Hotels by Location | Aruba | Cities A - D

Manchebo Beach Resort and Spa
Manchebo Beach exemplifies the best of how the Caribbean was 20-30 years ago, before all the cruise ships and high rise condos. It's delightful to know that places like this still exist. Quiet and peaceful, yet clean, friendly and competent. The beach is wide, with wonderful soft sand and no rocks or seaweed. By far the best beach we saw on the island and one of the best we've seen anywhere. The hotel is old, yet well maintained with all rooms recently updated. I paid $35 for a week of wireless Internet, which works not only at this hotel (including the beach!), but at many other hotels and restaurants, plus the airport. It was fast and reliable, and helpful to have for checking out restaurants, etc. We ate at all three restaurants on the property and found the food to be good and reasonably priced. There's also a Subway, Dunkin Donuts and bagel shop within very short walking distance, which were handy when we didn't want to spend the time or money for a full sit down meal. During our stay, the light went out in the bathroom, and it was promptly repaired after we reported it. The front desk was helpful in recommending places for activities such as parasailing and waverunner rental. We rented a car from the agency located at the hotel, which made it very convenient, and the price was in line with other car rental places we checked out online. By far the best feature was the beautiful, peaceful beach, with plenty of cabanas available any time of day. If you want noisy boats, a "spring break" atmosphere, crowded beaches and people constantly hitting you up to attend condo presentations, go to one of the high rise hotels down the beach (the new Riu looks pretty spectacular). If you prefer the Caribbean the way it was before Jimmy Buffett became a multi-billion dollar industry, check into Manchebo Beach....More

Manchebo Beach Resort and Spa
The hotel is situated halfway between the high rise district and the town. This proved to be an asset in that we were away from the crowds and had a more personal interaction with the very warm and accommodating hotel staff. The beach here is beautiful and never seemed overcrowded. One does have to wake up early and claim the shaded straw umbrellas by placing your towel on the chairs to assure a spot out of the direct sun. I do not recommend the breakfast at the hotel. The omelets, fruit, and french toast were quite ordinary. Breakfast was better at Mathews next door....More

Divi Dutch Village Beach Resort
This hotel is good for the money we wanted to spend but it felt like we needed to walk far to get anywhere. They have golf carts that will take you places but they were few and far between when they wanted to actually pick you up. The room was great. It had a full fridge, microwave and stove which was good because we were traveling with a 20 Month and 4 Year old. The room also had a DVD player which was nice. The room was close to the pool and a short walk to the beach and supermarket. If you are looking for a ton of action I would suggest the High Rise Hotel section but if you are looking for a quiet relaxing vacation this is a good place....More