Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino All Inclusive

The Renaissance is a great hotel to stay at in Aruba. My girlfriend and I stayed for 5 nights in August 2016 as a short end-of-summer getaway. The hotel is actually divided in two. The Ocean Suites is the more family-friendly and larger area right on the shoreline, while the Marina Hotel is more suited to adults and is located on the other side of the road and overlooks the marina. We stayed in the Marina Hotel, and that is what my review is about. The actual hotel is quite nice. A big open reception area with the Blue bar is set right behind the pool area. Check in was very quick and easy. The actual rooms are a little small but sufficient. The bed was very comfortable, we both slept soundly the entire trip. My only complaint is the bathrooms do not have actual doors, only sliding frosted glass, so privacy is bare minimum. Housekeeping was quick and efficient and did not disturb us at all. They were doing some noisy maintenance a couple of the mornings, but it was at 10am or so. The dining options were very good, overall. We ate at all the restaurants in the Marina Hotel. The buffet in Aquarius for breakfast and lunch was just alright, and the Steakhouse was good but not exceptional, but the bar food at Blue was delicious. The hot wings were incredibly addictive as a poolside snack. The late night restaurant was something we frequented a number of times too. Nothing like a 2am steak when on vacation... There is a boat that docks right in the hotel lobby area to take you to the island where the actual beaches are. Again, there is two beaches: one more family oriented and one for adults. There are flamingos and iguanas all around which is a nice novelty. The beachside bar on the adult side was quick with drinks but food takes a little while. Not bad unless you are very impatient about it though. We were drinking a lot seeing we were on the all inclusive plan. All the drinks were well made, but on the weaker side. I was ordering all my drinks with double alcohol in the end which they obliged without any issue, and it made them more to my liking. All the service staff were absolutely exceptional and friendly, they were a real highlight of the hotel. We did not have a single bad waiter or bartender the entire time. The casinos are small and typical of island gambling. We only visited them once and played some table games. I wouldn't suggest if you are a hardcore gambler; they are more for if you are looking to just have a bit of fun. There are a lot of very fancy high-end outlets in the Mall right below the hotel at the street level. Things like Rolex, Cartier, Dolce and Gabbana, etc. We did some window browsing as it wasn't really to our interest, but the options are there and they offer quite good discounts on luxury items. There isn't a whole lot around the place to see and do, so if you are looking for a lot of local spots or history you won't find it. It is very much a tourist island and that is what they specialize in. However, if you are just looking for a relaxing trip to lie on a beach or by a pool, I can strongly suggest the Renaissance and especially would suggest the all inclusive as you will get your money's worth (especially if you drink regularly).

First let me say I rarely ever write negative reviews but felt I needed to in this case. This hotel is not of a normal Marriott quality. The food was not bad but limited choices as several of the restaurants are the same thing just in different towers. There is really only one choice that is not buffet style for all meals and you can only eat so much steak although the steak restaurant is good. The service was subpar in many cases being on the all-inclusive plan seemed to be an issue as many people did not want to wait on you as they wanted the cash paying customers who gave them additional tips. The all-inclusive plan was said to include tips but on several occasions I was told that they had cash paying customers to attend to first. There was a waitress named Carolina at the Marina tower who was EXCELLENT and took very good care of us and was a godsend! In many cases we just waited for her to get there rather than even try to get someone else who pretended as if we were invisible. The sodas are almost always flat so I had to go pay for canned sodas as they did not seem to think anything was wrong with it after many attempts to report it although our whole group said the same thing. Secondly, the rooms are not huge and have limited views if any other than streets and traffic, the noise in the rooms was terrible as either the wind blew against the balcony doors to the point of severe whistling or the music was terribly loud and disruptive, if you want to sleep before midnight then forget it unless you have ear plugs! The hotel staff was not accommodating to consider moving us although the hotel was not full but there are honestly not many places you could move without the noise. The music was a constant techno beat at all times and sounded like a broken record. The rooms are so small there is nowhere to even lay a suitcase open flat in order to pack or unpack except for the bed itself which is not easy when packing to go home and doing some the night before with the final items the next morning. There is a small fridge in the room but does not keep anything cold. Although there is considerable shopping right there at the hotel it is all very expensive designer stuff unless you walk behind the hotel to the shopping district and took the trolley. This hotel is right in the middle of town so heavy traffic and many zooming cars and racing motorcycles at night as well that was very noisy. The beach is hot and very few cabanas and those that were there were useless. Honestly not much of a beach and very small. The ride to the beach was ok but usually rough and you had to wait 10 mins or longer for a ride even though there were multiple boats they seemed to run on the same time schedule rather than constantly rotating back and forth. Cabs are expensive even to go 5-6 miles expect to pay $20 both ways. The beach is a waste if you plan on snorkeling as there is really nothing but a rock barrier that allows for a beach 'pool' of water where no fish seemed to be.

The entire vacation was lovely from beginning to end. From food to the pool to the service. Will definitely go back.

Great hotel for adults. I think the all inclusive package was definitely worth it as the food and drinks are pretty pricey. The flamingo adults only beach on the private island was hands down my favorite part! You get to feed the flamingos, float around in the ocean, and have food and drinks delivered to you at your beach chair. The check in process at the hotel was slow and they needed a few more people to help at busy times but besides that, no complaints from us!