Wyndham Beach Resort (now Westin)

March 5-12, 2003 by Mindy & Bob

This is a long report, so settle down with a nice cold one before you get started.

Our flight on USAirways left Kansas City at 6:50AM & arrived in Charlotte at 9:45AM (local time). Our departing gate was very close, so we had time to change clothes & buy a newspaper. The plane had some mechanical trouble, so we left an hour late. Got to Aruba about 4PM (local time). Our transfers were via KTS. They met us right outside & since we were the only passengers, we got a nice private ride to the hotel.

Hotel info:

We can’t say enough about signing up for Wyndham by Request. When we checked in we were upgraded to a Jr. Suite, #1237 and the room was excellent. It had a king bed, sofa, side chair, chair w/ottoman, vanity/desk, dinette table w/2 chairs, 3 drawer chest, nice armoire w/small TV (someday they should invest in larger than 19" TV’s with sleep control.) & room safe. We had a decent ocean view. The trick is to look up & out, not down. Odd # rooms face Palm Beach with a view of ocean. Even # rooms face toward the Phoenix & have better ocean view & pool view. Room #’s go from XX(floor#)00 to XX38 on each floor. Elevators are in the center. Suites are on the ends. Lower #’s are oceanfront. Room did smell a little musty, but that went away soon after we got A/C up & running. Every time you open the balcony door, the AC shuts off. They have some sort of humidity vapor lock on the doors. The AC does not come back automatically, you have to turn the temp down & put the fan back on high. Also, the humidity is not as bad in the even numbered rooms, as they get more sun.

They have happy hour at the pool bar from 5-7 daily. Local beer & non-frozen drinks are $2. Most frozen drinks are $6.50 plus 15%, making them $7.50. If you like to drink, the breakfast & beverage package is a good investment. We had the breakfast buffet only included in our package as we are not big drinkers. It is available only at the inside restaurant. Great selection of food. Made to order omelets, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, oatmeal, waffles, fresh fruit, bagels, toast, salmon, cream cheese, sliced cheese, vegetables, muffins, croissants, cinnamon rolls, cereal, milk, juice, coffee, tea. Soft drinks are extra. Normally costs $17.50 per person. We left $1 tip on table for good service every day, except for 1 day when we had a surly waitress.

The line to reserve a palapa starts at about 7AM. The towel hut opens at 8AM. Bob usually got in line about 7:30 & there were about 20 people ahead of him. It was a nice opportunity to meet people, drink coffee (free) & get restaurant reviews. We always got a nice palapa, & we tipped the guy $2 to drag & set up our 2 lounge chairs with towels. Here’s the palapa situation. Numbers 39-55 look best & are closest to ocean, with 49-52 being front & center. The palapas are spaced well apart & the rows are staggered, so nearly every palapa has a nice ocean view. You could get a palapa up until about 10 or 10:30 on most days, but by then, they were all reserved. If a palapa isn’t occupied by 11AM, it is supposed to become available again, but they are rarely unoccupied. The beach is wide and clean. It has an easy walk into the ocean, no steep drops. It is windier here than at other hotels, that’s a fact you have to live with.

Restaurants:

First note that we usually don’t have wine, alcohol or dessert with our dinners. Second, service charge & tip are included in the prices quoted below. We usually tip about 20%, so we usually added on to the service charge if there was one. Many restaurants are no longer adding a service charge, so check the menu.

La Petit Café (downtown) -- We sat outside on the balcony, nice view, but it was very windy & the table was small. Both had Surf & Turf (filet & shrimp) cooked on the stone. Came with veggies (broccoli, carrots, tomato, onion) & plantains & baked potato. Had to ask for bread. Iced tea was $2.50, no free refills. The food was excellent. Total bill was $60.

Fishes & More - Had Grouper w/lobster sauce. Came with mixed veggies, diced potatoes (ours were barely lukewarm) & potato salad (excellent). Grouper was GREAT. Waiter offered more sides, but we had noticed on menu that they charge $2 for extra sides. Meal was $19 each, Iced Teas were approx. $1.80 each. Total bill was $55.

El Gaucho — We had dinner reservations at 7:00. A family of 4 came in right ahead of us without reservation, and was told they would have a 40 minute wait at Garufu cigar bar across the street. We were seated about 7:10, downstairs. We both ordered the Gaucho steak (churrasco steak), a huge strip that was at least 2" thick, all meat, no fat, more like a giant tenderloin. Came with nice salad, potato, vegetables, and garlic bread. Ordered it medium, & it came out great. Since we come from the Midwest, "cow country" we are used to great beef. We specifically came to El Gaucho to try some Argentinean beef, and we were very happy with our choice. We had water, no drinks. Total bill was $55.

Rumba — They have a small menu, but everything is good. Mindy had the seafood trio $17, Garlic Shrimp, Mahi & Salmon. Bob had full order of Garlic Shrimp $18 & bowl of cream of mushroom soup (GREAT) $3.50. Mindy had a foo-foo drink called orgasm (kalhua, baileys, amaretto, vodka, crème de coca). Total bill was $55.

Que Pasa - Mindy had the daily special called Fishdish Moqueca, consisting of grilled Wahoo, Tuna, Mahi & a couple of shrimp with a nice creamy sauce, slightly spicy. Bob had French Onion soup (forgot we were boycotting the French, but soup had Gouda cheese, so in Aruba it’s Dutch Onion soup) & an excellent small Tenderloin with garlic sauce. Both came with salad. Bill with 2 iced teas was $56.

Pago-Pago — At the Wyndham, reservations are required. Excellent dinner. Mindy had the seared tuna appetizer, Bob had shrimp cocktail. We both had almond crusted grouper on bed of rice for dinner. Had a little bit of fruit on top, Bob also had side of garlic mashed potatoes. Total bill was $89. We ate more than usual, since we had a $100 food & beverage credit at the hotel. Good way to splurge.

Seawatch Restaurant - This has to be the best kept secret restaurant on the island. It's outside by the pool at the Aruba Grand (between Wyndham & Radisson). We both had the grouper. It was grilled with a creamy white wine sauce, served on a mountain of rice. Came with a nice house salad, small side of mashed potatoes, veggies (thin baby asparagus wrapped in bacon) and a basket of bread. The fish portion was huge and delicious. Some croutons that were soft & cheesy surrounded it. The presentation was lovely. It was the best meal we had all week. This was all for $23 each plus svc charge. We hesitate to tell people, because we don't want it to get too crowded. But if they keep serving great food like that, it will. The couple at the next table had steaks, filets, I think. They kept saying how good they were, also. Total bill was $55.

We never had a bad meal the entire week in Aruba. Service in all restaurants was prompt and attentive. We were not in a hurry and enjoyed the slower, island pace.

Sunset Activities:

The only thing we did besides lay on the beach, was walk along the beach and ride the bus downtown. No rental car this trip. We had every intention of taking a snorkel cruise, but just never got around to it. We love to just lay on the beach, read, swim a little, then take a nap.

Definitely check out Moomba's on a Sunday. What a good time. Lots of folks on the beach, in the bar, just hanging out. They had a great DJ playing a nice mix of party music. They even had a truck that set up a climbing wall & trampoline bungee jump. It was busy all day long. We had a blast & were just there for a couple of hours late afternoon. Mostly local folks, as well as a few tourists.

We met some other BB people at Moomba’s for happy hour on Monday. Can you tell we liked Moomba’s? Their happy hour includes frozen daiquiris & pina coladas for just $2.50. Mindy likes foo-foo drinks, & especially liked the mango daiquiri.

Casinos:

"One happy island" does not seem to apply to the casinos. With the exception of the Casino Caranavale at the Aruba Grand, the dealers & workers were not friendly. Maybe the casino management has trained them to be stiff and not talk to players, but it’s a real turn off. I don’t like to lose, but losing in an unfriendly place is not a place I’ll return to. We found this at all the casinos along Palm Beach. We did not go to Alhambra or La Cabana this trip. Crystal Casino downtown was a little friendlier, at least their slot machines were.

The Aruba Grand was an exception. They have a nice smaller casino. Reno is the emcee there, & he has a good time with the microphone. It has more of a Latin feel. It's fun, dealers are nice, but the BJ tables are $5 Min & $50 Max so if you're looking for big $$ action, it may not be for you. OTOH, if you like to play for fun, then try it. Their BJ is hand shuffled & dealt from a shoe. The other casinos use those continuous shuffle machines, which, in my opinion, should be illegal. The Grand also has some cute penny slots that we don't see in the US. They are in Spanish, but they take $US$. I always enjoy finding a new video slot machine to lose at.

Miscellaneous notes:

The bus service is excellent. We did not rent a car on this trip. The bus goes right by the hotel & drops you off downtown. $2 roundtrip or $1.15(2 Afl.) each way. Try to have small bills when you ride the bus. Drivers can’t always change a $20 for a $2 ride. The bus to the hotel area leaves the downtown depot at 10 after and 20 before the hour, except at 11pm (not 11:10). Last bus is at 11:40.

Soft drinks are about $.60 each at the grocery stores. Refrigerators in the room at the Wyndham are $5/day.

Internet café’s are located all over the island. We used 3 different ones. They range in price from $6-$8 per hour, usually available for ½ hour minimum for ½ price. Internet kiosks in the hotels are more expensive, mostly $15-$25/hour. Wyndham had high speed internet access in the room for $20/hour.

Although it is not required, it’s very good to have passports. There is much less hassle, and it’s quicker moving through customs & immigration.

We took a pair of those inexpensive 2 mile radius walkie talkies with us. Reception was great. We could talk from the room to the beach & up & down the beach. Really fun. We also took folding raft to beach. The new kind that you can blow up in 5 min. with a springy wire rim & mesh type center. Both items created international incidents. Jealous looks all around us.

Thank you to everyone who writes trip reports on these bulletin boards. They have been tremendously helpful to us. Hopefully we have paid it forward a little. Please send e-mail or PM if you have any questions.

Bob & Mindy
(ArtDorko)