Wyndham Beach Resort (now Westin)

Aug 26 - Sept 3, 2005 by Kurt & Christine

My husband & I started our trip on Friday, August 26, 2005 our flight arrived from Houston on time at 7:30 p.m. we breezed through customs and were off to get our luggage. No problems there then headed off to Econo to get our car. Their service was absolutely wonderful. They sent us an email reconfirming our reservation 2 days prior and they also left us a voicemail message as well. Pick up was quick & easy.

We were now off to the Marriott Stellaris Resort & Casino. We came in a day early to check out the Marriott for future trip planning (we used our Marriott Rewards for our stay). It was a very nice hotel and the room was great. We had a garden view on the 3rd floor, you couldn’t really see much of the ocean since we were on such a low floor. I have to say the walk in closet & bathroom was great!! It had double sinks and enough room for 2 people to move around comfortably. The only strange thing about it was the scale in the bathroom. I am still trying to figure out why anyone would weigh themselves on vacation??? Not me... The only downside of the Marrriott was the proximity to everything, it is the last hotel on Palm Beach.

Marriott Dinner - We ate dinner at Salt & Pepper our first night as we did not get into our room until 9:00 p.m. We figured tapas would be the perfect late night dinner. We had 3 tapas (greek salad, spinach & artichoke dip & bruschetta) nachos and a pitcher of sangria and our bill was $48 with tip. Food was really good and so was the service.

Saturday

Got up and enjoyed coffee on the balcony before going out on our first island exploration. We started pretty early since we had to check out at 1 p.m. We hit the California Lighthouse first and then headed for Baby Beach. Got back around 1 p.m. and checked out of the Marriott then headed toward the Wyndham. Stopped at Dushi Bagels by Costa Linda for a sandwich. We each had a cheese & turkey bagel sandwich, 1 pop and 1 beer. The bill was $32 with tip. A bit expensive for a bagel sandwich if you ask me!!

We headed to the Wyndham around 2 p.m. This was our 2nd visit and we would definitely go back again. We opted for the All Inclusive plan since we like to eat and drink a lot. It also makes for an enjoyable vacation if my husband does not see a bill every meal/cocktail. We booked the standard room and requested an upgrade to a superior since the odd number room we were assigned had a terrible musty odor. We are by request members and they had wine, cheese & crackers and water waiting for us in our room the first evening. The room itself was ok, the bathroom was pretty small and had only one sink. Overall the hotel was nice and very clean. After the room change we got our suits on and headed to the pool to relax and have a few drinks.

Please note: On the AI plan the Wyndham makes you sign the bill for each meal/drink. You are able to see what it would cost you if you were not on the AI plan. Below I have given what the cost of each meal would of been if we did not do the AI.

Dinner - We ate at Cafe Baci and it was good. We each had a salad, I had the chicken marsala and hubby the garlic & shrimp pasta. We had the taramisu for dessert. My chicken was a bit dry but my husbands pasta was good. Dinner was $85 w/tip and included a couple glasses of wine.

Sunday

Got up and had coffee on the balcony. Hubby went for a run and I met him later to walk the beach before breakfast. We ate in the Greenhouse Diner for the breakfast buffet which is the only AI option. It was ok but certainly not worth $17.50 per person. The service in the Greenhouse was not very good.

After breakfast we spent time with the beautiful birds. Usually around 10-10:30 they are out of their cages and you can hold them and take pictures. Then we headed to the towel hut to get towels and a float. Floats for AI guests are free but $5 per day if you are not.

Lunch - We ate at the Terrace which had really good food. The AI plan allows each person an appetizer, entree and desert. We were never able to eat one of each. We usually had an order of nachos, 2 entrees and 2 rum punches which was about $56.00 w/tip. Their Mediterranean chicken sandwich is really good. The sauce they serve with it is a really good dip for your fries, I loved the dip so much I had to have it with my fries everyday!!

We stayed at the pool most of the day then jumped in the car and headed to the low rise area to check out Eagle Beach. We had to return the car by 5 pm to Econo. We returned the rental to the La Quinta location and they gave us a ride back to the Wyndham, return was as quick & easy as the pick up.

Dinner - We had reservations for 8pm at Pago Pago. The service was exceptional. The AI allows you an appetizer, soup or salad, entree, 1 side item and a dessert. We both had onion soup, a 12 oz. filet, 2 sides and cheesecake for dessert. I don't know about you but a 12 oz. filet is way too much for either of us to finish. The cheesecake was out of this world. The bill with a few glasses of wine was about $185 w/tip. We did pay a surcharge for filet, I think it was $4 or $6 per entree.

Ok, this is where it starts to get a little boring--we basically ate breakfast & lunch in the same place everyday. Lunch for AI guests is in the Terrace, Tambu BBQ or Greenhouse Diner. We opted for the Terrace everyday b/c we liked the menu and it was located outside right on the beach. The menu has many different choices, we never once had the same thing (except the dip for my fries, I still miss that stuff). We relaxed at the pool every day. We don’t like to do much on vacation so I will spare you the boring details and just inform you about the important stuff--food!!

Monday Dinner

We waited too late to make dinner plans and ended up at the Palms in the Hyatt--Good food and great service. We had fajitas & quesadillas with tortilla soup. Everything was yummy!! The bill was about $45 w/tip.

Tuesday

Cafe Baci - I had the insalata capresa and hubby had the antipasto sampler, both were excellent. I had the spaghetti alla carbonara and hubby had the linguini frutti di mare (pasta in a tomato sauce with muscles, shrimp, lobster, clams & calamari). We both enjoyed our entrees and decided to skip dessert but we did have a glass of wine. The bill was $80 w/ tip.

Wednesday

Pago Pago - We shared the jumbo shrimp cocktail, which was the best and biggest shrimp we have ever eaten. We each had onion soup and decided on fish for our entrees. Hubby had the chilean sea bass and I had the macadamia crusted grouper. The sea bass was really good and the grouper was just ok. I was really looking forward to their cheesecake but they were out so we had to settle for the chocolate mousse, which was good too. The bill was $165 with tip and a $4 surcharge for the shrimp.

Thursday

Blossoms - The AI plan gives you 1 dine around coupon for each person worth $28. We ate on the Japanese side and the entertainment was fun and the food was wonderful. I had the filet & chicken and hubby had the filet, chicken & shrimp. The filet melted in your mouth, it was much better than the filet at Pago Pago. The price includes soup, salad, fried rice, entree and dessert. The bill was $70 with tip.

Friday

Azull on the beach - We did the beach side dining our last night and we were so glad we did. It was so nice to sit on the beach with your feet in the sand sipping champagne and watching the sunset. The staff was exceptional!! They took lots of pictures for everyone and made it the perfect farewell to Aruba. The food was good, they served a seafood soup, garden salad and a chicken, beef, & seafood kabob with cheesecake for dessert. We paid a surcharge of $46 a couple for the AI. If you were not on the AI it was $120 per couple plus 15% service charge. We made reservations in advance on the Wyndham Aruba website as seating is limited to 13 tables.

Other than eating/ drinking we mostly sat by the pool and relaxed. The pool concierge at the Wyndham was wonderful. Three times a day they come around with frozen fruit kabobs & a cool water mist. They also give out cool towels once a day. Ramon at the pool bar is very fun, tip him well and he is yours for the duration. FYI--They also have a book cart at the pool where you can check out a book for the day. I found that out too late. I finished my book 3 days into our trip and bought a paperback at the gift shop for $22! We spent most of our time at the pool so I am not too sure about the palapa situation. From our balcony we could see people waiting in line around 7 am. On most days we went to the towel hut around 10 am and there were still some palapas left but the hotel was not at full capacity during our stay.

We did use Pelican Watersports for wave runners ($55 for 30 minutes) and water skiing ($45 for 15 minutes). They were really good and we would use them again.

I did use the spa at the Wyndham for a pedicure and massage. Both were wonderful and very reasonably priced. An hour massage was $65 w/o tip and the pedicure $35 w/o tip.

We did go to town, Baby Beach (you will find it, signs are not very good but we found it and we also had fun getting lost & finding our way back) and the Lighthouse. We never made it to the Natural Bridge and so sad we didn’t as it collapsed the last day of our vacation.

We rented a cell phone from Fast Phones. We left our 17 month old daughter with my parents and could not go 8 days w/o hearing her voice!! The price was very reasonable, $65 included the daily charge and 75 minutes of airtime. Charles delivered the phone to our hotel promptly at 10 am and we dropped it off at the airport on our way home.

Oh, one more thing--bring lots of sunscreen--we wore spf 30 most of the time and we came back with beautiful tans.

Saturday

We had a 9:30 am flight to Houston, TX. We did arrive at the airport about 2-2 1/2 hours early. We ended up waiting for an hour at the gate because customs and check in went rather quick in comparison to past years.

We enjoyed our stay at the Wyndham and would do it again in the future. Thank you so much for all the trip reports and bb posts, they really helped us plan a wonderful vacation!!

Kurt & Christine