Aruba in April

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Lon
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Aruba in April

Post by Lon »

I'm fortunate that I can fly round trip free from California to Aruba and would like to spend a week there in April. I would appreciate any suggestions or input from Bogleheads re: condo/house rentals etc.
Jack FFR1846
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Avoid school vacation week if you can. Prices for airfare and rooms go way up (sometimes double). Hotels generally are divided into the low rise area and high rise. Hi rise has shopping and a ton of stuff on the beach and in the hotels including casinos and shows. Low rise is more laid back. There is also the Sonesta which is in downtown and has a private island that hotel guests can go to.

What do you like to do? I've been there a couple dozen times and my mom has 10 weeks at Costa Linda.
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jrtexas
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by jrtexas »

Our worse vacation. Arubans are not tourist friendly. They shut down on Sundays BTW.
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batpot
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by batpot »

jrtexas wrote:Our worse vacation. Arubans are not tourist friendly. They shut down on Sundays BTW.
Funny, I'd agree with your on the first point, but not the 2nd.
I found the people there to be among the most pleasant...but that may have been because we stayed in a condo in Savaneta, and not in the touristy area.

We did quite a bit of research, and learned that Aruba has the best reputation of all the Caribbean Islands, and the most repeat visitors.
It has about every kind of activity you can imagine, including pretty good scuba diving, which I think helps give it high marks.

What soured us was a really crappy rental car full of dents and broken lights, the place was generally pretty dirty, and the food was underwhelming.
We may go to St Maarten at some point in the future, but outside of that we're done w/ the Caribbean.

Living on the west coast, Hawaii is way better.
However, at either destination, booking only a few weeks out, you may have a hard time getting a good deal on lodging.
The Wizard
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by The Wizard »

Aruba is the most Americanized of the ABC Dutch islands. We generally prefer Bonaire and Curacao, but had an ok time at the Divi Aruba Tamarijn one time, in the low-rise district. I'd go back there without too much whining...
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The Wizard
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by The Wizard »

Member happyisland is on Aruba.
Perhaps he/she will have something to say later...
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dad2000
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by dad2000 »

I've been there a few times. Some random recollections:

The high rise area was busy and had more activities.
The low rise area was more relaxing but with fewer activities.
We've stayed in both.

The island is pretty safe as long as you don't go looking for trouble. You probably don't need a car for a whole week. We used the public bus and taxis a couple times each.
Dining out tends to be a much more time consuming affair than in the U.S. It's fine if you're not on a schedule, but we chose to only dine out for dinner. We brought a hot pot and did a little grocery shopping for the other meals.
I don't know if it's still the case, but fresh milk was shipped in weekly, and only available in the grocery stores on certain days.
I used Priceline bidding for rooms, and got a great deal for the Westin in the high rise area. It was a nice place, especially for the kids.
Slackter
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by Slackter »

We go every year (just about). Since it is just my wife and I, we stay in the low rise hotel section because I like peace and quiet on my vacations. Unless you are traveling with children, I would highly recommend the Bucuti resort. It's adults only throughout the resort and the beach area is one of the largest.

http://www.bucuti.com/
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happyisland
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by happyisland »

Happyisland, reporting for duty!

As was mentioned above, I am a full-time resident of Aruba (and I love living here!). I would be happy to help with advice on any aspect of your trip planning. Here are some questions to get you started:
1) what kind of accommodations are you interested in? (near all the action, a bit quieter, hotel, guest house, etc).
2) what kind of activities do you like to do on a tropical vacation? (dive, kitesurf, snorkel, tour, read on the beach, shop, off road, etc).
3) what kind of food do you like? (Aruba has a pretty wide variety of restaurants)
4) is there anything else you had been interested in seeing/doing while you're here?

Let me know, and I'll see if I can pass along some useful info.

:sharebeer

HI
jstrazzere
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by jstrazzere »

Aruba is really nice.

Walk the boardwalk. Visit each hotel - you'll find interesting things to do in each.
Rent an inexpensive jeep-style vehicle for a day and drive around. Look for goats.
See the northeast side of the island - completely different from the hotel area.
Visit baby beach on the far east end of the island. Bring some bread or cereal or something for the fish and go snorkeling.
madmatt
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Re: Aruba in April

Post by madmatt »

Rent a Jeep and make a reservation in the outdoor seating at Madame Jeanettes. I also found Aruba much safer than the news would have you think. Also, find a little place on the beach called Scotts Brats if it is still there. Nice slice of home for lunch with a beverage.
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