Rent a Car or Taxi

[jaime6894]

My husband and I are traveling to Aruba on Oct 9-16 and will be staying at the Marriott Surf Club. When we visited 2 years ago we stayed at the Marriott Ocean Club. We would like to go back to these restaurants Amazonia, El Gaucho, Madamme Jeanette, and Flying Fishbone. If I remember correctly Flying Fishbone was quite a distance from our hotel and the cost for the taxi was $50 or so round trip. We would also like to go to the grocery store this time around and stock up on breakfast items and snacks. I am wondering which would be more cost effective for us in terms of transportation. Should we stick to taxis or rent a car for the week? Any help is much appreciated.

[cindyo]

Pick your restaurants & shopping in advance and rent a car for a few days. Its a waste to have it sit in a lot and pay for it. With some of the restarants over a $60 cab ride it is well worth it to plan ahead...We do this and it works fine. Get the most out of your rental and you won't feel tied to it...

[Arubalisa]

Airport roundtrip $50
Flying Fishbone rt $64
El Gaucho rt $22
Madame Janette $18
$154

Amazonia is walking distance.

Compact Rental Car Amigo http://www.amigocar.com/models_rates.html $171
Compact Rental Car Royal http://www.arubaroyal.com/our_fleet.html $170 -20% discount

[Andrea J.]

i think the car rental will suit your needs.

one of the things that is nice is that when you are in the need for "wheels" the car is right there at your disposal.

enjoy

andrea

Originally Posted by jaime6894

My husband and I are traveling to Aruba on Oct 9-16 and will be staying at the Marriott Surf Club. When we visited 2 years ago we stayed at the Marriott Ocean Club. We would like to go back to these restaurants Amazonia, El Gaucho, Madamme Jeanette, and Flying Fishbone. If I remember correctly Flying Fishbone was quite a distance from our hotel and the cost for the taxi was $50 or so round trip. We would also like to go to the grocery store this time around and stock up on breakfast items and snacks. I am wondering which would be more cost effective for us in terms of transportation. Should we stick to taxis or rent a car for the week? Any help is much appreciated.

[Jarubian]

I agree with Andrea and as Arubalisa did the itemized rates, its worth it for wheels at your disposal, for that matter you can do the siteseeing at your convinience. Aruba is easy to drive and you really can not get lost, the island is too small.

[jaime6894]

Thanks for everyone's help! My only dilemma is that my husband gets nervous and takes out the extra insurance on rental cars and I wasn't sure if that would tack on more than use of the taxis.

[fattypatty]

extra insurance is about $15-20 more each day for most rental companies in aruba.

[Liz - Aruba Lover]

Check with your credit card company. All my credit cards cover car insurance so I never take any extra insurance when renting in Aruba.

[firsttimearuba]

It's our first trip to Aruba...We are staying at the Renaissance Aruba. I have made reservations at the following restaurants and I'm curious if it would be beneficial to rent a car or simply take taxi's. I sure appreciate your advice as this is our 1st trip to Aruba. I know that it could be a little difficult navigating especially through traffic in the downtown area, but also know that cab $$$ can add up quickly. I know a car rental would also allow us to travel the island and check out different beaches, however the Renaissance has a private island for their hotel guests so not sure if checking out other beaches would be more stress than its worth. I'd like to try to make this trip as romantic and relaxing as possible as my girlfriend and I haven't taken a trip together in over 2 years. Thanks all in advance for the advice! Leaving for Aruba on September 18th! Also, any recommendations for our Thursday evening dinner its our last night before coming back home.

Yemanja Woodfired Grill – Saturday, September 19th, 2009
Passions – Sunday, September 20th
½ Day Snorkel & Luncheon; Dinner – Tony Roma’s – Monday, September 21st
Old Man and the Sea – Tuesday, September 22nd
Flying Fishbone – Wednesday, September 23rd
Thursday, September 24th - TBD

[Andrea J.]

your situation is a definite "flip a coin" and decide. "heads, rent....tails, no rent".
my decision is always to rent, as i always want a car at my disposal.

your restaurant for thursday night.....how bout Madam Janette?

FF, Passions and OMATS are all on your list....have you gone to the culinary/culture section of this forum? all 3 of those restaurants are awesome, but imo you may want to ditch one of them as 3 nights beach/waterfront dinners might be a little "much".

so re: the car.............grab a nickel and flip.
restaurants............MJs for thursday
Have a blast!!
andrea

Originally Posted by firsttimearuba

It's our first trip to Aruba...We are staying at the Renaissance Aruba. I have made reservations at the following restaurants and I'm curious if it would be beneficial to rent a car or simply take taxi's. I sure appreciate your advice as this is our 1st trip to Aruba. I know that it could be a little difficult navigating especially through traffic in the downtown area, but also know that cab $$$ can add up quickly. I know a car rental would also allow us to travel the island and check out different beaches, however the Renaissance has a private island for their hotel guests so not sure if checking out other beaches would be more stress than its worth. I'd like to try to make this trip as romantic and relaxing as possible as my girlfriend and I haven't taken a trip together in over 2 years. Thanks all in advance for the advice! Leaving for Aruba on September 18th! Also, any recommendations for our Thursday evening dinner its our last night before coming back home.

Yemanja Woodfired Grill – Saturday, September 19th, 2009
Passions – Sunday, September 20th
½ Day Snorkel & Luncheon; Dinner – Tony Roma’s – Monday, September 21st
Old Man and the Sea – Tuesday, September 22nd
Flying Fishbone – Wednesday, September 23rd
Thursday, September 24th - TBD