I have seen paradise, and its at the Holiday Inn in Aruba! I can honestly say I had none of the problems that other people experienced. We stayed in the Curcao tower, and I believe it is the newest building, and it was quite sufficient, with a nice view of the ocean. We were not waterfront but still a nice view! Our room was clean with no bad odors! We prefered the Sunset Grill and the Miramar to the buffet at night, and the Boardwalk Cafe had an excellent breakfast buffet. The pools were clean, the grounds were clean, the view magnificent, the ocean was wonderful, sandy bottomed. If you go all inclusive, which we did, there was never a long wait to eat, and we were there on winter break. The staff were sooo friendly! Vincent in the tiki bar was fast and made great drinks! The Holiday Inn grounds were gorgeus. I have stayed in alot of HI, and this was by far the best. Fear not to visit here, I cant say enough about the staff or the hotel itself. It was truly the best vacation I have ever had, and if the Holiday Inn sold Timeshares, I would buy one!

Just returned from a 5 day vacation (3-3-05 to 3-7-05) and I had a wonderful time! We are two girlfriends, age 25 and 27.

First and foremost, for the shoppers, the shops in town do not open until after 9am and are closed by 6p!! Even better, 90% of businesses are closed on Sundays (all shopping and most restaurants and rental places!! Next time, I would def. arrive on a Sunday and leave on a Sunday because the whole day can be frustrating with trying to find things to do outside of the resort!!!

The Hotel- Better then average, a little outdated, but for just sleeping and showering it's def. worth the money. The maid service was excellent and automatically left extra towels! The hotel staff was very pleasant and willing to help with reservations for outside restaurants as well as car rentals. Did not go all inclusive because of the variety on the island, and it was def. worth it that way. The restaurants in the hotel are average and were very crowded with families (children)! The casino was fun, my friend won over $300 on the slots, I just got my money back:) Drinks in the casino are free, so spend some time in there if you are getting ready to head into town and would like to do some pre-partying.

The Beach - WOW!!! The most beautiful beach in the Caribbean in my opinion! The water is so calm and clear. It was very easy to stay in the water most days and float around since the sun is so hot. FYI for all fair skinned individuals, you are closest to the equator than any caribbean island, SPF 60 or better MAY help! I used SPF 30 and my friend 45, still got some blistering! It's very breezy, so it's hard to really tell how much sun you are actually getting, so be careful! Def. go on a tube ride, what an adenaline rush...so fun:) Only $20, or for two $30. Parasailing was $50, but you cannot do a double, only one at a time.

Downtown - What a blast! Carlos N Charlies is a must, but beware of their 15% service charge (which doesn't include tips), after all the alcohol, the bill starts to get out of hand! Other good restaurants are Smokey Joes, Iguana Jobs, and Don Carlos (best Italian I've eaten). They do have McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Wendys, Taco Bell, Hooters, Dunkin Donuts, and Baskin Robbins for a little touch of home! Again, shopping closes early. Mostly jewelry stores, but enough boutiques to fulfill your shopping habit! All prices are comparable to being in the states. All the people we encountered were very nice and consistent with being One Happy Island. We rented a car and left the lights on, so the battery died. After spending a half hour just trying to find a local with jumper cables, finally received some help and they were extremelly nice!

Sights - It is a MUST that you get to see the Natural Bridge and the California Lighthouse!!! The scenes are AMAZING, I've attached some pics! We rented a car ($42 for the day and worth it) and could travel to see the entire island in a couple of hours, it's not very big!

All in all, one of the best vacations I have been on and am looking forward to planning a trip here next year! Hope this helps............

My husband and I just came back on the 5th of March and went with 18 people. I knew from reading reports that there have been mixed feelings about the Holiday Inn and I understand why after having been to the hotel and to a number of all inclusive resorts between Aruba and Mexico. I knew going in it was a 3 star so I expected no frills. The beach was beautiful, water a little cloudy. Thank god they added to the pool recently. Food was good. Service poor and sometimes rude(I am a nice person). Watchout for the all inclusive and check your bills at the end of the week. A couple of us had charges and surcharges on our bills that were wrong and they do not care. They charged a number of premium items that I did not request (I know what I order, but know way to prove it) Each resturant and bar at the hotel have different policies for all inclusive and surcharges so make sure you find out the rules at check in. Also for those with kids, at the Holiday inn kids stay and eat for free, but if you go through a charter like TNT Vacations, kids are charged $500 per child, so watch carefully when booking. Cleanliness, I felt our room was clean but others that went with us never had there sheets changed and around the hotel could have been cleaner. I don't care if it is a 3, 4 or 5 star it still should be clean. By talking to one of the waiters, he said that 96% of the guest are all inclusive and our week was fully booked and that the resort is not set up for that much and that they are understaffed. I am glad we had one person in our group in charge of beach chairs because it got pretty crazy with the people stealing other peoples beach chairs and fights breaking and security getting involved.(Iam not kidding). There was people sleeping at five am on the beach to hold their beach chair. Also one quick note, the hotel does not provide floats so you just pay $5 per day and bring your charge card not your room charge card that is provided if you want snorkal gear. All in all we had the best trip with our friends and would never let my feelings on the Holiday Inn ruin my trip. I still love Aruba and I am definately coming back but it will be at a different resort. You get what you pay for. Even though my report had mixed feelings. Your report might be different so decide for yourself. I hope you enjoy your vacation!! I gave it a three because I love Aruba!!

My husband, 3 yr old daughter and I just returned from a wonderful week of sun and fun at the Holiday Inn Aruba. We will return to this resort and would recommend this resort to all. We have travelled to plenty resorts in the past that claim to be 5 star, however, they did not measure up to this one...the service is impeccable and the food and facilities were unbeatable.
Looking forward to another vacation in beautiful Aruba in the future.