After doing some research on Trip Advisor, we found the Arubiana Inn. The price can not be beat! It was my second time in Aruba and the first time I went I had stayed at the Hyatt. The Hyatt was about 8 times the price of Arubiana Inn this time around.

A car is a must for me, but I already knew we would be renting one and chose this hotel with that in mind. We picked up from Amigo at the airport, which was very convenient. Aruba is the type of place you want to have the liberty to drive and explore the island, its restaurants, and its sites, IMO. For instance, you can go to Baby Beach by car, which you don't want to miss for snorkeling and just a beautiful spot in general; and I can't imagine how much it costs by cab (probably $50 each way). considering you can rent a car for about $30 / day, and less if you get a whole week, this is worth it.

The rooms were simple and comfortable. You don't spend much time in the rooms anyway, so for us, they were perfect. The showers had decent water pressure, which varied at times, but was good most of the time. I think there is a flushing weakness, but you can just be careful not to flush too much paper at once. In the bathroom there was a useful shelf to put all your toiletries.

The bed was 2 twins pushed together, but pretty comfortable. Firm, but not hard. The standard room was spacious, with a large table for eating, using your laptop, etc and 2 chairs. the closet had a safe and there was a large mini fridge and microwave. They also provide you plates, utensils and cups. We thought this was great, since we weren't really cooking (didn't need a full kitchen) but had leftovers from the huge portions at restaurants that we would re-heat. We also kept a lot of drinks and snacks in the fridge.

The TV had a bunch of american channels, but not great ones. Ones we wanted to watch were blocked, which was a total tease b/c it would work for a minute and then black out. Remote control AC was convenient. The AC worked perfectly.

Gaston rented us 2 beach chairs, which were amazing! They were super ergonomic and reclined, with pillows. They were also lightweight enough to carry from the car to the beach with no issues. We were the envy of many on the beach. We also borrowed snorkel equipment from him one day which was decent. We went on a private snorkel tour with Windie from Windie's. $35 / hour for 2 ppl. minimum of 2 hours, I think. I highly recommend doing this for Mangel Halto, where it maybe be difficult to find the reefs on your own. Then rent from Gaston (or Windie) and go to the easier spots yourself!

We didn't use the courtyard all that much, but the other people in the hotel did. They would have wine and snacks at night in groups, and it seemed some of them would tan there during the day. We never had the breakfast, but it looked pretty yummy and a good deal for $8. The pool was clean, and the plants and trees around it were kept very well.

We loved the location. It was central to everything: high rises, supermarket, Oranjestad downtown, restuarants in Noord - with a car that is. One day we went to the beach in front of the Hyatt. My boyfriend immediately got annoyed with the amount of people, kids, etc. Another day we went for a walk on the beach by the high rises and there were SO many people and loud disruptive annoying music from party boats and bars. We're from NY and we love a party as much as the next person, but we found the more secluded quiet beaches of Eagle, Manchebo, Mamlok and Arashi much much better. They have public palapas at some of them, where we just set up our chairs from Gaston. People were totally envious of our awesome chairs! So if you're not into big crowds of people, with chairs RIGHT next to each other, piled up on the beach, this is a much better option with a car, as opposed to being stuck at a resort all day.

There was a supermarket walking distance that had all the essentials. We started to veer away from the touristy restaurants, after seeing how much they were charging. And the food was all creamy heavy sauced. We did enjoy Papiamento though, the first night, the ambience was spectacular outside. So romantic. The entree was huge and they split it for us on 2 plates - it literally looked like 2 separate entrees! Other favorites: we LOVED Nos Cunucu. A little hard to find, but they will give you good directions on the phone. The waitress / daughter was sooooo sweet. They have a farm with huge peacocks walking around their grounds. It was a very local feel, built in an open air farmhouse setting. The food was great and very well-priced. Many locals stopped in for takeout while we were there eating dinner. We went back for lunch again.

We also like Huchada for lunch. Great cheap sandwiches on yummy bread. It's a bakery in the Certified Mega Mall, next to Deli France. Deli France was also quite good, not too expensive. We really enjoyed the crepes / pancakes at Linda's, which is right next to Bingo's in Noord. Salt and Pepper was fun, but average food. We found some excellent snack stands too, that sold delicious pastries in the morning. (pastechis) Wacky wahoo's was decent but a bit overpriced for what it was. Pinchos had a great pier bar / restaurant, great for sunsets. the pier bar at the Hyatt also had a great happy hour deal at sunset. Their fries with war sauce were great. Charlie's in San Nicolas by Baby Beach was touristy, but really fun to visit. Their seafood chowder was expensive but delicious.

So all in all, we had a great time at Arubiana Inn, and we will definitely stay there next time we go back. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

H + T
from New York, NY

Just got back from a week's stay at the Arubiana where we had a wonderful experience!

The room was simple, comfortable and immaculately clean. We didn't use the TV much (just one night after dinner out) but it had a lot of channels and good reception. The room also came equipped with a small fridge, basic food utensils (ie. cups, plates, cutting board, cutlery), and microwave that was very nice for quick, simple meals.

The grounds were beautifully kept - lots of palms, hammocks to lie in, and lounge chairs to hang out by the pool. Also, each room had a 'bistro set' right outside the doors where you could have morning coffee or an after dinner drink. The pool was small but more than adequate - we never had to share with anyone and my husband thought the temperature was absolutely perfect (ie. warm). At night, the lighting was pretty and intimate (all the palms had yellow rope lights - very pretty).

The service couldn't be beat at this establishment. Gaston (the owner) helped us rent a car, made reservations for us at the Flying Fishbone restaurant (after a very harrowing experience to get to Aruba through a snowstorm and delayed flights), and provided us with a cooler on a few days when we went snorkelling at beaches where there were no refreshment stands. You can also buy breakfast for $8 every morning (an absolute steal considering Aruba's food prices - my husband and split one every morning). Each morning was a little different but the food was always wonderful, served promptly and with a smile.

Suggestions:

1) Get a car - you can walk to Eagle Beach from the Arubiana in about 15minutes but the walk is not all that nice (next to a highway and scrubby plants - I usually love to walk places). If you have a car then you can visit some of the other beaches on the island (like Malmok, Boca Catalina and Baby Beach which all have good snorkelling). Also, with a car you can easily get to Oranjestad (about 5min) or the Highrise area (about 5min) to try different restaurants for dinner.

2) Restaurants - the Flying Fishbone in Savaneta is amazing!! It's a bit pricey but the food, view, and atmosphere can't be beat. We also ate at Texas de Brazil at the Highrise area - it's a Brazilian bbq/steakhouse. I'm not a great lover of red meat and even I thought it was awesome!

This is the second time that me and my wife stayed in the Arubiana Inn and we really enjoyed both of our stays there - I recommended it to many of my friends and colleagues.
When you travel so much as we do, you see many places and this little hotel is the first place we think of whenever we need a short break in the Caribbean - probably as well because we stayed there the first time during our honeymoon !
The hotel manager Gaston ( next to his native Dutch he speaks excellent English ) and his team always made us feel at home and very welcome.
One of the most important things for us was that we actually didn't feel as if we are in a hotel and "only" paying guests, the guys gave advise and help in all situations an made us feel very much at home - except that we were on a beautiful island.
If you are looking for very good value for your dollars or euros then the Arubiana Inn is def a place for you. You will need a car to get around ( 5 min to Eagle beach ) but I am anyway not a friend of those beach-access-all-inclusive-hotels.
They provide breakfast which you have to pre-book the day before but you have as well a supermarket and a bakery around the corner in case you want to prepare something by yourself.
All rooms have their own bathroom with shower and toilette and get cleaned daily. The eco-friendly coconut furniture gives a nice touch !
We will return asap to this beautiful spot !

Not having been to Aruba before, I was hesitant to book just any hotel and was a bit wary of staying at one of the high priced resorts on the island. After doing quite a bit of research on the Internet, I discovered the website for the Arubiana Inn located near Eagle Beach which is on the western shore of Aruba. It looked pretty nice, and the price was right, so, I decided to go for it!

Although I had a very late arrival (about 11 PM), when I arrived at the inn after just a few minutes wait, I was met by Gaston, the very attentive manager, who had previously confirmed my reservation and answered all of my email questions. He showed me to a spacious room with a private bathroom (with a good-sized shower, not a bathtub/shower, which I didn't mind). The room was nicely furnished with a very large, comfortable bed and interesting, one-of-a-kind accessories and artwork. Though the room was near the front of the inn, it was very quiet.

In the morning, I opted for breakfast at the Inn (available for an additional $8.00) which was well worth the cost as it was quite adequate in size and served at a table on a pleasant, shaded terrace in the outdoor courtyard. About an hour later, I enjoyed a swim in the courtyard pool which was smallish, but clean and refreshing.

Summarizing my stay, I was quite pleased I had chosen the Arubiana Inn. Though I did not rent a car for my two night stay, I did not mind the 20 minute walk to Eagle Beach. That might be too far or too cumbersome for some, but one could take a taxi instead. I think the cost of my stay was quite reasonable compared to the large, Eagle Beach resorts and would not hesitate to reserve a room at the Arubiana Inn again.

W.F.
San Francisco, California