Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa

February 11 - February 18, 2006 by Lumberinc

Aruba Forum Profile: Lumberinc

Got up early Sat. morning at 3:30AM to catch the limo ride to O'Hare International Airport. United flight 1060 ready to depart on time at 8:20AM. NOT! As soon as we were all on board, the announcement came that the flight will be delayed to-get this, the coffee machine wasn't working. Okay c'mon, I've heard some pretty good excuses, but this one tops them all. So the steward was trying to calm the restless saying it was a health issue and the plane could not depart due to regulations. One hour later, another announcement came. The flight will be delayed another hour due to electrical problems because they are waiting on a part. The original one sent was wrong. 15 minutes later, another announcement comes. They need to shut down all electrical systems, including the air ventilation so they can install the part. The process will take another hour. We all had to leave the plane and wait for the next message.

By now, we need a drink! So we head on off to Berghoff's for a couple of cocktails. It is 11AM now and another announcement is made telling all passengers to grab their personal belongings off the plane and transfer over to another gate where another will be used to fly us to Aruba. Talking to some of the passengers, one gentleman had heard from customer service that they had known about this problem since last night! LAST NIGHT!!!

Where were these people last night?! They wait until now to try to resolve this problem! Anyways, 11:45AM is the scheduled departure when actually it turns out to be 12:15PM. Needless to say, we lost 4 hours of time in Aruba, lost our dinner reservation at the French Steakhouse and the sunset we were hoping to toast our tropical drink to.

So we finally arrive in Aruba at around 6:45PM local time. Transfer courtesy of De Palm tours from the airport to Manchebo made us available for check-in at 7:20. Thank goodness for the happy faces and cheerful smiles from the Arubian people to help us keep our sanity. Corismo was the gentleman behind the desk who helped ease our pain with his great sense of humor and kindness. Not to mention the little cutie working with him. What a doll.

After check-in, we go up to our room and unpack. Since our dinner reservation was shot, we decide to try Pizza Bobs for a quick dinner. We head on up to the front desk and Corismo directs us theway to Pizza Bobs which just a short walk from the resort.

By now, it is about 8PM and we are exhausted from the emotion of the trip and lack of sleep and food. So we sit down and order a cheese sausage thin crust and OMG, was it good! We started chatting with an older couple from Massachusetts sitting next to us and they said their food was good too. The gentleman recommended the ribs, which I never had a chance to try during the week. They were concerned about their daughter who was traveling down because of the bad snowstorm that hit the east coast. We gave them our blessings and wished them well as they headed back to their room.

So we finish dinner and make our way to Happy Hour at the Pega Pega. We meet John, the bartender and we hit it off right away. What a nice guy. So we both order two Aruba Aribas and then take a nice walk out onto the beach. I first asked John if it was okay to walk out with the drinks and he simply replies: "Hey, this is Aruba and is One Happy Island, so go ahead and enjoy!" I'm feeling at home already! My wife is in awe as am I.

What a beautiful beach, even at night. We couldn't wait to see it in the morning. We walk back to the bar and order another drink. My wife didn't like the Aruba Aribas because she thought they were a bit sweet. John recommends the Manchebo Special. It reminded me of a Blue Hurricane drink. She liked this one better, so we order another before heading back to our room for the night.

As we were chatting, we noticed a small dish with peanuts and liquid in it lying on the tile near the bar. My wife goes to pick it up and hands it to John. He starts to laugh and explains to us that the birds love to eat the bar peanuts they serve for the customers. Someone put some alcohol in it to stray them away. He pointed out that the resort discourages feeding the iguanas and birds because they will become a nuisance after a while. We took note of that during our stay.

Sunday, we wake up about 6AM. The birds were chirping up a storm. You would think there was some kind of commotion going on out there, but I guess they are excited knowing they may get handouts from the tourists eating breakfast. I make a small pot of coffee compliments from Manchebo resort and we both realize our first mistake. We should have brought our own. So we make the best of it. We sit out on the balcony and soak up the view. After a bit of caffeine gets into us, we shower and walk down to the Garden Terrace for some breakfast. Simple bacon and eggs for both my honey and me. We grab our beach towels at the front desk and reserve a hut on the beach.

10AM rolls around and I meet Leonard from Jansen Car Rental at the front desk. A couple of signatures and we have a car for 5 days. Leonard was such a nice guy. He gave me his cell phone number and business card and told me if I ever needed any help or run into any problems, don't hesitate to call him. I knew he was very sincere when he said it. Why wouldn't he be? This is Aruba and besides Aruba Amy recommended him! Thanks again Amy! We had a Kia Sportage, which we just wanted to use to get to the Natural Bridge and run some errands. We take a short trip to the grocery store that I believe was called Super Foods. We grab some water, Gatorade, snacks, Aruba Aloe lotion, booze and some other little things we may need. Noon rolls around so grab lunch.

We walk back to the Pega Pega and enjoy a cheeseburger together. Wow, was it good! I was a bit skeptical about Gouda cheese, but it is quite tasty! A couple of beverages and we're back to our hut for some more rays. By late afternoon, we decide to head back to the room to prepare for our dinner my wife reserved at 7:15 at the French Steakhouse. I ordered the 12 oz. Churasco and she orders the 8 oz Dutch filet. Both dishes were very good and filling. A couple of drinks at Happy Hour with John and off to bed.

Monday, we enjoy another simple day on the beach and prepare for the BB party at Mango's Beach Bar at the Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort. Very easy to get to which is just a short ride from the resort. We order a drink and I see some people beginning to walk up. I sense it may be members so I walk up to introduce myself. Sure enough, there was Jeanne and her husband who introduced himself, Big Papa, Georgene, and others and please forgive as I am terrible with names. Every one of you are wonderful people and it was a pleasure meeting you all. After chitchat, we all enjoyed a beautiful sunset which I took photos of. We walk over to the restaurant for a buffet dinner, which was not bad for buffet style. Later, the Latin Show started and the dancers were good. I sense that they are more choreographed for individual dancing than for group because I noticed many times they were out of synch. Regardless, it was good entertainment. We all say our goodbyes and my wife and I call it a night when we return to the resort.

Tuesday, we head up to Dunkin Donuts for some donuts and coffee. We then take a short walk to the spa for a couples massage that I promised my wife for Valentine's Day. For the first time ever getting one, I would have to say it was well worth it. I would highly recommend the Spa Del Sol for any of you wanting to try it.

After the rub down, we jump into the car and venture off the Natural Bridge. I have to say that without directions, we made it quite adventurous. We wound up going through San Nicolas and up along the other coastline. The terrain was rough yet quite scenic. It is amazing to see the strength of the sea as it crashes against the coastline. What a complete opposite from the resort side of the island. After we pass the caves, we finally reach Bridge. We snap a few photos and grab a cocktail and a couple of beers. We check out the Gold Mine Ruins and proceed on up to the high-rise area while traveling though Noord. We decide to hit Moomba's to unwind a bit. My wife and I have had enough of the hot sun so we decide to take a dip. My impression of Palm Beach is that it is nice if you like a lot of activity, nightlife and have kids to keep them entertained. The waves were calm by comparison to Manchebo and the beach is a bit crammed together. We like the space between the huts at the Manchebo so we were happy with our choice.

My wife looked a bit beat from the rough off-roading adventure, so I tell her to order a couple of drinks at Moomba's while I take a walk down to De Palm Pier to confirm the Mi Dushi trip we have tomorrow. On the way back I stop at the Pelican Pier to confirm our other reservation with our sunset sail on Thursday. Upon my return, my wife looks like the drinks did her some good, so I suggest ordering some grub. A couple of sandwiches and some Amstel Brights later (OH YUM!), we decide to ride back to the resort. After a late lunch, we decide to clean up and head down for Happy Hour. John was not there this night so we meet Fanny. She was very nice too and we enjoyed a nice chat together. My wife and I are getting a bit hungry so we choose to order something from Pizza Bobs again. Fanny calls them up for us and 20 minutes later our pizza should be ready. I walk down to pick up our order leaving my wife behind to enjoy the spirits, and lo and behold, they received no order. They apologized and said it will be another 20 minutes. I asked for a Corona as I wait. I strike up a conversation with another gentleman from Maryland and he said the same thing happened to him. Pizza Bobs has a good reputation for their food, but their service is sure lacking. So I pay for my food and walk back to the Pega Pega. My wife and I are about the only ones there at this time, as the Steakhouse is booming due to the big promotion for Valentine's Day. I asked Fanny where John was and she said he's working inside the restaurant tonight. We offered her a couple of pieces of our pizza and afterwards head back to the room to call it a night.

Wednesday, we ride up to De Palm Pier for the Mi Dushi tour. We stop at the Dunkin Donuts for a couple of breakfast sandwiches and juice before we board the ship. We got hit with a bit of rain but it didn't deter us from having fun. We did the normal stops at the Antilla shipwreck, Malmock Beach and another shallow reef. I did the rope swing and I couldn't resist doing the Tarzan howl. It was fun in all and the crew made sure you had fun. Drinks pouring in abundance and good island music long with great food catered from Le Dome restaurant. When we got back, we decide to take a nap to ready ourselves for the dinner reservations we made at the Rio Steakhouse. This was by far the best dinner we had on the island. I ordered the Porterhouse and my wife had the garlic shrimp and filet. I highly recommend this place for dining. Service was quick too. We got back to the resort and the wife was too tired to go to happy hour. I had a bit of energy still in me so she told me to go ahead without her. There wasn't too many people there, but John was there and we struck up a good conversation for over two hours. I asked him how last night was and he said he was moving non-stop all night. I made the comment about him getting good tips and he said he received very little because the manager under staffed the restaurant and people had to wait an hour and a half for their meals and drinks would take longer than usual. He said he would get a bill for over $200 and no tip was given. Granted, the gratuity is still part of the bill, but these guys busted their butts and due to the manager's understaffing, no one got any additional tips. I made it a point to note that in the suggestion box when we checked out. We talked about the NH issue and I let him express his views on it all from an Arabian resident perspective. We both agreed on everything from how the media handled it to the perspective involving her Mom. I could go into more detail, but for the integrity of this report, I choose not to. John made a comment that he wished more American people were like me. I'm not so sure what he meant by that but I took it as a compliment. We also talked about the beach erosion and the affects from Hurricane Ivan. He was saying that last month when we saw all those high waves on the Bucuti Cam, the surf actually reached as far up as the Pega Pega bar. He noted that the small hill where the surf rides up, the terrain slopes downhill after that towards the resort. So if the waves ever jump up over that, the sea will run into the resort. He said, however, that once the sea calmed, the beach dried up right away. We exchanged e-mail addresses and promised each other to keep in touch.

Thursday, we just wanted to lay around the beach until our sunset sail with Pelican. It was a nice evening. We met a couple with two kids who were from Ohio and this was their first time in Aruba and they were loving it. It rained a bit but nature had its way of proving us with some more photo ops. A nice rainbow started to develop over near the lighthouse, so I made the best of my opportunity. We had a nice time. It was a fairly quiet cruise with some dance music and drinks unlimited so if you are looking for something like that, the Pelican would be a good choice. If you want something more loud and entertaining, try the Tattoo Party Cruise. We saw them cruise by our resort and they looked like they were partying it up pretty good.

Friday, was more of the same with lounging on the beach and just soaking up the last moments we had in Aruba. My wife wanted to make another reservation at the Spa for an aloe rub and facial. Our bus was due to arrive at 12:15 and her appointment was for 11AM on Saturday. I told her she was cutting it close but she did it anyway. After lounging, we made reservations at the Steakhouse for our last dinner. We both ordered the Ambassador's Special. Too much food for both of us but it was very good. We head back to room and start to pack. We both were exhausted from all the sun, drinking, eating and consumption of fresh air. So we thought it would be best to retire early.

Saturday, our last moments in Aruba…My wife heads off to the beach for the last bit of Aruba sun. I got a bit of sunburn on my forehead so she talks me into a therapy facial for sunburns at the spa. My appointment was for 9AM so I was out in about 45 minutes. I felt relief after it so it was a good idea even though I may loose my guy card for it. My wife went in shortly after me as I continued to tie up the loose ends of our packing. Check out was easy. As noon approaches, I was getting a bit nervous about my wife's appointment running late. Sure enough, the bus pulls up and I ask the front desk to call the spa to hurry my wife along. It was funny. I was chatting with some couples in the lobby at the time and they all got a kick out her running down the corridor after I explained the story to them. It turned out the bus was for check-ins and not for departures.

When we arrived at the airport, it was hell all over again. We waited in line for over an hour just for check in. Customs was a breeze but security check was another 45-minute wait. Our flight was a bit delayed due to the lack of organization within the airport. Why is it that a normal guy like me sees these problems yet people who make five times more than I do cannot! (Management) Regardless, our flight was smooth all the way and we were able to be at home by 8PM.

Conclusion, we miss Aruba already. It is simple as that. The people are kind, friendly and eager to please. I hate to see arrogant people treat them harshly and I saw that a few times while we were there. Get off your thrones people and appreciate some of the good things life has to offer. Life is too short. Aruba is a special place. I made friends and felt welcome every moment I was there. We plan on going again next year. Thank you everyone at Manchebo. John, Fanny, Ada, Charo, Jeno, Jean, Corismo and Sandra just to name a few. You made our stay a wonderful one and we will never forget it. God bless you all and God bless Aruba!