Hyatt 5/16-5/24

[katherine]

Returned home late Sunday night from another amazing vacation at the Hyatt Aruba. Arrived at 1:30 pm on Sat. Bully picked us up and stopped at Ling and Sons with us to pick up the order i had placed. It was worth the $5 to have everything ready and waiting. We were in and out in 5 minutes. Arrived at the Hyatt at 2:30 pm and were shocked to discover that our rooms were not ready. This is the first time in 8 visits that we have been unable to check in early and we usually go in high season. Figures our trip in low season we can't get the room early. We were assured by the desk however that our rooms were going to be an "upgrade" from what we reserved. Went to the Kadushi Juice Bar for a smoothie and to visit our friends who work at the hotel. Rooms were ready when we checked again an hour later. Upon arriving to the connecting rooms we were given we discovered we were given two rooms with double beds rather than the one double room and one king room we asked for. When i called the front desk they acknowledged that they were not what was requested, but again mentioned how it was an upgrade since we had a much better view. I did not see how not getting what i wanted was an upgrade, especially since we had requested a garden/ocean view since that side of the hotel is usually quieter. Anyway they were going to not be able to move us until the next day, and we wanted to just unpack and get settled. Being used to sleeping in a king bed together however sleeping in the double beds which they call Queens was uncomfortable so we slept Ricardo style in separate beds every night.

Anyway other than the check in issue, we enjoyed the rest of our stay. The hotel was very quiet even though for several days they were sold out with a large group from BUPA. Since the group was in meetings all day the pool and beach were very quiet. DH actually enjoys getting up early and reserving our palapa and pool seats every day, but if he had not done it we would have been fine. There were spots available at the pool all day and huts available at the beach for most of the day. Service was a bit more lacking it seemed than usual, perhaps because it was so slow and not many employees were around.

For activities we went on the jolly pirate sunset tour which we really enjoyed. DH and DD loved the Rope swing. I tried it once which was enough for me, but the boys and I loved watching everyone give it a try. The crew was very friendly and a lot of fun. We would definitely go back again. We also tried the tube riding with delphi watersports, the people were very nice. The ride was fun, and my dd wanted to go again, but for the price it did not seem worth doing more than once. $60 for 15 minutes for the 3 of us. DH also took our older son on a private jeep tour with Kini Kini. They had a really nice time - saw the usual sights lighthouse, natural bridge, charlie's bar etc. Other than that we just relaxed and swam at the beach and pool. We also took walk to the rocks near the Divi Phoenix and the kids had fun finding fish and hermit crabs. Of course it was very sad when we had to let the crabs go.

The weather as usual was fantastic. The first 2 days were overcast and very humid, but on Tuesday the humidity dropped and we had blue skies again. Not a drop of rain all week.

For breakfast we mostly ate from Dunkin Donuts or Dushi Bagels which was wonderful. Ate the Hyatt breakfast buffet, but was not worth the $75 we had to pay for our family of 5, especially considering the kids mostly just ate Froot Loops. Lunch we ate from the Balashi Bar every day or Palms Restaurant Take out. Dinners we discovered were tough this year with our 22 month old. He is more of a handful than our other two were at that age, and would not sit still long enough for us to eat elaborate meals. Mostly ate very casual. Smoky joes - Ribs were great, cheeseburger not so great. Grandma's Lemonade was a delicious cocktail. Gianni's - our 2nd trip was not as good as the first. The food was good, but not outstanding and the service was horrible. Probably would not go back there. Hadicurari was a disappointment after the jolly pirate ship. The service was very bad, had a young man as a waiter who basically ignored us even though the place was empty. Drinks were watered down and the food was just average. Would not go back. Went to Gilligans one night to enjoy the sunset and just ate appetizers. Food was good, but there were so many flies we could not enjoy it. Wacky wahoo was GREAT! The soups were sooo good and the fresh catch of the day(Wahoo Aruban Style) was delicious. Roxanne was a fabulous server. Senor Frogs - the hit of the trip with the kids. They loved the atmosphere - danced on the big stage and sat in the big butt chairs. Food was decent, but the waterslide was great fun! Tango - Had delicious steaks there as usual - service and manager very friendly. On our last night tried out Cactus Jacks which was fine for a very casual meal. Had Burgers that were very good, much better than the burger at smoky joes. All the restaurants were very quiet - did not need reservations for anything.

I will probably post this section in the family section too, since a few people were interested in babysitting. We had a woman named Mariza help us during the days with our toddler. She was phenomenal. All the kids liked her alot - very friendly and fun to talk to. If anyone is interested you can contact her at mflda@yahoo.com. She is available days and evenings.

That is all i can think of for now - already thinking about next year. We will probably go again in May - it was so quiet and easy going.

[Arubalisa]

Thanks for sharing Katherine. I admire you for giving the rope swing a go! You are a better woman than I!
Am very surprised at the Hyatt's not having your room configuration, but it sounds like you took that in stride.

[Jarubian]

Thank you Katherine for sharing your experience. I am also glad you have information on Mariza, I always get asked by people about babysitters.

[cindyo]

Originally Posted by katherine

. Hadicurari was a disappointment after the jolly pirate ship. The service was very bad, had a young man as a waiter who basically ignored us even though the place was empty. Drinks were watered down and the food was just average. Would not go back.

Katherine, sorry to hear you had a bad meal/service poor...I was the one who recommended it to you...SORRY...we had a party of 10 and it was more than perfect....YIKES !
CIndyo

[Chadd]

Originally Posted by katherine

Wacky wahoo was GREAT! The soups were sooo good and the fresh catch of the day(Wahoo Aruban Style) was delicious. Roxanne was a fabulous server.

Good to see I'm not the only one that loves the place. Service can be a little spotty though, glad to hear you got lucky.

[Andrea J.]

Katherine"
I will probably post this section in the family section too, since a few people were interested in babysitting. We had a woman named Mariza help us during the days with our toddler. She was phenomenal. All the kids liked her alot - very friendly and fun to talk to. If anyone is interested you can contact her at mflda@yahoo.com. She is available days and evenings. "


I know the person that you used to watch your child.
She is wonderful.
Paul and I have spent some time with her and she is fun, friendly, kind and someone everyone would want to have as a friend. She is very laid back and is incredibly flexible. She has a bunch of little part time jobs and is willing to work hard to earn a living.

andrea

Originally Posted by katherine

Returned home late Sunday night from another amazing vacation at the Hyatt Aruba. Arrived at 1:30 pm on Sat. Bully picked us up and stopped at Ling and Sons with us to pick up the order i had placed. It was worth the $5 to have everything ready and waiting. We were in and out in 5 minutes. Arrived at the Hyatt at 2:30 pm and were shocked to discover that our rooms were not ready. This is the first time in 8 visits that we have been unable to check in early and we usually go in high season. Figures our trip in low season we can't get the room early. We were assured by the desk however that our rooms were going to be an "upgrade" from what we reserved. Went to the Kadushi Juice Bar for a smoothie and to visit our friends who work at the hotel. Rooms were ready when we checked again an hour later. Upon arriving to the connecting rooms we were given we discovered we were given two rooms with double beds rather than the one double room and one king room we asked for. When i called the front desk they acknowledged that they were not what was requested, but again mentioned how it was an upgrade since we had a much better view. I did not see how not getting what i wanted was an upgrade, especially since we had requested a garden/ocean view since that side of the hotel is usually quieter. Anyway they were going to not be able to move us until the next day, and we wanted to just unpack and get settled. Being used to sleeping in a king bed together however sleeping in the double beds which they call Queens was uncomfortable so we slept Ricardo style in separate beds every night.

Anyway other than the check in issue, we enjoyed the rest of our stay. The hotel was very quiet even though for several days they were sold out with a large group from BUPA. Since the group was in meetings all day the pool and beach were very quiet. DH actually enjoys getting up early and reserving our palapa and pool seats every day, but if he had not done it we would have been fine. There were spots available at the pool all day and huts available at the beach for most of the day. Service was a bit more lacking it seemed than usual, perhaps because it was so slow and not many employees were around.

For activities we went on the jolly pirate sunset tour which we really enjoyed. DH and DD loved the Rope swing. I tried it once which was enough for me, but the boys and I loved watching everyone give it a try. The crew was very friendly and a lot of fun. We would definitely go back again. We also tried the tube riding with delphi watersports, the people were very nice. The ride was fun, and my dd wanted to go again, but for the price it did not seem worth doing more than once. $60 for 15 minutes for the 3 of us. DH also took our older son on a private jeep tour with Kini Kini. They had a really nice time - saw the usual sights lighthouse, natural bridge, charlie's bar etc. Other than that we just relaxed and swam at the beach and pool. We also took walk to the rocks near the Divi Phoenix and the kids had fun finding fish and hermit crabs. Of course it was very sad when we had to let the crabs go.

The weather as usual was fantastic. The first 2 days were overcast and very humid, but on Tuesday the humidity dropped and we had blue skies again. Not a drop of rain all week.

For breakfast we mostly ate from Dunkin Donuts or Dushi Bagels which was wonderful. Ate the Hyatt breakfast buffet, but was not worth the $75 we had to pay for our family of 5, especially considering the kids mostly just ate Froot Loops. Lunch we ate from the Balashi Bar every day or Palms Restaurant Take out. Dinners we discovered were tough this year with our 22 month old. He is more of a handful than our other two were at that age, and would not sit still long enough for us to eat elaborate meals. Mostly ate very casual. Smoky joes - Ribs were great, cheeseburger not so great. Grandma's Lemonade was a delicious cocktail. Gianni's - our 2nd trip was not as good as the first. The food was good, but not outstanding and the service was horrible. Probably would not go back there. Hadicurari was a disappointment after the jolly pirate ship. The service was very bad, had a young man as a waiter who basically ignored us even though the place was empty. Drinks were watered down and the food was just average. Would not go back. Went to Gilligans one night to enjoy the sunset and just ate appetizers. Food was good, but there were so many flies we could not enjoy it. Wacky wahoo was GREAT! The soups were sooo good and the fresh catch of the day(Wahoo Aruban Style) was delicious. Roxanne was a fabulous server. Senor Frogs - the hit of the trip with the kids. They loved the atmosphere - danced on the big stage and sat in the big butt chairs. Food was decent, but the waterslide was great fun! Tango - Had delicious steaks there as usual - service and manager very friendly. On our last night tried out Cactus Jacks which was fine for a very casual meal. Had Burgers that were very good, much better than the burger at smoky joes. All the restaurants were very quiet - did not need reservations for anything.

I will probably post this section in the family section too, since a few people were interested in babysitting. We had a woman named Mariza help us during the days with our toddler. She was phenomenal. All the kids liked her alot - very friendly and fun to talk to. If anyone is interested you can contact her at mflda@yahoo.com. She is available days and evenings.

That is all i can think of for now - already thinking about next year. We will probably go again in May - it was so quiet and easy going.

[jollypirates9394]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay in Aruba I definately wish I was in your shoes! I love it there! Also glad to hear your experience on it. And I agree the Jolly Pirates is a bunch of fun, the rope swing was difficult to get. But I did get it in the end

[katherine]

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

Thanks for sharing Katherine. I admire you for giving the rope swing a go! You are a better woman than I!

Believe me - i was scared out of my mind. We have been on my son so much for being afraid of trying things that i could not let him think i would not do it because of fear - had to pretend I was excited about it. Unfortunately I was one of those people who just falls off the thing as soon as I swung out - as I predicted I would be and had a not so graceful entry into the water.

[katherine]

Originally Posted by cindyo

Katherine, sorry to hear you had a bad meal/service poor...I was the one who recommended it to you...SORRY...we had a party of 10 and it was more than perfect....YIKES !
CIndyo

Not your fault - We just hit it on a bad night and got the worst server ever - I think he was about 15 years old and could have cared less. It was definitely a great atmosphere.

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by katherine

Believe me - i was scared out of my mind. We have been on my son so much for being afraid of trying things that i could not let him think i would not do it because of fear - had to pretend I was excited about it. Unfortunately I was one of those people who just falls off the thing as soon as I swung out - as I predicted I would be and had a not so graceful entry into the water.

That would have been me, the picture of grace, but you are a better person for doing it. I did not have the guts.

I will however be the beached whale being pulled over the gunwale of Captain Anthony's inflatable dinghy in a couple of weeks.