My girlfriend and I arrived in Aruba 5/7 where we picked up a Jeep Wrangler from Budget for the week. I loved the Jeep but my girlfriend hated the fact that it DID NOT INCLUDE WINDOWS and her hair got messed up. Perhaps I shouldn't enjoy her displeasure in that aspect.

For the first 3 nights we stayed at the Marriott Surf Club in Palm Beach. As soon as we walked into the room we could easily hear the kids in the next room making noise and the parents speaking in a normal tone. So please note the paper thin walls if you decide to stay or purchase a timeshare. In addition to this the room (ocean view) was VERY small and not very well appointed. It lacked all the normal amenities normally provided by a hotel, like ANY SERVICE AT ALL. I personally enjoyed the "at your
service" button on the phone that always went to the voice mail. There is no room service or restaurant at the Surf Club. The night prior to our checkout I inquired via phone to the front desk that we were transferring to the Marriott Resort the next day, they said we didn't have to checkout until 6pm the following day, WRONG!! We were forced to checkout at 10AM and get all of our crap together before we did the timeshare tour at noon. Luckily the Marriott Resort was able to check us in early. The timeshare tour only took an hour and we received $200 in Marriott funny money and used it at the El Gaucho restaurant which made the sales pitch from the aggressive sales lady somewhat bearable. After our three nights at the Surf Club one would have to be absolutely mad to pay $30,000 to purchase their own slice of heaven at this place.

The pool however was awesome with plenty of covered chairs for everyone. Don't bother buying floats for the lazy river since everyone leaves them at the pool when they checkout.

The final 4 days of our stay we were at the Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino. This was like night and day. The room was 200% nicer and newly upgraded. Construction is only weekdays and was hardly noticeable. It was actually a blessing in disguise because this meant the hotel was only 2/3 of capacity leaving plenty of chairs at the beach and at the pool. I would highly recommend this hotel and would love to return at some point.

***Start of rant***
Both hotels were full of LOUD MOUTHED NEW YORKERS AND BOSTONIANS. Vinny and Guido also need to pick up their trash at the beach. It's no wonder why everyone hates American tourists.***End of rant***

Restaurant Rating 1-10

El Gaucho...11

La Trattoria...9.5

Chalet Suisse...9.6

Texas de Brazil...8

Moombas...2 (cool place for drinks however)

El Gaucho for the second time...11


Hope this helps make an easy decision.

We stayed at the Marriott Surf Club using a trade out through Interval International May 3-10 2008. It was the perfect time to go as all the beaches were empty!!!! The hotel initially gave a room overlooking the construction field behind the main building...we immediatley had that changed to a room overlooking the pool and a view to the ocean. The lady at the front desk was great. Actually, everyone we encountered was great!

The pool is large with a lazy river, which was quite relaxing. The beach is very expansive with several lounge chairs and palapas. Do get a car to see the island. There isn't much to see, but there are several other beaches to explore. The wind was unbelievable and never stopped!!! Be prepared to tie your hair back and hold on to your hats...this is no easy breeze...it's full on winds.

At the airport, when you leave, you do go through Aruba customs, then reclaim your bagage and do US customs! Really slick if you have a connecting flight.

Just back from a week at the Surf Club with my husband, 3 year old son and sister, we stayed 4/25-5/2. The hotel was beautiful! We scoped out many of the other "high rise" hotels while we were there, and were happy that we chose the surf club.

The pool is amazing and perfect for little ones. There are two zero entry areas as well as two 1' kiddie pools, the kiddie pools were great for my 3 year old and really allowed us all to relax. He also loved the lazy river.

The beach wasn't as great, so we didn't spend much time there, it seemed overcrowded (with empty chairs, not even with people) and small given the size of the resort. We had stayed at the Stellaris years ago and found that beach to be much less crowded and more enjoyable.

This was our first time at a timeshare resort and it is ideal for families, we had plenty of space, and the washer and dryer were awesome to have. We did go to the grocery store to stock up on supplies, but ended up eating most of our meals out..it was nice to have milk and some basicis in the room though. We also picked up take out a few nights and were happy to keept it warm in the oven until our little guy fell asleep.

Overall, we would definetly go back, it honestly felt like a home away from home!

We stayed at the Marriott Surf Club April 18-24. Beautiful hotel! It was crowded but that was the week most schools were off in the northeast. (Saw alot of Boston Red Sox hats/t-shirts)
Check-in was a breeze. I know there were some other posts about checking in taking hours but ours took about 15 minutes. The room was huge!! We (me, my husband, 2 kids ages 11 & 9, sister-in-law , her husband, and their 2 kids ages 15 & 19) shared a 2 bedroom suite. My husband and I own a DIsney Vacation Club timeshare and these rooms are MUCH bigger. The room came with a full kitchen. We took the advice from other posts and went to Ling & Sons to stock up on some food/beer. We had breakfast in the room every day. We also packed a cooler with beer/drinks and snacks to bring to the pool/beach. I was surprised how much money we saved by doing that.
The pool area is great for the kids. They had alot of fun on the lazy river. Definitely bring your own floats..... there is an air pump at the towel hut.
The other reviews are right. It is VERY WINDY. Anything that wasn't bolted down went flying. (floats/sandals/magazines/cups/chairs) The wind was a little better at the beach, but at the pool area some days it was just annoyingly (if that's a word) windy!

This hotel is for families!! I met an older gentleman in the elevator one day who complained about how many kids there were at the hotel. It doesn't look like the Marriott is advertising this as a quiet, relaxing getaway but maybe I missed something. If you don't like kids I wouldn't recommend this hotel.

As far as restaurants go........every place we ate at was great except one.
The Bad :The first night we got there my son wasn't feeling well & everyone was tired from the trip so we just went to Champions at the Ocean Club. The food was just awful! We've been to other Marriotts and ate at Champions and the food was always good
but at the OC it was gross! There is no other way to describe it.

The Good: El Gaucho...good food...good sangria. Take the kids. For some reason we thought this was an adult only restaurant so we left the kids home that night. There were kids everywhere!! They even have a game room! Worth a trip!
Smokey Joe's...good ribs....great chicken!!
MooMba Beach...right next to the Surf Club...great atmosphere...good food...service was great.....we had a very nice waitress from Holland.
Tomato Charlies...nothing special as far as atmosphere... good food......(not New York pizza of course but still pretty good!)
Charlies Bar & Restaurant.....went there for lunch ...felt like a locals place.. (which was a good thing)..had a history but more importantly nice people and excelllent food!!!!
Excursions: We went on the 3 hour Jolly Pirate cruise. That was alot of fun. Went snorkeling for the first time! The kids had a blast!
Another day we rented a minivan and drove to Baby Beach. I highly recommend this trip. It was absolutely beautiful there. If you didn't bring it with you, you can rent snorkle equipment and beach chairs at the tiki hut they have. The snorkeling there was amazing!!
Overall this was a great trip. The only bad thing was getting or should I say not getting a palapa. The second day we were there my sister-in-law tried to get a palapa for the following day. She was told they only rent them the same day so get up early. The next day she went down to try and get one and they said they were rented for the week. I guess since she didn't know "the secret handshake" she was out of luck. It wasn't that bad though since most of the lounge chairs have a cover to them.
Other than that it was great.
Bring your floats.......bring the kids......ladies bring your hair ties (you'll be putting your hair in a pony tail every day!)
Have fun!!!