Last Updated on June 22, 2020 by Amanda Stancati
Our travel expert recently had the opportunity to experience the grandeur of Aruba. Here is what she has to say about the trip:
My husband and I stayed at Hotel Riu Palace Aruba from November 30 to December 4 in Room 404, which was located in the main building. We arrived around 4 PM. By the time we got there, the room was ready. However, we were not able to put our passports, money, laptop and valuables in the safe as it was still locked. We called the front desk, and immediately they sent maintenance to address the issue. Shortly after, we donned our suits and hit the pool bar! The swim left us feeling refreshed after our long travel day from Halifax. We enjoyed a few beverages to celebrate our belated anniversary. We headed back to our room after to check the air conditioning, shower features, and lights; and we were definitely pleased with the value of the room. I sprayed insect repellent everywhere, as I always do every time we travel. The room also featured plenty of drawer space for clothes and plenty of hangers. There was also a box-styled TV for us to watch the news. I personally found the shower a bit dark, but we managed okay overall! We requested for a bed topper and it was heaven – we had no problems sleeping as others reported.
The room service was great except for a couple of nights. We just had a couple of issues in terms of receiving fresh towels. Upon arrival, we were given champagnes. But we had to put them in the mini-fridge as they were not chilled. I have to say it was a nice touch, especially the note congratulating us on our anniversary! We only used the liquor dispenser a couple of times for pre-drink purposes.
The Wi-Fi in the room worked fine. We had no issues with it. Our room also came with a nicely sized balcony. But we didn’t really end up making full use of it aside from taking pictures. We set the air conditioner to 19C for the week which kept the room nice and cool. We did not experience slippery floors as others stated, but we also packed slippers with us. It would have also been nice to have been provided with robes.
We made dinner reservations for 9PM. Krystal was an interesting experience and I’m definitely glad we went at least once. We also dined at the Japanese and Steakhouse restaurants. Overall, the meals were very good. The buffet offered plenty of choices, perfect for picky eaters. The service was great throughout the different restaurants we went to, whether we tipped or not. Big shout out to Felix, Gustavo and Diego at the Palm Beach Bar, whose services were exceptional!
During our week stay, we never had issues getting shaded pool chairs. Although we are beach folks, we did not attempt to secure a spot on the palapa as they were quite uncomfortable on the backs. I suggest you bring your own Bubba mugs, as the plastic cups are pretty useless. Bartenders were more than happy to fill them for us and even rinsed them out between beverages! Huge shout out to Freddy in the main bar – this guy knows his trade and can certainly work the crowd!
We left the resort at night a few times to take a walk down the ‘strip.’ Although we considered eating out, we decided not to as they were too expensive. Glad we chose to go all-inclusive. We saw the dancing fountain show one night and definitely enjoyed it.
Overall, we enjoyed our trip to Aruba. One highlight was the Anidcuri UTV tour which we booked with DePalm Tours. To be honest, we were looking for more of an authentic Dutch flavour, but found it too Americanized. Jamaica still remains to be one of my favourite islands – mostly for its diversity, food, culture and overall experience.
To learn more about the Hotel Riu Palace Aruba and other all-inclusive resorts in Aruba, don’t hesitate to give me a call at 1-800-665-4981 ext. 7210.
