This was our first time in Aruba and the Ocean Club. From the moment we arrived until the time we departed our stay was awesome! The one bedroom suite with full kitchen was wonderful and clean. The people, pool area, beach(outstanding) , food was excellent. My husband and I will defintely be back and we will stay at the Ocean Club again. Aruba is everything my friends had been telling me. We can't wait to return. Valerie from MA

My husband & I stayed at the Ocean Club May 16-23. We loved it! Very relaxing time. Upon arrival, we were given a room that we could not see the ocean at all. I called down to the reception desk and asked to be changed to another room. they accomodated us by changing our room so we could see atleast a bit of the ocean from our balcony.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous everyday. Great beach, plenty of palapas available. We never reserved in advance-just got one that morning without any trouble. There are places right in front of the ocean club to rent floats, kayaks, etc. & to book parasailing & dinner cruises. I rented a float all day for $5.00-well worth it.
Plenty of places to eat in the Marriott resorts & places within walking distance. Simply Fish was great. Great food, great sunset view. We also enjoyed Moomba beach bar-right on the beach, very relaxed atmosphere and decent food. We DID NOT enjoy Tony Romas. TERRIBLE service!! decent food though.
The marketplace inside the Ocean club was very expensive, we ended up going to one of the grocery stores for our week of supplies. Also, at ocean club the drinks were very expensive. Even happy hour-2 for 1 drinks $10.00
Overall, a very good experience, would definitely recommend.

When I booked this trip I was a bit skeptical of Aruba for my kids as I thought there wasn’t much to see or do here, and the airfare to get here was too expensive for a relaxing vacation….Was I ever wrong!

We stayed in the Marriott Ocean Club, a beautiful resort with all the amenities of a Hotel. The only other large resort developer on the Island is named Divi Aruba, who had just as nice accomadations, but there site was a little more spread out. Marriott’s site has all the restaurants, entertainment, beaches, and other amenities just a short walk away.

We rented a car (which I suggest) and chose to take Avis insurance because if you damage a car in Aruba, you have to pay for the damages before you leave and get reimbursed by your insurance company when you return to the states.

We arrived at the resort and got placed in room 5273 which was on the 2nd floor of the main building, it was a “garden view” in which we had a great view of the pool and if we turned our heads to the left we could see the beach. Our room was a 1br, with a 2 person Jacuzzi tub, 2 person shower, and a sleeper sofa. The kitchen had granite counters and a breakfast bar. The resort had a great pool, although you couldn’t use the pool at the Marriott Surf club, I didn’t mind as the Ocean Club was MUCH less crowded and congested and had a more cozy feel to it than the Surf Club. The beach was riddled with covered huts called Palapas with beach lounge chairs under them, and if you wanted one in the morning you could just reserve it for free. However, I was always able to get a front row palapas no matter if I reserved one or not. We packed seasoned meat that I froze, and pre-cooked Minute Maid rice for dinner. I also pre-ordered online eggs, ham, cheese, bread and milk for our breakfast, that we picked up from the onsite market when we arrived. It was already packed and ready to go. My first evening here we just relaxed by the beach, watching the sunset and drinking a Pina Colada…yum.

We went to the beach, packed a picnic lunch & drinks from our room and dipped in the beach (my 1 complaint about this resort and this part of Aruba was the sand was HARD, with lots of crushed seashells and if you didn’t wear swim shoes you could cut your feet). The beach water temp was warm and blue, with pirate ships, wind surfers, and other water sports right onsite and in view. They had a band playing in the background, and iguanas roamed freely. The onsite casino, which we didn’t feel paid out to well, and they had high bet minimums at the tables (we play black jack) starting at $10. So we went up the road to the Alahambra casino that paid out well and we could play black jack for $5 a hand.

The large gym rivals some gyms you may pay for a membership to join, then went out to explore some of Aruba on our own. Mostly everything in Aruba will be closed on Sunday. A short walk down the beach will take you to the bar called Moombas for drinks. Dinner at Smokey Joes, a fantastic rib joint, where the rib dish was about $15 and they had these great Jaimacan beef patties…yum yum.

They usually had another band playing all day, and you can make dinner reservations for Madam Jeanette’s a cozy, romantic Carribean / dutch restaurant. They have pastries and ice cream at the elaborate snack bar in the casino. Definately reserv the 8 hour jeep tour (which is the best tour for you $ at 79 pp and includes a great lunch and all the sites the Island has to offer in 1 swoop). We went on the tour with ABC for the 8 hr tour of Aruba that covered the natural pool, baby beach, the oldest catholic church in Aruba, the caves, ostrige farm, old gold mines, the natural bridge and the lighthouse…definitely well worth every penny! We came back the room and had dinner at Simply Fish (a restaurant on Marriott property), located on the beach at the Marriott where we were staying. We enjoyed the dinner, location, and the service.

Don't leave without stopping at Linda’s Pancakes for a late brunch…YUM…YUM… then we turned in the car, went flew home.

Definitely a do over vacation! The Marriott Aruba Ocean Club far exceeded our expectations and is a definite do over.

We used a timeshare exchange to land a week in Aruba. It was our first time there and we were watching the reviews for the Marriott Ocean Club, etc.

We stayed in a two bedroom unit (4 adults) and it was comfortable, accessible to everything and we were able to walk to beach locations for dinner, breakfast or sport activities.

The unit was comfortable... perhaps there were some worn features but in general it was GREAT!

We had a view of the courtyard/pool and ocean... all lovely.

The debate about Surf Club pool vs. Ocean Club pool didn't seem to matter to us at all. We had a great pool, wonderful hot tubs, very little crowds and it was quiet.

We didn't have a washer/dryer in our unit as many Marriott Villas do, however the washer and dryers were on the floor and free (no coins needed)... not a big deal. It was important to have access to these as we had a hard time getting our suits and wet clothes to dry out. Also, we did the safari and horseback riding and really wanted to wash those clothes before returning.

The fitness center was great... had the place to myself!
We didn't go to the spa... we were up for more of the other activities this time.

I'd highly recommend the Marriott Ocean Club. Enjoy!