Our family (including two hard-to-please teens) just returned from a wonderful five days at Paradera Park Apartments (PP).

As many fellow reviewers have noted, this is an excellent, reasonably priced location/accomodation for enjoying all that Aruba has to offer.

Despite it not being right on/next to the beach, you are not far from the coast where the beaches are. You're also close to the Palm Beach touristy area and not far from Oranjestad, either.

There is a nice pool at PP that you can cool off in any time you like...

Of special note, the landscaping at PP is lush and beautiful - the owners call it 'tropical paradise,' and I don't disagree. It's easy to feel relaxed in the quiet surroundings. I took advantage of the on-site hammocks a couple of times and curled up with a book and napped.

Although you feel like you're in paradise, the satellite tv with quite a few stations and on-site wifi let you keep in touch with the outside world, if you so desire.

We highly recommend renting a car if you stay here. They advise going with Value Rent a Car, which we did. Miguel from Value met us right after we exited the baggage claim area and drove us to Value's location - about 10 minutes from the Airport and approximately 5 minutes to PP - an easy drive with only a couple of turns.

We rented a Camry - $240 per week and it had already had 40K+ miles on the odometer - pretty high for a rental, especially one on a small island. The brakes squeaked a bit & it already had a few scratches on it. Consider renting from someone else, but I have no idea who to advise. I saw several on-site rental companies at Reina Beatrix Airport, but only recall Hertz as one of these.

Expect hot, but dry weather (we were told Nov/Dec is rainy season). The tradewinds were a welcome and pleasant surprise. Definitely helped cool things off. PP room had fans and a couple of AC units (we were in #113). Also, nice porch with table for eating breakfast, TV with a wide selection of channels and a well-stocked kitchen, fridge & microwave.

Check out Ling's and SuperFood supermarkets. Both are located very close to each other - not far from LowRise Hotel area. We arrived over Easter holiday and went to one of the smaller, local markets first. Prices seemed high and there was a lack of selection.

Couple of food recommendations off the beaten path - both are in same small strip mall on the way to beach area (Palm Beach - near HighRise Hotel district). Linda's for pancakes and pizza and Bingo for salads and fresh fish (delicious Grouper dish). In general, restaurants in Aruba are pricey.

Don't forget the sunscreen! Sun is very powerful...

Cheap place to purchase bottled water = McDonald's.

Have a great time in Aruba and by all means, stay at PP!

Give Ingrid, Debby and Henk at PP our best...