21th Trip to Aruba - Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort

May 7 – 17, 2010 by ~Amy~® and Mike

Aruba Forum Profile: ~Amy~®

Arrival

Flew Delta again this year (MSP-ATL-AUA) and arrived on time in Aruba around 2pm. Flights were fine. Had the TV's in the back of the seats on the ATL-AUA leg which was very nice (watched a couple of movies.) My husband is a Delta Gold Medallion member and we were able to use the new Sky Priority lines that they have set up for First Class passengers and those who are Gold Medallion or above. Even though we weren’t in First Class the Sky Priority lines were great – no waiting to check-in and no waiting to board.

Rented a car from Tropic and there was Hans (prompt as always) waiting for us at the airport. We took care of all the car rental details in the parking lot and were on our way to Amsterdam Manor within about 15 minutes. Stopped at Kong Hing on the way for supplies (mostly "liquids", food for breakfast, and a few snacks.)

We had our usual room at Amsterdam Manor. We booked a one bedroom since it was just the two of us this time but they upgraded us to our usual 2 bedroom/2 bath. So Mike and I had his and hers bathrooms! Cracked open the Amstel Brights that were on ice for us when we walked in the room, unpacked, relaxed on the balcony, and then went to the beach bar for happy hour. Amsterdam Manor has a great new deck around the bar with tables, chairs, sofas...very nice! Marc from AMBR joined us for a few drinks and a couple of appetizers as we watched the sun go down. Went to Chefs Tables later for dinner....and then to bed...exhausted.

Also had a nice little surprise sitting next to the bucket of Brights – they decided to make my arrival even MORE enjoyable by giving me a HUGE can of Dutch pea soup (I got food poisoning in Aruba several years ago on Dutch pea soup and just the mere mention of the soup makes me turn pale.) "Management" loves to tease me about it. So there was a lovely note welcoming me back to AMBR and hoping that I enjoy the soup. Yep, have to get those guys back somehow…LOL!!

Amsterdam Manor

They added a new deck around their beach bar that we just loved – tables, chairs, sofas, etc. Great place to hang out at any time of day or night for drinks. A couple of times we stopped at the beach bar for drinks at sunset and then just stayed there after the sun went down for a few more glasses of wine – you could hear the music from Passions and see the torches and twinkle lights – it was just so nice to still be on the beach (well, on the deck) at night enjoying a few cocktails. There was also a new deck added for lunch – little easier to sit at a table to eat lunch than to try and eat from your lounge chair – and it’s all nice and shaded under the trees, too.

Brought our laptop again and just left it on our dining room table in our room all week. They have free Wifi for guests and it was a breeze to sign on at any time of day. They still have the free computers near the lobby for guests to use, too.

Beach

Eagle Beach at Amsterdam Manor was beautiful as always. We took beach walks during the day from Amsterdam Manor to LaQuinta and back. Saw a lot of turtle nests this year, too. Water was calm and warm and we used the free floats a couple of times. Spent most of our time on Eagle Beach. Only went over to Palm Beach once to visit Ricky at the Bugaloe for lunch and drinks (one of our favorite places) and one night went to dinner at Papillon and drinks at Upstairs Aruba. Otherwise, Palm Beach doesn’t have much to offer us anymore except for a lot of people and traffic (and we can get that at home.)

Weather

Had a few overcast days which, in a way, was good. It forced us to get off our butts and go do something. LOL! So on the overcast days we went to the donkey sanctuary, Alto Vista Chapel, and climbed the Hooiberg. I haven’t climbed the Hooiberg in about ten years and I remember it being a lot easier when I was ten years younger – LOL! Actually, the climb itself wasn’t so bad but it was the area of the steps where there was no railing and a drop off on each side of the steps that was a little scary. For some reason, that made me very nervous this time around. But the view at the top is definitely worth it.

Bulletin Board Party

Met a lot of people from all of the different Aruba bulletin boards. What a fun group! We met 2 couples who were also staying at Amsterdam Manor – Carolina & Ken from Atlanta and Susan & Dave from England. The six of us went out later in the week to celebrate Carolina’s birthday – hit a few bars but our favorite was Café 080! Thank you, Carolina, for asking us to join you on your birthday!

Day Trip to Curacao

We found out while we were in Aruba that our friends from Holland were going to be in Curacao at the same time we were in Aruba. So we decided at the last minute to fly over for the day and see them. We booked our flights on Tiara Air on a Wed. via the laptop and flew over on Friday. Our flight left Aruba at 7:15am from the smaller terminal and arrived into CUR at 7:45am. AUA airport was "dead" at the small terminal at 6am so there were no lines. Then we walked out onto the tarmac to our plane, up about 4 steps and onto cute little Tiara Air. Only a 30 minute flight and we got a small (and warm!) cheese pastechi and our choice of a juice box for breakfast. Landed on CUR so fast - no lines in immigration except our flight (which was about 20 passengers total), walked out and saw Melvin and Maria waiting for us!

The terrain on Curacao was alot different than Aruba - more hills and more trees like you'd see in the U.S. No long stretches of beaches but alot of different coves with beach bars, lounge chairs, etc. where you could spend the day. Water was clear as a bell and almost all of the coves were great for snorkeling right from the beach area. One area we drove by had a small lake and alot of pink flamingos. It was fun just driving around and spending time at the various coves. The island is about 3 times as large as Aruba. We spent a few hours downtown as well. Downtown was much more vibrant, alot more people, shops, etc. and more European than Aruba. Plus they've kept and restored most of their old buildings so it's very attractive looking. We also spent some time at the Sea Aquarium, too, which was fun. We ended the day at a bar/restaurant at Melvin & Maria's hotel with a table by the water for a few drinks. Back to CUR airport around 7pm, flight at 8pm, and back in AUA by 8:30pm.

Restaurants /Bars

All of my restaurant reviews are at the following website: www.restaurantsaruba.com

Favorite new restaurant: Amadeus

Favorites overall for romantic dining/great food: Screaming Eagle, Passions, & Pinchos

Favorite casual places: Bingo, Tulip, Bugaloe

Other places worth mentioning: Cuba’s Cookin’ (our first time there – loved it!)

New bars we liked: Café 080 and Upstairs Aruba

Linda’s Pancakes - great breakfast at Linda's. Dutch pancakes and cold beer – need I say more?!? LOL!

Pinchos - loved it! Haven't been there in a long time for dinner except for a couple of parties and forgot how good it was.

Cuba's Cookin' - It was a nice change of pace and really liked the place (very cozy and quaint.) Not sure why it took us so long to try this place. We were downtown one afternoon doing a little shopping back on Main Street and stopped in a little after lunch for a couple of cold ones – chatted with the staff and the owner at the bar and they convinced us to come back for dinner – and we’re glad we did! This might be our new lunch spot downtown now that Rumba has closed.

Upstairs Aruba - great little bar with a 2nd level balcony located above Papillon. We'll definitely be back there again.

Bingo - stopped in for many drinks throughout the trip. Always great to see my "Bingo Boys" and Diana! Had a late night dinner at Bingo one night after we arrived back from Curacao (onion soup, tuna tataki, and goat cheese salad), sat and talked to Bingo Mike way too long and didn’t get to bed until around midnight. Think we both slept like a rock that night!

Amadeus - great food and reasonable prices. This is definitely a winner!

Café 080 – Love, love, love this place for late night drinks! We went here at about midnight with Carolina & Ken and Susan & Dave for Carolina’s birthday and had way too much fun sitting outside, talking and drinking…until 2:30am!

Departure

On our last morning, Mike and I made mimosas and took them down to the beach at around 8am, relaxed under a palapa while enjoying a nice quiet beach with gentle waves lapping at the shore. Packed, said our goodbyes to everyone, and headed to the airport around noon for a 3pm flight. Hans was right there waiting for us when we dropped off the car. Walked in and saw that Delta has the Sky Priority line at the Aruba Airport, too, so we didn’t have to wait in like for check-in which was great!

All in all, a very relaxing "do nothing" vacation with no real planned activities – and it was just what we needed.

Once again.....thank you, thank you, thank you to Marc, Janine, Sasha, Julio, Giovanni, Humphrey, Diana and all of the wonderful staff at Amsterdam Manor. We look forward to seeing you every year and you make Amsterdam Manor special for us each and every time (and thanks for the Dutch pea soup – I think! LOL!) Also thank you to Carolina & Ken and Susan & Dave – it was wonderful making new friends and was great having you as our "neighbors" at Amsterdam Manor. Hope to see you next year – either in Aruba, Atlanta, or England!