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Aruba Hotels European Plan
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Introduction to Aruba
You like beaches? Aruba's got beaches,
some of the best in the Caribbean . . . in the world, for that
matter. The photos only look as if they've been doctored. What you
see is what you get: miles of white, sugary sand; warm, gentle surf;
turquoise and aqua seas; and plenty of space.
When you tire of lolling on the beach, there's scuba
diving, snorkeling, great windsurfing, and all the other watersports you expect
from a sun-and-sea vacation. On land, you can golf, ride a horse, hike, or drive
an all-terrain vehicle over the island's wild and woolly outback. Away from the
beach, Aruba is a desert island full of cacti, iguanas, and strange boulder
formations. Contrasting sharply with the resort area's serene beaches, the north
coast features craggy limestone cliffs, sand dunes, and crashing breakers.
And such nice places to stay. You can choose from
luxury resorts, all-inclusives, cozy boutique hotels, and modest budget spots.
They're all well maintained and chock-full of bells and whistles to meet the
whims of most travelers. With all the package tours available, they can be
surprisingly affordable, too.
If you're a foodie, you may be surprised at how well
you can eat in Aruba. Unlike the generally standard fare in most of the
Caribbean, Aruba's culinary offerings are diverse, inventive, and often very
good.
After the sun sets, there's plenty to do besides eat.
You can try your luck at one of the island's dozen casinos or take in a live
Vegas-style show. Bars, clubs, booze cruises, you name it -- if you're looking
for a party, you'll find it.
You'll find the overwhelming majority of Arubans to
be genuinely friendly and welcoming. Sure, the island's totally dependent on
tourism, but nobody learns to be this nice. With little history of racial or
cultural conflicts, the island has no cause for animosity. As the license plates
say, it's One Happy Island. And though Dutch is the official language, almost
everyone speaks English. You'll also hear Spanish and Papiamento, the local
tongue (a mix of several European, African, and Native American languages), now
recognized as an official language along with Dutch.
While safety is always a concern, Aruba enjoys one of
the region's lowest crime rates, fueled in part by high employment. Though it's
not uncommon to see solo senior tourists as well as solo 20-something women,
it's always safer -- not to mention more fun -- to travel with a friend.
Enough of the good points. What's the downside? Well,
if you're looking to stay in an old, converted, family-run sugar mill or immerse
yourself in rich colonial history or pre-Columbian culture, you could do better
elsewhere. From day one, Aruba's been pretty much of a backwater. It's still
part of the Netherlands, so there's a Dutch influence, which adds a slight
European flavor. A few small museums highlight the island's past and some
centuries-old indigenous rock glyphs and paintings. But nobody visits Aruba for
culture or history.
The people who do visit, though, come back. Aruba has
the highest repeat-visitor rate in the Caribbean; the highest hotel-occupancy
figures, too. Honeymooners, families, and couples of all ages and types fill the
resorts during the winter high season, and in the traditionally quieter summer
months as well. More than 60% come from the United States, and a fair number
hail from Canada. Others come from Holland and South America, especially nearby
Venezuela and Colombia.
The bottom line? Aruba's determined to make sure you
have a good time. It's a great place to unwind, and few islands work as hard to
make you feel as special and pampered. You'll learn your first Papiamento phrase
when you arrive -- bon bini (welcome!). The last words from your lips as you
board your plane back home will probably be in the local dialect, too -- masha
danki, Aruba (thank you, Aruba).
Aruba is a tiny island. Only 32km (20 miles) long and
9.7km (6 miles) across at its widest point, it's slightly larger than
Washington, D.C. It's the westernmost of the Dutch ABC islands -- Aruba,
Bonaire, and Curacao -- and less than 20 miles north of Venezuela.
On a place as small as Aruba, it's easy to get your
bearings, especially since just about everything for tourists centers around the
two biggest beaches. Remember Mercury, the messenger god from Roman mythology?
Aruba's shaped like his winged foot: toes to the east, heel to the west. Aruba's
capital and largest city, Oranjestad (pronounced "oh-rahn-juh-stahd" or "oh-rahn-yay-stahd"),
is on the island's southern coast, pretty far to the west, where Mercury's heel
would be. The island's hotels stretch along the back-to-back shores of Eagle
Beach and Palm Beach, a couple of miles west of Oranjestad, or up the god's
Achilles' tendon. One of the island's landmarks, the California Lighthouse,
stands at the wing on Mercury's foot, while San Nicolas, once Aruba's largest
city and home of the island's oil refinery, steps on his toes. Between
Oranjestad and San Nicolas on the south coast, Savaneta is Aruba's oldest town
and major fishing center.
If you're like most visitors, you'll be staying in
one of three areas: in Oranjestad, in the Low-Rise hotel area along Eagle Beach,
or a little farther from town in the High-Rise hotel area on Palm Beach. The
three locations have distinct atmospheres, so where you stay will determine the
tone of your vacation. Would you rather be in the city or at the seaside? Are
casinos and nightclubs important, or do you prefer quiet strolls along the
beach? Are you looking for a casual beach town or a glamorous resort strip?
Let's start in the thick of the action. Oranjestad is
Aruba's only town of any size or sophistication. If you want an "urban"
environment with a variety of restaurants, nightclubs, and casinos, this is the
place for you. The whole island has fewer than 90,000 residents, but most seem
to live or work around the capital. Its waterfront bustles with cruise ships,
yachts, fishing boats, and cargo carriers. Fueled by the boutiques, restaurants,
bars, and casinos radiating from the docks, vehicular and pedestrian traffic in
town is heavy much of the day and night. Contributing to the congestion, Arubans
cruise the main boulevard to see and be seen, giving the strip an American
Graffiti flavor. Much of the architecture combines Dutch gables and baroque
ornamentation with Caribbean colors like pistachio, ochre, pink, and aqua. The
result is a sun-drenched gingerbread confection with a touch of theme-park
squeaky cleanliness. Walk 5 or 6 blocks away from the waterfront, though, and
Oranjestad becomes a nondescript, workaday town with neighborhoods ranging from
tony to shabby. Staying in town doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing beach time:
The best beaches are only minutes away, and one hotel even has its own nearby
island replete with private beaches, a restaurant and bar, a gym, a spa, and a
tennis court.
In sharp contrast to Oranjestad but only a 20-minute
walk west, the Low-Rise hotel area feels like a laid-back summer beach town.
This district stretches over several contiguous strands with names like Bushiri,
Druif, Manchebo, and Eagle, but it's hard to see where one ends and another
begins, and most people refer to the whole area as Eagle Beach. As the Low-Rise
name implies, the dozen or so complexes here seldom climb above three or four
stories. Some are directly on the beach; others are located across a relatively
sleepy road. The small boutique hotels, quiet timeshares, and sprawling resorts
(including several all-inclusives) attract a diverse group of people. A couple
of the smaller hotels cater to couples, while the timeshares have a generally
quieter, older clientele (with kids and grandkids appearing at certain times of
the year). The all-inclusives and larger hotels boast all kinds of guests with
an especially large number of families and children. Many apartment-style
accommodations feature full kitchens, living rooms, and guest rooms, facilities
attractive to families and groups of friends who want to save a bit by eating in
from time to time (large supermarkets are a $6 taxi ride or 15-min. walk away).
But plenty of restaurants are in the area, and a couple of large casinos too.
Low-Risers are quick to point out that Eagle Beach is wider, quieter, and less
crowded than Palm Beach, and they prefer the comfortable, casual ambience.
On the flip side, the High-Rise area begins about a
quarter of a mile after Eagle Beach ends. Stretching along Palm Beach, this
strip of glitzy high-rise resorts is Aruba's Waikiki. The 13 hotels here tend to
be swanky, self-contained resorts that ramble over acres of lushly landscaped
grounds. Most boast splashy casinos, numerous restaurants and bars, and endless
amenities and services. Some hotels here are definitely upscale, and others are
perfectly middle-class: Whether you're a big cheese or small potato, there's a
place here to suit your budget. These hotels, unlike the Low-Risers, are
full-fledged glamour destinations. And if you're totally focused on sun time,
you'll appreciate that all but a couple of the resorts are directly on the beach
(the others are just across the street). The area also offers more places to
eat, drink, and gamble, and its piers are a hubbub of dive boats and motorized
watersports. However, with the increased number of amenities and giant resorts,
Palm Beach doesn't offer the Low-Rise area's beach-town simplicity, and it's
comparatively crowded.
Aside from the big three, you have a couple of other
options when deciding where to stay. Next to the island's championship golf
course, Tierra del Sol, condominiums and freestanding villas appeal to
vacationers who prefer time on the links to hours on the beach. This complex
looks and feels like a desert resort in Arizona, and short-term rentals are
available.
For the serious budget option, a handful of motels
can be found a 10- to 20-minute walk inland from the beaches. They lack the
glamour of the larger resorts, but they make Aruba affordable for almost
everyone.
Away from the hotels and the capital, Aruba features
splendid, if modest, natural wonders, more great beaches, and a handful of
authentically native towns. But more about exploring the island later in the
guide.
Additional Information about travel to Aruba
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