Occidental Grand Aruba review

[rygar]

I am not sure where to put this so i figure i would start it here and if it needs to be the good people here will move it to the right spot.

Our honeymoon was from Oct 24-30 at the Occidental Grand Aruba...once we arrived we were greeted and offered a drink and a warm towel to clean off. It was a great start, but it went down hill from there. We had said that we were on our honeymoon and asked if they could give us an upgrade. They had offered us room 2226, which was 2nd floor and ocean front. They said to come back in half an hour since official check in was at 4pm to pick up our cards.

We showed up and they said that the room was not ready, which was a lie. The room that they had said we would be in was not even available. Then they decided to give us room 2105 which was first level facing a pool and my wife was not happy for security reasons and i agreed with her. Yes its aruba and safe, but you just never know. In the end they managed to get us a room on the second floor with an old bathrooom with dysfunctional toilet, sink and air conditioner. We had asked for another room change, but they could not provide.

The toilet would not flush alway the way so at times you can find a surprise, the sink was backed up so it would barely drain and the air conditioner when on the coldest setting would not completely cool down the room.

The front desk people were polite and helpful, but the cleaning staff was subpar. They did not give us fresh towels on two of our days and our fridge was not restocked until the 4th day there (i even called the front desk to get it restocked and they still didnt do it until the next afternoon).

The food was not too bad at all, it was exactly what i had expected for an all inclusive. The bars were good and the pool was nice. The ocean was wonderful and we pretty much stayed on the beach or did excursions during the day time.

Overall the trip was great, but i would not stay at this resort again. I heard great things about the Riu Palace in aruba from people we met down there.

[Arubalisa]

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. It sounds like you did not allow the "issues" bother your honeymoon.

[serene56]

Did you make any reservations for the Special dining places? or ate at the buffet all wekk?

Did you venture out of the property to try other dining venues?

[DANNYO]

Wow I am so sorry to hear that you had a bad time at the Occidental.Did you speak to a manager,did you get any names? I think you should be compensated for your inconvenience.This is the first time I have heard anything bad about this property,again I'm sorry you had to go through that on your honeymoon.I'm glad I never bought a timeshare there.

[ricky59]

rygar, i stay at this resort 8 weeks per year, the past 20 years, it's unfortunate you feel that you were not accomondated. why do you think they lied? those front room's are full ocean view, and cost is higher. understand you were on your honeymoon, but they have many honeymooner's at this resort. they all don't receive an upgrade. those lower ocean front room's are held if timeshare owners are overbooked.
the occidental has the highest rate of occupancy in the high rise area,
since this hotel also has timeshares and regular rooms.
don't give up on this resort, it's a great resort

[rygar]

Originally Posted by serene56

Did you make any reservations for the Special dining places? or ate at the buffet all wekk?

Did you venture out of the property to try other dining venues?

we did first night buffet, then the next 3 were reservation and the final two nights we left the resort for dinner.

[rygar]

Originally Posted by DANNYO

Wow I am so sorry to hear that you had a bad time at the Occidental.Did you speak to a manager,did you get any names? I think you should be compensated for your inconvenience.This is the first time I have heard anything bad about this property,again I'm sorry you had to go through that on your honeymoon.I'm glad I never bought a timeshare there.

thank you...it really wasnt that bad. but i just wanted to give my opinion and point of view to others who are going through the decision making process.

the more you know the better.