Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

cdh2672 Posted: Aug 17, 2011 11:48 PM

Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

Trying to decide.... can anyone share their opinions , likes/dislikes.....would love to hear from anyone that has been to either.

The Riu seems a bit more expensive, but not by much.

Thanks!

cdh2672 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 12:00 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

Just reposting for some help! Thanks

ellie424 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 12:18 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

I haven't been to either but if you check out the TripAdvisor Aruba forum I'm sure you will get tons of opinions there regarding the pros/cons of each.

cdh2672 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 01:23 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

Thanks!!

CrazyLove11 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 01:43 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

we stayed at the Occidental in 2009 and loved it. We also had the best suite in the hotel (we upgraded once we got there) so that def added to the fun!
when we were there and walked along the beach towards all the other resorts we felt that the Occidental did the best at keeping the beach clean. I also heard that the Riu had uncomfortable beds. HTH!

Beautyconsultantbk Posted: Aug 18, 2011 02:00 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

I heard riu is great

chilly313 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 02:06 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

A friend went to the Occidental on her HM last Sept and they did the all inclusive - she said the food was definitely not great. I don't know much else about the hotel (both look beautiful), but I would stay away from the all inclusive package.

bowlergyal Posted: Aug 18, 2011 02:24 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

This is where i want to go for my HM, I think All-inclusive is the best way to go as food can get really expensive. WHat were teh terrible reviews on teh food? I come from a carribean background (father's side) so I know some carribean food is an aquiring taste for most (def. not for me though ) so could that have been why it was bad?

cdh2672 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 02:29 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

I think the all inclusive is worth it, especially b/c my FH and I like to have a 'few' drinks on vacation

I hear that the restaurants outside of the resort are great too, so maybe 1 or 2 nights we will delve off the resort and try them!

cdh2672 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 02:30 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

Posted by bowlergyal

This is where i want to go for my HM, I think All-inclusive is the best way to go as food can get really expensive. WHat were teh terrible reviews on teh food? I come from a carribean background (father's side) so I know some carribean food is an aquiring taste for most (def. not for me though ) so could that have been why it was bad?

Where are you thinking of staying?

bprincess702 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 04:36 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

I've been to Aruba 15 times .... I have timeshare and go for 2 weeks every year for the past 15 years. Personal preference .... I would not do an all inclusive in Aruba - there are amazing restaurants to go to that you would miss out on by doing an all inclusive!

Honeymoon - I'd say Marriott, Hyatt and Divi are probably top choices.

HTH

soon2beMrsHenry92912 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 07:22 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

Posted by bprincess702

I would not do an all inclusive in Aruba - there are amazing restaurants to go to that you would miss out on by doing an all inclusive! .

HTH

This!!! There are amazing restaurants in Aruba and from what I remember they are not terribly expensive. You can find some great places to eat that are moderately priced. Aruba is one of those places that it is safe to walk around and there are so many great places to eat, especially in the Palm Beach area if you are thinking of staying at the RIU or Occidental. The resort we stayed at always had happy hour during the day, so that made drinking a lil less expensive. Since there are so many time shares in Aruba, you can always take a cab to one of the markets to stock up on your own beer. Just bring a soft cooler with you and you can bring your drinks to the beach. We did this a lot. Hope this helps!!

cdh2672 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 09:52 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

Definitely, thanks for the input ladies!

knbs1020 Posted: Aug 18, 2011 09:56 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

I stayed at the Occidental and did all inclusive and found that the food was good and the drinks were better
The rooms were very clean athe grounds itself were well kept. We are going back to Aruba for our HM (FH has never been) and i am doing all inclusive again.
I've had friends who stayed at RIU and were very unhappy with the food and the rooms. HTH

jck1173 Posted: Aug 19, 2011 10:46 AM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

We stayed at the Occidental in 2010. We loved it. Hotel was beautiful, beach was beautiful...
we loved the all-inclusive package, too!

Aruba has great restaurants, so we actually went out to dinner a lot, but figured after having breakfast, lunch and all our drinks at the hotel, we got our money's worth. (The restaurants in Aruba are great, and many to choose from, and we were glad we tried them out.)

The food at the Occidental was good--breakfast was a huge hit, lunch was okay (not a huge selection but served its purpose), and the dinners we did have there were good, as well. Overall, I'd recommend the Occidental. Either way, Aruba is beautiful and I'm sure you'd have a great time!

HTH!

KrisBren2011 Posted: Aug 19, 2011 12:54 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

I stayed at the Riu 2 years ago and it was amazing!!!! The only issue I had with the room is that the bed was really hard lol.
We did the all inclusive and all the restaurants had great food. We did venture out one night and went to a restaurant in the little town...but I def recommend staying there!

My sister stayed at the Occidental on her HM and had a great time as well, so I think you will be find with either one! Good luck!!!!

Leia1920 Posted: Aug 19, 2011 01:59 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

We stayed at the occidental in june for our honeymoon. We loved it!!!!!!!I would def upgrade to the royal club.
We were booked in the premium jacuzzi oceam front room and when we checkef in they upgraded us to the presidential suite (same room amber-crazylove) had. I read a ton of reviews on trip advisor and we had thought of at one pt switching to the riu, but our travel agent contacted occidental w our concerns and the assured her they would make sure our trip was memorable not sure if thats why we were upgraded or not but it was awesome nonetheless.

The drinks were great!!!!!! And the food was good. Not best ive ever had but good. Also if you book in royal club they will make all your reservations for you and you can eat at the restsurants more than once. The japsnese and italian were our favorites. Also in royal club u get room service and different beers are available and a private restaurant. Lunch was the buffet or the place by the pool. Breakfast was buffet.

Best vaca we have ever taken. We loved every minute of it!! We also left resort and went to el gaucho and flying fishbone for dinner. And the kukoo kanuko bus!!! Such a fun drunken experience!!!!

Reccomend this hotel 150 percent!!!!

MrandMrsP Posted: Aug 19, 2011 04:36 PM

Re: Aruba Honeymooners - Riu vs. Occidental

We stayed at the RIU for our honeymoon this past April

Service was amazing ...... food was so/so ....... we walked past the occidental ....... looks a bit more fun then the RIU

Either way they are both in a great location ...... we went out to dinner a few nights while there because DH didn't care for the RIU food ........ Gianni's across the street had amazing Italian food ....... and aqua grill had the freshest fish ever

If you have any questions feel free to fm me