Anyone been to Aruba?

emwalsh1 · May 2012

We are thinking of honeymooning in Aruba at the Renaissance Aruba Resort. Has anyone been to this resort or to Aruba in general? If so, any reviews?

LADY324 · May 2012

I have not been yet but we will be going there in July for our HM. We are staying at the tara beach suites for 3 nights and then the renaissance for 6 nights. I can not wait!!!

amymaysa · May 2012

Aruba was a lot of fun and has excellent places to eat!

bells24412 · May 2012

I have been once about 7 years ago and it was a lot of fun with great food. My Fi and I will be going to Aruba for our honeymoon as well we are staying at the Riu Palace. Aruba has great food, awesome beaches, and is a lot of fun.

melfacto · May 2012

My co-worker just came back from there and he LOVED it, raved about the food, beaches, he said it was so safe you could go walk around off the resort. He strongly recommended it to me, so its been added to my list! Our travel agent also said you can't go wrong with Aruba, guaranteed great time! GL in your planning!

craigdana · May 2012

there is a great place called fishbones I think. right on the water. in fact you can eat on the beach or in the water. really good food. It is beautiful. my friends and I went on a jeep tour around the island. it was awesome. the snorkeling is not that great. make reservations for the good restaurants in advance.

TheSlowskys · May 2012

I loved Aruba - there was a thread within the past couple pages that had a lot of good recommendations for restaurants.

I disagree that there is not any local culture left. We stayed inland, in the middle of the island, rented a jeep, and drove everywhere, finding our own little beaches and places to go snorkeling. We spent very little time in the hotel area and Oranjestad. That area of the island is a bit too developed and busy for my taste, if you do go, I highly recommend getting a car for several days and getting away from the resorts.

jen_woo_hoo · May 2012

I was in Aruba last summer for a conference at the Renaissance and LOVED it! Friends and I stayed at the Renaissance Marina Hotel (adults only), which had a very hip vibe (especially the bar / pool area right in the lobby). You can also use the pool / mini beach at the Renaissance Oceans Suites hotel if you want a more traditional pool experience (you have privileges at both hotels). The neatest thing, though, is that you can take a boat right from the lobby of the Marina Hotel to get to the hotel's private island (which also has a family side and an adults side)! I was glad we went this route because I didn't think too much of the beach area at the high rise hotel area (where all of the hotels are smushed together and thus have lots of people on what's a relatively small beach).

The best meal we had was at Yemanja, which is only a block or two behind the Marina Hotel. It features woodgrilled food - chicken, steak, seafood - and was DELICIOUS!

I would also recommend doing a day tour. We did an all-day tour with DePalm tours and got to see the whole island and learned SO MUCH from the tour guide. Bonus: They pick up at the Ocean Suites Hotel first thing and then pick up passengers at other hotels, so you should be able to snag a seat at the front on the passengers' side (best view while you're driving)!

Have fun!

Anyone been to Aruba?

Re: Anyone been to Aruba?

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