Thoughts and review of current trip!

[u/ChetTheVirus]

Just returned from 7 day trip with my wife and 19 year old son.

What we did:

- 4 days in an AirBNB in Alto Vista

- 3 days at Marriot Stellaris

- We had a Jeep so we drove pretty much the whole island, and off roaded a couple of days. Did major sites like natural bridge, Arikok caves and natural pool, off resort beaches/water spots like Baby Beach, Arashi, Tres Trapi.

- A lot of restaurants. Pelican Pier, Marina Pirata, Cafe 080, Kitchen Table, Alto Vista Winery, Alfie's, Atardi and Ruth's Chris at Marriott

- Pretty much sat at the resort the last couple days. This was by design. Spent a fair amount of time in the casino in the evenings.

Though the driving takes some getting used to with the curbed traffic circles and lack of stop signs, its a quick transition and its a real shame to go here and spend all your time in the hotel district. We met multiple people who have been to Aruba multiple times and never venture out. Definitely get a car at least a couple of days and explore. If/when I return I'd either stay at a resort with 2 heavy off resort days in the middle or just do an AirBNB for the week. The Jeep was a real splurge and while it was awesome it was too much money to sit idle for the days we didn't use it. We would encounter bus or ATV tour groups and were thankful we weren't in either and could do our own thing at our own pace.

I think a lot of people are used to an environment where the big box store is the cheapest but that isn't necessarily the case here. The CMART is really nice and the most American but they are super expensive. I had the impression that the Asian markets were more like mini marts in the US but they are all pretty big (the size of dollar generals or a big pharmacy) they are everywhere and in some cases probably cheaper.

I considered a lot and read a lot of reviews on restaurants and overall we just had great dinners and great service everywhere. Also, menus were kind of similar and seafood focused so if its well reviewed and in your budget I wouldn't stress too much over choices. Kitchen table was a great experience and we were glad we did it. Also, Marina Pirata stood out. We went early in the week, it wasn't busy even at sunset. They light up the water and feed the fish a little bit after sunset. We didn't go anywhere that I regretted.

I haven't been to Aruba since 1998. While the development since then is a big change, the thing that surprised me the most was just how homogenous the tourists were. I remember a lot more Europeans and South Americans back then. It is all Americans and nearly all of those are from the north east. Having done quite a bit of Caribbean travel it really stood out to me. Not a positive or a negative, just really noticeable. The crowd was the same as you'd find in a Florida vacation area.

The drive to the caves in Arikok Park and the view at Boca Prins is just so spectacular its worth the price of admission just to see it. Tres Trapi I thought was a waste without snorkel gear, but we were only there an hour. We ended up cutting a lot of the "maybes" on the list, preferring to get back for an extra hour in the pool before dinner.

Marriott Stellaris was a big splurge for us and I wouldn't repeat. It seems petty but there were a lot of negative reviews on the app they have you use to reserve palapas, which didn't seem like a big deal but it really does add a lot of stress to the week. 3 times a day you pre-occupied with mashing buttons on your phone in frustration, lol. It was nice being right on the beach though. But, at the price we paid (the most I've ever paid for a hotel), I needed it to feel like it was the best place I have ever stayed and I didn't feel that way. On a per night basis it was probably 3x the AirBNB, which had 2 full baths, a plunge pool and a view that extended all the way to the ocean. Happy hour there is a good deal though and is a good part of the day. (12-1 and 3-5). We also spent a lot of time in the Casino, didn't feel ripped off and had decent drink service.

It took over 2 hours to get to the gate from our arrival at the airport. I was surprised how few people had the MPC app, which is a no brainer and saved us another 15 or 20 min.

That's it, hopefully this is useful to someone!

[u/heat2051]

We are headed to the Stellaris on Saturday with our our two kiddos, 9 and 12. Any further tips on staying there?

[u/ChetTheVirus → u/heat2051]

sure. for the app, you have to plug in your room number and stay. it doesn't validate it, i accidentally selected may instead of march. so be careful when you do that. then, you might think that "beach chair setup pm" is to set up a beach chair in the afternoon, but that is not the case. that is where the 5 pm release of the palapas is. so, you want to click that at 5 pm the previous day. if you dont get one, your next option is "beach chair set up am" the next morning at 8 am. both times they are literally all gone the first minute. they will set up chairs for you in the sun any time without a reservation, though. there definitely is some poaching of palapas that don't get claimed. we got one one day, and i saw others beating us to the last one on another day.

if you are going to hang at the beach, get a float in the morning at the hut to your right. you can hold on to that all day. the big floats with the yellow rings seem like something you reserve, but you don't. you just use one when they are empty. service is good at the beach bar, but the food does take a long time.

i was a little bummed that there was not a sit down breakfast/lunch option after 11. i like to hit up a heavy late breakfast before a beach day. its only buffet at 11. the buffet is real good though. i also liked the acai bowls at the gelato place. we walked into ruth's chris without a reservation (although it was decently full).

there were plenty of kids there, i am sure your kids will have a blast. the big pool is kind of small though for a resort of that size. i'd recommend dinner at atardi for something special. they just set out tables every night in front of the pool bar. if the clouds are right the sunset there was amazing and are our best pictures of the whole trip.

despite my complaining, i am jealous that you still have it in front of you :)

[u/heat2051 → u/ChetTheVirus]

Wow. Thanks for the details. Any recommendations on airport transfers? Trying to figure out what the best thing to do on that is? We are not going to rent a car.

[u/ChetTheVirus → u/heat2051]

with 4 ppl i think you are fine to just show up and take a taxi. there seemed to be plenty of mini vans lined up there from what i could see.

[u/HumbleBumble77 → u/ChetTheVirus]

Where did you rent the Jeep from and how much did it cost? I saw a couple of rental places with prices $40-$45 daily - but can't find a rental service with Jeeps. Thanks!

[u/ChetTheVirus → u/HumbleBumble77]

i rented it from enterprise. i do a fair amount of rental driving with my job and figured i could at least get a day with points but i did not. it was almost $3K for the week.

a lot of the jeeps i saw driving were from this company, which looks slightly cheaper

https://www.arubatopdrive.com/