Manchebo vs Bucuti?
 

My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon for 10 days in mid-August. I have seen some forum topics related to discussions of these two resorts, but I haven't seen many that were posted recently. I want to hear people's thoughts about these two resorts and I also want to know if people have stayed at Manchebo since they remodeled their rooms.

These are some of our thoughts/questions about the two resorts based upon reviews that I have read:
*Bucuti seems to be nicer (but I think that this may have been before Manchebo remodeled). Has anyone stayed there recently enough to comment on this? And is the difference in price worth the difference in accommodations? Are there any other differences?
*Bucuti has the Tara Suites on the beach. I have seen extremely mixed reviews on the suites. Some people say they look really dirty and run down and others say exactly the opposite. I've also heard that the dehumidifiers are very loud and unpleasant. What is your opinion on this section of the hotel?
*We are not doing an AI so we don't really care about the food at the resort, just as long as it's reasonably good. Is the food at both places good enough to eat a few meals?
*None of Bucuti's non-suite rooms seem to face the beach, which for us is a must. Does Manchebo have a lot of rooms facing the beach?

Any other comments or advice would be great. We are pretty set on Aruba since we are going in August and it's out of the hurricane belt. We don't want to stay in the high rise area because we want a more intimate experience.

Thank you very much!
Levy

Topping for you. I did not stay at either resort when we went, but I will tell you that the Bucuti has a better reputation for being a nicer hotel. That was a few years ago which doesn't help you much. You can go to aruba-bb.com and ask on that forum which is an all aruba forum and people that visit regularly. It is my understanding that the Manchebo was a best western. That may have changed. Bucuti was always privately owned. Anyway, I hope this helps a little and you get some recent information.

My husband and I stayed at Bucuti in December 2007 if you go to trip advisor you can see my review.

I cannot say anything about the Manchebo other than its right next door to the Bucuti. Manchebo played music at their beach bar which was nice when you were laying on the beach.
We stayed in the Tara Suites. We felt the Bucuti was nothing more than a glorified Holiday Inn on a INCREDIBLE beach.
We ate breakfast each morning in the Tara Suites. This was part of room deal by staying in the Tara Suites. It was very basic. You could get a bigger selection if you went to breakfast in the Pirates Nest restaurant. We did lunch on the beach from the Pirates Nest which was fine. We went off the resort each night for dinner.

I think the Bucuti gets away with alot b/c the beach really is UNBELIEVEABLE. If you put Bucuti anywhere else, I don't think it would draw the crowd it does.

I'm going to look into the Manchebo myself. We love Aruba and want to go back. We want to stay on Eagle Beach (verses Palm Beach) but do not want to go back to Bucuti!!

I stayed at Bucuti in Dec 2008 in a regular room. We were very happy with it, but we do not require much in our room as we are never there. The grounds were nice and the beach was the best on Eagle Beach. I have no experience w/ Manchebo, but they are right next door, so the beach would be the same. If you venture either direction on the beach, it gets bad.....not much beach to no beach in a lot of areas. I hated Palm Beach...too crowded. I can honestly say that if I went back to Aruba, Bucuti or Manchebo is where I would choose to stay. Bucuti was not so phenomenal that it would prevent me from looking at Manchebo. Not much help in choosing between the two. Sorry.

I pretty much agree with Lmaev. Maybe you read my report from a year ago. I would go back to Bucuti for the beach and the grounds, but would not pay so much extra to stay in Tara Suites. Any room would probably be fine because they all face the grassy courtyard. Tara suites face the beach but some views are obstructed.