Hi,

We're looking for an island to relax and has good dining options. Open to any suggestions; however, I would like to use my Marriott points.
We're looking at Aruba. Two adults in our fifties. Any suggestions on which hotel you would recommend. I'm a little concerned that the Renaissance has much more avaiablity than the Marriott. Thanks very much!

The Renaissance is located in town,not on the beach. It does however a boat shuttle located inside the lobby which takes you to their private island. The Marriot is located on the other end of the island known as the high rise area.

I'm certain that if you choose the Marriott, you will find it more picturesque. I suspect that the Renaissance has more availability and doesn't fill up as quickly because most people don't enjoy being right in town.

Enjoy your vacation.

Unless it has changed dramatically (we were there in 2006) the Renaissance is really two hotels - the Renaissance Marina Hotel and the Renaissance Ocean Suites. Marriott bills the Marina ("town&quot location as perfect for adults and the Ocean Suites ("beach&quot as perfect for families. For the previous posters - has that changed? Is the Renaissance no longer two hotels (town and beach)??

The Renaissance is (was?) older than the Marriott property, and showing some age, but still pleasant. We found it much less crowded and loud than the other Marriott property (which was **much** too overrun with people for my vacation tastes).

The Renaissance has an attractive "private island" that you can take the boat shuttle to (if you stay at the Marina or the Suites). The Marriott does have a much nicer pool/bar area. The Renaissance allows you to walk around Oranjestad (we LOVED it) - grabbing meals off hotel property to experience local flavor. I can't speak to the restaurants at either property - we don't eat on-premise much (young kids + fancy restuarants = not always a good mix! LOL!)

Best of luck!

Accordin to the Marriott site:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/maps/...rt-and-casino/

both are still there.

We stayed at the Marriott Resorts and Stellaris Casino. It was relaxing, and walking up and down the beach was easy. We used our Marriott points.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34929104

Seriously great trip report!! I loved this:

"CAUTION: Reading this is advisable only if you are going to stay at Marriott Resorts and Stellaris Casino Aruba (MRS), and interested in getting the best out of it. Side effects of reading this long, obsessive post may lead to boredom, headache, and screaming."

I can't wait to get back to Aruba. After we hit all the other islands on our list. =)

We are in our mid forties and i would recommend the Marriott Stellaris.
We stayed there a few years ago with our kids, but I would return as a couple and stay there. I did not like the location of the in town Rennassaince. I prefer walking right out to the beach. We also used Marriott points and enjoyed our stay.

Thank you all for your responses!

Of course, the Marriott is on the beach--big advantage. But one time we took a last minute, very reasonably priced trip to the Renaissance.

We were unexpectedly surprised at how nice their out island was. We really liked it, and could visit Palm Beach any day we wanted.

Palm Beach(Marriott)is very busy, but it is usually where we would stay.

Out island is quiet,beautiful, has a restaurant, and you can enjoy the boat ride over. Just insist on an ocean view room.

All the beaches are public so you can take a cab to any of them, or rent a car.

In order to really assist you it would help to have the following info: time of year, Marriott points budget and if you have elite status as specials are made available to different elite members, number of nights, activities you enjoy. Plus with elite upgrades (room, concierge level etc) it all makes a difference.

The time of year will greatly affect everything else. For example, if you go in July the rates are $200/night and to me, a $200 room is not worth 110,000 or 130,000 points.

The Renaissance is still 2 properties and one is family and one is adult only. I would stay at the Renaissance Adult only property (Renaissance Marina Hotel) because you can always venture over to the crazy part of town or the more busy and crazy regular Marriott, but if you stay over there you can never escape to the more quite over 18 property. Also, they are both AAA 4 Diamond properties and the both have casinos so I cannot imagine that there will be a tremendous drop off between the two, especially if relaxation is the ultimate objective. The Marriott is directly on the beach, but the spa (a key to me for relaxing) is not on property. The Renaissance, while not on the beach has its own boat and island, does have a fantastic spa on property. The Renaissance also has an adult only pool.

The Renaissance has six or seven restaurants on property, including a great steak and chop house and more distinctive dining options, an adult only restaurant with great martinis and an adult only late night dining option overlooking the casino.

The Marriott only has 5 dining options but most are more casual. The dining at the Marriott includes Ruth Chris (nice, but you can get that here), a lobby lounge and the pool/beach restaurant.

It all depends on your point of view. If beach is key, then go Marriott. If no kids, more dining or spa on location is key then go Renaissance. As previous poster said if you stay at the Renaissance you can always take a cab to the other.

Somebody mentioned to me that the Stellaris is scheduled for renovations beginning in April. You may want to call the hotel directly to see if that is true.

We decided against the Marriott Stellaris based on that and are going to stay at the timeshare property with our points in June.

Have a good trip.