I read the review below mine and felt compelled to respond. I too have travelled to many places requiring a hotel stay with a minimum of 4 star review. This hotel is no exception. My most recent vacation to Aruba was terrific. Costa Linda is located right on Eagle beach. The Service was excellent from the check in staff to the pool, gym, food services to shops. The rooms are spacious and very clean. The room for improvement comes with the colour choices (linens, draperies...) The hotel ammenities are excellent. You can walk or drive in any direction to find whatever entertainment/ activity makes you happy or you can just stay put and have whatever you need at the resort. What I loved most about the hotel was the pool area and the beach. It is beautiful QUIET and NOT overcrowded! I hope this fair and more accurate review helps the traveller who is looking for a great vacation at a very nice place.

I was completely disappointed in this resort. The grounds and beach area are nice but past that my experience there was pretty disappointing. I’m not sure how RCI rates this as a “Gold Crown” resort because it is average at best. I know owners and some visitors disagree but I guess their standards are different than mine.

I had done my research on the Timeshare User's Group (TUG) reviews and felt comfortable putting this resort on my request list through RCI. Based on the reviews I was actually excited when I received confirmation into the resort. And upon arrival while we were waiting to check in a gentleman told us that he had stayed there many times and it was a wonderful resort. At that point I was still excited. I had brought my best friend to Aruba and she was really excited, too because I had bragged about Aruba for years, having traveled there many times. When we stepped up to the front desk our excitement began to wane a bit when we were greeted by a less than friendly front desk clerk.

Let me sidetrack for a moment and say that Aruba bills itself as “One Happy Island.” Well, the people of the island might be happy but I don’t find that evidenced in their demeanor in most cases. Mostly I have found them to be indifferent. Not rude, just indifferent, i.e., they can take you or leave you. That is not to say that everyone is this way but in general that is what I’ve found. And some of it is dependent on what people you are interacting with, but in general if Aruba’s people are happy, that happiness doesn’t appear to be jumping right out there. Now some might say that the island people are responding to how I am acting but I can honestly say that I’m an upbeat and friendly person, and I treat people with respect, so their indifference is not in response to how I am interacting with them. I love the island itself though and it doesn’t deter me from returning time and again. What it does do is determine how generous I am in my tipping.

Now, back to my review of the Costa Linda. After checking in we went to our unit and I was horrified upon entering. Actually, there was a bit of embarrassment as well because I had bragged to my friend that this was basically a “5-star resort” and it was so far removed from a “5-star resort” it wasn’t funny. The unit was old and tired with extremely dated furnishings. After closer inspection it got worse. There were closet door handles taped on with masking tape, handles falling off, a filthy, ratty area rug in the living room area, no Jacuzzi tub, and a general feeling of “old.” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I apologized to my friend and if it hadn’t been so costly to call RCI from Aruba I would have demanded they move us immediately. But, at $1.60 per minute for a phone call I didn’t want to rack up the bill. The unit wasn’t unliveable, it was just old, outdated, and some repair was needed. Later I discovered the shower/tub combo wouldn’t drain properly and I ended up standing in a foot of water every time I showered.

In the kitchen I did find a good array of utensils and cookware. But, no paper towels were provided which drove me crazy. I tend to use paper towels instead of regular dishtowels and until I got to the store there wasn’t a paper towel in sight. Cudos to the Costa Linda for providing recycle bins though. That is one positive I will give them.

In terms of amenities I will say that the CL has a nice gym area and they provide water aerobics on most days. There were some other activities planned but not very well attended at all – mostly by children (like karaoke and limbo nights). That is fine as it was apparent that most people go out in the evenings for dinner and entertainment. But, the CL doesn’t advertise their activities very well either and they might have a larger and varied participation if they did something other than put their list of activities on a piece of paper inside the resort information binder. A couple of times we asked employees about a specific activity and they just said they didn’t know anything about it. At a Gold Crown resort I expect the staff to know about those things.

The restaurant (Turtle’s Nest) at the resort is ok. Definitely pricey in terms of dinner but I’ve found that to be the case at most places we have gone to for dinner and it’s expected. The food at Turtle’s Nest was decent and they have a nice selection for lunch. But, once again the staff acted like we were putting them out by dining there. The couple of times we went into the bar area to get drinks you’d swear we were asking for money. They simply acted put out by our presence. The same happened at Pizza Bob’s the one time we went there. We were the only patrons in there for lunch on one day and yet I had to actually get up and go into the kitchen area to find someone so I could get a refill on my soda after waiting for more than 20 minutes for the waitress to come by again. I find that lack of customer service appalling, especially for an island that depends on tourism to even exist.

The pool and beach areas were nice but there was no wait staff roaming to take drink or food orders. A Gold Crown resort that doesn’t offer that service??? Amazing.

The resort is a bit isolated from things but that’s a good thing, I think simply because it is less crowded than the high-rise area. If you’re looking for action this is not the resort for you. It is very quiet in the evenings with limited activities.

All in all, the vacation was great because I love Aruba and I didn’t let the lack of “Gold Crown” amenities or service at the Costa Linda upset me past the initial shock. I did apologize to my friend and promised her a return visit to Aruba in the future at a resort that I know is “5-Star.” Call me a resort snob if you want to, but in the future if the resort name doesn’t include Marriott, Hyatt, or the Casa del Mar, you won’t find me staying there. Now those three resorts known about customer service and “5-Star” ratings.

This was our first trip to Aruba. We are a family of 5, with three children ranging from ages 6 to 11. We all agree that this is one of our favorite vacations.

All of the reviews before mine are right on the mark. But here is what I feel bears repeating:

Room: Spacious, but dated. Everything was clean, but some little things that you don't like to see in a resort (such as minor tiles chips) do exist. The bed was not the most comfortable, but not the worst at all. Our room was on the first floor, which for us is perfect. We had direct and easy access to the pool and we felt comfortable sending our kids back to the room on their own. One really nice feature was that we were able to unlock the room from either the front door or the patio door. We ate breakfast on our patio every morning overlooking a beautiful view of the wonderfully landscaped pool area.

Resort facilities:
Tennis: Our family played tennis everyday. The courts were nice and, during our stay, not used very much. We did not have much trouble getting court time.
Pool: The pool is BEAUTIFUL! It has two zero entry sections and varies in depth from 3 to 5 feet. The kids loved it. There is a volley ball net in the pool and daily pool aerobics.
Beach: The beach is truly awesome. It really is spectacular and having walked up and down it for many miles in both directions; I would have to say that it is among the best on the island. Even though we were there during Christmas week, we never felt crowded and we never had trouble getting a chickie (umbrella). We did not have to get up at 6am just to get a spot on the beach. Having said that, if you feel the need to be in the front row (there are only about 3 staggered rows all together), you may need to get there a little early.
Other facilities: Near the lobby is a jumbo chess set (pieces are about 2 feet high) that my kids absolutely loved.
Turtle's Nest: The pool restaurant...Turtle's Nest...was good. Not fancy, but good, basic pool side fair. There are 3 different happy hours during the day, where you get two drinks for the price of one (but you literally have to get two of them...not one for half price). There is a little playground on the beach which our little one loved and it turned out to be a great place for meeting other kids the same age. There is also a basketball court on the beach which the kids all loved.
Right next to the Costa Linda - right on the beach - is a place to rent Jet Ski’s, banana boat rides and other fun water sports...very convenient. Also, our girls got their hair braided right on the beach.
Resort stores: The main "supermarket" was a little disappointing. They had more resort wear than stuff I would have liked. The food selection was very limited. If you are interested in filling the kitchen, a trip to a real market is probably the best bet. We did not prepare any of our own food, but I would have liked a better "beach snack" selection. The store ran out of peanut butter the second day we were there and every day promised us it would come in "tomorrow" which never happened. All of the touristy type items for sale were, of course, expensive. They could use a bigger food selection.
There is a coffee/ice cream shop in the resort as well. They had a ton of fancy dessert type food (such as cheese cakes) but not enough breakfast food. A coffee shop needs good danish and muffins, etc. Bagels would have been nice too. Most of the pastries were old and stale. They also sold hot dogs and had a limited selection of sandwiches. This could have been great, if they did a better job of maintaining fresh inventory. After a day or two, most people figure out that there is a Dunkin Donuts right out side the resort, just past the tennis courts. The people that work there are rude, but they always had fresh donuts and typical DD coffee. There is also a restaurant that is open for breakfast only, but we didn't try it.

Dinner: The food was amazing just about everywhere we went. There are way too many options to discuss here. But...so much good food!

Car: It seems that most people rent cars. We did not. Cabs are plentiful and come quickly when called 5 to 10 minutes. Also, we enjoyed walking to dinner when we could. There are a few restaurants in nearby resorts that you get walk to easily. They are all right on the beach and great places to eat with kids. We loved this.

Overall, we loved the Costa Linda...but it is in need of some TLC. After having visited a bunch of the other low rise resorts, I have to say that it is truly a "diamond in the rough". It has some benefits that other resorts just cannot duplicate: The pool area is magnificent, the beach is magnificent, it is right on the beach (no crossing the street to get to the beach). It is big enough, but not so huge that you feel crowded. Since it is a timeshare, I would say rent...but now is not the time to buy.

Although I have given the resort a "4"...our vacation was definitely a "5"!!!

As a nice aside...we flew direct on USAirways. Our flights were EARLY arriving at both Aruba and back home. This was the smoothest round trip flight experience we have ever had.

I have always gotten great help from other Trip Advisor members and would love to pay the favor forward. Please feel free to contact me!

My family first spent the last two weeks of December in Aruba 16 years ago and stumbled across a billboard for Costa Linda - Coming Soon - while jogging along the barely marked construction site and by the time we left we had purchased a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit, unsure what would ever happen to our money, but knew we wanted in. The resort is overall one of the top few on the island, though it does have its faults - undeniably the least of which is more continuous (and consistent) updating of just about everything. The key to Costa Linda is this - they do keep making it better, everything is clean and works, you do not need to cross a street to go to the beach (many resorts are set up this way), but by and far the one thing I CANNOT figure out is why Costa Linda does not advertise the fact that it sits on the best piece of property adjacent to Eagle Beach, recently rated by Travel & Leisure as one of the top ten beaches IN THE WORLD!!! Enough said.