I read all the reviews of Tamarijn before booking our week and to be honest I was a little apprehensive!
The resort is as it is portrayed exactly. The rooms are like a "Days Inn" very spartan but adaquite and only 50 ft from the water honest. The four of us sleep well in the Air Conditioned room, watched Disney Channel and kept up to date on the world news. The water is terrific for showers, plenty of hot water and very, very clean for drinking. The resort and Aruba in general is a very sanitary, clean, hygenic and friendly environment a real plus and in my opinion a nessessity when traveling with children.
The food was good buffett food. Honestly, whats wrong with grilled steaks, roasted lamb, fresh burgers for lunch and fresh omlets for breakfast.
My daughters are very picky eaters and loved the food. The self serve ice cream machine and pizza cafe were terrific.
The beach was terrific very calm water, we snorkeled daily virtuly no surf.
Beautiful ocean water just amazing! We could watch the cruse ships from our room entering the harbor in the morning and departing at night.
We swam in pools at Divi, and Tamarijn every day. If I return I will stay at the Divi. It's prettier, and the service from staff more prompt. My only complant. Why don't they put pitchers of ice water on the tables like they do for coffee in the morning. We waited on average 15-20 minuites for a cup of water when dining at the buffett. Why? I did tip the servers for drinks and service, which didn't have any effect on quality of service. I don't get it I think it's the Carrabian culture?
It's as close to a care free, stress free Beach vacation I've ever found.

We just returned from a week at the Tamarijn and I wanted to share my thoughts.
The hotel is very attractive, with all rooms literally steps away from the beach.
The room we had was very clean, in great shape and well taken care of (it was cleaned every day by 11am!) There was a broken glass strip in the window that was fixed within a day or so. The beach was as nice as I've seen (a lot like Turks & Caicos which was just about perfect!) wide, and gorgeous water (so clear we saw a stingray swim by us!). We were able to secure a hut every morning as long as we were out by 7:30. We stayed in the 2200 block and this side never got too crowded or noisy. The drawback was it was a LONG walk to meals,(especially with an 82 yr old with us) and it was nice to have the Bunker Bar so close, but after 7pm, you had a long walk to get a drink or snack. If they kept the Bunker bar open til 12, that would help!
The one pool I thought was very small for a resort this size and worse, right behind our room was the Divi timeshares which had nicer pools but we were told we couldn't use them, yet they could use the beach huts which didn't seem fair.
The whole food thing we found uninspiring. We're not gourmets or fussy eaters, but we never found much to get excited about. The desserts were basically the same every meal and even specialty nights like the Mexican buffett was pretty bland (Doritos for tortilla chips?). The buffett place was find your own seat which at busy times was annoying. There were a few times (Friday morning especially) when we found plates stacked on tables and no one in a rush to move them. That's not too much to ask to have a clean place to sit. One couple was eating surrounded by dirty dishes but they had no choice! The tables by the beach were wonderful especially at sunset. We ate at the Italian restaraunt one night and found that average. A couple nights we ate at the Divi and liked the atmosphere there better-less like a cafeteria more like a restaraunt! Bikinis and bare feet are allowed though at all meals which is not real appetizing!!!
The activities were sparse. Our 8 year old did waited 45 minutes to play Bingo, did jewelry making another day and was waiting for swimming time when the "Fun Maker" (activities person) said they were "too tired, it was too hot, and let the parents watch their own kids in the pool".
The steel drum band, Carnival and Mexican dancers were good.
Our biggest complaint which would make us not recommend the Tamarijn is that smoking is allowed everywhere (Except the italian restaraunt)!! This really affected our week! This must be THE resort for smokers because they were EVERYWHERE!!! At meals, we were constantly in smoke! My wife asked the front desk and they said we have a non-smoking section, but the waitress said they didn't. We couldn't use our deck because the people next to us smoked and on the beach and in the bars.. This would be something to consider before selecting this hotel. Surprisingly, the rooms did not smell of smoke. Aruba is one of those places that does not have rules about smoking yet.
So to summarize, Aruba is a beautiful island with gorgeous beaches. The Tamarijn was a nice hotel that with non smoking areas and a little better food, we would recommend.

MY wife and I stayed at the Tamarijn in September 02 (sorry for the late entry - but only just discovered the lifesaver that is Tripadvisor).

We had a room that was all of 10 metres from the sea, with the one way window we were able to leave the curtains open and be woken by the sun.

The food was excellent, especially the breakfast omlettes and the non stop ice cream, and the facilities were very clean. We managed to extend our all inclusive offer to the sister hotel which was also top notch.

Oranjested was one of cleanest places I have ever been.

I recommend visiting the North coast to see "natural bridge" and how rougher the seas of the north are compared to southern gentle waters.

This was me and my fiancee's first time in Aruba. We stayed from 4/1/05-4/7/05. We picked the Tamirijn because it was directly on the beach, open air, and all inclusive. We opted for the mega all-inclusive package so that we had priviliges at the Divi also. I am amazed with all of the negative reviews this hotel received. We had a fabulous time. To start, I would like to say that not ONCE did we encounter any rude staff at either of the hotels. Everyone was very helpful and always genuinely friendly (not the ----kissing for a tip friendly.) Many people wrote in their reviews that service was slow or that they were treated like a nuisance. Maybe these people were simply rude to the staff. The Tam is not a five star hotel were you can demand this and that. We concluded that if people were given rude responses from staff it was their own fault. Treat people the way you would like to be treated!!! We had no slow service and the longest we waited for anything was maybe 5-6 minutes, which was no problem at all. Check in was quick and easy and we were quickly brought to our room (2110) with our luggage in these insane little golf carts. The room looked exactly the way it did on the Tamirijn's website. Didn't find the room too small at all. In fact we had more than enough room for all of our stuff. It was very clean and maid service was excellent. We asked her to send us a mini fridge and left the room for maybe twenty minutes and it was all hooked up for us when we returned. We also had no neighbors for the first 3 days of our trip so we had the entire balcony to ourselves. We had decided to take a room in the 2000-2500 block after hearing that the beach was the best in this area. Now the room IS a bit of a walk back to the main lobby. But the beach was absolutely gorgeous there. Besides, we were walking everyday and STILL gained a bunch of weight between us. Every few minutes there are golf carts that circle around between the two hotels and casino and if you don't want to walk you can simply wait to get picked up.
Ok, onto the food. The buffet menu was hit or miss. Sometimes the food was great, other times just ok. We always got there early so it was a non-issue about the food sitting there for hours being picked through. We never left hungry though. Omelet station was fantastic. We had one everyday for breakfast. Don't eat the eggs from the buffet tray unless you like them very greasy. Birds didn't bother us and if you don't feed them they will leave you alone. Flies were a little annoying but they are just regular houseflies and we just swatted them :P. Lunch buffets were actually pretty good. They changed them everyday so it didn't get boring for us. Dinners were good also. There are different themes for every night. Ate at the Paparazzi once. I loved my food. Hubby thought it was ok. Didn't get to visit the Red Parrot unfortunately. Palm grill was very good also, although by the end of the meal we were practically covered in sweat from all the heat. The pizza tutti was yummy also.
Drinks... WOW. Definitely worth the it!!! We are 24 and 26 years old on vacation for the first time in five years with NO KID. So we were definitely into partying during our freedom and these guys do not mess around with the drinks. Almost TOO strong. Bartenders were awesome!!! Jerry what up!!!! Heheheheh ask them for a L.I iced tea or a Wet dream (apricot brandy, gin, grenadine and lemon juice) knock you on your --- ;)
So after touring the island during the day that's where we hung out most of our nights. Everyday the same group of people hahaha. The drinkers crew. :D Woke up hungover almost everyday. First thing in the morning we ran outside and jumped into the ocean (which was crystal clear and warm throughout the week.) Felt great after a few minutes and ready to go. Water truly is a cure all.
Onto the evening entertainment. We saw Battle of the Sexes which was hilarious. Hubby took off his pants in a minute for one of the teams. There was salsa and meringue dancing which we thought was fun. The dancers didn't appear amatuerish at all to me. Very, very, loud music but have a few of those cocktails I mentioned earlier and it won't bother you much;) On the fourth day we visited the Alahambra Casino. Nice, but small. They actually have PENNY SLOTS. Good place to lose money quickly and laugh about it with all the other people doing the same thing.
Wanted to address some of these issues people had with "boulders."
Number one, they are not "boulders," they are just large rocks. Which we did not see until we were about 10 feet from the buffet area. Now common sense would say after reading all of these reviews you can either ask for a room further away from the main lobby and restaurants (2000-2500 block) were there are NO rocks and do a bit of walking. OR you can request a room close to everything were there was a few large rocks. Now I don't understand what all of this nonsense was about how people couldn't get to the beach because of the rocks. That's insane, walk around them, end of problem :P
Now, onto the weather. YES, IT IS HOT IN ARUBA. It is practically on the equator. But, it is constantly windy so that the heat is not unbearable. People complaining about how hot it is pick another place to go that's just silly to blame it on the hotel. Another thing, if you want to go sit on the balcony or patio, simply turn off the AC before you go outside. We had sunny days all week with the exception of 10 minutes of cloudiness which was quickly blown away with the winds. The weather is practically the same everyday (hot, sunny, windy.) *Tip for the ladies, I brought my hairdryer, mousse and a bunch of makeup. Wasted room in my suitcase. Just bring lipstick and a scrunchie. The hair will be blown out or fall flat. Makeup other than lipstick and waterproof/sweatproof mascara will melt off your face. Wore hair in bun or ponytail all week. Leave the styling stuff at home. :)*
On the second day there we had a wedding to go to at the Wyndham. Now this is a very nice hotel don't get me wrong. Air-conditioned, room service, the works. This is also touted as all-inclusive although you get ONE free drink with dinner, after that you pay (including room service and other amenties.) We went up to my father-in-law's room and had a side view of the beach and it took almost 10 minutes just to get to it. Very crowded also. F.I.L said they had to get up very early to get chairs and a spot on the beach. Plus dress codes to go through the lobby during the later part of the day!!!!. Somewhat snooty guests. At the Tam and the Divi it was a very relaxed atmosphere. Also never had a problem finding a spot on the beach or a chair. You can go to dinner with shorts or your bathing suit on. No need to get all dressed up fancy-schmancy. The people we met were fantastic also. Laid back, friendly and not picky about every last detail. When we visited the Divi the overall group of guest seemed more of our age range (mid twenties early thirties.) At the Tam it is a bit more family oriented but we still made many friends that we plan to see from the states.
So in conlusion, the value that we got for our trip was DEFINITLY worth it. 5 nights/6 days which turned into 6 nights/7 days (last day flight was canceled and we were put up by the hotel free) $2875 (flight INCLUDED.) Staff, guests, the hotel itself was fantastic. Going back in 6 months to Tam :D If you are more comfortable with the room service ac highrises choose those. Father-in-law paid $4000 for same amount of time at Wyndham (NOT INCLUDING FLIGHT) We loved the ambience of the Tam. Relaxed environment, the whole tropical feel of the open air lobby/restaurants, and laid back approach. And of course the all you can eat and drink deal too heheh. Aruba really is one happy island and this hotel made us one happy couple.

*Final tip* Go to a store before going to Aruba and buy Thermos cups!!!! Kept drinks cold, bug and sand free all day... everyone was jealous of us:D