Should I rent a car in Aruba?
 

I'm going to Aruba next month with my girlfriend. We're staying at the Holiday Inn. Should I rent a car for the entire trip, for a day, or not at all? If so, is parking in town pretty easy and cheap? Thanks! Also, is the Holiday Inn really bad? You can be honest, I have a nonrefundable reservation.

You should rent a Jeep for a few days or at least for one day. It was about $80 for one day but you can get it cheaper if you plan ahead. My boyfriend & I were there September 2004 & we rented a Jeep for one day. We wish we rented it for at least 2 days though. We drove around the island & to the Natural Bridge. Definitely go there.

Do I have to rent a Jeep for things like the Natural Bridge, or will a regular car be okay?

You could get there in a regular car, but my husband had a ball with the jeep and the sand dunes. A much more interesting trip! I would also recommend the jeep for at least 2 days. one day for exploring and another day to give you the chance to head out of the main areas for lunch/dinner.

It was a few years ago, but we got a discount card from visitaruba.com. We got some discounted meals, but the biggest thing was that it was a good deal on the jeep rental. check and see if it might be worth it - i think i only paid $20.

Hi,
We went to Aruba in December and rented a small economy car for one day. We loved the experience, except for one regret: we didn't rent a jeep! While we so enjoyed getting out of the touristy areas and exploring the island, there were many places we simply couldn't go because our little Toyota didn't have the juice. I think a jeep rental is about $60/day in Aruba -- we paid $40 for our economy car.
Hope this helps. Have a fantastic time!
Kelly

If you're only going for a few days, I would *DEFINITEY* rent a car since the daily rental rate can be as little as $25/day from the airport and taxi alone is going to run you $20/each way --- might as well have the car so you can run around the island without being at the whim of bus schedules or dealing with the expense of taxis.

Aruba is VERY easy to drive around --- heck, they really only have one main road. Gas is expen$ive though --- us folks in the U.S. are spoiled by cheap gas.

As for the Holiday Inn, it's not *THAT* bad. Rooms are okay for the most part, some parts of the hotel are a bit dated and run down looking, service is often very slow, and if you got the AI package, well, I pity you because the food *IS* horrible.

Of course Aruba is one of those places where *NOBODY* should ever do AI because there is SO much good food everywhere that you won't want to limit yourself to the usually mediocre hotel food. (And trust me, the food at the Holiday Inn definitely qualifies as "mediocre", at best).

On the plus side, the Holiday Inn has a good casino, good beach, and the rooms are spacious. The hotel often tends to be one of the better deals on the island.

Have fun!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

Definitely rent a car. They are cheap and the roads are great in Aruba. We rented from Tropic in September (Hans Dhooge is the man!). Great car, great price, and wonderful service. He meets you outside of baggage claim with your car and you're off!

Have fun. You can drive to all the good snorkel spots!

Peace, Greenie

I would still stick w/ a Jeep. We could have gotten to Natural Bridge in a car but on the way back the ocean had created a small flooded area over the road & some cars had to turn around but we got thru fine.
Also, I heard that roads are kind of rough around Baby Beach so if you plan to go there to snorkel get a Jeep.
As others have said Jeeps are way more fun. At least get a Jeep one day.