Late Dining reservations

[mlrhoxie]

Looking for some advice on making dinner reservations.....we are "late" diners (I'm talking about an 8:30/9pm reservation) because we enjoy staying on the beach to watch the sunset almost every night. Given the current curfew, should I make our reservations now for the earlier times (if there's availability) and possibly change them to later if curfew changes, or hold-off and see what happens with the curfew? We will be arriving for our week at CLBR the end of May (5/28-6/4)? Admittedly, I am not a planner when it comes to our trips to our home-away-from-home! We usually end up with a last minute reservation or walking around high rise area or in town and stopping in somewhere that has an open table. That approach is not practical this time given current circumstances, and I would prefer not be stuck cooking dinner every night in our unit. TIA!

Right now because of the curfew, it is hard to get reservation for some restaurants because they close early. I was talking to a friend yesterday who is still in Aruba. Hopefully that won't be an issue by the time you get there.

[Andrea J.]

I think that I would make a reservation for the earlier dining based on the current curfew.
However, you should put in a caveat with the reservation..........stating that if the current curfew is eliminated you'd like the reservation to go to a later time.
I would NOT count on them to move you later automatically.
You will have to stay on this and keep checking.

I am hoping that once the number of vaccinations increase on Aruba and the numbers of positives decrease, we will see the curfew being adjusted.
Or so I hope.

Looking for some advice on making dinner reservations.....we are "late" diners (I'm talking about an 8:30/9pm reservation) because we enjoy staying on the beach to watch the sunset almost every night. Given the current curfew, should I make our reservations now for the earlier times (if there's availability), or hold-off and see what happens with the curfew? We will be arriving for our week at CLBR the end of May (5/28-6/4)? Admittedly, I am not a planner when it comes to our trips to our home-away-from-home! We usually end up with a last minute reservation or walking around high rise area or in town and stopping in somewhere that has an open table. That approach is not practical this time given current circumstances, and I would prefer not be stuck cooking dinner every night in our unit. TIA!

[Pop-pop Brian]

I agree with Andrea's advice. We just came back from Aruba. We had dinner reservations generally in the 7:30pm timeframe BEFORE we went. Due to the 9pm closing time protocol enacted just before we went, we changed just about all of our reservations to 6:30 pm. The restaurants were very accomodating. When we did try to make reservations for one night at the Concierge at the Surf Club, just about every popular restaurant we tried to book was completely booked. Make the earlier reservations in advance and change them if possible once you are there.

[mlrhoxie]

Thank you! Just finished booking reservations for 5 of the 7 nights so far!

[Pop-pop Brian]

Which did you make reservations at?

[mlrhoxie]

Passions, Water's Edge, Ikes, Elements, Casa Nonna. Need 2 more reservations and we'll be all set. This is the first time in a very long time that it's just me and the hubby (we usually travel to Aruba with kids, extended family & friends) and we usually end up cooking in a few nights. It gets complicated trying to "corral" everyone and get them all to agree on where & when, so we all cook and have large family-style meals. Looking forward to a relaxing vaca!

Which did you make reservations at?

[LisaGrn]

I think I'm going to have to add Casa Nonna to my list for August. Looked at their website last night and I hadn't realized before that there is also one in NYC which is one of my favorites (currently closed due to you know what). The restaurant list is getting longer; I just may have to stay longer!

[~Amy~®]

Passions, Water's Edge, Ikes, Elements, Casa Nonna. Need 2 more reservations and we'll be all set. This is the first time in a very long time that it's just me and the hubby (we usually travel to Aruba with kids, extended family & friends) and we usually end up cooking in a few nights. It gets complicated trying to "corral" everyone and get them all to agree on where & when, so we all cook and have large family-style meals. Looking forward to a relaxing vaca!

There are fantastic local restaurants downtown if you are looking to add a couple more:

Wilhelmina
De Suikertuin (Salad Nicoise is my favorite)
Anno 1887 (the Coq au Vin is great!)
Fred
Taste My Aruba (fresh fish right from the fishermen every day)

Also, Patio 15 if you are looking for a light dinner with a few tapas - nice atmosphere outside with the beautiful pink architecture in the background.

[mlrhoxie]

Amy - thanks for the recommendations, these look fantastic! I think I'll finish out our last 2 nights with reservations at Patio 15 & De Suikertuin. We were looking for something local & new for us, and can't wait to try these two, thanks again!

[~Amy~®]

Amy - thanks for the recommendations, these look fantastic! I think I'll finish out our last 2 nights with reservations at Patio 15 & De Suikertuin. We were looking for something local & new for us, and can't wait to try these two, thanks again!

Patio 15 gets really busy on Fridays and Saturdays with locals (fun atmosphere but busy) so if you are looking for a more quiet evening I would go midweek.

Have fun!