Bucuti Beach Resort

April 19th to May 8th, 2000 - by Stacy

Flight to Aruba

American Airlines - no real problems, just a 1-½ hour weather delay in Chicago, but we just made our connection (as did our luggage amazingly) in Miami. Arrived in Aruba at 8pm. Passed thru immigrations rather quickly. Luggage was just coming around. Said Hi to the customs guy as I walked thru. Grabbed a cab immediately and off we went to the Bucuti Beach Resort.

Hotel Bucuti Beach Resort

What a beautiful resort! Check in went smoothly. We (my mother and I) dropped off our luggage and headed to the beach bar for a nice frozen drink before undertaking the fun task of unpacking.

They have a great new beach bar that is great to watch the sunset while sipping a Pina Colada (or a Banana Daiquiri – my favorite!). Happy Hour is 4 to 6 pm every day – half price drinks (except beer and wine). They also have snacks.

Their Pirate’s Nest restaurant also has a deck for dining (breakfast, lunch and dinner) or you can sit inside the open-air "galleon". Breakfast is a HUGE buffet (hot and cold) with eggs, omelets, pancake, etc, made to order. There is also a wide selection of fruits, breads, and meats to choose from. There is a wide menu selection for lunch, including salads, chicken wings, burgers, and sandwiches. The iguanas love to beg for food and will eat right out of your hand if you want to feed them. Great photo opportunity! The dinner selection is also varied with plenty of different entrees from which to choose.

The pool is a regular rectangular size pool (they plan on re-doing the pool next year) with plenty of lounge chairs available. The pool is never crowded as most people are on the beautiful beach. The beach is wide and spacious. There is never a shortage of lounge chairs and there are many palm trees and huts available to escape the relentless sun (you’ll be thankful when a cloud passes overhead!). Then there’s the water… clear, cool, and an incredible turquoise blue. There are some waves (as compared to the hi-rise section) that are great for body surfing!

The rooms have either a King-sized bed or two Queen-sized beds. Each room has a patio/balcony with table and chairs. The patios also have lounge chairs. In the rooms, you have a TV, table and chairs, dresser, coffee maker, mini-bar/frig, in-closet safe, and an ironing board and iron. The bathrooms have a hair dryer and shampoo/soap/lotion dispenser in the shower. The grounds are gorgeous and immaculate. The whole hotel is clean and well kept. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. If you need something or are having a problem, just let one of the staff know and they will take care of it for you. There is a gift shop, business center and laundry facilities available.

They also have a small open-air fitness center with 2 treadmills, stair climber, bicycle, weight bench, and a Nautilus-type machine. A TV is also available to watch your favorite show as you work out. Towels and ice water are provided right there for you. It’s a very nice setup.

There is an activities desk where you get your beach towels each day and they also are available for car rentals and reservations for dinner, snorkeling trips, horseback riding trips, etc. They are full of helpful information and suggestions.

Restaurants

The Laguna Restaurant @ the Radisson Resort
Very nice atmosphere, seating inside or outside next to the "lagoon". Good service, not overly expensive, good food, no wait to sit down. They have a great stir-fry dinner where you choose your own ingredients. Dinner for two with drinks and appetizers was about $60.

Don Carlos Restaurant (downtown on the water’s edge – used to be Mama Mia’s)
Italian restaurant with great food and great atmosphere. Our waiter wasn’t afraid to recommend a dish after he steered me clear of my first choice, very helpful. Great service, not overly expensive, great food, no wait to sit down. Dinner for two with drinks and appetizers was about $70.

Three Little Birds Restaurant (downtown on a 3rd floor rooftop)
Very small place, like 9 tables. Not as great a view as I expected being on a rooftop. Their menu is written on a giant chalkboard and they bring it table to table. Service was lacking, entrees were on the expensive side, the food was great, and we had no wait to sit down (even without reservations). Dinner for two with drinks and appetizers was about $90.

Le Petit Café (in front of the Playa Linda – or downtown)
Try to sit outside – reservations would be a good idea for that. You cook your own food on a "hot rock". Very fun, but very smoky inside! They bring out your entrée on an extremely hot rock and you have to keep flipping it over to cook it to your liking. They show you how to do it. It is easy and you can’t blame the kitchen for overcooking your steak! Kind of poor service, not expensive, great food, a little wait to sit down without reservations. Dinner for two with drinks, appetizers and dessert was about $65.

Pago Pago @ the Wyndham Resort
My least favorite. Kind of poor service, expensive, food not great at all and small portions, no wait to sit down. Dinner for three with drinks, one appetizer and two desserts was about $145.

The Pirate’s Nest Restaurant @ the Bucuti Beach Resort
We ate on a Tuesday night which is Italian Night. We sat outside under the stars and enjoyed the light breeze. Good service, not expensive, great food, no wait to sit down. (I forgot to write down the cost of dinner! This was the first night that my boyfriend joined us on vacation for a week.)

El Gaucho’s Restaurant - ABSOLUTELY MY FAVORITE!
Yeah, the service might not be that great and you may have to wait, even with a reservation, but the Gaucho steak and the pitchers of Sangria are well worth it. They are ALWAYS busy and reservations are a must if you want to sit before 10pm. I believe they are also open for lunch. The Gaucho steak is HUGE and you could cut it with a butter knife. I asked the waitress how much my steak weighed and she said 16oz. I believe it weighed more than that, much more, and it was only $22. I had the leftovers for lunch and still had some left (and I can eat steak!). A pitcher of Sangria (red or white – white is great) is $20 and a half pitcher is also available. I always get a whole pitcher and you get many, many glasses out of it (more than a bottle of wine). Service is hit or miss, not expensive (huge portions), excellent food, expect a wait to sit down, reservations a must. I had made reservations over the Internet for 2 nights without any problems. (Unfortunately, after a pitcher of Sangria, I forgot to write down the cost, again! I remember we all had appetizers (3) and a couple of desserts, though.)

La Trattoria: El Faro Blanco
You can eat either inside or outside (outside – I’d suggest reservations). We sat right down inside. Service was, by far, the best on the island!! Very attentive. They cooked a special pasta for my mother – no questions asked (she brought it with her due to a food allergy). The food was great and the portions were big. This would be a great spot to watch the sunset during dinner. Excellent service, not overly expensive, great food, may have to wait for an outside table. (I, again, forgot to write down how much dinner cost…)

Chalet Suisse (next to La Quinta Resort)
BEST DESSERT!! Very nice atmosphere and large seating area. They have great Dutch Pea Soup and Roast Duck. For dessert, they offer a Toblerone Chocolate Fondue with pound cake and fruit for dipping. It is FABULOUS!! Great service, not overly expensive, great food, no wait to sit down. (Guess what? I forgot to write down how much dinner cost!)

La Dolce Vita (near the hi-rises)
Very nice Italian restaurant. They have an outside bar for a drink before dinner or if you have to wait for a table. The chef at this restaurant also was happy to cook pasta for my mother (that she had brought with her due to a food allergy). Good service, not expensive, great Italian food, usually not a wait to sit down. Dinner for two with drinks and appetizers was about $60.

The Buccaneer Restaurant (near the hi-rises)
If the catch of the day is Barracuda – GET IT! It is a great tasting fish. This restaurant has two dining rooms. One room has a wall that is a salt-water fish tank filled with huge fish and turtles. The other room has individual tanks at each booth. It’s wonderful to watch the fish as you enjoy your dinner. Good service, not expensive, good seafood, may have a wait to sit (no reservations). Dinner for two with drinks and appetizers was about $60.

Madame Jeanette’s (kind of near the La Cabana area)
This is a strikingly beautiful restaurant with outside dining. Be warned, it is very hot as there seemed to be no breeze. Reservations are a must. Service was fine, but we had to wait an hour for our entrees. (This appeared to be an isolated experience, hopefully.) There was a guitarist that has a French accent and sang some French songs along with some Jimmy Buffet tunes. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" sung with a French accent just didn’t cut it. Good service, kind of expensive, good food, reservations a must. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine and dessert was about $75.

Cuba’s Cookin’ Restaurant (downtown near El Gaucho)
Quaint little place. Extensive Cuban menu. I got a Mohito to drink at the bar as we waited for a table. It’s a distinctively Cuban drink of rum, soda water, sugar and a whole bunch of fresh mint (I think that’s everything – the bartender gave me a play-by-play as he made it!). I hate rum, soda and mint, but the drink was wonderful! It was Thursday and Thursday is Cuba Libre Night, so I tried one of those. It was a rum and coke with a splash of beer. Didn’t like that one, but if you drink 4 of them you get a free T-shirt (I was going to go for a shirt…) Pork must be a big thing in Cuba because most of the entrees were pork related. There were two Latin singers, pretty good. Small place, narrow bar. You have to go outside out back to get to the restrooms, I had to have directions! The bartender was great and fun to talk to. OK service, not too expensive, good Cuban food (although I’ve never had Cuban food before…), reservations are requested. Dinner for two with drinks, appetizers and dessert was about $75.

Papiamento’s Restaurant (near the Buccaneer Restaurant)
Outdoor seating with a small seating area inside the historic house (which has been turned into the restaurant). The atmosphere here was great also. They have tables around an in-ground pool under huge flowering trees. You can walk through the house and look at the antiques and individual dining areas, pretty neat. I think they prefer reservations, but we sat right down. Good service, EXPENSIVE, EXCELLENT food, we didn’t have to wait to sit down without reservations. Dinner for two with one drink, appetizers and dessert was about $125.

Frankie’s Bar and Grill (downtown above Little Switzerland in the Royal Plaza Mall overlooking the harbor)
An open-air restaurant that you can get a "rail-side" seat and people-watch as you enjoy a delicious meal. We happened to be there on a night they had fireworks in the harbor – magnificent (nothing like the measly ones in the states!) and we had an excellent view. Good service, not expensive, excellent food, no wait to sit down. Dinner for two with drinks and appetizers was about $65.

Hooter’s (next to Benihana’s)
Great wings, beer brewed on premises, ‘nuff said? Great service, not expensive, great food, no wait to sit down (and they have a play area for the kids). We went there for lunch and had a great time. You can tour the brewery in the back of the restaurant and I met the brewmaster and bought a couple of his T-shirts.

Pizza Hut
You haven’t had a great pizza till you have one with Gouda cheese.

Kokoa Pier
(on the beach between the Aruba Grand and the Radisson) What a great bar for a drink and a lite lunch, right on the water. Their wings and pizza were excellent, and the beers were cold! We could’ve lived right there.

Salt-n-Pepper
(across from the Allegro Resort) We didn’t eat here, but we stopped there for a drink after the Kukoo Kunuko Bus tour (we were too late to get munchies). By the expression on the person’s face that picked up the tab for the 7 of us, I’d say that the drinks were on the pricey side. (Thanks Dottie!)

Bar.com
(near Wendy’s by the hi-rises, next to the China Buffet) We stopped in for a beer just to check the place out. It’s big with indoor and outdoor dining. There are 4 Macs to check your e-mail. We didn’t get anything to eat. They open late afternoon and seemed to close early. Beer was cold!

Mambo Jambo’s and Iguana Joes
(downtown above the Royal Plaza Mall overlooking the harbor) – Cold beer!! Hopping places at night. Great place to people-watch and see the cruise ships.

Carlos ‘n Charlies
(near the cruise ship terminal downtown) Cold beer!

Charlie’s Bar (San Nicholas)
We always have a great time at this bar. The bartenders are a riot and always have a new "bar trick" to show us! We get the spicy shrimp for a snack – excellent! This place has so much memorabilia on the walls, ceiling, bathrooms, and just hanging around that it would take all day so look at everything. If you go, bring something to staple to the wall!! And don’t forget to get behind the bar with the bartender to have your picture taken! We’ve never had a problem with parking or anything like that. And guess what? The beer’s cold!!

On the subject of beer, there are a few new local beers in addition to Amstel. There is Amstel Bright which is just like Corona, only better (my fav!). There is Balashi and Rubano beer, didn’t like them.