Has anyone been to La Cabana Beach & Racquet Club ? What can you tell me about it ? How does it compare to other places on the island ? and is it in a good location ?

I have a trip planned to the same resort in April. I am wondering if we should purchase the all inclusive meal plan. Can someone help me out? Anything that we should know about this resort before we get there?

Thanks!

TOOOOO many good places to eat in Aruba..Your limited with the AL and plus there are always hidden costs..If you can just to breakfast and lunch and treat yourself to dinner.

If you look under the ALL Topics and go back two or three pages (go to older topics), I gave a very detailed overview of LaCabana. Go to "Just got back LaCabana" on Jan. 15th and you will see my comments. It was my third time there and we stayed for three weeks each time. So I was there a significant amount of time to make some observations. If you want anymore feedback, I will check in again tomorrow, hopefully you will look back and read my comments.

Randi, I went back and read the string of messages that you mentiond. They kind of make the place sound really bad. We are being given a one bedroom time share at the La Cabana for a week in May for our honeymoon. If it wasn't a gift we would not be able to afford it at all. I've never been to aruba and was so looking forward to the trip of a lifetime. Is this place really bad ? Should we sleep there and hang out other places ? are the restaurants good at the resort (when they're open)? If I tip the housekeeper the first day and tell them I expect them to take care of me, should that do the trick ? What would be an excellent tip for them ? Please respond, I need the help. Thanks

Make sure it is a 1 bedroom unit with an actual bed..They also have 1 bedroom units with a Murphy Bed you pull down from the wall..You don't want that..The place is older 800= units..Sleep there and eat elsewhere on the island..Read the posts about all the great places toeat in Aruba..Don't limit yourself to just eating at LaCabana.As far as tipping the housekeeper..they clean up the room everyday anyway..we always leave a tip the day we leave.

Re: La Cabana - all inclusive;

We found the all-inclusive to be wonderful. We had a choice of 3 restaurants on property and various small eaterys also on property and all the drinks we wanted from sun up to retiring in the evening. If you would like more info on the restaurant choices La Cabana has its own web site, and lists the menus available. We also ate off La Cabana grounds and found their food to be equal in quality to anywhere we went. But you never have to worry about running out of funds for food and drink !!!! My husband and I loved La Cabana so much we purchased a time share there before leaving Aruba, and this was our first trip to the island but will not be our last. We also plan to do the all-inclusive on our next stay there. Lynda & Rich

Larry,
I would definately stay there but just know ahead of time that your room will be clean but not immaculate. I am picky and I was certainly not "grossed" out. The beach is very nice and soft sand and the ocean at LaCabana is great. This will be your trip of a lifetime. My comments were meant only as a warning to make people aware that the resort has changed from what it was beforeand not have these over the top expectations. It is still a very nice resort. As far as the all inclusive, my advice is always DO NOT DO IT!! Aruba is the most wonderful island and so very safe. We have travelled around by bus and felt extremely safe. There is a bus stop right in the back of the resort and it takes you right downtown. Where else can you walk freely in a downtown area and not have to worry. We always recommend that you go to the local grocery store and stock up for your breakfast and lunches and save your money for the fantastic restaurants in Aruba. Do not bother wasting your money buying groceries from the mini-mart in the hotel. If you want restaurant recommendations, most happy to oblige.
In terms of the one bedroom units, we have stayed in the Villa section at the back of the resort. We like it because it is quieter however, we do not stay in the very last row of units as it backs onto the "highway" (Aruba's version). The rooms are more spacious as the have a bedroom (two doubles or a kingsize bed) with a living room and kitchen. The BRC have been updated recently. We saw the unit with the Murphy bed and it was actually very nice. More bright and open then any of the other units. The kitchen area had a nice breakfast bar area and it was really very nice. It is your preference. One other thing that we really like (which surprised us) was we prefer to be on the ground floor. No waiting for elevators and quick double side access to your room.

Randi, Thanks for your help. I think we'll at least buy breakfast food for the room, I think we'll want to be out having fun, not spending our mornings in a restaurant. I sure could use some recommendations on restaurants. We will be honeymooning for a week, so I don't want to waste time at anything other than the best. We are not much for sea food(that's probabley too bad, seeing as though we are in Aruba), but we like Italian or pretty much anything else. Some exotic food of some sort might be fun. Any good ones you've been to ? We are forty, We don't drink, but we want some kind of action at night, maybe dancing to old rock,disco, 70's something along that line. or something else fun to do other than drink. Any recommendations ? Again Thanks a lot for your help. Larry

Randi, Do you know what part of the building room 434F would be in ? I've seen the layout of the resort on the web. but it does not show room numbers.