The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba

The sea coastal view is actually a view on the parking lot and a road! There Is not enough room on the beach for all the guests of the 300+ apartments and the hotel allocates almost half of the beach front to only 11 cabanas for extra pay.

We go to Aruba to relax, enjoy the beach and have great meals. The staff at the Ritz make all of this possible. Since we spend most of our time at the beach, that is where we have the most interaction with the staff and they are incredible! From the start of the day getting our umbrella and lounge chairs in order to attention all day long with drinks and food, they are always attentive. Thanks to Eric, Ely, Kilyan, Luis and all of the other great folks!

As this was the last hotel on Palm Beach our room overlooked the public beach to the west. We were on the sixth floor. This afforded a great view of the beach with exciting para-sailing, kite surfing activities including a view of the California Lighthouse. Service was awesome at the beach and pool great. Waiters riding Segways delivered drinks and food in record time. We had their brunch daily usually late mornings which was top notch. . Beach setups compared to other hotels were civilized as they were not on top of each other, but spread out for privacy.

Very nice

If you are looking for the Ritz experience you will find the service level here, but not the rest. The look and feel is more a typical Marriott than a Ritz Carlton. There was no bellboy to greet us and we had to carry the luggage. Front desk staff was friendly and helpful for check in, not so much for check out. AC was poor in public spaces. Not sure if this was a temporary issue or it is normal. The room was not well kept for the age of the hotel, the carpet has bubbles and the closet was leaning to the front. The bathroom is pretty standard, no super shower or great tub. The amenities in the bathroom did not impress. However, the expresso machine in the room did and we used it plenty. Room service is on time and friendly but food is lacking and incredibly expensive. The Beach is gorgeous, and really enjoyable. At midafternoon they did not have any more towels to give us. They offer sun screen at the greeting area thing that was welcome as we arrived. Beach cabanas are pricy and service is spotty especially in the morning. Lunch service is limited to the pool restaurant and the lobby bar. Food at the pool restaurant was really bad for the price. The highlight was BLT steakhouse open only for dinner. However, there are many other choices of food at walking distance and you could get a taxi at the door and reach more options. Overall it was a good stay, but the hotel has to do some work to really be at the level of other Ritz properties I visited.