The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba

Be alert! This is far from a Ritz Carlton- by far the worst hotel I’ve stayed

A breathtaking hotel with outstanding amenities and service. Special recognition to Jose, the bartender who is situated on the rear lawn inside a converted VW Bus. Without question, his Pina Coolada was the best I've ever had, and I like neither pineapple nor coconut. It was fresh and professionally made. Jose exemplifies what it means to stay at the Ritz Carlton with his professionalism, class, grace and extreme attention to detail. Highly recommend

Virtually perfection! We stayed four nights as Marriott Titanium Elite and were automatically upgraded to a 1 bedroom executive suite with a massive oceanfront balcony - it had two padded sun loungers, a table and two entry points to the room. Breathtaking views! And it was decorated on arrival with amenities to celebrate our anniversary. Everyone at the resort was beyond friendly and attentive to the guests. The interior, amenities and grounds were beautiful and well-maintained. We sat at the adults only pool each day and wandered down to the beach occasionally. Service at the pools was fast and friendly; pool attendants and servers remembered guests’ names throughout their stay, greeted them and frequently checked on them. Reserving pool or beach chairs can be done one day in advance on the resort’s app but if you aren’t clicking to reserve at exactly the moment chairs are released each day, they get taken. In that case, you may need to get up early to be assured of securing a first come first serve set of chairs. This was no problem for me as I get up early but it’s something to be keenly aware of if having chairs at a certain pool or the beach is important to you. As for the restaurants, the resort has three places that serve dinner. BLT was by far the best - delicious popovers and equivalent steak quality to locations in the U.S. Way beyond our expectations for a Caribbean location! If we’d stayed for a week, we’d have liked another restaurant option or two on site but we heard that guests do like to venture out to local restaurants and other hotel restaurants. I am a distance runner and used the fitness center nearly every day - it was kept at a cool temp appropriate for working out (not typical in the Caribbean in my experience) and all equipment was new and working. The fitness center was also stocked with fruit, water, snacks and wet and dry towels. I also visited the salon twice and was immediately taken back for my service, which was also fast. We used a car service arranged by the Ritz to pick us up drop us off at the hotel/airport - they were easy to find when we landed and fast and efficient. We’ve visited many other Caribbean islands and stayed at other superb properties as well but, even with all those comparisons, Aruba’s weather and the Ritz-Carlton Aruba’s service is incredibly tough to beat. We will return!

Jose was amazing at the drink bus he made us delicious drinks and was so helpful with choosing what ones to get. Def recommend getting your drink in a pineapple or coconut!

Jose made us the best drink at the Prosecco Bus it’s called paper plane- Amazing!!!! He was awesome we will definitely go back !!!