My husband and I decided to go back to Aruba and celebrate our 20th anniversary. We had honeymooned at the Divi and that is why we wanted to stay there again. I knew it had been refurbished and was now an all inclusive so we wanted to give it a try. Well, we weren't disappointed. It was terrific. We had an oceanfront room with a balcony that faced the beach and water. The view was spectacular. The rooms are very plain, so don't expect luxury. They are clean, though and you don't spend much time in your room anyway. The food there was also great. You could eat at any of the bars and restaurants at the Divi Aruba or at the resort next door, The Tamarijn. You never get tired of the food because of the variety. The bars serve top shelf liquor and have many "drinks of the day". It's alot of fun. We went to see some friends down in the high rise hotel area one afternoon. Their beach was crowded and small. The beach at the Divi is wide and really spread out so people aren't all clumped together. We decided we liked the feel of the Divi resort better than staying at some huge high rise with a small strip of beach. We would definitely stay there again. Aruba is a friendly place that you must get to visit at least once in your life.

Just got back from 6 nights at the Divi. We celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary with children and grandchildren so we booked 4 rooms. We were steps away from the beach in the Vista I and never had any problems with checking in or the staff, we had a 7 year old with us and everyone down to the bartenders got to know him and treated him wonderful.

We renewed our vows on the beach at sunset which Lorraine at the Tamarign handled in advance. She did a wonderful job in setting everything up for us down to offering us a photographer who wanted to take pictures for free since he was just starting out. He gave us a CD the next day, and yes, we tipped him.

Rooms - When you read these reviews you get worried. All I can say is my husband and I travel alot and stay in 5 star hotels. So I prepared myself for the worse and I was surprised when I got there. Our bathroom was clean and no mold they talk of. Our linens and towels were changed everyday and swept. We did tip the maid in the beginning 20 bucks for the week.

Bartenders - Eric, Charles and John were the best, they always took care of us and yes with having 2 granchildren and 8 of us adults we tipped them very good.

Golf carts - Never had to wait less then 4 minutes for one and when we got there Filo told us "he would take care of us and he did" Nice man and yes we tipped him in the beginning.

Buffet - the food was very good. It changes with each theme every night. At lunch they had the crispiest lettuce for not growing lettuce on the island. Yes, we tipped the staff there and when I left I tipped the cooks $5, each for the week.

Restaurants - Keep in mind we had 10 of us but we always had reservations early on even before we left home.
Red Parrott - food good, people not so nice or friendly.
Paparazzi - very rude all of them, food good.
Palm Grill - not friendly but they are not rude, cook your own food.
At these restaurants dont even try to be nice cause they dont know how to smile. I sure hope the hotels take care of this problem we tipped for 10 of us anywhere from 30 - 40 dollars to these people. Never again unless they smile and quit ignoring people. Not just us everyone.

Tipping - You dont have to tip. But you find out quick that it works.
These people work for low salary and thats what they live for there so you have to understand this before you go. Think about it you would be tipping in a great restaurant somewhere else so even a small tip is good to them. We were prepared for the tipping end of it so all 8 of us put money aside for that reason.
When we ate at the buffet for breakfast we would tip then 2 bucks and lunch nothing cause it was the same people, but if we returned at night we would tip at the buffet again. Again this is all entirely up to the individuals. We chose to do this.

Beach - You can not beat the beach at the Divi, absolutely clear blue water and white sand. It was great. Huts, well we took turns getting up because it s just like the reviews say, you wont get one by 7 a.m. for the whole day. We got up at 5:45 a.m. along with most of the people there to reserve one. Pool you can get a lounge chair any time of day. It was a great vacation and we will be returning there for our "family vacations"

My girlfriend and I just returned from our trip and I must say we had 7 nights of FUN! The restaurants were all good. I loved the asian one and we enjoyed the Italian restaurant too. Our server, Jack was excellent and most accomodating!
Another Jack was a bartender at the Divi and he was the best bartender there! For some reason the bar was always filled when he poured.
The rooms were lovely. We were in 520. Everything is close to either the bars, restaurants or water.

I would recommend this place again and most likely will return next year with folks we met. A truly great time!!!!

We just returned from 7 days at the Divi All-inclusive resort. Let me start by saying that we had a very nice time and will return again. With that said there are some things travelers should know both good and bad about the Divi.

The Grounds:
The grounds and beach are beautiful and watchfully kept; the beaches are cleaned and raked nightly. The beach sand is white and soft.

The Rooms:
We stayed in an Ocean View room located in the Vista II building. The room was basic but nice; the view from the room was wonderful. Each room has a patio but as you can see from the picture they are far from private and as a result were largely unused. Cleanliness is NOT one of the strong suits however; one corner of the floor in the bathroom had a rather large mildew spot on it. The rooms are cleaned daily but that really consists of nothing more than making the bed and refolding towels. If you leave anything on the floor, couch, or tables you can count on it still being there when you return.

The Staff:
The people are one of the best parts of the resort; almost everyone we met was exceedingly nice and helpful. You should know that tips go a long way, especially with the bar tenders. Speaking of the bartenders be sure to find a gentleman named Jacinto, AKA Dr. Alcohol. Walk up to him and say, “Doc, make me something special”, he will disappear and will quickly return with a Caribbean masterpiece.

Dining:
If variety is something you look for, you will be pleasantly surprised. At the Divi the options are few, the Red Parrot, which has an international menu and the Pelican Terrace, which is a buffet. If you eat at the buffet, be prepared to share you meal with at least 20 opportunistic feeding birds, my wife found this endearing. However, as a guest of the Divi you can also use all of the facilities at the neighboring sister resort, the Tamarijn. At the Tamarijn there is a buffet but also an Italian restaurant “Paparazzi” (our least favorite), as Asian restaurant “Ginger” and a place where you cook your own, the “Palm Grill”. As a big bonus you can also go to the Divi Links resort across the street and eat at a nice French restaurant called “Windows on Aruba” where as a Divi vacationer you can have a three coarse meal for $25 pp, not including wine and tip. These in an incredible deal when you consider that about all of the entrees are about $35. Might I also suggest “El Gaucho”, which is located downtown, were you can get the best steak anywhere.

Activities:
The Divi does its best to keep you busy just about all the time. Each night there is a different scheduled activity, everything from karaoke and limbo contests to dancing demonstrations.

The Island in general:
Aruba describes itself as being, “One happy island” and it does everything possible to live up it. People are especially polite and friendly and no matter where you are, you always feel safe. If you decide to head off to the Natural Pool on your own, you need to know that you will need to drive over some exceedingly tough terrain and should not be attempted with anything without 4 wheel drive, preferably a Jeep Wrangler. The island offers endless things to do so regardless of what your favorite vacation activity may be you will find it here.