Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino

March 20 - March 27, 2003 by Ellen

Another beautiful week in paradise! We flew down AA out of Hartford and connected out of San Juan. Our plane actually arrived 20 minutes early this time, only they lost our 16 year old daughters luggage. It arrived late that night, bent in 10 different ways and ripped in 3 different places. It must have been stuck or run over somewhere.

The hotel was beautiful as usual. We got a room overlooking the pool and the ocean. The room was huge. I can't say enough about how clean the rooms are at this hotel. They turn down your bed at night, ask if you need any extra towels, and leave chocolates on your pillow. The room was always cleaned by 10 am, and it was spotless.

We got out to the beach for sunset. The palapa situation at the hotel is not that bad. My husband was up early and got in line for a palapa at 6:45, and the towel hut opened at 7:30. We got a first row hut every day, and never had to pay. there are a few available for a pampering in paradise program, but there are still plenty of other huts available, including first row. You can pick out which hut you like when you get to the towel hut. Most of the people get up to get huts when the the towel hut opens up and they chit chat in line. There is no problem getting seats out by the pool, and you only need to get up early if you want those front row huts at the beach.

Our first night we tried the Pirates nest. The atmosphere was beautiful, but I think I ordered the wrong dish. I had heard of a good shrimp dish there, but I had 2 choices, and ordered the garlic shrimp. It was just way too much garlic for me. The service was fine and everyone else in the party said their meal was fine. It wasn't my most favorite restaurant that we have visited in the last 10 years to Aruba, but the outside dining was wonderful.

Friday morning we spent on the beach. My husband took our teenage daughter and her friend jet skiing. They had a blast. We always enjoy the happy hour at the Marriott and the SOS band. For dinner we went to one of our old favorites, Madame Jeanette's. The food was excellent and they had a wonderful Dutch singer. If you request a table there, I suggest you ask for outside "under the stars". If you do that then you are assured of not getting in the first part of the restaurant which is covered, but can sometimes get pretty hot and congested where all the people come in. The food is always great there and the prices very reasonable.

After our teenage daughter went to sleep we thought we would try the Full Moon party next door at Moomba's. We got there after midnight and the place was packed. My husband and I are in our mid- forties, so when we got there it appeared to be mainly a very young crowd this time. We didn't end up staying because it was so crowded, but the young people really did seem to be enjoying themselves. There were three girls dancing on the bar. It was probably great fun, but we suddenly felt old,lol.

Sat. was more of the same. Great weather, great beach time, and this time it was Flying Fishbone for dinner. It is so beautiful there at sunset.

Sunday we stayed on the beach again all day. The weather was perfect. Not a drop of rain. For some reason it was not as windy as usual. There did seem to be quite a few spring breakers along Palm Beach this time, but there were no problems. The beach at the Marriott was pretty crowded, especially over the weekend. Sunday our daughter and her friend did some tubing. It was $15 for 15 minutes. They had so much fun. Sunday night we thought we would try a new Italian restaurant for us, so we tried Avalone's. The food was excellent. It is where the old Pavaotti's was. They cook your meal at the table. It was very enjoyable.

Monday we stayed at the beach for the first part of the day and then went into downtown for a little shopping. Our 16 year old really wanted an Aruba flag, and we found a huge one at a bookstore for $20. Since we had an 8 o'clock reservation at El Gaucho, we hung around downtown. We visited the Renaissance hotel to check it out. For us we were glad we picked the Marriot. It is pretty busy around there, and I just felt more comfortable for the girls to be walking around the Marriott at night. El Gaucho's meal was fabulous as always, but it was extrememly crowded and noisy in our room. I have never had it that noisy any other time, but maybe it was just the time of the reservation. After our nightly dinner we would stop by and let the kids use the computer place across from the high rise area. It is only $6 for an hour and there is a mime out front who gives out cards for a free extra ten minutes. You can't beat the prices for internet time. My husband and I would stop at Amici's right across from the Playa Linda and have a coffee or a drink, while the 2 girls went online. There was a singer there most nights. Texas de Brazil was right upstairs from there.

Tuesday we again vegged all day at the beach. We like taking long walks up and down Palm beach, and then relaxing and watching the sunset after happy hour every night. At night we tried Bella Luna for Italian. There was a special in the paper for a five course dinner for $23. The food was excellent. No complaints. At night I am always so amazed at how quiet it is around the hotel. You go for a walk and you barely see any people. They must be either asleep or in the casinos. But it is so nice at night and quiet and peaceful. I do have to say there was much more police visability this trip. They were always riding up and down the beach and the little shopping plazas had police. We always felt very safe. The Aruban people are all so helpful, and the hotel staff at the Marriott goes out of their way to be nice to you. The Marriott hotel added a beautiful waterfall in front of the hotel. It is a nice place to take a picture.

Wednesday we took our daughters friend to see the lighthouse and the Natural bridge and drove her up by the golf course to take some pictures. Then we went back to the beach for more sun. Every day was gorgeous and the sunset every night was beautiful. For our last night we chose Le Petite Cafe near Playa Linda. It is one of our daughters favorite places. The service is quick and she loves cooking on the hot stone. We went back to the hotel to pack and then headed to try a little luck at the casino. We gave the girls $10 each in quarters, big spenders that we are, and when our daughter's fried got down to her last 3 quarters, she hit for $250 . They were so excited, and we tried to tell them this doesn't happen very often,lol.

Thursday morning we went out for our last few hours in the sun. We got great chicken salad sandwiches from Mi Dushi bagels for the plane , and then it was off to the airport. I hate saying goodbye to the ocean and hotel pool on that last day. But the good news is that I get to return in May alone with my husband Our plane ride home was the trip from hell, but it was mainly due to the weather. Our AA plane connecting in Miami left on time, and actually was due in 20 minutes early. We ran into bad thunderstorms and had to circle over Miami for an hour. We were then diverted to Nassau, and stayed over two hrs on the plane while we got more gass. Then we had to try to fly past those thuderstorms again, which left our stomachs a little quessy. When we got in to Miami of course we hade missed our connection so we were stuck in Miami. We opted to take a plane to Boston which should have left and 8 at night, but didn't end up leaving until 12 due to engine problems. We got into Boston at 3, rented a car and had to drive to the Hartford Ct. area. A five hour flight turned into 12 with a two hr. car ride. Yuk. But anyway, other than the bad plane ride home, Aruba was wonderful.

We did try a cell phone from Aruba Cell you Rent. It worked out great. With the visit Aruba card, it was only $60 for the week and we got a phone card that gave you like two hrs back to the states for $20. It was a Ventaha card. Also the cellphone people gave you a free card for 30 minutes. The reception back home to the s tates was great, and it was nice being able to call home from anywhere. I believe you can use the Ventaha card from your hotel, by dialing and being charged for a local call, and then you are only charged the Ventaha rates. It is much cheaper that way. Our car rental was $168 for the week for a Toyota Tercel. All in all another great trip to One Happy Island!