My husband and I stayed at the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino from May 23-May 30, 2008. Although this hotel was under construction I cannot say enough great things about our stay. I’ll start from the beginning…

We arrived to the hotel around 1:30 PM and with a check in time of 3 PM our room was obviously not ready but they did give us 2 bottles of Fiji water and some punch. We took this time to acquaint ourselves with the amenities and visit the concierge to plan out our week and the concierge was absolutely great! Around 3ish we checked into our Garden View room and it was fabulous! Obviously updated in a very tasteful manner with high tech amenities (a nice big LCD too!). Nice big balcony with a beautiful view as well as a large walk-in closet, safe and two sinks. Of course if I looked straight ahead, I could see the construction taking place in the north tower but I chose to look down and around instead. I should add that the hotel provides some great shampoo, conditioner, body wash, soap and after sun lotion so you’re pretty much covered – I could’ve saved 10 pounds of room in my luggage!

Our first day there we spent the late afternoon walking along shore all the way to the Westin to check out Palm Beach. We immediately learned that the Marriott has the nicest, cleanest and quietest beach in the high rise area. While my husband and I bummed around in the ocean we could see little fish swimming around us (that’s how clear that water is!). On our second day there we visited Lisa at the Guest Services desk - she is absolutely lovely! She invited us down to view a timeshare offer which we didn’t mind because we received a $200 resort credit for a 90 minute presentation. It was quite tempting, this timeshare offer but we stood our ground and left exactly at minute 91. The lobby bar, coffee shop and sushi bar all great choices for a quick snack or drink.

A few tips: take the Arubus when possible – it’s affordable, convenient and safe, the business center at this hotel is closed on weekends and lastly the hotel gift shop sells water floats for less than money than it costs to rent one. Of course you’ll have to inflate it yourself but for $15 you can have for the entire week or rent one through the hotel for one day.

Try:
- Watapana ATV Extravaganza: the concierge at the Marriott will only recommend tours by DePalm but I highly, highly recommend this tour instead, bring goggles and a handkerchief to avoid dirt in your eyes and teeth.
-Simply Fish: eating the coconut cake while enjoying the view with your toes in the sand was one of my absolute favorite things in Aruba!

my husband and i stayed here for a long weekend- a getaway trip for my birthday. i was a little reluctant, as some of the reviews were not so good regarding the construction, but we got a great deal on priceline... and we were so happy we did! the hotel rooms are in the shape of a "U", with the south side completely done with renovation- that's where we stayed. the room was brand new- and very nice- just like the pics on the hotel homepage. they are still working on north side, but it really didn't have an affect on our trip, and we spent most days at pool or on beach. we treated ourselves to dinner at ruth chris' steakhouse- amazing as always! overall, a great hotel, and on our taxi ride back to airport we commented on coming back....and we LIVE on another caribbean island.

Just returned from a 4 night stay at the Marriott. Hotel is beautiful with the new renovations making the rooms extremely pleasant. Comfortable bed, spacious bathroom and large balcony with pleasant views facing the pool and gardens. Hotel is kept immacuately clean. The staff is extremely pleasant. Was pleased with the dining options- had a very enjoyable meal at Simply Fish on the beach. Pool area was very nice and thought the beach in front of the Marriott was one of the nicest of the high rise hotels. Had a great time and would recommend this hotel to anyone!

Great location on end of beach and the construction is a non issue but food was terrible. I ended up flying home and being laid up for five days with travelers diarrrah from eating at the ruth chris steak house! So buyer beware.... hot tub was broken and we reported to management and they didn't care. only one measely, outdated hot tub with no jets working and cold.