Two families stayed at this hotel for two days prior to a seven day stay at the Surf Club time share. I previously read about the construction but the only evidence we saw was missing lamp shades in our rooms and we'd been told about them during registration and given $50 off our bill in compensation. When we went to check out the $50 had only been deducted from one of the room's bills so it's worth it to check the bill carefully.

Our rooms were in the atrium on the fourth floor. I was surprised at how loud the sound coming up from the atrium was at night. One night there was loud music playing until early the next morning and it could be clearly heard in the room. Light sleepers ought to definitely avoid atrium rooms.

Some one else mentioned that housekeeping does not do the usual Marriott cleaning. We also had the situation where our room was skipped during the cleaning cycle and it took three phone calls and a stop at the registration desk to get it cleaned while we were at dinner. Everyone we spoke with was nice but efficiency wasn't forthcoming.

While waiting for our time share to be ready on Sunday we stayed at the Resort pool. We ordered lunch from the pool bar servers who come around for orders. Everyone was pleased with their sandwiches or salads. The bellman kept our luggage for us until we heard from the Surf Club that our room was ready. I'm sure many other guests do the same thing and the staff are very pleasant and helpful during the transition between the hotels.

If we were to do this again I might consider staying at the Hyatt or some of the other hotels further down the beach. Now that we've been there once and see how easy it would be to switch to the time share from a hotel down the beach I don't feel as locked into staying at the Marriott Resort before the time share.

I was disappointed in this hotel. The Marriott in St Thomas and St Kitts obviously spoiled me. I felt that the resort was not large enough to accommodate all the guests there. The pool was packed as was the beach. In both St Thomas and St Kitts, I never felt that way. The lobby lacked charm. It reminded me of a massive convention center. No music played at night, no bar was provided. The rooms, including the bathrooms, are tiny compared to St Thomas and St Kitts. The breakfast buffet was not good at all, but if I had nothing to compare it to, I may not have been disappointed. The construction in the lobby was not a bother. That staff are all very friendly and helpful. The view we had from our balcony was amazing. We were on the top floor in the center of the resort so we had a prime view of both the ocean and the pool. We were staying at the Marriott on points. I would return to this hotel if I were on points again, but if I were paying, I would go to the Hyatt instead. Maybe we will try the Renaissance next time. The beach itself is nice but the ocean water was murky as others have said. No trouble getting a palapas but we reserved every day.

We had an amazing time in Aruba and would certainly go back again. The island is great, weather, people, food…My only complaint would have been the Marriott itself but Aruba is a wonderful place. Our favorite restaurants were Ventanas Del Mar and Pappiamento. We rented a car and we were happy we did, but cabs were readily available. Baby Beach is great, go if you can. You won’t want to get out of the water. Also visited the Butterfly farm and we really enjoyed it.

My husband and I just got back from a trip to Aruba. It was my second time there, his first – and we both agreed it will probably be our last. The island is nice, clean and great weather out of the hurricane belt and while we did find some honeymooners, we found a lot more families. If you aren’t looking for that, the kids can definitely disrupt your relaxing time at the beach and dinner.

Hotel:
The hotel was nice, at the end of the high rise strip so it only had another hotel on one side. 75% of the renovations seem to be complete – there was some construction when we were there but it didn’t cause any problems because it happened during the day when we were out at the beach. The hotel also made everyone aware of anything that would be happening and the exact hours.

We were given room 639 in the Atrium (between the two towers). We were offered an upgrade to an executive suite at the list price (obviously if we wanted that we would’ve booked it – apparently the hotel doesn’t understand the concept of “upgrading” so we stuck with our original reservation). The only issue here is that it can get loud in your room if the lobby is loud. All the ocean view rooms that face towards the pool have a great ocean view and great sunset view every night.

The cleaning service was not that great. One day I ran to my room to grab something and it wasn’t cleaned. When I came back 10 minutes later to drop something off, the room was “cleaned” – meaning they made the bed and threw some new towels up. I also noticed some string I had dropped on the floor ws there all week so they clearly didn’t vacuum either.

Beach:
The beach is nice. Because we were there in the first week of the low season, there were no issues with getting a palapa. You can reserve one for $15 – a total of 3 can be rented in advance during your stay. You can ask them at the towel hut how busy it is to see if it’s worth it – they will tell you if it’s very busy or not so you don’t have to spend the money if you can just walk down and get one in the morning (unless you really want one up front).

It is a public beach so others can sit there which wouldn’t be a problem other than the fact that sometimes the staff will set someone up without a palapa in between two that are being used. This happened to us towards the end of our week and I had to ask someone to move their chair because they were in the shade of ours. This can be a little frustrating if you don’t have respectful people (which towards the end of the week we didn’t because some conference was going on).

The ocean there is very slimy and has some seaweed on the bottom. Towards the end of the week there were a lot of rocks and a big dip. If you have the water shoes, I would recommend bringing them. I’d also recommending bringing your own float – they are $5 to rent a day and the ones they sell in the store are really cheap (we bought one that wouldn’t even close to keep the air from coming out).

Casino:
The Stellaris casino in the hotel is old and smells really weird. I would recommend going to the Radisson casino – less expensive tables and very nice.

Activities:
We booked a sunset cruise and ATV tour through the concierge – if you are going to book a tour, I would recommend doing it at the vendor’s office (both DePalm and Red Sport have one at the hotel). There was a 3% tax that the concierge didn’t tell us about and they gave us different info than the company did when we went to confirm our reservation.

Food:
Ruth’s Chris is great – same as the ones in the States. The lighthouse restaurant is a bit of the expensive side although the food is pretty good and the sunset can’t be beat. Do not eat at Don Carlo’s in the center of town – way overpriced and not good at all! Gianni’s across from the Radisson is pretty good Italian. The Waves restaurant has decent food for lunch while you are at the beach or pool (although a little expensive) and I'd recommend going to the cafe for a bagel or muffin for breakfast instead of spending $40 for breakfast at the La Vista restaurant at the hotel.

Other:
The airport experience here is one of the worst I’ve ever encountered so bring your patience and leave plenty of time. 4 planes got in when we did and there were no barriers to set up lines at customs or no one to help so it was really crazy and took a long time to get through. On the way back, we printed out our boarding passes online but when we got to the airport we were told those weren’t valid. So even though we had our pass and just carry on, we had to stand in the line at the counter to get the same boarding pass and a declaration form. Then we had to stand in line at customs and go through 2 different security checkpoints – this all took over 2 hours.

Also, the hotel really pushes their timeshares so while you are relaxing on the beach don’t be surprised to have someone interrupt you to have ask you to attend a 90 minute sales pitch for some Marriott points or food vouchers.

I have traveled to aruba 20 times. Always stay at different places. i am now in the marriott stellaris hotle. DONT COME HERE if your not in a huge group. They treat you like dirt. I have had nothing but problems at this hotel. i tried speaking with the GM.. but I was ignored. Dont come here.