Decisions Decisions

[Traceyd14]

With only 16 weeks to go, no time like the present to overthink things and plan plan plan.
We arrive the Wednesday after Thanksgiving and have 2 nights before we can check in to our Costa Linda timeshare rental, which I am very excited about. I think we are going to love it.
Anyway, the dilemma is where to stay the 2 nights prior to that check in. I currently have reservations at both Holiday Inn and the Renaissance Ocean Suites. We were going to give the Ocean Suites a try since we really didn't care for the marina Tower and I have family that swears by The Ren and stays there every May. We wanted to give it another try before we committed to staying there with them next year. However the project that I'm working on at work has changed and I don't think I'll be able to travel in May next year, so the need to check out the Ren isnt really any issue now. We have always enjoyed Palm Beach and the Holiday Inn meets our needs. At the Ren, we have one of their cabanas reserved (refundable if we change our minds).
We CAN'T decide! We are both having a hard time imganing a trip to Aruba without a stay in Palm Beach. I tried to talk Jon in to adding a few more nights to solve this issue, but it's just not practical this year.
I'm leaning towards Renn and the cabana and trying some new restaurants while in the area. We can always taxi to Palm Beach at some point in the trip.
Anything thoughts on the decision? Will we survive without a stay on Palm Beach? Will our first day bar hopping and happy hour be as fun downtown? Should we just go with what we know?
The good news, I have 3 months to overthink this. The bad news, we still have that long to wait to get there.

[Pegmeister]

Well, I always say, when in doubt don’t! You are just not sure about the Renaissance so do with what you know you like. As you said you can’t imagine a stay without Palm Beach. As a side note we like the Ocean Suites. For me though I prefer the beach at Manchebo so we just do the Renaissance for a few nights at the end of our trip. Tom wouldn’t mind staying at Ocean Suites for the whole trip.

[Jacki]

So difficult to say. I'm not quite sure the bar hopping first night would make you very happy. Where would you go? Actually, now that i'm thinking about it I don't really know the bar scene down town at night at all!

One of my Aruba goals is to spend time at every resort and get the feel of them all. I've been at Tropicana & La Cabana only for the last few years. So that side of me says go for the Ren & try something different and then you'll know for sure if you ever want to stay there again.

[robin]

We still own at the Ren and stayed there for many years. West Deck, Seven West, Que Pasa?, Yemanji, Iguana Joe's, and all the restaurants in the Market Place are easy walking distance.

[Traceyd14]

As for barhopping I was thinking maybe Surfside beach bar, then west deck, then Lucy's, and/or Iguana Joe's, and maybe Mojitos, and the Renn pool.
We have to try it before we commit to a week there because it's so different, but this is going to feel like such a short trip, only 9 nights compared to 12 the last couple years. That has me leaning towards Pegs suggestion of go with what you know you like.

[Andrea J.]

I like Peg's suggestion.
I am not sure that you will be wild about the lagoon/manmade beach at the Ocean Suites.

Overthinking is a real pain. Avoid it at all costs, says the CEO of the Overthinkers.

[cpjones]

As for barhopping I was thinking maybe Surfside beach bar, then west deck, then Lucy's, and/or Iguana Joe's, and maybe Mojitos, and the Renn pool.
We have to try it before we commit to a week there because it's so different, but this is going to feel like such a short trip, only 9 nights compared to 12 the last couple years. That has me leaning towards Pegs suggestion of go with what you know you like.

Bar hopping...… where there's a will...… Tracey will find the way....!

[kemperato]

I bet that you will be taxiing to Palm during your stay at Costa Linda. Since it’s only two nights I would take the opportunity to try something different and pull the trigger on Ocean Suites.

[cpjones]

I bet that you will be taxiing to Palm during your stay at Costa Linda. Since it’s only two nights I would take the opportunity to try something different and pull the trigger on Ocean Suites.

Agreed...… even tho we moved from Palm Beach 4 years ago, we still taxi up 3-4 times each trip for restaurants or the Hyatt lobby visit.....and that's quite enough!

[schexc]

We don't go downtown that much, but we always make it a point to stop at Cafe Chaos for Friday happy hour and to Alfies. We'll give Lucy's happy hour a try next trip. Haven't really seen and info on what they offer during that time, so we'll see.