Home
About Aruba
Sights
Virtual Views
Google Map
Beaches
Weather
Travel Info
Communications
F.A.Q.
Aruba Hotels
Hotel Specials
Hotel Reviews
Villa Rentals
Timeshare
Real Estate
Car Rentals
Airfares
Cruise Ships
Things To Do
Scuba Diving
Restaurants
Honeymoon
Weddings
Trip Reports
Bulletin Board
Facebook
Free Discount Coupons
Fun Stuff
Aruba WebCams
Newsletter
Links
Contact Us
Español
Other Islands:
Bonaire
Curacao
Vakantie Curacao
|
The Radisson Aruba, March 6-13, 2001
By Lisa & Jerry, website www.arubabound.com
Planning
My in-laws travel on Continental Airlines frequent flier miles so only needed to book a room. In December I put them in touch with MCM Tours. Amy took care of booking their room. After seeing the photos of the Bonaire Suite from our stay at the Radisson Aruba Caribbean Resort in September, they knew that that was where they wanted to stay. Usually staying in a timeshare they like the advantage of being able to spread out a little and relax in a living room, rather than just hanging out in a hotel room.
At Christmas my in-laws invited us to go along with them on this trip to Aruba in March. We had already used frequent flier miles for 2 tickets to Aruba this coming September for another stay at the Radisson. With the gift of a weeks stay in Aruba, we changed our tickets so that we could meet Jerry’s parents in paradise. Again, Amy and Phil at MCM Tours took care of booking our room.
With the threat of an impending blizzard (that never materialized) hitting the northeast, my in-laws decided to spend the night prior to their flight at the Hilton at Newark airport. Luckily, unlike their fellow travelers flying on American Airlines out of JFK, their flight Tuesday morning was not cancelled and took off shortly after de-icing the plane.
Getting There
Our flight was on Delta, non-stop out of Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport to Aruba. Jerry flies Delta on business and thought that we had some of the best flights that he has experienced. They supply plenty of pillows, blankets and even a wide variety of magazines. Meals were typical airline food, as a matter of fact the same menu as our trip in September; but unlike six months ago, we were offered beverage service numerous times. The B-737-800 configured 3 and 3 that they have been flying on this route is a cramped plane, but lucky us had no one sitting next to us on the way to Aruba so we were able to pull up the armrests and spread out a little.
Coming home Jerry inquired at the gate if there were any bulkhead seats available and sure enough they had them. Bulkhead seats are great when you can get them because they do give you a little bit of extra legroom, no worries over the person in front of you reclining their seat in front of your face (had one of those on the way to Aruba…but with my destination in mind it was livable). A disadvantage though is no room to put anything under the seat in front of you since it is not there! Everything must go in the overhead bin and since you are one of the last passengers on the plane with the boarding beginning in the back of the plane, you may get shut out of overhead bin space. Then the airline will require you to check your carry-on. Always a gamble, but it was worth the extra legroom on such a long flight.
A big advantage for us with the storm in the northeast was a 150 M.P.H. tail wind. Departing Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport about 20 minutes late, we arrived in Aruba 25 minutes early! Again, what luck.
Upon landing in Aruba the Continental plane that had carried Jerry’s folks from Newark was at one of the gateways with luggage being loaded onto it. Obviously they had arrived well ahead of us, which was fine. We had planned to meet at Gilligan’s at the Radisson after we checked in.
I am still trying to get used to the look of this new airport. Shamefully I must admit I do miss walking off that plane and down the stairs into that smack of hot wind in your face. There are more shops open than in September, but there are still vacancies and no real restaurant or bars.
We are usually those folks who wait and wait for their luggage. Last trip we swore the luggage handlers put out half of the luggage and then went on a coffee break. This year we were one of the first folks to receive their baggage so off we went. I had phoned our taxi driver friend Franke a week before our arrival and there he was when we walked out of Aruba Customs! He is always waiting for us with his huge Aruban smile upon arrival in Aruba. Just like coming home.
I have an interesting little story about Franke coming up later. For now Jerry and I were on our way, off to the Radisson with Franke, a proud Papa in his new taxi. His daughter Jeannice, had just returned from the Latin American Tourism Beauty Pageant in Venezuela. Not only was she crowned Miss Tourism Latin American 2001, but she was also awarded the titles of Miss Congeniality, Miss Beautiful Hair and Best National Dress. Franke was just busting his buttons over his daughters. The other daughter has studied computers in college and was in the states interviewing for positions in Chicago and Atlanta.
The Radisson
Upon arrival we were immediately met by one of the doormen who proceeded to take our luggage from Franke’s trunk. They put your luggage on a cart while you are checking in. No lines, we walked right up to the desk and Jerry handed the young man our confirmation from MCM Tours. He typed everything into his computer, looked perplexed, stared at the screen for awhile and then excused himself to go ask a supervisor for assistance. My husband has the same name as his father and does not use “Junior”. It turns out that when Jerry’s folks had checked in prior to us, the hotel or the computer thought that Senior and Junior were one in the same person. So…in effect, the other room had been cancelled. No problem though, they were very apologetic and asked us to give them a few minutes to straighten everything out. My last name is different from my husband’s and thus a different last name from my mother-in-law (follow me so far?) and unfortunately the computer evidently didn’t even pick up that fact.
While Jerry waited I went to the concierge. I had made most of our dinner reservations on the Internet about a week before hand. The restaurants ask that you do confirm, so I had a list of where and when typed up that I just handed to the concierge. I checked back later that evening to make sure that all was okay. Glad I did. The two concierges were busy when I passed them the piece of paper (with a tip I might add!) and the list ended up in their drawer. She promised to take care of it right away and before we retired for the evening we had confirmation of the list slid underneath our room door.
As a side note, I had e-mailed Aruba Concierge Services to make a reservation at a hotel for which I had no contact information. They never responded so I took the $5 they would have gotten for the service and put it towards the gratuity for the concierge at the Radisson.
By the time I returned to the front desk, Jerry was signing all of the paperwork and we were off with the bellboy to our room. We had booked a gardenview and at this point had no idea what to expect. The bellboy led us to the Bonaire tower, while trying to give us the layout of the resort. When we told him we didn’t need the tour, we had just stayed there in September, he was so very happy that we had chosen to return.
Lo and behold we had room 2417, the room right next door to the one that we had had in September! The same view of the ocean, pool and gardens, with the addition of the island but a little further to the north so no sunset, but very lovely nonetheless. Not bad for booking a gardenview!
My in-laws had booked a Bonaire Suite and requested a room on one of the higher floors of the four-story tower. They were assigned an even numbered suite on the third floor. Terrific view of the gardens, south swimming pool and sunset, but one drawback, no balcony. This Bonaire Suite had only a step out balcony, along with the two large picture windows that the other Bonaire Suites have. After seeing the photos of the suite that we had had in September, they had assumed they would have a balcony. My father-in-law inquired the next day about changing to another suite and they had an odd numbered suite available the following day. In the long run, they decided it was not worth re-packing just to have the balcony. It was nice to know that the Radisson would have cheerfully exchanged their room for them.
Okay, so what are the differences between odd and even numbered Bonaire suites? Even numbered have no balcony, but do have a wet bar, table for four and in the bath, a body spray shower in the largest shower I have ever seen. The odd numbered Bonaire suites include a balcony, dressing area, whirlpool tub and separate large stall shower. The living rooms and bedrooms were both about the same size. In any of the towers, the higher the floor that you are on, the better the view will be. When In the Bonaire tower, the higher the number of the room the closer to the ocean that you will be. If you do stay in a Bonaire Suite and like a balcony and whirlpool tub, request room number 4219 at your time of booking.
Okay, so what can I say that I haven’t said before? Just re-state from my last trip report? Seriously, check out our last trip report for more details on the Radisson. This resort is awesome, beautiful, wonderful and gorgeous. Jerry and I met with a Frommer’s travel author on Monday who was doing research on the island. He has traveled throughout the Caribbean and was seriously impressed by the Radisson resort. He es | |