[Arubalisa]

Since you just completed a stay at the Radisson, you may be interested in a comparison I wrote between the Radisson and the Tamarijn. The two are entirely different types of resorts, but this will give you some food for thought. After staying at the Radisson four times, and Palm Beach many others, moving to the Tamarijn was like night and day. Truthfully at the beginning we were in shock and were not really sure how we would enjoy it.

I have written pretty extensively about our experiences with the Tamarijn in the following threads.
Tamarijn All Inclusive 12/22 - 1/3/08 Overview
Tamarijn All Inclusive 12/22 - 1/3/08 Getting There
Tamarijn All Inclusive 12/22 - 1/3/08 Food, Beverage & Service
Tamarijn All Inclusive 12/22 - 1/3/08 The Activities
Tamarijn All Inclusive 12/22 - 1/3/08 The Rooms
Tamarijn All Inclusive 12/22 - 1/3/08 The Rest of Our Vacation

Tamarijn Aruba June 12 - 24 (Long) our experience last year at the Tamarijn
Tamarijn June 17 - 29, 2009 (Long) our experience this year at the Tamarijn

Hopefully these would give you a feel for the place. The Tamarijn is definitely not even a four star resort, but there are many tradeoffs.

Originally Posted by Sgroi135

Here is what I am looking for:

Traveling with wife and 2 daughters (4 and 7 next year)

Our dd, though now growing out of it, enjoyed the kids club at the Tamarijn. It is included in the price of your stay. Children under the age of 5 are invited to particpate with the assistance of a parent. Sample activities http://www.arubabound.com/accommo/tamarijn_kidsclub.jpg

Not worried about price right now (I am not going to stay in a presidential suite) but want to see what the field of play is.

Kids 17 and under stay free at the Tamarijn, this enables us to extend our vacation.

Food has to be good but dosen't have to be full 5 Star.

Food at the Tamarijn in not gourment by any means. HOWEVER, there are a wide variety of choices and imo, very good ala carte choices. You are able to use all of the facilites and amenities of both the Tamarijn and her nearby (within walking distance or use the shuttle provided) sister resort the Divi. Between the two resorts, for dinner, there are choice of 4 ala carte restaurants and 2 buffets.

Beach is important! Kids love to play in the sand, and water should be clear, they might be a pain if there is a lot of other stuff in the water. Palm beach was beautiful at the Radisson.

Palm Beach is the only beach on Aruba with resorts where you can find "guaranteed" calm water, storms not considered, then all bets everywhere are off.

Our recent stay at the Tamarijn we had some days with 3 foot swells and others the waves were non-existant. Somedays the water is crystal clear and other days it is not.

Kid Friendly, my kids are pretty well behaved (but not ANGELS), I can take them to most places but I don't want to be looked at funny with 2 little kids.

With kids staying free, obviously the Tamarijn is a family resort. No problems there whatsoever.

Easy for the kids to get what they want (with my help)

Not exactly sure what you mean. The Tamarijn has a self serve soft ice cream machine and self service soda.