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Wyndham Aruba Beach Resort - 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.
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)
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