Anyone been to Aruba?
Discussion
Been to Aruba. Hated it! Full of fat americans.
Very very overpriced food. In 1998 we were paying min £70 for two in the cheapest (ie rubbish) restuarants and well over £120 in the medium to higher priced places. That was with limited drinking. so really need to budget over £100 a night for food. And then you need lunch as well!
Tip - ask Taxi drivers where locals eat.
The Galleaon (sp?!) restuarant was my fave.
Snorkling was great, beaches good, accomodation average, windy and barren, not pretty, great for windsurfers, no style etc.... Depends what floats your boat, personally I would rather not return there again. But if you live for McDonalds and Wendy burgers then it is fab.
No culture, nothing interesting to see or buy (except fish).
I didnt have a terrible time there ie was on honey moon so determined to enjoy.... Hated being near the apartments pool as the other guests were far too annoying....
Hated being ripped off for rubbish food....
Very very overpriced food. In 1998 we were paying min £70 for two in the cheapest (ie rubbish) restuarants and well over £120 in the medium to higher priced places. That was with limited drinking. so really need to budget over £100 a night for food. And then you need lunch as well!
Tip - ask Taxi drivers where locals eat.
The Galleaon (sp?!) restuarant was my fave.
Snorkling was great, beaches good, accomodation average, windy and barren, not pretty, great for windsurfers, no style etc.... Depends what floats your boat, personally I would rather not return there again. But if you live for McDonalds and Wendy burgers then it is fab.
No culture, nothing interesting to see or buy (except fish).
I didnt have a terrible time there ie was on honey moon so determined to enjoy.... Hated being near the apartments pool as the other guests were far too annoying....
Hated being ripped off for rubbish food....
gazzab said:
Been to Aruba. Hated it! Full of fat americans.
Very very overpriced food. In 1998 we were paying min £70 for two in the cheapest (ie rubbish) restuarants and well over £120 in the medium to higher priced places. That was with limited drinking. so really need to budget over £100 a night for food. And then you need lunch as well!
Tip - ask Taxi drivers where locals eat.
The Galleaon (sp?!) restuarant was my fave.
Snorkling was great, beaches good, accomodation average, windy and barren, not pretty, great for windsurfers, no style etc.... Depends what floats your boat, personally I would rather not return there again. But if you live for McDonalds and Wendy burgers then it is fab.
No culture, nothing interesting to see or buy (except fish).
I didnt have a terrible time there ie was on honey moon so determined to enjoy.... Hated being near the apartments pool as the other guests were far too annoying....
Hated being ripped off for rubbish food....
Many thanks...I can understand that kind of holiday. I've been to a few places in the Caribbean, and got the same impression. We'll tick that off the list then!
Many thanks for your time, it's appreciated.
Cheers.
Yes, went there in 2003. Great place and very safe as it is owned by the Dutch.
Check out www.aruba.com message board for information about hotels, things to do, etc.
The best bit about the island is that it is too far South to suffer from hurricanes. I don't even think that it is classed as a Carribean Island (Dutch Antilles). The average year round temperature is 90° IIRC. There is a tradewind present like in Fuerteventura, which is quite refreshing during both the day and night.
The island offers high-rise All-Inclusive style hotels on the North West side. These are great if you like that sort of thing. All offering the usual watersports, casino, etc. The down side is that they can be overwhelmed with Yanks. Then you have the low-rise Apartment style hotels in the West along the coast and pretty much down to Oranjestad (The Capital).
The beaches are awesome and due to the constant tradewinds, sail sports are excellent. Eagle Beach is th most spectacular beach I have ever been to.
As it is so safe to travel round the island, we went Bed and Breakfast to allow us to sample more of a choice of food and drink. We hired a Jeep and travelled to a different restaurant each night. Eating out is quite expensive but I must recommend The Dome restaurant. (The Queen of Holland eats there apparently) We had our 2nd anniversary there. Great food and service.
Shopping is good downtown and there are loads of bars run by the Dutch which show the football, etc. A handful of nightclubs providing adequate entertainment (Dance Music mainly as the Dutch love it).
There is nothing on the North East side at all apart from places of beauty. The Natural Bridge, etc. No beaches, No Hotels. Nice to take a Jeep off road there for a bit of fun. You can also hire Harley Davisons!!
To the South is another town (Can't remember the name)and an oil refinery, which I must stress, does not even get noticed unless you drive past it or fly over it.
8 out of 10 overall. Go for it.
Edit: Just seen some of the other posts. Can't please everybody I suppose. In comparison to Antigua and St Thomas in the Virgin Islands it isn't quite as good. However, we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
>> Edited by veetwin on Monday 23 January 12:51
Check out www.aruba.com message board for information about hotels, things to do, etc.
The best bit about the island is that it is too far South to suffer from hurricanes. I don't even think that it is classed as a Carribean Island (Dutch Antilles). The average year round temperature is 90° IIRC. There is a tradewind present like in Fuerteventura, which is quite refreshing during both the day and night.
The island offers high-rise All-Inclusive style hotels on the North West side. These are great if you like that sort of thing. All offering the usual watersports, casino, etc. The down side is that they can be overwhelmed with Yanks. Then you have the low-rise Apartment style hotels in the West along the coast and pretty much down to Oranjestad (The Capital).
The beaches are awesome and due to the constant tradewinds, sail sports are excellent. Eagle Beach is th most spectacular beach I have ever been to.
As it is so safe to travel round the island, we went Bed and Breakfast to allow us to sample more of a choice of food and drink. We hired a Jeep and travelled to a different restaurant each night. Eating out is quite expensive but I must recommend The Dome restaurant. (The Queen of Holland eats there apparently) We had our 2nd anniversary there. Great food and service.
Shopping is good downtown and there are loads of bars run by the Dutch which show the football, etc. A handful of nightclubs providing adequate entertainment (Dance Music mainly as the Dutch love it).
There is nothing on the North East side at all apart from places of beauty. The Natural Bridge, etc. No beaches, No Hotels. Nice to take a Jeep off road there for a bit of fun. You can also hire Harley Davisons!!
To the South is another town (Can't remember the name)and an oil refinery, which I must stress, does not even get noticed unless you drive past it or fly over it.
8 out of 10 overall. Go for it.
Edit: Just seen some of the other posts. Can't please everybody I suppose. In comparison to Antigua and St Thomas in the Virgin Islands it isn't quite as good. However, we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
>> Edited by veetwin on Monday 23 January 12:51
veetwin said:
Yes, went there in 2003. Great place and very safe as it is owned by the Dutch.
Check out www.aruba.com message board for information about hotels, things to do, etc.
The best bit about the island is that it is too far South to suffer from hurricanes. I don't even think that it is classed as a Carribean Island (Dutch Antilles). The average year round temperature is 90° IIRC. There is a tradewind present like in Fuerteventura, which is quite refreshing during both the day and night.
The island offers high-rise All-Inclusive style hotels on the North West side. These are great if you like that sort of thing. All offering the usual watersports, casino, etc. The down side is that they can be overwhelmed with Yanks. Then you have the low-rise Apartment style hotels in the West along the coast and pretty much down to Oranjestad (The Capital).
The beaches are awesome and due to the constant tradewinds, sail sports are excellent. Eagle Beach is th most spectacular beach I have ever been to.
As it is so safe to travel round the island, we went Bed and Breakfast to allow us to sample more of a choice of food and drink. We hired a Jeep and travelled to a different restaurant each night. Eating out is quite expensive but I must recommend The Dome restaurant. (The Queen of Holland eats there apparently) We had our 2nd anniversary there. Great food and service.
Shopping is good downtown and there are loads of bars run by the Dutch which show the football, etc. A handful of nightclubs providing adequate entertainment (Dance Music mainly as the Dutch love it).
There is nothing on the North East side at all apart from places of beauty. The Natural Bridge, etc. No beaches, No Hotels. Nice to take a Jeep off road there for a bit of fun. You can also hire Harley Davisons!!
To the South is another town (Can't remember the name)and an oil refinery, which I must stress, does not even get noticed unless you drive past it or fly over it.
8 out of 10 overall. Go for it.
Cheers....Put's another light on it! I'll review the website then.....Must admit, had enough of the "yanks" in Vegas at new year.....Absolutely lovely people until they start "whooping" and hollering in your ear!!
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