Riu Palace?

[sagman17]

or try iguana joes in town..they have half liter carafe drinks with either 4 or 5 shots in them and they run about 7 or 8 dollars..go figure what a deal..i wish i could find a place like that in the states..lol..well anyway have a great time and let this trip be all about you..my advice check out the spa at the hotel or the okeanos spa at the marriott renaissance in town..take a day and just relax and pamper yourself..start out with a nice breakfast, then a day at the spa, take some pool time, and finish it off with a beautiful dinner at madame janettes..that would be a day for the ages..well anyway enjoy and let us know when you get back how you trip was..take care..

[tds-ken]

I have heard but never attemped to go in that the Riu will not allow you inside, even the Casino if you are staying there?

Is that true?

[Chip Collector]

I have had a few people pick up casino chips for me there, and none of them were staying at the Riu. So, it is apparently possible to enter the casino even if you are not staying there. In fact, no one told me of any problems. I have heard that you have to get to the casino by stairs (no elevator), but I have not confirmed that.

[tds-ken]

Thanks a lot I am going to check it out.

[dianehats]

Just back from 2 weeks at the Riu.....Mom has timeshare from the old Aruba Grand. Hotel is beautful, but not easy to get from point A to point C.

1. Lobby is huge, but out of place....belongs in a European country, not the Caribbean.

2. You can go to the casino even if you are not staying there, but the access is from outside with a steep walk up to the lobby or from stairs on the outside near the parking garage. Casino is small & everything is smooshed in, although we did win some money at the slots (not really big gamblers).

3. Service was excellent, although no one in housekeeping could speak English.

4. Floors are slippery, and the only thing that connects that 2 side buildings to the main building are steep ramps that are also slippery,especially when wet. Felt sorry for the bellhops who had to control the carts going down and really push the carts going up.

5. The all-inclusive is worth it for the regular guest. You can still go out and eat at the restaurants in other hotels on the strip or the many restaurants by the high rises. The timeshares had the choice of buying the all inclusive for the week, the day, or the meal. 2 days we bought for the day....we were restricted to the buffets only, too much food, mostly good food. Other days we bought only the breakfast buffet, a nice way to start the day. The breakfast was very good. Did not get to try the restaurants because we did not get the all inclusive for the week. But the restaurants had 2 seatings: 6:30pm & 8:30pm or 9:00pm. I personally don't like being restricted to times. You also had to line up in the morning to make the reservations. That opened at 9am, but people would be in line from about 8am.

6. If you want a hut, be out there by 7am to claim one. Keep your towels from the day before and put them on the chairs that you have to get under the hut and hang a bag. There is no one from the hotel on the beach to help you. Someone comes around late afternoon to collect any cups you may have from the bar. The pool is beautiful, but you probably have to claim a spot by 8:30am, again putting towls on the chairs, although there were a few instances I saw some people move other guests towels from chairs. We had one incident under the hut. We went to lunch, leaving our towels and bags. We came back, someone was laying under our hut, had moved our chairs down a bit to put her chair under our hut and had a drink on our table. Politely told her that this was our hut and she needed to move. She in turn got nasty and said that we don't own the hut. At that point we said we most certainly do own it for the day as it was our stuff that was already there. She finally moved her stuff. I am not crazy about the hut situation, but my mother and aunt are early risers and they went down to get the hut by 6am. I can't see being on vacation and having to get up early to secure a hut, but it is what it is.

My mind is still on vacation mode.....if I think of anything else, I will post.
Go PATS!!!

[Andrea J.]

that is unfortunate that the "hut hogger" moved your chairs and took over.
imo, there is sufficient room for folks to share and no sense getting nasty on vacation.........life is too short for folks to be ugly and nasty.

we have been in the riu a few times since the consrtuction was completed.
we do like their casino.
we had ok luck there, meaning we broke even.
and the drinks of course are complimentary, but served in nice glasses!!! (not like the crutty cups at alhambra)
the aircondidioning is good and the smokiness was well dispersed.

i still miss the old aruba grand
the riu, although magnificent, just is a bit out of place

andrea

[Randi]

We, too, thought the RIU looked out of place. It did look like it should be in Europe rather than the Carribean.

[lou and nay]

We are going to the Riu in September for our honeymoon. I'm not happy to hear about the dinner line at 9am and hut reserving at 6am.

How quickly did the 6:30 dinners sell out?
Does anyone have experience traveling to Aruba in early September that might lead them to believe the crowds will be significantly less during the off season?

I don't want to be worried about being happy when I am trying to enjoy my time with my new wife! I can always change if necessary to make things more enjoyable.

[~Amy~®]

Does anyone have experience traveling to Aruba in early September that might lead them to believe the crowds will be significantly less during the off season?

No experience with the Riu, but we always travel to Aruba in Sept. every year because it is one of the more quiet months with less people.

[dianehats]

I think the 6:30 booked quickly at the Krystal restaurant & at the Nautilus restaurant.