Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino

By Drew Nosti from Charleston, SC • I'd rather have stayed at Cancun

Overall Rating: 6   

Aruba has nothing that Cancun has and even the natural bridge is now gone.

I am not the typical complainer. I will always give the benefit of the doubt and understand it is difficult to be perfect for everyone. So understand I am trying to be fare.

It started with a misunderstanding on cost. I was told that our package included $100 per day adjustment for meals, IT DID NOT, to the tune of $700 I did not plan on spending. The meals drinks and anything you ... [more]wanted had a fixed high cost so bring your fat wallet. I did find a few really friendly people but the rest are just playing you. For my money I'd rather have stayed at Cancun and been taken to the cleaners there. Aruba has nothing that Cancun has and even the natural bridge is now gone. [less]
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By Kitty Martin from Monmouth Junction, NJ • Wedding at Aruba Renaissance: Angela and Renaissance are fantastic

Overall Rating: 8   Location [10] • Service [10]

My daughter was married on August 27, 2005 on the private island at the Marriott Renaissance in Aruba. We had 92 people fly to Aruba so the pressure was on to make sure that everyone had a great time. Angela Hagedoorn was our wedding planner and she did an excellent job. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were very happy with everything!
We first went to Aruba in April 05, to see the isl... [more]and, choose place settings, menus, flowers, arrangements and music. We were able to see the different room options at the hotel, so that we could recommend to all of our guests and family members the best place for them to stay. My husband wanted a special kind of red wine, Cuban cigars, and espresso coffee. Angela was able to fulfill all these requests.

We arrived in Aruba the Wednesday before the wedding. We had itineraries and different items that needed to be in the rooms as people arrived (since we had so many people coming, they were arriving at all different times). Angela had this all coordinated and everyone had everything that they needed.)

On Thursday we met with the band leader from The Party Posse. He assured us that he could play anything that we wanted.

On Friday night we had a buffet dinner on the lawn by the Beach Suites. The tables and chairs were covered in white and there were tropical flowers and colorful overlays on all the buffet tables. There were tikki torches and little white lights everywhere. We had the Caribbean Barbecue, which was amazing. There was a steel band, a limbo show, which everyone loved, and Coconut Charlie who cut open coconuts for kids of all ages. It was a great warm up party and I think we all thought it couldn’t get any better….

On Saturday morning, Angela had all the tuxedos and dresses pressed and in the proper rooms. She had a conference room off of the lobby complete with snacks, drinks, and a room full of hairdressers and make-up artists ready to make the bridal party breathtaking. We had the bride, 5 bridemaids, sister of the bride and mother of the bride to complete and we were all finished in plenty of time. Angela had all the flowers waiting in our room, where the girls all went to get dressed. She took all the favors, the bubbles, reception cameras and the card box with her to have over on the island and ready.
Angela had strict instructions for all of our guests to be in the lobby at the proper time in order to get them all to the island well before my daughter would come down. We had it written on the itinerary and she also made a call to each room to remind everyone not to be late. No one was. She took all the guests in the Sub Seeker, which is covered so that there would be no hair or dress mishaps.

After all the guests left the lobby, we took the small boat over to the island. We all sat up in the front of the boat so that no ones hair would get messed up. There were 7 girls and plenty of room so that we would not get wet.

We had a light string jazz ensemble playing for the ceremony. It was the perfect musical touch. They played light jazz as everyone was getting seated, and then the traditional music as the procession started. It was breathtaking. The blessing was beautiful, with lighting of candles, offerings of flowers to moms, and exchanging of rings.

Everything was timed out perfectly for the pictures in the sunset. The sunset was so beautiful that it looks like a backdrop in the pictures.

Then, THE PARTY. It was great. The band was fabulous, they played Caribbean music and party favorites and everyone was dancing. The trees all had white lights, we chose black tablecloths and chair covers with gold bows. It looked great against the white sand.

We partied late into the night. The older folks were able to go back to the hotel whenever they wanted. Some of the younger ones staying and even went in the water for a swim.

On Sunday we had a buffet brunch out by the pools on the beach side. ... [less]
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By brunosmom_2001 from Charlteston, WV • THE BEST OF EVERYTHING

Overall Rating: 10   Location [10] • Room [10] • Service [10] • Value [10]

The Marriott Renaissance in downtown has the best of both worlds. It is within walking distance to restaurants, bars, and shopping. There are so many great things about this hotel. One is that it has its own private beach, with only Marriott guests allowed (you must show your key to get on the boat to the island). The boat comes right into the hotel lobby and picks you up. The ride is approxi... [more]mately 5-10 minutes to the island. I cannot say enough about the beauty of the island. There are flamingos walking about the beach, and friendly iguanas lounging around. There are two beaches, one for families and one for adults. This makes it even more relaxing for couples. There is good snorkeling on this beach. We found out later that snorkeling on the "hotel strip" a few miles away was not good. Since this was important to us, we thoroughly enjoyed the many species of colorful fish to see, and even some little squids. Back at the hotel, there is a happy hour at the bar and a fabulous pool overlooking the water. There is a spa and exercise room. The hotel room we were in was fabulous and our room was always clean. Another wonderful thing about Aruba is that you can drink the water. They have their own salination plant on the island and the water is great to drink. This is important to people that don't drink carbonated beverages (like me) because you don't have to worry about getting bottled water. The staff at the hotel were there for our every need and were friendly and helpful. The Renaissance has its own indoor mall attached to the hotel. There are many shops to browse around, and if that isn't enough shopping for you, you can walk outside and be in downtown. There are many restaurants within walking distance. The convenience of this hotel and the friendly service and private beach are everything anyone would ever need for a fantastic trip to Aruba! I would stay there again and recommend this hotel to anyone going there. [less]
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