13th Trip to Aruba - Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort

April 20-April 29, 2006 by ~Amy~®e

Aruba Forum Profile: ~Amy~®

Not a lot to report on this trip - mainly did some relaxing on the beach and a lot of socializing with friends. Traveled with 3 friends (Karen, Kris, and Shayne) who had never been to Aruba before so it was fun to introduce them to the beach, the drinks, the snorkeling, the shopping, and the drinks again.

Jansen Rent A Car

We rent from Leo every year and they never disappoint. Leo’s son had the car ready and helped us with all of our luggage. And yes, 4 women plus luggage actually DO fit into a 5 door Kia Rio (although I couldn’t see out the back window since we had the luggage piled to the top!)

Amsterdam Manor

Walked in the door and everyone greeted us with smiles and hugs - it was like being "home" again and it was great to see the same people year after year!

We had a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit on the 2nd floor with a full kitchen, living and dining area, and a balcony with an umbrella, 2 tables, 6 chairs and 2 lounge chairs – came with a nice view of the water as well – perfect!

I can’t say enough nice things about this resort and its staff. With the demise of the Aruba Grand as we used to know it, I’m glad that we were able to find a new home to return to year after year. We love that it’s a smaller resort, the beach is never crowded, everyone remembers your name (and what you like to drink – very important, of course!)…..and the free internet service keeps me from having withdrawals!

Weather

Sunny every day except the first few days were extra windy! So windy that between the wind and the current, some jellyfish actually surfaced close to shore and sent several people from various hotels (both Palm and Eagle Beaches) to the hospital for jellyfish stings. They had everyone out of the water for about an hour or so and then all was fine again. First time in all of my years to Aruba that I’ve ever heard of jellyfish problems.

Restaurants / Bars

Spent a lot of time at Amsterdam Manor’s beach bar and pool bar. Best bar service (Jorge is superb!) on the island!

Bingo! – Had dinner here a couple of nights. Love everything about this place – food, prices, service, and, of course, Mike and Frans! The tuna and the onion soup (served in a bread bowl with goat cheese) are my favorites.
Mango’s – Always an exceptional meal. One of my friends loved the crab salad so much that she got the recipe from the chef before the end of the trip.
Salt & Pepper – Been going here for years. Love the tapas, my friends liked the Sangria but I wasn’t crazy about it.
Passion – Great ambiance, tables right on the beach with tiki torches, food and service was great, and now they have live music on Monday and Friday nights with dinner. Very nice!
Tomato Charlie’s – Delivered to the hotel – pizza and wine on the balcony in Aruba – doesn’t get much better than that after a long day of sun and snorkeling.
Rumba – One of my favorite places, good food, prices, and service.
Tulip – Nice little place for lunch and dinner – food is good and very inexpensive. I stopped here for lunch one day while my friends were shopping – I sat at the bar, had the Thai chicken salad and numerous cold Polars while I surfed the internet. It was nice and relaxing – a little quiet "down time" that I needed.
Charlie’s Bar – Ice cold Balashi’s on tap to quench your thirst from the hot honeymoon sauce – always spend way too much money here but Andy keeps us well-entertained to say the least.
Café Chaos – Okay, so the girls wanted to go out one evening. Saturday night, off we go to Café Chaos downtown. The chaos actually started with the traffic downtown – what a zoo! Had a good time at Café Chaos (nice people, cheap drinks!) and then decide to head to Bingo for a late nightcap. More chaos - traffic accident right in the middle of the main street near Mambo Jambo. Had to maneuver the car around the accident with an inch on one side of my car and maybe an inch on the other – very tight squeeze. Finally made it out of downtown and to Bingo where traffic was nonexistent. Ran into Mario from Amsterdam Manor at Bingo and then I think Frans told us to turn off the lights and lock the door when we were done (kidding!)

Bulletin Board Party

Another great party at Amsterdam Manor’s beach bar! It was good to meet everyone and see people I haven’t seen in years (AmyB & ChrisB!) About 10 of us stayed for dinner at Passion after the party (Corrine’s husband, Steve, had me in stitches most of the night – Corrine, going to need to visit you in NY soon!) November – thanks for being my "date" for the night. Liz & Charlie – so good to finally meet you – loved seeing you at Amsterdam Manor’s bar most days – it was fun to go to happy hour every day and see friends there! Scrubs – hope to see you and your husband again soon, too! So many great people………

The Octopus

I have been meaning to snorkel with Jethro and crew for the last couple of years now and I finally had the opportunity on this trip. We did the shorter, afternoon snorkel trip and it was great – a few drinks before snorkeling and then just a nice relaxing time after snorkeling with sandwiches and more drinks (Jethro makes great Aruba Ariba’s!) And why is that I see the same fish every year and my friends, who have never been to Aruba before, see all of the fun stuff – squid, turtles, etc! Same thing happens when I snorkel with my husband – he sees the more interesting fish and I see the same old fish. I think there is a fish conspiracy against me! We’ll definitely be back with the Octopus in Sept. on the longer, morning sail.

Shopping

I’m not a shopper on vacation but my friends certainly did their share. All I can say is that they did a great job putting some money into the Aruba economy as far as jewelry purchases! And….being the sweethearts that they are….they surprised me with a beautiful pair of earrings in lieu of my services as taxi driver and tour guide (my first piece of jewelry I’ve ever had from Aruba after all these years!)

Everyone has asked me how my friends liked Aruba on their first visit. My favorite response to that question was from my friend Karen who said that if she had to eat macaroni and cheese for a year in order to go back to Aruba, she would do it!

As usual……many, many thanks to the entire staff at Amsterdam Manor, Leo (Jansen’s), Matt (Radisson), and Mike (Bingo!) for the wonderful service and friendship! See you in September!

*One final note on departing at the Aruba Airport

If you're leaving Aruba on a Saturday (no matter what airline you're on), PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE arrive at the airport AT LEAST 3 hours prior to your flight. The security lines are long and they are slowed down even more by the airline personnel having to pull people through the lines in front of everyone else because they got to the airport too late, which causes further back-up. I heard a number of people on my flight (which they held) comment that they thought leaving their hotel 2 hours before their flight was enough time.

My flight was at 2:15pm. I arrived AT the airport to return my rental car at 11am. The return took all of 5 minutes. The exact time I set foot ON the plane was 2:15 on the dot! Then they held the flight for an hour (we left at 3:15) for people who did not give themselves enough time at the airport. That was an uncomfortable one hour on the plane for everyone with no A/C. Also, alot of people (including myself) were making tight connections. I was lucky enough to still have 30 minutes to make my connection but other people getting off the plane with me had about 4 minutes to try to make their next flight. I made my connection (after a nice jog through O'Hare) and my luggage was delivered the following morning.

So again......PLEASE arrive AT the airport in Aruba at least 3 HOURS prior to your flight.