My husband and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in Aruba at the Holiday Inn Sunspree from May 9-17, 2004, and wouldn’t hesitate to return. I must say that having travelled to Mexico and the Dominican, that Aruba is now my favourite destination. The location is beautiful, the economy is good, English is widely spoken, you can drink the water, the food is good, and no bugs! We flew with Skyservice from Toronto – seating was cramped, but to be expected on a charter airline! Our first room was not to our liking, we had booked a standard room, we were in room 3618, balcony overlooked the lower building roof and multiple satellite dishes. The next day we requested a room change – the front desk was very helpful and offered us another room with a better view, at no extra charge. We were also offered a room upgrade to an oceanfront room for $50 U.S. a day – this was eventually lowered to $30 U.S. a day, which we accepted, room was 5682, view was beautiful! Had a king bed, pull out couch, table with 2 chairs, TV with numerous American English channels. The hotel was what you would expect from a Holiday Inn – not fancy, but clean and comfortable. The pool is not large but has lots of comfortable lounge chairs. Some nice stores in the hotel, prices are higher than in town, which is to be expected. Spent some time each night at the hotel casino, playing the slots. If you’re looking for non-stop nightlife, you will need to go into town, but if you’re okay just watching a show and then having a couple of drinks at the lobby bar, you’ll be fine. Food was very good – buffet breakfasts, the Seabreeze for a la carte lunch or dinner, wonderful wood oven baked pizza at the Iguana grill and fabulous dining at the Miramar. Reservations required at the Miramar, we went there 3 times, no limits because it was low season. Beach was beautiful, could walk for miles. The constant breeze helps to keep you cool. It rained for 5 minutes on one day. Spent the day on a jeep safari tour with De Palm Tours – it’s well worth the money, lots of fun and you see all of the island, just don’t wear a white shirt as it won’t be white for long with the dust when you’re off-road! Takes only 10 minutes to get into town on the bus, costs $1 U.S. each way. Great deals on jewellery, no taxes, especially recommend Gemani jewellers.
Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Aruba and this resort.
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