My girlfriend and I just returned from a 5 day trip to the Occidental Grand Aruba and I was very pleased with the trip (get ready this is a long one).

I stayed here 7 years ago when it was the Allegro and boy have they stepped up their game. Same great pool and beach... but the restaurants and bars were unbelievably better in all facets.

It was very clear from the beginning that the people who complained about this place in prior reviews are obviously chomping at the bit to say bad things... but I'm sure overlooked the many fabulous features of the facilities. Granted we are 24 and 26 years old respectively and perhaps aren't as well travelled as some of the others who have reviewed this place. If you are a go for the flow type of person, and don't complain about something everywhere you go... you will be very pleased with what you get.

We stayed in a Royal Club Deluxe Ocean View room, we had a great view of the ocean as well as a full view of the pool and grounds with a nice balcony that was perfect to eat breakfast on or relax at night for a cigar and a Heineken. The bed was very comfortable and our sheets and towels were changed/replaced at a ridiculous rate. We were shocked when we had towels replaced twice in one day without asking. The room was cleaned flawlessly everyday and we weren't bothered by the maids one time... in fact the only time we had a knock on the door was when room service showed up. Turn down service fixed the bed with chocolate on the corners for us at the end of every night. Bathroom was flawless with a beautiful shower and ample towels and robes and slippers in the closet.

The Royal Club service was nothing short of spectacular, when we walked in the resort they asked us if it was regular check-in and we said royal club and we were instantly whisked up an elevator where we met Anne the royal club manager who asked us if we'd like a drink, within 1 minute I had an ice cold beer and my girlfriend had some champagne. Within a few more minutes we were taken down to our room where I instantly opened the room service menu.... which I abused pretty regularly throughout the trip. From ice cold coronas, to Heineken, lattes, apple pie, breakfast... it all was delivered in reasonable time by an extremely polite waiter/waitress. The ala cart breakfast was perfect for when I woke up in a stupor I simply called them and within 15-20 minutes we had a delicious fresh made breakfast right in our room.

The Royal Club lounge on the 9th floor is beautiful, but because of our short stay we didn't really utilize it as much as we should have or wanted. I glanced at the various menus and there was definitely some premium food (lamb, filet, fish...) that I would have like to try. But the big thing for me was that i could walk in and grab 4 Heinekens/coronas/miller lites/Grey Goose/Johnny Walker.... which weren't available at the other bars. I always made sure to stock up before they closed at 11. The staff was always helpful, in fact Veronica went out of her way twice to help me once buying a toothbrush with cash from her own pocket, and running in the kitchen to grab me two Heinekens when I failed to remember that the royal club had closed 30 minutes prior. This wasn't an isolated incident, they really seemed to care about the quality of your stay...

I didn't have a single bad meal while we stayed here, we ate Royal Club for breakfast everyday either in room or in the lounge, the buffets for Lunch and L'Olio (Italian) , Desire (Caribbean Fusion), and Zen (Hibachi) for dinner. Thursday was a cookout on the beach with all the staff. Every single meal had a great variety of quality food the I enjoyed thoroughly. My favorite was L'Olio, all of the courses were amazing and the service was impeccable. I had a fabulous 14 oz cut of prime rib at Desire and the Filet and Squid at Zen was also delicious. The Hibachi chef at Zen was very talented and surprisingly entertaining I was glad we saved it for the last night as we were laughing and eating with some very nice people.The ribs and pork on the beach was a nice touch although I wish I would have left right after I ate because the banter with the staff and dancing was a little too corny and long-winded for me... (damn me and my inability to leave when a raffle is going on).

The bar situation was about as good as you can get at an all inclusive, the service was fine... I only had to wait a few times when it got busier.. but at what bar doesn't that happen. If you like to drink a variety of drinks then you won't complain... but each bar did have a different stock of surprisingly quality liquor. I saw Tanguray at all of the bars, Stoli and Absolut Vodka, Local and imported Rums.. and many more. I drank a lot of the local Balashi beer which I found to be quite tasty, but of course when outside it tends to get warm fast (not the beers fault) so sometimes when at the beach I had it with ice. The Sound Lounge was definitely the coolest bar in the place but its location in the corner seemed to leave it empty most of the time.... they probably should have signs promoting it at night.

We didn't indulge in any of the activities, but we did go into town (disappointing) and we went on the DePalms happy hour (2-5PM) snorkeling catamaran which was one of the highlights of the trip for me. The Sunken Antilla was cool, but the rough ocean made it hard on my girlfriend to be comfortable but she was happy to soak in the view and drinks on the boats while I swallowed about a gallon of salt water enjoying the cool ocean wreck. The second stop was much more calm and you were able to see an abundance of undersea critters. I recommend this heavily as its not too long and was very well priced at 50 per person.

If I had to do it again, I'd probably sacrifice the Royal Club for a longer stay, but I'm glad I experienced it one time and I felt it was worth the money and extra attention.

If you put a gun to my head and made me say some negatives I would say that the bird situation at the Beach Club buffet was a little weird... the birds have gotten brave and swoop in as soon as someone leaves their seats and sometimes leave a present. it happened to my girlfriend when she went to get dessert, but luckily I saw it before she got some back pudding. I'm really not sure what they could do about it at this point, but its not really a big deal unless you have some form of OCD. As other reviews said, if you want a hut by the pool... get down there early... but with such a beautiful beach I could have cared less. There was always a hut available at the beach if you walked around, and we went down around 11 everyday. I didn't use the pool one time because swimming in the ocean was sublime the temp was perfect and there was a lot of room to swim or just float. During the end there was a lot of seaweed on the bottom in certain areas which was a little crummy.

The bottom line is that your trip will depend on how you are as a person, if you want to find faults.. you will. But if you are there to relax and have a good time you have picked the right place on a beautiful Island.

My boyfriend and i just returned from a 8 day stay at the Occidental Grand Aruba May 2008. To start off my review i just want everyone to know this hotel was awesome!!!!!...after reading some of the reviews before my trip i was a bit worried about staying here....well do yourself a favor and DO NOT listen to the bad reviews on this hotel !!!!! From the moment we checked in everything went well the room was nice and VERY CLEAN!!!!! the staff is really FRIENDLY !!!! The food was really good as well we really enjoyed the all inclusive package it was wonderful..deff try Zen Restaurant very good but a limited menu. The buffets were good as well for breakfast and lunch..we ate dinner at the restaurants so not too sure how the buffet dinner is, sure its good though. The beach was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!! you can literally float all day in the ocean and relax!!!!!! i loved the beach bar they had great drinks!...the casino was small but loads of fun! and for the nightlife at the hotel was pretty good we went to Desire Lounge a few times its a cool atmosphere!!!!!! .....All around me and my boyfriend truly loved the hotel and everything it offered i would deff recommend it to any one...couples, singles , and family trips. We will Deff be returning there in the near future!!!!!

We just returened from our third trip to Aruba...we stayed at the Occidental and we were not impressed at all...in general...it is VERY dirty...bird poop everywhere all around the pool....all over the chairs and the cabanas....they only cleaned them once while we were there for a week...the other two times we went to Aruba, we stayed at the Wyndham (now the Westin) and the Phoenix and we LOVED both of these...no problem at either one....but the Occidental is all-inclusive, so it has the usual all-inclusive problems...little plastic cups EVERYWHERE.....not so good food....my hamburger had to have been mystery meat as it tasted NOTHING like a hamburger should taste. The elevators were out of order on a daily basis, and we had two strollers so had to use the freight elevator which is disgusting...anyway...the best part of Aruba is the restaurants!!! Why would anyon want to stay in an all-inclusive hotel when there are so many good restaurants around?? We will never stay in an all-inclusive in Aruba again...

If you do not want to read an extensive review then here goes in a nut shell....Make your reservations now for this all-inclusive...you will not be disappointed if you are looking for a fun-good quality vacation. If you are high class and want star treatment then this place is not for you. But if you are laid back and are easy going then you will have a blast. More details below:

We wanted a hotel that was all-inclusive and in Aruba there are only a few to choose from. Divi and the Rui. My boyfriend had already stayed at the Divi and the Rui is huge....too big for us. We decided on the Occidental. We read the reviews which are all over the place...from 5 stars to 1. I would give the hotel a 5 but I do not rate things excellent because no one is perfect and there is always room for improvement...but let me first say we had a blast and can not wait to go again next year. We defiantly found our vacation spot. The staffs were very polite and helpful. Some made jokes and tried to make our stay enjoyable. At busy times they can get bogged down but they do there best. We tipped them a few dollars if they did a good job. I am sure they do not make that much money. We also tipped the bartenders at the end of the day very other day or so. The drinks are good. Quality liquors are used. My favorite was the hurricane. Also like the Miami vises and the balshi (Aruba beer) was good too. The have Bacardi, Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort...types of liquor. They will make them strong if you ask. They are generous with there booze.

Our room was clean and cozy. Bathroom was very nice. We had a pool view which was great. There is a free mini fridge w/water, soda, and beer for free. We had new clean towels each day and we did not have issues w/maids stealing things. We did use the safe to keep our valuables in. To get a pool view you need a room number that is even for the right wing and an odd number for the left wing. We had a left wing room which was on the second floor no elevators to use and easy walking to the lobby and the pool/beach.

The food was pretty good for an all-inclusive. Great selection for breakfast, nice variety for lunch. We ate at the Italian and the Mexican. The Italian was the better of the two we tried. We also went on the Kuku Kunuko bus trip which was very fun. And we went to El Gaucho which was excellent. I would recommend both of these.

The beach was great...pretty and clean clean... just beautiful. It was nice to float around with a drink. We never had an issue with getting a hut. The front rows were always taken but we found our favorite spot (near the volleyball net). We were out everyday by 8:30 still no issues. We had fun playing w/ the "fun club". They organize the activities for the resort. They are a nice group. We made good friends w/Jimmy and Juan. As for the towel cards. Not a big issue. The hut opens at 8:00 am. You just give them your cards and tell them the room number and you get your towels. Then at the end of the day you turn them in and get the cards back. Just do not lose them. and do the same thing the next day.

The pool is fun too. We played the 2:00 bingo and had many drinks at the swim up bar very cool. There was always a place to sit at the pool as well. It is a nice break from the ocean. It was clean and not too crowded.

We won at the casino playing black jack...which is always a good thing. The casino is small but people do go in it. The lobby bar was nice. We had a few drinks there while we waited for our dinner reservations and our cab rides.

We went to the Sound lounge at night a few times which was good. They play music and there is a dance floor.

We met a lot of nice people. A few pointers.....

Do not take the shuttles they try to sell you online. Take a cab.
On your return plan a 1 1/2 hrs for customs.
Bring snacks from home for your room. Things in the hotel store are expensive.

All in all a super fun time…got a great tan…and can’t wait to go back next year.
Thanks Occidental for a great time :)