Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino, Oranjestad

Very good overall experience.

Stayed here for 4 nights, 5 days. There are two building on the property, we stayed at the Ocean Suites on the water, which I found nicer because of the location to the water, and how easy it was to get to the private island. All in all it was a great stay, the property is a bit dated, but have done renovations. Room was a good size, with a separate sitting area from the bedroom. There are a few pools with plenty of seating, and was also very clean. The private island is gorgeous and is highly recommended to go to, the hotel has a launch that runs back and forth. Only negative comment was the service at the pool bar - this was repeatedly bad, and at one instance very rude. For this reason they did not receive the full satisfaction rating under service.

Good location, easy to get around and lots of places to eat nearby. A good overall experience.

Excellent

An uneven experience. We arrived during check-in time to find that our room was not ready. Fifteen minutes later we were brought to a very dark, depressing interior room. I had informed the hotel that I would be working in the room everyday and did not come to the Caribbean to be in darkness. The customer services manager very graciously found us a room that faced onto the town of Oranjestad and was bright and inviting. The room was spacious and well appointed, but instead of a 'cooler' they should definitely have a small fridge. We stayed for 14 days and would have appreciated the opportunity to have luncheon food that stayed fresh. Housekeeping was very unpredictable. We would leave in the morning for breakfast and inform the hotel we wished to have the room made up before our return. About half the time this did not happen. In one case we returned from a day's excursion at 4:30 to find that our room was not made up. Housekeeping was somewhat haphazard and cleaning could have been more thorough. The front desk staff were pleasant but the needed repairs (our door stuck on the floor, some lights didn't work) sometimes were followed up on and sometimes not. Overall, we enjoyed our stay, but it did take some repeated interventions on our part. The hotel gave a small financial credit for our inconvenience. Great location, wonderful private island with beaches and a boat shuttle to the island, use of the beach of the Ocean Suites. In all, a mixed experience.