On what was our second trip to Aruba, the problems started with transportation from the airport, which was supposed to be included in our trip price. Tierra del Sol sent a pick-up truck to transport our group of 7, with luggage, to the resort. When we finally got to the front desk, after hiring a cab ourselves, we we told that the owners of the three bedroom condo we were supposed to have, had "suddenly" come in, and we were being upgraded to a 3 bedroom house. We had be confirmed, in writing, that we would have certain room numbers so we could be close to the other family we were traveling with, as well as close to the facilities because both of our families had small children. The 3 bedroom house we were upgraded to was over a mile away from both the other family we were traveling with, and the resort pool and office. The house itself was inadequate in two areas, other than the distance. One of the beds was so hard, it was unsleepable, and the laundry facilities, which were in a dirty garage, reeked of mildew. With two members of our family having mildew allergies, we had specifically discussed with Tierra del Sol before coming that our living space be free of mildew, and we were assured it would be. As it was late when we checked in, and the front desk closed, we had no choice but to stay the night. The next day, we talked to the front desk 3 times, but they said they could not do anything a the resort was full. Finally we called Expedia, with whom we'd booked, long distance at our own expense. Suddenly, we got a phone call from the office at Tierra del Sol, saying something had become available. We were shown a 2 bedroom villa which was right across the street from our friends. While this option left us one bedroom short, as we had another friend who was joining us part way through the week, we chose to take the house because of it's proximity to our friends. We ended up with both our children on rollaway beds in our bedroom, with our friend staying in the 2nd bedroom. Not the best arrangement, but we decided to deal with it. The next day, our 3rd day at the resort, we found out that washing machine was not working correctly. It was filling with water and draining but not aggitating. Sheets and towels washed by the maid service were put back on the beds and shelves with visible dirt on them. We called for service, and showed the still dirty linens to the staff. To make a long story shorter, many, many calls to the office, more service calls and being told falsely that it had been fixed, and promises of a new washer resulted in no washer until Thursday, 5 days after our arrival. Having only packed clothes for half a week, knowing we would have a laundry facility to use, we found this to be a very fustrating situation, not to mention sleeping on and using linens that were not thoroughly cleaned for those days. At no time were we offered another machine to use, nor did the maid staff take our linen to another unit with a working machine, nor was there any offer of a laundry service, or any other type of compromise. As far as the rest of the resort, the pool was nice, the restaurant food was decent, but the service at both the pool and restaurant were very slow and inconsistent. Towels by the pool were hard to get, because the person who was supposed to be collecting and handing them out was hardly there. We were even charged a non-return fee for the towels one night, which was refunded after we explained we had waited for someone to collect the towels at the counter so we could get our towel card back, but no one was there for several minutes so we brought them back the next morning. Staff attitude, from check-in on, was unfriendly, evasive, and unhelpful. I felt as if any request made was an inconvenience to them. During one conversation regarding the broken washing machine, I was snickered at by the office staff, and told, "This is Aruba, you know things don't move fast." My overall impression was this - "despite not getting what you were promised, take what you get, and don't bother us with any complaints." I would not recommend Tierra del Sol to anyone, based on our experience.





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