My wife and I made our first trip to Aruba on April 13th. I got a lot of helpful information from this board so I thought I'd post my experience and maybe it will help someone else looking for information. We stayed at the Amsterdam Manor, and our trip was a blast. Here are some general observations:
Flight/airport: We flew from Minneapolis through Charlotte, about 6 1/2 hours in the air total. We flew U.S. Air and everything went smoothly. It was nice to get some food on a plane for a change! Flights weren't too bad as we had an empty seat on our side of the row each time. One thing that I thought was cool was that flying into Aruba, as the plane circles to land, you can see the entire island. Having printed out maps and done some research, it was like I had been there before. You could see the rough north shore, the lighthouse, as well as the high rise hotels, low rises, etc. It took us only about 20 minutes to get from our gate to a taxi, which was nice. On the way home, they tell you to arrive 3 hours early. It took us maybe an hour to get through customs and immigration, but it was a Tuesday afternoon so I'm sure that sometimes it takes longer.
Amsterdam Manor: We picked this hotel based on reviews from here as well as the tripadvisor website. It was pretty reasonable compared to some of the high rises, so we thought we'd give it a shot. We upgraded to a 1-bedroom suite, which was about $350 more for 6 nights on expedia. We really liked our room, it was spacious, had a nice kitchenette and a little patio facing the beach. We would have breakfast or lunch outside on our little table and chairs and enjoy the view. Regular rooms did not have this view and were not very big, so we were very glad we upgraded. I would stay here again but only if these rooms were available. The staff at the Amsterdam was very freindly and helpful. The pool was small, but nice, but since we love the beach it wasn't much concern to us. The beach at the Amsterdam is right across a little road from the hotel. Reading other people's reviews I wasn't sure if this road was going to be the size of a bike trail or a highway, there were so many different opinions. Well, it is one lane each way with a small median that you can easily walk across, there are paths. No problem for us. Also, the smell from the Sewage plant nearby was still noticeable once in a while. I had read that it was a one time problem and had been fixed but apparently that's not the case. We smelled it every day a time or two, usually just for a couple minutes and then it would go away. It is not pleasant, but when we were laying on the beautiful beach and sipping a daquiri, we were willing to let it go. The beach at the amsterdam is great, we found a palapa every day but one, and the water is calm and very blue. The beach bar had tons of good cocktails, and 2-for-1 between 5 and 6 every day. All in all, I would stay at the amsterdam again (in the 1 bedroom suite), because of the kitchenette, the easy beach access and the first floor patio. But, we would also maybe like to try a place like the Radisson or Hyatt, because they were so beautiful to walk through.
Buses: There was a bus stop right out in front on the Amsterdam, and for $1.15 you could go downtown or to any of the high rise hotels. Very convenient, and bus drivers even have change so you don't need the exact amount. Sometimes they wouldn't have enough quarters or something and we get a florin coin, but we kept them as souvineirs. The buses come about every 15 minutes except for sunday, when they come about every 45 minutes.
Taxis: We usually rode the bus but sometimes coming out the highrises at night we just wanted to jump in a cab and head back to our hotel. That was $7. From the airport to the Amsterdam was $17. There are plenty of taxis around, we never had a problem getting one.
Downtown Oranjestad: A cool little place with lots of shops, restaurants and casinos. We only went once, and got some shirts to take home. Next time we would like to go to the casinos down there at night (we always went to the high rises) and maybe go to Carlos and Charlies or something, for a little nightlife.
Arubian people: As everyone has said on here, everyone is really freindly and helpful. Even coming from 'Minnesota nice', we noticed it. Everyone had a big smile and is was definitely "One Happy Island". Whenever we had a questions about directions, or a dinner place, etc., people were more than happy to help us out. It all really adds to the experience of the island, and made it more enjoyable.
Weather: Beautiful, every day. The forecast said a chance of rain almost every day before we left, and I never felt a drop. My wife said she felt a couple while she was laying by the pool the last day. It was mostly sunny every day, around 90 degrees. A little humid but we loved it. Because the sun is so strong down there, we went tanning about 5 times before we left and then used 50 sunscreen for the first few days, including a spray for our heads. Neither of us got burnt, but we saw many bright red people. Be careful!
Grocery: All 3 of the main grocery stores are right by each other, close to downtown. We took the bus and it dropped us off right in front. They have mostly things that people from the U.S would be familiar with. We went to Hong King (I think?) and got bread, deli meat, cheese, soda, cereal, chips, liquor, etc. Prices are pretty similar to here, although beer is more expensive. Since we had our kitchenette, it was convenient and saved us some $ to have food in the room.
Money: We never found a place that didn't accept U.S dollars. I used my discover card at dinner every night and it was always accepted, along with my Visa debit card at some other places. No need to exchange dollars for florins.
Casinos: Most of the high rises have them, and there are a few downtown. They are pretty small, but have most of the usual games: craps, slots, blackjack, roulette. We also saw 3 card poker, caribbean stud, etc. The Wyndham, Radisson and Holiday Inn have poker after about 8:00. The Wyndam had a $10 tournament at 8:00 most nights that was fun, but I think the Holiday Inn had the most players overall. We didn't do very well at the casinos, but we saw a lot of people winning. We had one good night at the Radisson on slots, and I did OK at the Holiday Inn playing poker one night. Drinks are free just like Vegas when you are playing, and we enjoyed having the gambling option at night.
Beach Walk: All of the high rises are connected in the back by a little beach walk, which is really fun to explore. You can see all the beaches and pools that they have at the more expensive hotels. I thought the Hyatt was the best looking place. We walked past two weddings in about 10 minutes one night! Very cool to walk, especially around sunset or at night.
De Palm tours: We did a full day Jeep/Snorkling tour through De Palm. Overall we had a lot of fun. Our tour guide Eric was entertaining and had a lot of information about the history of the island. The Jeep tour made 5 stops. The first 3 I didn't think were much to look at: the lighthouse, the chapel and the old gold mine. But the natural bridge and the ostrich farm were cool to see, as was the north side of the island, which is so different. The problem was that between stops, it was up to a half hour of rocky off roading. Be prepared as you get dirty going through all the dirt roads! The snorkling portion at De Palm island was great. Good lunch buffet, and a really nice area for snorkling. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, it was our first time. But when I did, it was fun swimming along side schools of bright blue fish, and seeing the coral covered bottom of the ocean. Overall, I would recommend the De Palm island tour, but am not sure about the jeep tour. If you rent a car (we didn't), you could probably just drive to the natural bridge and ostrich farm yourself, and see the other side of the island without having to be thrown around in a jeep for a few hours.
Restaurants: We ate out for dinner every night, because we heard there were so many good restaurants on the island, and there are! Places we didn't get to go but would like to try next time are El Gaucho's, L.G Smith's and Flying Fishbone. We heard great things about those places down there from people we talked to. Here are the places we did try........
Chalet Suisse- A
We walked here, it was so close to the Amsterdam. Probably the best entrees we had on the island. I had a huge Black Angus Rib Steak, which was flavorful and really good. My wife had the Seafood platter with lobster, shrimp and Chilean Seabass, which she loved as well. Service was excellent. We split Chocolate Mousse for dessert, was was great as well. We were tempted to try the big fondue for dessert, but were too full! The only bad thing I can say is that there isn't much of a view. The restaurant is between open lots and isn't much to look at from the outside. The inside is really nice though. We did have a table close to one of the small windows and could see the sun setting in the distance. Don't let the lack of a view keep you away from this place though.
Mango's- B+
This was the restaurant right at the amsterdam, it was literally 50 feet from our door. We ate here the first night because our plane came in around 3:00 and we didn't have a reservation anywhere. It is small, but quaint and it is cool after the sun goes down and the lights on the trees come on. Service was pretty good here as well. I had the penne pasta which had lots of sausage and was covered with gouda cheese, it was very good. Can't remember what my wife had! I wouldn't go out of my way to come back here but if you are staying nearby, it's a nice little place to have a meal.
Texas De Brazil- A-
This place definitely gets points for originality. It's cool seeing all the carvers walk around with the different meats. It all starts with a good salad bar, although we purposely didn't eat too much of that. You get a little button on the table with a green side and a red side. If you had the button green side up, the carvers will come by and offer you meats. If it is red, they will leave you alone. Some of the meats were very good....the bacon wrapped chicken and the filet mignon were great! Other were just OK, like the lamb and the pork loin. Very fun experience though, we would definitely go back. Rinaldo, a native Arubian, gave us our best service on the island. It was his goal to see us satisfied! We waddled out of this place without eating dessert.
Blossoms (Wyndham)- A-
This place was split between a Chinese side and a Japanese side. Not sure if you can order from both menus on both sides or not, because we were only given a Chinese menu on our side. That was fine with us because that's what we wanted. The waitresses had little kimonos on, which was an authentic touch. The Chinese side was very nice, but the Japenese side looked like more fun with the cooks throwing the food in the air and playing with the fire a little bit, etc. We split an order of potstickers, General Tso's chicken, and fried rice. Everything was very good. Service was good again, as well. I would go back here, it was a nice break from the steak and seafood 'routine'.
Sunday Champagne Brunch-Ruinas Del Mar (Hyatt)- A
Wow, what a feast at this place. Every kind of food you can imagine. A carving station, make you own pizza, pasta, omelet, donuts!! Yes, they had a donut machine where it would go into the oil, flip, go onto a conveyer belt, and drop into a bowl next to chocolate, powdered sugar, splinkles, etc. I'd never seen that, I thought it was cool. Most of the food was very good. My favorite, chocolate waffles, they actually had but unfortunately they were chewy and not that hot. But everything else was very good. They came by every couple minutes filling up our memosas and taking empty plates. Yes, it was $38 a person, but yes we would go here again. The view and atmosphere are great here as well, since it is at the Hyatt.
Mirandi's- B-
The only time I was somewhat disappointed the entire time I was there. I thought that both Flying Fishbone and Mirandi's had tables right on the beach (Mirandi has some 'in the sand', but the sand is on the deck). I also thought the taxi ride would be much cheaper, but it was still $15 each way....we heard Flying Fishbone was $25. We heard a lot of great things about this place but maybe we just came on a bad night. It was cloudy near the horizon so we couldn't see the sunset. The restaurant can't be blamed for that of course, but we got sat in one of the only tables behind a pillar where we would have had to move to see it anyway. Plus, there are kids running and yelling while they were playing on the beach while the sun is setting, not exactly romantic. It is also right by the airport so a plane came right over the top of us. Our service here was terrible, and I saw a few other tables unhappy as well. Water was not refilled, and no one checked on us to see if our food was OK. On the upside, the food was good, although not spectacular. The chocolate mousse was probably some of the best we've ever had though. And, after the stars came out and the kids went away, it was a very quaint, romantic place. There are many of those in Aruba however, so I would probably try the Flying Fishbone next time and not return to Mirandi.
Madame Jeanette's- A+
I can't say enough about this place. I read on this board to go after dark and to request to sit outside...thank you to whoever gave us that advice. It is beautiful sitting outside, there are lights strewn from the trees and a guy in a gazebo singing great music. The garlic bread and herb butter they bring out before the meal was out of this world. I guess since I'm making a special mention about the bread, you know it must be good! I had the filet mignon here, my wife had the mahi mahi, both were great. The potatoes with onion and bacon for a side dish was very good also. We had a special on the dessert menu, a chocolate layer cake, which was fabulous. Service here was great as well. We spent the most time in the this restaurant because it had such a great atmosphere, and it was our last night. A great way to finish the trip, we will definitely be back to Madame Jeanettes.
Our trip to Aruba was great, we will definitely be back sometime in the future. The great people, weather, beaches and restaurants add up to a great vacation! Thanks to everyone who posts on this board and I hope some first timers get some help from my review. It was fun to relive such a great week.
Ryan
