Horrible!! Can I please preface this by saying that I am not one of those people who is difficult to please?! But I booked a 1 bedroom suite with Amsterdam Manor back in December. I arrived last Wednesday 3/26 to have them tell me that they were overbooked, I mean can they not count how many rooms they have in comparison to how many guests they book? The woman at the desk told me that a wedding party that was there decided that they wanted to stay longer so myself and 3 other guests lost their rooms. They told me that they booked me a room at La Cabana next door. I said okay, is it still a 1 bedroom suite with an ocean view and king size bed like I booked here. I was told no that it was in the back of the building and not a suite. This did not make me happy at all because I had booked, paid for, and gotten confirmation from Monique in the reservations department that my reservation was confirmed. After expressing my displeasure with them for about 45 minutes and requesting to speak to a manager (none were available) they said they could put me at the Manchebo. When I got to the Manchebo I was put into a “garden view” room with 2 double beds. I then told Manchebo the situation and they were great! And put me into a ocean view room with a king size bed. Please read my review of the Manchebo, they were awesome.

Stayed in a 2 bedroom suite with brothers. Experience was great. Staff was very pleasant and helpful a number of times. Suite was nice (door squeaked - paper held it tight). Minor matter taken care of by maintenance (safe was not working). Loved the location and would definitely go back to Amsterdam Manor again. With some exercise involved - able to walk to many restaurants, stores, and other places. Staff helped with a jeep for a trip one day - again very convenient and helpful. Would recommend this place.

I came prepared to love Aruba and this hotel, based on the reviews here and elsewhere. I was quite disappointed in both. First let me say that I judged everything in comparison to several past stays at Capitain Lafitte on Mexico's Riviera Maya. (That hotel unfortunately has closed and recently reopened nearby under the name Petit Lafitte.) Maybe it's not fair to compare, but I couldn't avoid it. The differences between Lafitte and AMBR were most striking in two areas: ambiance and food.

Ambiance: While Lafitte was gloriously quaint and totally authentic, overflowing with Mexican color and charm, AMBR felt rather generic and unexceptional. Though the architecture was supposedly Dutch colonial, there was no discernable ethnic or cultural vibe in the hotel whatsoever, Aruban or Dutch. The music played in the bar and restaurant was a bizarre, annoying mix of Muzak, 70's disco, and generic salsa-type stuff.

Food: At Lafitte, both breakfast and dinner were included in the price of the room, and the food at both meals was always extremely bountiful, fresh, and delicious. The lunch menu was very reasonably priced and also delicious. At AMBR, though we did not go the all-inclusive route, we ate most of our meals at the hotel and found them to be mediocre and overpriced. The buffet continental breakfast was especially galling: $11 for a meager selection of boxed cereal, supermarket-quality baked goods, and cold cuts. True, there was a full kitchen in our suite (see below), but we did NOT come on vacation to feed ourselves supermarket food in order to save money.

The accommodations were fine, but not outstanding. Our room was nice enough, though without any notice we were upgraded from a "superior studio" to a two bedroom suite, which was far too large for the two of us. The towels were thick and fluffy, and the bed was firm, but the living room seating was cheap and not comfortable. We had a nice balcony, and the air conditioning worked fine. The rooms and common areas were clean and well maintained. We did not notice any sewage smell as noted in other reviews.

The service was unimpressive. The front desk and bell staff were friendly and helpful, but the quality of the waitstaff was very uneven. The disinterested bartender at the beach bar repeatedly gave me the wrong drinks and once charged my tab for another party's lunch. It took him three tries to get our check correct.

As for Aruba itself, we will definitely not go back. The weather was wonderful and the beach gorgeous, but the whole hotel strip and Oranjestad area felt tacky, touristy, overbuilt and overpriced. And we flew nearly five hours to get there. Not worth it at all.

I'm not the type to be overly critical and rush to write a negative review, but I felt I had to share my experience which was so at odds with the many rhapsodic accounts contained here. It was not a terrible hotel or island, but it was definitely a far cry from a dream vacation.

We just came back from a delightful vacation at the Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort in Aruba. This was our first time on the island, and we picked the AMBR after much reading of both good and not so good reviews... I have to say that as expected, it was just the right place for us: small yet comfortable, friendly yet not invasive, lively yet not noisy, authentic, aesthetic, well situated, environmentally progressive, great food in and nearby, etc...

We found the staff to be unbelievably nice, cheerful and helpful, and we suspect that people who feel otherwise may have an attitude that just does not fit this very happy island. The room we had the first night was not the best since it was just across from the restaurant and had no windows other than the front. We do not like AC, and especially in Aruba is makes much more sense to just keep your windows open. As we arrived late, that was the only room available, but it seemed like the entire staff was mobilized to find us a better room for the remaining of our stay -- which we indeed got (plus a bottle of wine in the fridge for good measure!). All the rooms seem very comfortable and practical. The location is great since it is at the very north of the low-rise hotel area, therefore the beach seemed less crowded than all others. The beach was also very clean and well kept, plenty of shade and a very convenient bar, yet not obtrusive or noisy.

The food and service at Mango's restaurant was surprisingly good and affordable. Passions, the restaurant on the beach is indeed a must experience for the ambiance, but we were not so thrilled about the food. However there were plenty of nice restaurants near by (we walked everywhere) - We mostly recommend Tulip (good food, nice atmosphere and affordable), and Screaming Eagle (the name is regretful, but the food was excellent, though a little pricey).

this time we left the kids behind, but in our mind the AMBR is equally good for couples and families, young and old, straight or gay. Probably with the kids we would have preferred the ground floor.

Issues people mentioned:
- Staff? See above - I cannot imagine anyone not being appreciative of this great staff, which seems eager to please, and are always around (seems like there were as many workers as guests).
- Smell? The good news is that if we were not told about it, we would never have noticed it. However, every now and then you do smell something a little less than pleasant, but it is barely worth mentioning. There are occasionally other smells and in the air (from food, the ocean) and the winds are always blowing such that this is not an issue at all. And it is far from being an AMBR issue alone - we cound smell this and worse (but still only occasionally) along other places in the low-rise and even high-rise areas.
- Beds? I have a bad back yet I found these beds to be extremely comfortable. They are on the firm side, yet have two layers of pads on top, and the sheets seem comfortable as well.
- Road: indeed it is right in front of the hotel, but nicely hidden between the trees / vegetation, easy to cross, and not too busy. It took us less than a minute to get from the room to the water front, which is not the experience you can expect in most of the high-rise accommodations....

The AMBR may not be for everyone... We like small places, we like to walk a lot (absolutely no need for a car here), we appreciate environmentally conscious places, we dislike noisy public entertainment (couldn't believe how obnoxious the music around the clock at the "La Cabana" was), etc.

We walked all the way to the California lighthouse one day (took the bus back), and rented bikes another day for a wonderful ride to the east coast of the island. Also walked to town one day (not as recommended).

Alternatives? We cannot imagine why anyone would want to stay
at any of the high-rise hotels - SOO packed and crowded! In the low-rise we checked out the Bucuti and Manchebo beach resorts. The Bucuti seems great (had a massage in their spa, dined there), but you get less for your money. You would have to spend at least $400 a night to get the same accommodations we had at the AMBR there.