Ladies who went to ARUBA for HM

Any reviews/pics of the RIU? Hyatt? or Occiedntal? They all look beautiful to me. Also, did you so all-inclusive? or should we not bother with all-inclusive? I keep hearing there are so many great restaurants there. TIA

We stayed at both the occidental and the riu palace. I personally think all inclusive is the way to go but it really depends on if you like to eat and drink alot like we do Both hotels are gorgeous. We actually preferred the occidental. It was a little cozier and we liked the people there much better. The Riu is gorgeous as well, just too much marble for our taste and we didnt like the food as much there as the occidental. Either place , you will not be disappointed!! If you do go to the occidental, be sure to tell them its your honeymoon at the front desk- they upgraded us to a gorgeous room!! FM me if you have any questions.

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Posted by CD516

We stayed at both the occidental and the riu palace. I personally think all inclusive is the way to go but it really depends on if you like to eat and drink alot like we do Both hotels are gorgeous. We actually preferred the occidental. It was a little cozier and we liked the people there much better. The Riu is gorgeous as well, just too much marble for our taste and we didnt like the food as much there as the occidental. Either place , you will not be disappointed!! If you do go to the occidental, be sure to tell them its your honeymoon at the front desk- they upgraded us to a gorgeous room!! FM me if you have any questions.

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Thanks! We do like to eat and drink a lot, especially on vacation! So, perhaps we'll look into the all-inclusive packages. Did you do any excursions while in Aruba?? Any that you recommend?

We stayed at the Radisson (which has the best beach front). No all inclusive for us, we love food too much! The restaurants we suggest to others are: Papimiento (our fav), El Guacho, Madam Jeannettes, and Texas de Brazil (a chain, but good meat and foods), and the Sunset Grill (in Radisson, was good, not amazing). The food at the first three is amazing. In our package we had the breakfast package at the hotel, which had a large breakfast display. We didn't eat lunch at all since we were full from breakfast.

Next time we'll do the flying fishbone. I very much suggest renting a jeep for 2 or 3 days to go off roading and explore the island (esp. the north shore, and Baby Beach). Bring a good camera as there are some amazing sites. You'll want to spend a few hours in Orjanstaed to see the tourist sites and jewelry. You could take a taxi there, but we did this during the few days we had the jeep. Most hotels let you reserve palapas (huts with lounge chairs) the afternoon before for the next day.

We also did the resort scuba diving and a sunset sail. And the Sopranos bar is a good place to have a few drinks.

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Posted by ama1771

We stayed at the Radisson (which has the best beach front). No all inclusive for us, we love food too much! The restaurants we suggest to others are: Papimiento (our fav), El Guacho, Madam Jeannettes, and Texas de Brazil (a chain, but good meat and foods), and the Sunset Grill (in Radisson, was good, not amazing). The food at the first three is amazing. In our package we had the breakfast package at the hotel, which had a large breakfast display. We didn't eat lunch at all since we were full from breakfast.

Next time we'll do the flying fishbone. I very much suggest renting a jeep for 2 or 3 days to go off roading and explore the island (esp. the north shore, and Baby Beach). Bring a good camera as there are some amazing sites. You'll want to spend a few hours in Orjanstaed to see the tourist sites and jewelry. You could take a taxi there, but we did this during the few days we had the jeep. Most hotels let you reserve palapas (huts with lounge chairs) the afternoon before for the next day.

We also did the resort scuba diving and a sunset sail. And the Sopranos bar is a good place to have a few drinks.

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Thanks for the info. Baby Beach look gorgeous.

we stayed at the marriot surf club for our HM

i wouldn't do an all inclusive in aruba - there are too many places to eat so i wouldn't want to restrict myself.....lots of good restaurants.....we went to two chain restaurants while we were there b/c we knew they would be good - ruth cris at the marriot and texas de brazil......we went to an italian place where you eat outside - its the lighthouse restaurant but i can't remember the exact name.....and then we went to a whole bunch of places on the strip where you eat outside, feet in the sand - aruba was so gorgeous - we loved it

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Posted by Future Mulligan

we stayed at the marriot surf club for our HM

i wouldn't do an all inclusive in aruba - there are too many places to eat so i wouldn't want to restrict myself.....lots of good restaurants.....we went to two chain restaurants while we were there b/c we knew they would be good - ruth cris at the marriot and texas de brazil......we went to an italian place where you eat outside - its the lighthouse restaurant but i can't remember the exact name.....and then we went to a whole bunch of places on the strip where you eat outside, feet in the sand - aruba was so gorgeous - we loved it

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Thanks, I'll also look into the Marriot as well.

We stayed at the Hyatt and loved it. It was beautiful and peaceful. We did not do all-inclusive and I wouldn't recommend doing it in Aruba. There are so many great restaurants.

If you want more info FM me.

We stayed at the Hyatt last year and loved it. Pricey, but the grounds and service are out of this world.

I stayed at the Occidental a few years ago, didn't love it but wouldn't rule it out when I go again. Only downside is that one must take the AI package, which IMHO is a waste in Aruba. Too many good restaurants to eat at. If they had a breakfast only plan, that would be better.

This year we are trying for the Marriotts or the Riu, depending upon if our timehsare can get us bookings there. If not, we'll stay at the Occidental where our friends will be.

Red Sail Sports does some really good excursion packages, definitely go for the sunset cruise. They have beach front offices on Palm Beach in front of the Occidental.

Restaurants to name a few :
Madame Jeanette's
El Gaucho
Aqua Grill
Flying Fishbone
Chalet Suisse
Texas de Brasil

You can find Dunkin Donuts on the beach and on the strip. There's even a TGIF's across from Playa Linda.

Bring lots of sunblock and a hat. Sun is REALLY strong.

We went to Aruba for ours too. We stayed at the Occidental with the all inclusive and really enjoyed it. All the restaurants had yummy food. Hotel was nice, clean..............staff was very pleasant. We did go to dinner outside of the hotel 2 times. We went to Texas de Brasil as well as the Italian Lighthouse restaurant that some of the other girls mentioned. Perfect time to go to that one is to see the sunset. What a beautiful and romantic site. We did go into Oranjestad. We went on a Jeep tour of the island which also included a snorkeling activity as well.

The weather was PERFECT. THroughout our 10 days there, we had about 20 minutes of rain. I liked the all inclusive part, because you didnt' have to sit there and always worry where to go because everything was right downstairs.

Enjoy!

Thank you for all the great info. All your suggestions and advice are helping us plan out HM much better. .

We stayed at the Occidental also. Hubby actually lost his band inthe ocean...so look for it for me Please. LOL
I have no complaints. They gave us champagne welcome, Honeymooner tshirts.
I would have preferred juts by appearance to stay at the RIU though.

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Posted by Kricket212

We stayed at the Occidental also. Hubby actually lost his band inthe ocean...so look for it for me Please. LOL
I have no complaints. They gave us champagne welcome, Honeymooner tshirts.
I would have preferred juts by appearance to stay at the RIU though.

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I'm so sorry your DH lost his band on your HM! But if I find it ....I'll def let you know! That would be amazing, actually... The RIU looks really really nice!

Ive been to Aruba many times. They are all very nice resorts. In my opinion the Hyatt is the nicest (and most expensive) I wouldnt do an all inclusive. There are so many things to do, places to see and eat that I wouldnt want to waste it on one hotel.

Aruba is the safest place to go. Rent a car and explore the island freely. Its small enough that you wont get lost. It my most favorite vacation spot!!

JMHO