Renaissance Aruba Resort And Casino Oranjestad, Aruba - Booking Reservations, Reviews, Information

This hotel is literally one corner of a shopping mall and borders the main oceanfront road. The ocean is across the road but there is no beach there, The hotel provides transportation to two beaches (I did not get to go there.) The pool is small and on the roof of the second floor, You can stand at the pool's edge and look over the wall to watch traffic go by right underneath. There are only 27 lounge chairs by the pool, and it can get very crowded. The room was small and dimly lit (not good for reading!) and had a strong odor. The bathroom was small and plain, like any old Holiday Inn room you've ever seen. On the plus side, it is easy to walk from the hotel right into the mall or down the street to other restaurants and shops, without needing a taxi. There is an Internet cafe just steps away with reasonable rates. Also a movie theater just about 1 block away. The lobby is very attractive and appealing, but the check-in desk is on the second floor and both escalators were out of service). The bar area was lively and attractive and had a good feel. Overall, a nice place to mingle. NOT a quiet, spacious, oceanfront resort. If that is what you want, look elsewhere.

Our experience overall at the Renaissance Aruba was awesome. We were visiting the island for the first time, and would definitely recommend it to everyone. The location of the Renaissance is in the city center, downtown, and is within a 5 minute walk from tons of places to eat, and lots of shopping. There is Dunkin Donuts, Subway, Little Cesars, Burger King, Taco Bell, as well as many many local places to dine ? Iguana Joe?s was cheap and delicious. The food, in general, everywhere was great. We did have a few problems checking in. We decided to upgrade, and were told our room would not be ready for an hour. We returned after an hour and were told we would have to wait another 1.5 hours. We returned again, and were told our room was still not ready. Finally, we were put in a city view room, which was not what we had upgraded to, so we were quite annoyed by then. We went back downstairs and spoke to a manager. He said we could use the room to shower, freshen up, etc, and he would have the bellhop move our luggage into the room we upgraded to, which was not ready bc it had not been cleaned. He gave us 2 free drink passes as well. The condition of the bathrooms is not all that great. The tubs are small, and they are not cleaned all that well. They could use a major renovation in that dept. We had a room on the 6th floor which had a cathedral ceiling, so it was very open and airy. The carpet was new as well, and the bed was VERY comfortable! Blue Bar was a great place to eat and hang out as well. The casino was excellent, with Blackjack tables open 24 hours. The busses are a great way to get to the High Rise section of the island. The beaches there are beautiful, but there is not much to do outside of your hotel/beach if you are staying there. The Renaissance is great bc you are downtown, and there are tons of shops, and things to do. You will not be able to take a bus to/from the airport with your luggage, you will have to dish out about each way for a taxi. The private island is beautiful. DO NOT DO THE NATURE WALK. I came out of that jungle with multiple itchy bug bites. I would recommend renting a floating mat and hanging out in their private beach waters. Very relaxing and fun.

I would like to first state that this is NOT a beach front hotel...Its much better than that! Here is my full review of the Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino Beach/Pool: The beach was perfect. You take a 5 minute ferry ride to their private 40 acre island with two beaches, a spa, nature walk, and a restaurant/bar. The first beach is called iguana beach (family beach) which is a little bigger and has all kinds of lizards and parots on the beach. The second beach was flamingo beach and is full of pink flamingos that hang out with you as you take in the sun. The boats run every ten minutes so you never really have to wait for a ride. Room/Facilities: The room was perfect. We payed a little extra for the Ocean King in the Marina Hotel (adults only hotel portion). The view was great and the room was very clean and updated. The bar called Blue was very nice and was a great place to hang out at night because it is part of the open-air lobby. Activities: We ended up doing the full island tour, snorkeling, and a sunset sail. All were very easy to book and we loved all three of the activities. The activity desk is right in the lobby and there is plenty of information once your arrive. The casinos are a little small, but they still have enough games to accomidate any player. Staff/Locals: Both the staff and the locals are very freindly. They are all willing to help you out with any questions. Also, the city is very safe and we never felt uncomfortable once. It truly is one happy island! Overall, the trip was great and we are already planning a trip to the same hotel.

We had a little mishap when we first arrived as the people in our room decided to stay longer. We ended up in a room with no working toilet and little bugs that hung out at the back of the toilet. Well after we got our room switched within say 15 minutes after arrival, we no more troubles. The staff were very attentive, the food was excellent, and sitting pool side watching the night time settle in was awesome. We did horseback riding, the ATVs, the Tattoo (Caribbean dancing on a boat) , Black Hog Saloon, movies, and tons of great eating out places. Check out the Flying Fishbone restaurant at sunset. It is on the water and you can request a table where your feet are in the water while you are eating. Neat experience. I like Blue restaurant right in the hotel lobby too. BTW, the bus will take you to all of the beaches too. Palm Beach is awesome. If you are adventurous, the ATVs are a must.

We are very happy we chose the Marina vs. the Ocean Suites after seeing both in person. The Adults only Marina is a little more upscale (that is if you leave the kids at home). And you can use both facilities. It is not that far to walk over to the ocean suites. Not like some reviewers claim. If you don't feel like the walk, they'll ride you over on a golf cart. We upgraded to an Ocean View King room after arriving and wished we had done so through Travel website - would have saved us some . So, there's a tip. Once you are there, the per room rate to upgrade is for ALL nights, even if one of the nights you booked was free. There are like 15 restaurants at this resort. We didn't do the all inclusive so that we had some flexibility. We ended up eating several times at the resort (still better than the all-inclusive rate), and most of the restaurants were really good! The only one we didn't like was The Waterfront Crabhouse. Slow service, and not so good food. Would not recommend that one. Don Carlo's and LG Smiths - EXCELLENT! Scandals, Papagayo's, and Blue for Luch - very good. Do the all inclusive breakfast - that's well worth the 15 bucks a head. We really loved the Marina for our stay. Take a ride up to the California Lighthouse and eat at the reastaurant overlooking the north shoreline - "Trattoria... something". That was really nice! If you rent a car - make it a jeep. We got a Getz, and we are lucky to have made it out of the inner island. Aruba is a very nice island - Very Windy!! Could have done without the picketers on strike this week.

mis-information about reservations how come no one likes to give out clean linens or towels? The bedsheets were soiledand had to keep requesting for clean linen and they expected us to use the same washclothes & towels for our whole stay. What beach??? the front desk (which were all women when we arrived) were rude and unhelpful! Would not go back to this hotel at all.