madricharubabound

SKDIDDY I can't believe your discription of Aruba. The sand the sky WAAAH, I wanna be back there. When I reread the complainers I realized they sounded like they were talking about Boston(where I live) except we are freezing to death and it cost a fortune to live here. Tell me anywhere in the world that does not have problems. I have been to many islands and felt like I should have brought a gun. Never ever have I felt that way in Aruba (been going for 18 years) Well maybe the island will be less crowded if the people who are not happy try another island. That's fine with me!!

AuntieMame

I have often thought we ought to stop hyping Aruba

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Aruba Trip Reports

corona

Our first trip to Aruba was almost exactly 24 yrs ago (honeymoon), and we stayed at the Concorde Hotel. I can imagine that there were many people who were very unhappy when the then towering hotel was built. We fell in love with Aruba, because of its quaintness and charm. The weather and people were just spectacular. I'll have to say our only dissatisfaction, and it was small, is that we would have enjoyed a few more restaurants and a tad more places to shop.

Now, I'll have to admit that Aruba has just about outgrown us. It's still a fabulous place to vacation, and there's enough to do there now, that my teenager loves it. I know, for many people, maybe even most, they'd embrace all the wonderful additions to the island. My husband and I prefer fewer amenities which would bring fewer people. I think after my teen is not vacationing with us, we may try one of the other nearby islands. It makes me sad to say that, because Aruba is our first love, but like so many things, it has outgrown us. What we find to be too much, others are looking for on vacation, so I'm sure it's more than an even tradeoff for Aruba.

I'm another person in awe of the Riu. My husband and I will definitely make at least one trip to Aruba, sans kids, and stay there. The view from the back balcony off the lobby is breathtaking. We saw it just at sunset..and all I can is WOW. We took some pictures, and I jokingly told my husband I was going to send them to our family and tell them that's where we stayed. My teenage son even said that he was going there for his honeymoon..haha Okay, that'll be a few years off, but it really was gorgeous.

We just returned, and although we didn't visit Baby Beach, the part of the island we saw (high rise area, new shopping area and downtown) was very clean and well taken care of. The people were absolutely as wonderful and welcoming as always. We didn't rent a car this trip, but even when we have, I've never been through the red light district nor have I seen the homeless. I'm not saying that it's not there, of course, it's just that I haven't seen it.

On the other hand, if we were looking to spend several months out of a year there, I'd have to go with the new more built up Aruba. I couldn't imagine having enough to do, for weeks at a time, with things back the way there were 25 years ago. So, for us, on a week's vacation it's a bit too built up and getting a little too crowded, but for a permanent vacation home, I'd want all the new shopping and entertainment that's coming to the island.

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Arubalisa

I think this is a good example of why Arubans go to Puerto Rico or Miami for shopping excursions. Let's face it La Linda is quaint, but the offerings are limited.

It is not sunset, but below is a part of that view at the Riu you referred to:

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Karen Lutzker

Thank you Lisa for posting the photo of the pool and beach view at RIU.
Hopefully we will be able to stop by when we return to Aruba May 16-30. Each time we visit Aruba which is quite often, we never get the opportunity to get over there. Do you know if it is a problem to take a tour of the inside?

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corona

Yes..that's it Lisa..My picture is a little dark, but hopefully it will give you a feeling of the sky at sunset.

Karen, just noticed your post. We just walked through the lobby and it was open. There's also a beautiful bar, but we had our teen, so we didn't go in. I'm sure they didn't know that we weren't staying there, and I'm not sure that would have mattered, since we were just in the lobby and on the back veranda.

Attached Images

Aruba RIU.jpg (40.5 KB, 16 views)

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Arubalisa

Hmm...I could picture myself sitting in one of these nice comfy looking sofa's taking in the views above.

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30 days 16 hours 49 minutes

corona

YES! Those are the money shots..lol

For those who feel the RIU is too much..sorry...but I'm smitten..

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can't stay away

When I walked by the Riu being built last year in March, it was quite a sight. I look forward to taking a closer look next week when I walk by

curlylaura

Sorry for saying this but the majority of litter comes from tourists. The more tourists the more litter. We saw a group of people at Baby beach leave behind some litter (they were not locals) shame on them! Downtown has become slightly abandoned because tourists are taken with new areas such as the new shopping mall accross from Playa Linda. A local merchant said they closed their location there to move to new area because of more people in that area. I think the government needs to clean up that area before it becomes more and more abandoned.