Bucuti Resort

February, 2007 by Bill

Back in February 2007, when I asked my wife what she wanted to do for vacation, she said " I don't care, I just want to go someplace where it is sunny and I can lay on the beach and forget about work and have no hassles." We found all of that in Aruba, and especially at the Bucuti Resort This was our first trip to Aruba, and I can't imagine any other hotel making it more relaxing. From our check-in to our check-out, the staff of the Bucuti did everything possible to make our stay enjoyable. Check-in was flawless, starting with the champagne toast to meeting every one of our pre-trip requests. We had a standard studio room on the south side of the building, which was remodeled and cleaned very well everyday by the room staff. The Bucuti knew ahead of time that it was our 30th anniversary and had an anniversary basket delivered to our room after we had settled in.

The hotel was booked full the week that we were there, but you would never know it because it always seemed like we were the only people there. As a matter of fact, every time that we used the elevator to access the third floor where our room was, we were the only people on the elevator all week. The grounds staff did an excellent job in maintaining the resort and never seemed to get in anyone's way. Deborah, the resort manager, was a joy to talk to and made us feel very welcome. We used the concierge staff on a number of occasions to make reservations, and each time a confirmation was sent to our room explaining the details.

The beachfront at the Bucuti was tremendous. We never had a problem getting a shade hut and you never feel crowded because of the distance between them. There is beach food/drink service that we only used on two occasions, and we were impressed with how Nick did his job, knowing that he had just graduated from high school just two weeks before. The Sandbar staff did a great job. We probably spent more time with them then any other at the resort!!!! Greg, Aldrick , Marina, and Juan you did a fantastic job of making sure that we didn't get dehydrated!!!!!

We really didn't do many excursions, but we did work in the Harley Island Tour from Big Twin, and the Seaworld Adventure Sub tour. We also went to the Black Hog BBQ Bash and had a good time eating and drinking and watching the bar stool races and the Harleys riding through the bar. We didn't rent a car, so cabs were our mode of transportation. They were always available and priced fairly.

Meals were always the last thing that we thought of each day. We sort of worked them in between the beach and the bar. The Pirates Nest, French Steakhouse [great pan fried grouper], Smokey Joes, and Pizza Bobs [pizza and Balashi on tap are excellent, also Daisy tells great jokes] were the old reliable.

Everything about our time in Aruba was great; it is just a shame that USAir Ways had to put a damper on a great week. I really don't want to relive everything about our flights, but it important to say that every one of our flights was late, and that we received zero customer service. The icing on the cake was when we were trying to leave Aruba, and all of us at the gate, waiting for our plane to come in, found out by chance that it wasn't coming and another flight would be leaving from another gate. I thought it was odd that the three ladies who were working at our first gate just packed up and left without making any kind of announcement!!! Lo and behold, when we get to our new gate, there they are talking to some passengers. Isn't that special USAir Ways?? Of course, by the time we left Aruba, we missed our connection in Charlotte and had to stay in a hotel that night. So, from what I have seen from USAir Ways, if you have any other options on any other airline, take some other airline.

Enough of that, we hope to make it back to Aruba some day, and if we do we will definitely stay at the Bucuti Resort. You can only judge a hotel by the way the individuals working for them treat you, and you all did a fantastic job!!!!!!