the Hyatt.