Aruba Sonesta Resort: The perfect finish to a dream vacation!
Written: Dec 11 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Private island with a great beach, convenient for shopping, dining and gambling
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: Great downtown location, with optional ocean view rooms. Convenient shuttle boat to the hotel's wonderful private island where you can spend the day relaxing.
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| diverpam's Full Review: Sonesta |
Ever dream of having your own private island? Well, you almost do when you stay at the Aruba Sonesta Hotel.
The hotel is located in downtown Oranjestad, just in front of the harbor. It is conveniently located next to shops, restaurants and casinos. Every 15 minutes a power boat pulls into the lobby, yes, the lobby, to shuttle passengers to the Sonesta's private island.
Here guests are treated to a wonderful palm-lined beach, where they can laze in the sun, sip on tropical cocktails, join in a game of volleyball, snorkel or float on a rented lounge. There is also a restaurant where you can enjoy a casual meal.
Our Stay at the Aruba Sonesta Beach Resort
After spending a week in Aruba in our timeshare condo, we added one more night to our itinerary and decided to stay at the Aruba Sonesta. It was almost like getting two vacations for the price of one!
We arrived before noon (timeshares like to kick you out early on Saturday morning). We were well ahead of the 3pm checkout, but thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. The desk clerk was very friendly and accommodating. She assigned us a room and asked Housekeeping to clean it within the hour.
Great Location
We spent a little while in the open air lobby, walked around the pool area (overlooking the harbor), wandered into the casino, then checked out the sidewalk sales and fashion show that were being held in the shopping center. By the time we made it back to the Front Desk our room was ready.
My husband dropped the bags at the front entry (street level) for the bellman. There is a large fountain here in this covered area -- it made a pretty impressive entry to the hotel.
A quick escalator ride takes you into the open air lobby. Here you can look down and see the boat docking area. There is actually a canal that runs from the hotel into the harbor (under the street).
There is also a cafe here, surrounded by two levels of shops. The hotel is built inside a very nice shopping area and is connected to the Crystal Casino. There is also a restaurant located on the lobby level. The food was very tasty here, if a bit overpriced.
Our Room
Our room had two queen-size beds, two arm chairs and armoire with television. The room had a partial harbor view and overlooked the shopping area. The bed was comfortable and there were plenty of pillows.I hate to haggle with my husband over extra pillows.
It was handy using one of the beds to put our suitcases on as we did our final packing before heading to the airport. We had to do a bit of juggling to get all our purchases in the bags!
Bathroom
The bathroom was a bit small, but well-lit and had nice amenities - soap, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion. If I'm not mistaken I believe they were Bath & Body Works.
The towels were large and pretty fluffy. (Beach towels were provided at the island.) There was a hair dryer and coffee maker. And, to my husband's delight, a bottle opener!
Yes, we brought all the leftover beer from the condo. We were too tired to drink it all before we went to bed, so the housekeeper got a pretty good tip.
Conveniences
The in-room safe was very handy for stowing our valuables before we changed into our bathing suits and headed for the island. There was also an iron and ironing board in the closet.
There were plenty of magazines and discount coupons available in the room for those who hadn't already shopped and toured themselves out. (By this point we pretty well had!)
Private Island
By 1:00pm (well before the 4pm check-in time) we were seated on the shuttle boat and on our way to the island. Be sure to take your island passes with you -- they make you swipe the cards when you get on the boat.
It was a very windy day and the water was a bit rough. Some of the people were definitely sitting in the wrong place and got splashed pretty well before we had gone too far.
The island is just on the other side of the airport from the hotel. As we were approaching the island, the boat captain did a strange thing. He pulled over, directly in front of the runway and stopped. A few seconds later a 757 was screaming directly overhead in a landing pattern.
For a minute I had flashbacks to the movie, Pushing Tin and half expected us to be tossed out of the boat like rag dolls. However, the plane was high enough not to harm us and we got an incredible view of the belly of that plane!
When we disembarked at Sonesta Island we found plenty of lounge chairs and towels (at no charge or tip). With lots of palm trees, it was easy to choose between shade or sun. With three beaches, you can stroll around and choose where to settle in.
The island also features a dive shop, Red Sail Sports, and the Sea Breeze Restaurant.
The water was so warm and wonderful, we had a great afternoon splashing around. It wasn't until a couple of hours later that I thought it would be fun to rent a float. When my husband inquired he was told rental was $5 for all day. Problem was, the rental day ended at 4pm. We passed.
We opted, instead, for a couple more Pina Coladas and a relaxing view of the ocean from our shaded lounge chairs. What could be more perfect?
A little before 5pm, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. The first shuttle was filled to capacity and we waited about 15 minutes for the next one to arrive.
Heading back to the harbor we didn't see any more landing planes, but we passed close by a huge cruise ship that made the 757 seem tiny by comparison. Waving at everyone on the ship as if we were all long-lost friends, we ended our afternoon on a high note. Something about being on the ocean seems to bring out the camaraderie in people. That or the flowing booze!
Sonesta offers Beach Resort and Tower Hotel
We stopped to drop off the guests that were staying at the Sonesta Beach Resort. It is located next to the harbor and offers ocean view rooms.
Then we were soon back at our hotel. It is considered the Aruba Sonesta Marina Tower. We enjoyed being in the Tower because it was so convenient for the downtown shops, dining, and gambling. It was also considerably less expensive than the ocean view rooms.
What We Didn't Try
Okeanos Spa & Fitness Center offers a variety of aromatherapy, massage, and facials. They all sounded wonderful, but I just didn't have time to try any of them.
The 60-minute spa treatments were priced at $90.
They also have a variety of exercise equipment and offer aerobics classes. Those of you who know me through my writing know I wasn't about to partake of those!
Dining Downtown
After we cleaned up and rested a bit, we headed across the street where we had a nice dinner by the dock. The host greeted us as "the honeymooners" and gave us a special table, just for us. I'm sure he tells everyone that, but it's nice to feel a little special.
The breeze was balmy, the sailboats gently rocked at their moorings, and we enjoyed a magnificent starlit sky on our last night in Aruba. The sky was a deep blue and seemed to stretch forever.Yes, a true fairy tale ending for our vacation.
Recommendation
It was so nice to spend our last day on the island relaxing and winding down. The employees at the hotel were very friendly and helpful and made us feel like special guests.
The hotel is about five minutes away from the airport, so we were able to sleep as late as possible before catching a taxi to the airport for our very early morning flight back to the States.
The Aruba Sonesta Resort was "the icing on the cake" for an already wonderful vacation. I highly recommend this hotel -- especially its wonderful private island.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
diverpam
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Member: Pam
Location: Collierville, TN
Reviews written: 263
Trusted by: 350 members
About Me:
~~~~So many oceans...so little time!~~~~
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