Hoping someone can provide information on the Royal Palm timeshare units and affiliation with RIU -- I own at the Marriott Surf Club, but considering trying the Royal Palm by exchanging through Interval. Here are some questions:

1) What are the rooms like at the RP compared to the Surf Club -- would you say the 1-bedrooms are equivalent or a bit more "outdated / older"?

2) Are guests of the RP given full access to all of the RIU amenities?

3) Not being that familiar with all-inclusives -- and provided the answer to #2 above is "yes" -- does the RIU charge an additional fee to take advantage of the AI. If so, does anyone know how much?

4) Does the RP have separate check-in, etc. from the RIU, or is it really all one big "resort"?

Many questions I realize -- I appreciate any information folks can share. Thanks very much...

i can answer # 2 and the answer is YES all amenities

#3 yes there is an additional fee per person per day i do not know the amount (sorry)
i wish i could be more helpful
we have a friend that is an owner there and we visited with her over christmas at the riu

her 1 bedroom unit was lovely but i do not know if it was recently redone
it did not seem outdated or in need of a makeover though

she and her husband did mention to us that they were not doing the all inclusive plan because of the cost

they did have use of the entire property (pool, beach/ounges, shade huts etc)

i sent her an email asking your questions and hope i hear from her today

once i get a reply i will post.
andrea

#3 Last October it was $50.00 0r $60.00 per person per day can't remember which but was well worth it

#4 Seperate check in

Thanks for the replies. This might be a moot discussion anyways, seeing as how I can never find availability over there through Interval anyways. Plus, I'm not sure if I could rip myself away from the Surf Club -- it might be too much of a shock to my system.

Andrea -- I believe you are from MA -- I live in the South End in Boston. Heading to Aruba 5/6 for two weeks though!!! I hope that Mr. Jazz is open by then...I'm keen to check it out.

You may also be able to get additional information at this website for Aruba Grand timeshare owners (which includes an email address):

http://web.mac.com/jbk224/AGTSN/AGTSN.html

~Amy~®

19th Trip to Aruba: April 2009