First Trip to Aruba - Any suggestions?

Taking trip to Aruba in March. Free rooms Holiday Inn Resort, so we are staying there. Have been to Vegas about 50 times, first time to Aruba. Does anyone have any tips for gambling, eating, entertainment, etc. in Aruba. I have heard that they do comp drinks while gambling, but not much else. Thanks.

 

The food is generally meh. We ate at a bunch of places around the high rise hotel area and nothing stood out. Everything was decent but that's about it. I was expecting the seafood to be great but it wasn't really. First night I ordered lobster and it didn't taste fresh / probably was frozen.

Lots of casinos but don't be surprised if they aren't open 24/7, especially the table games. At least at the radisson they had a player's card and people seemed to think it was pretty good (I didn't bother to get one so not sure how much I could have gotten comped off room)

 

Completely disagree......have owned timeshare at two properties in Aruba for 25 years+.....best of everything! In Vegas now so pm me with wants, questions and will respond when I return!

 

I actually love aruba and will go back, the food just isn't anything special. There may be some more local places we didn't go to, but I was not impressed with the ones in the high rise area. Just depends what you standards are on whether you'd be disappointed or not

 

I also agree on the food.. of the places we went i'd say madame janettes was the best, el gaucho was not bad but not as great as it was hyped up to be.
in general the casinos are small and have horrible rules if you play table games, slots seemed to be super tight or we were just unlucky..

if you don't rent a car taxi's were pretty cheap and easy to get, there was also a bus that ran down the road by the high rise section into town and the grocery stores that was super cheap.
in the highrise section (we were at the hyatt.. ritz carlton was still under construction when we were there) there was a lot of boat traffic and the water clarity wasn't very good.

we had a good time overall but i'd say aruba was the least favorite of the islands we have been to.

 

Ditto... we've owned for 10 years... purchased on the secondary market and have loved every trip.

I'm puzzled by the comments concerning food. If you're going to eat near the high rises, you are going to get bleh food at tourist trap prices. Salt and Pepper, Blue Iguana, Sopranos, The Dutch joints, Brazilian steakhouses etc... nothing special. El gaucho however is top notch. We go twice per trip and the steak, service and atmosphere is amazing. Madamme Jeanettes.....It's good, but agree that it's way overhyped. Screaming Eagle, Windows, Pinchos, Chalet Suisse etc are all very good choices. I've been to 20+ Caribbean islands, and I'm sorry folks, but Aruba is at or near the top for culinary prowess. Remember, apples to apples.

Eagle Beach and Baby Beach are among the nicest beaches you'll find anywhere. The beaches at the Marriott (well anywhere from the old Westin north) are dirty and mucky. Eagle Beach has fine white sand and is ultra clean and clear.

Casinos..... I am a huge fan of the Stellaris at the Marriott (Surf Club, Beach Club and old Marriott complex in the high rises) The Stellaris has an excellent comp program and the comps can be burned at their Italian Restaurant, the seafood buffet, sushi restaurant and Ruth's Chris. The drink service is top notch as well. The new casino at the Ritz is very nice as well. The other older casinos... smokey, small... not so good. It isn't Vegas, and we don't try to make it Vegas. The casinos in Aruba provide a few hours of relaxation after dinner, a few drinks and a chance to escape the wrath of the Aruban sky. (for those that haven't been, Aruba has an amazing tropical breeze that masks the severe sunburn that you are getting.....)

Overall, Aruba is one of the finer islands in the Caribbean..... I think we all need to remember that many other islands offer poor dining choices and more riff-raff. Aruba is one of the cleanest and safest islands and continues to impress me each and every trip.

For the haters... I would lie to know which islands are serving food that is superior to Aruba? St. Thomas? St. Croix? Grand Cayman? Thanks.

Nick

 

St Martin. Puerto Rico.

 

Better than Aruba? I have been to Aruba 9 times, PR once and never SM. Puerto Rico was fine and I had a good time but I wouldn't go back. I think Aruba is 100 times better than PR. Better food (although I agree with previous posters that the food in Aruba isn't great but it is pretty good), better beaches, nicer, cleaner, safer, nicer locals. To me, granted based on only one trip to PR, there is no comparison between the two.

 

I'm only talking about food comparing to the other places in the cArribean. Like I said, I loved aruba and would def. go back, but the food was a bit lacking in my opinion. It's perfectly ok, but nothing special.

 

I'm a big fan of the Caribbean islands. Free rooms in Aruba! Cool.

Bill

 

turks & caicos (at least at amanyara and parrot cay)
st barths
st martin was on par, but prob. not better...