Hi There,

I'm a nervous dad considering a winter getaway with our baby! She will be around 18 months at the time of travel. In the past, I stayed in the Holiday Inn and the Occidental - both times without kids.

I was wondering if any one hotel "fits" or caters better to families with babies. Ideally, we would like a crib for our daughter as she is not the greatest at sleeping in a playpen type setup.

I'm leaning toward the HI for the family friendly factor, pool, beachfront. I don't require the the fanciest or costliest of hotels to enjoy myself. Any information that you can provide is great.

Thank you.

i took my son to aruba when he was 18 months and stayed at the marriott stellaris. from my experience, and from others, the stellaris is probably the most family friendly hotels in aruba. in fact, there's so many families with kids at the hotel that it's not recommended for honeymooners or couples.....

in regards to cribs, we just settled on joining the two queen beds and pushing it towards the wall - it makes the available space much more roomier. my wife slept on one side and i slept on the other with our son in the middle.

take a look at the renaissance ocean suites. THey have the private island, lagoon, and 2 pools. Lots and lots of families....perfect place. An easy walk downtown...

Cindyo
View of Rennaissance Island
Daughters dining at El Gaucho

Next Aruba trip in

I have brought my 3 year old to the Holiday Inn the last two years and had a great time. Indeed, the hotel offers free cribs and the setup of the resort is great for kids (e.g. HI has a zero entry pool, the hotel is close to beach, the restaurants are family friendly, there were a number of other families/young ones for her to play with while in Aruba, kids stay and eat at the resort for free etc.). I don't think that you can go wrong with the HI.