Gold Coast

[Josie]

Hello, we are thinking about renting a townhouse at Gold Coast. It will be during the Xmas break. We have 1 teenage daughter and are concerned it may be too quiet and away from everything. Any comments from anyone who has stayed there over the holidays or who owns a timeshare at Gold Coast would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

[Andrea J.]

i had no idea that any of the gold coast units were timeshare.
it is a lovely neighborhood/development.
i think your concerns are right on the mark with it being too quiet and set apart from the resorts.
if daughter ain't happy, then nobody's happy (?)

[Schnauzerjoy]

There is no time share at Gold Coast.
It is still not more than halfway through the building process, so the club house etc is not done and will most likely not be done this year.
That being said, the accommodation is nice, but it is just that at the moment, nothing more.
You can sleep, cook, eat, relax and take in sun in the backyard or by the smaller pools in a nice fashion, but I would say that you will need a car for your entire stay (not too expensive and gives you a lot of options to really explore Aruba).
It is pretty quiet there (nice for some, boring for others) and you need to go to Palm Beach area for the "action".
So bottom line: Unless your daughter just likes to soak in the sun with a good book, you minimum need a car or I would rent somewhere else.

Carsten

[EHampite]

We own at Gold Coast, and generally speaking it is pretty quiet there. There are not a lot of young people that we see and there is not a lot of activity going on. Not sure how your daughter would like it there. We definitely would recommend a car to get to restaurants, etc.

That being said, we love our piece of paradise, but as Schnauzerjoy said, it might be boring for some. A resort in the high rise area might be a better option for your daughter.

[Karen Lutzker]

I would certainly not recommend Gold Coast to anyone with teenage children. About 3 years ago when they first started building the homes, we truly considered purchasing. We looked at the model and the actual property we could have purchased. Our opinion was that the rooms are small, the backyard extremely small with a high concrete wall. No view at all. Gold Coast is located across from the Tierra del Sol Golf Course, homes. It is a very quiet area and one would definitely need a rental car to get around. If you are bringing teenagers, you would be better off staying at an all inclusive by the beach that most allows children up to 17 to stay in the room free. Being confined in a private home so far away from everything in my opinion will make for a very unhappy teenager.

[jeffnev]

I would recommend renting a timeshare at the Marriott Surf Club or Ocean Club if bringing a teenager. The villas are roomy with full kitchens and 3 tv's in the 2 br units and there are great facilities, pools on the property.There is lots of action and activities in the Palm Beach area and it is very convenient (walkable) to the new shopping malls which have stores, movie theaters, bowling, restaurants, etc. My kids (now in their 20's) have always loved the action in the Palm beach area. It is definitely not a boring area.

[corona]

jeff, based on my kids, I think that's a very good suggestion to look at the Marriott timeshares. The last several years, when our kids went with us to Aruba, we stayed at the Stellaris (which we love). We'd travel mostly over spring break, and they had friends from school whose parents had timeshares at the Marriott. They tended to spend more time at the Marriott timeshares than at the Stellaris. They would end up befriending tons of teens their age, and had a ball. Mostly when they were hanging out at the Stellaris, it was to lay out, once they were of age, to gamble.