My Holiday Inn review Winter 2012

[Traceyd14]

My thoughts on the Holiday Inn can be summed up by saying you get what you pay for. This was our second stay at Holiday Inn in two years. I love the location and you can’t beat the value, but I think next year we may change it up, if our budget allows. I usually say who cares about the room, I am only there to sleep and shower, and while the bed was comfy, the shower was cold most of the time.

Here are some things that jumped out at me:
· Check-in is still slow and there really is no explanation for it, but who cares, you’re on vacation, start relaxing! Talk to other people in line, get ideas for what to do and see.
· I do not recommend all-inclusive here. We did it year 1, but not year 2. The food is below average compared to other places on the island. There are limited options so we found that even though we had pre-paid for our meals, we double dipped by going off the resort for better variety and flavor last year. We like to drink on vacation, but we actually spent less by not having all inclusive this year. For AI here, the only beer option is draft Balashi and house brand liquors. We brought duty free liquor with us and then purchased mixers and can beer and a small collapsible cooler for the beach.
· We booked through a 3rd party travel site, not Holiday Inn directly. We asked for a king sized bed at check in and were told they only had them in Superior Ocean View rooms which would be $50 more per night. This threw a red flag – good thing I had my paperwork – we paid for a Superior Ocean View room so what was the issue? Turns out Holiday Inn was going to put us in a lower room than we paid for. Had it not been for the double beds, we may never have known. Keep your paperwork with you and make sure to verify you are getting the room you paid for. The front desk staff took care of correcting the room assignment with no problem and we were satisfied.
· Hot water is hit or miss. Some days we just had to deal with cool or lukewarm showers. We called but they just told us to try moving the handle of the shower to the cold side then back to hot. We tried earlier and later, mornings seemed to be the hardest time to get a warm shower and we are early risers – I’m talking 5-6am so I can’t imagine it was a volume issue.
· Good job to Holiday Inn for taking out the rain shower/mushroom thing from the adults only pool. It seemed to attract kids, this year we really never noticed children in the adults pool.
· Palapa sign up is now in the afternoon at 4pm. The problem is people start lining up at 1-1:30. I don’t get this. What is the point of even getting a palapa if you are going to leave it in the middle of the day to go stay in line? This is not the hotel’s fault though. I guess the only thing they could do is not allow people to line up until 3pm. I know I am in the minority, but I preferred the morning sign up – at least waiting in line then, you didn’t ruin your whole afternoon. They also line up around the building, so there is no shade or chairs unless you bring your own. The old line went down the sidewalk where there are benches.
· Some of the palapas should just be removed. For example – Number 1 is bumping up against a watersports rental, you can’t even get two chairs under it. There were others in odd locations but I didn’t get the numbers. Number 2 view is completely blocked by watersports rentals and almost on top of the beach volleyball court – keep your head up here, but not as bad as number 1.
· There was a lot of seaweed on the beach, didn’t appear to be cleaned or raked like some other places.
· The hot tubs are not hot – at all, not even warm really.
· Beach chairs are starting to get really worn. It appeared that some had been replaced, but they have a long way to go.
· Room was fairly clean, but could have been better. I did notice dust in the corners specifically the bathroom floor looked clean, but not as well as I would have liked.
· Beds are comfy, air conditioning works well. Sheets and towels are decent quality, not the best, but bright white and clean.

[Arubalisa]

Thanks for sharing. We have considered the Holiday Inn for the future. Where do you think you might consider staying next year? It is all about our budgets these days.

[Traceyd14]

Our budget could very well dictate that we will be back at Holiday Inn and that's not the worst thing that could happen...I mean it's still Aruba!!!
I feel like our second trip to the island gave us a better idea of what we like and where we want to be. This was our first trip to an island that was not all-inclusive, so now I am more confident going that route as well. I know we want to be in the high rise area and I will start early looking for specials at Radisson or Hyatt. Or I may go the route of renting a timeshare from an owner. We had a few people refer us to redweek.com. It will also depend if we can finally convince our family to come with us - then it will be a group decision.

[arubabob]

Originally Posted by Traceyd14

Our budget could very well dictate that we will be back at Holiday Inn and that's not the worst thing that could happen...I mean it's still Aruba!!!
I feel like our second trip to the island gave us a better idea of what we like and where we want to be. This was our first trip to an island that was not all-inclusive, so now I am more confident going that route as well. I know we want to be in the high rise area and I will start early looking for specials at Radisson or Hyatt. Or I may go the route of renting a timeshare from an owner. We had a few people refer us to redweek.com. It will also depend if we can finally convince our family to come with us - then it will be a group decision.

How much did you pay for a week at Holiday Inn? We always seem to get a better deal on a timeshare rental than any of the hotels.

[mattmorr]

Thanks for the update. Is Marriott still in negotiations to purchase the Holiday Inn?

[Andrea J.]

i think that subject would be suitable in a whole by itself thread..................there has been much speculating

Originally Posted by mattmorr

Thanks for the update. Is Marriott still in negotiations to purchase the Holiday Inn?

[bertho]

Originally Posted by mattmorr

Thanks for the update. Is Marriott still in negotiations to purchase the Holiday Inn?

I am Marriott Surf Club owner and some people from they office told me Marriott still bargain with Holiday Inn to buy and will be soon .Like I said heard said .....That will be nice we could have a side walk all the way to store.and the beach

[Traceyd14]

Originally Posted by arubabob

How much did you pay for a week at Holiday Inn? We always seem to get a better deal on a timeshare rental than any of the hotels.

We actually got an unbelievable deal on hotels.com. For 7 nights with taxes and fees we paid $1117.13. For an oceanview room we were paying $120/a night. I only saw that deal for a couple days. When my sis-in-law tried to find the same deal a few days later, it had already went up.

Here is how the deal broke down
You are receiving this special offer: Stay 2 nights and save 50% off your stay!Room 1 :Ocean View Superior - No MealsNumber of nights:7 Night(s)Number of guests:2 AdultsNightly charges:Tuesday, January 31, 2012$120.00Wednesday, February 1, 2012$120.00Thursday, February 2, 2012$120.00Friday, February 3, 2012$120.00Saturday, February 4, 2012$120.00Sunday, February 5, 2012$120.00Monday, February 6, 2012$120.00Tax recovery charges & service fees$277.13Total
(including tax recovery charges and service fees)$1,117.13

[Chadd]

We're leaving the Holiday Inn tomorrow, can't wait to get out of here and not come back. Looking forward to the next trip and staying anywhere else.

[patty]

We were at the HI for 3 nights, Feb. 5-8, at the end of our 4 wk trip. Made the move from Playa Linda. We paid $152/night and our room was adequate, the only downside was the view. Beds were comfortable and bathroom was clean, water was hot and we were on Palm Beach. Linens and towels certainly comparable to those at Playa Linda and Divi. For the price, I thought it was a good deal. I could not have rented at PL for $150/night. If we extend our vacation again next year, we would stay at HI again.