The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba

We frequent Aruba multiple times a year and we always have dinner at the Sushi Lounge at the Ritz Carlton. The view from the upper patio is simply stunning while the food and drinks are outstanding. Our dining experience is always a ten when our favorite waiter, Jenssen, is working. Jenssen always makes us feel so special and is truly an exceptional waiter. Thank you Jenssen for your impeccable service and hospitality!

I came to check out the Ritz Carlton while on a trip to Aruba with my best friend. We came across the most amazing Veuve Clicquot van with drinks served outside. Jose, who is the best bartender who works the van made the most delicious drinks in a coconut and it was delish! He makes the best spicy margaritas that he calls it spicy Mama! Come check it out!

Beautiful beach, nice rooms, best club lounge of the Caribbean Ritz Carltons. Traveled to celebrate a birthday and Zahir, Agnes and Sergio at the club lounge went above and beyond to make it very special! Cabanas at the adult pool are worth it and Gregory was absolutely amazing!! Appreciated the ability to reserve free beach and pool umbrellas the day before and not get up early to play the chair game prevalent at many resorts.

The physical resort was a great location and away from the loud hustle and bustle. We had a car which is probably mandatory staying here if you want to go off property but we did walk down by the Holiday Inn area where it's loud and busy. We were mid check in when the person next to us started complaining about the verbiage of their room title vs what they booked. Not really sure how/why but we suddenly were told to have a seat and our room would be ready in twenty minutes. We can only assume that they reassigned our room to this guest. We booked the early flight into Aruba to land at 2pm and arrive at the hotel at check-in 4pm so that we could swim and enjoy the resort prior to dinner. At 4:20 we asked about the status of our room and we were told it was just waiting for a supervisor to complete the inspection which takes 30-45mins which sounds quite unbelievable. I would have expected to be offered drinks/snacks from the bar, but we were told it would be ready soon. At 4:40 a supervisor came by and could see we weren't happy and inquired as to why. I informed her check-in is at 4pm and it's now 4:40 and we were told our room would be ready at 4:20. She went to the desk for 10 mins and came back and told us the room would be ready in 20-30 mins and apologized for the confusion. There was no confusion, check in is 4pm and she is now telling us our room won't be ready until 5:10-5:20, With 6:15 dinner reservations we won't have time to enjoy the pool before dinner. Around 5:15 our room was ready but no one informed the porters. We called down and they were having trouble finding our luggage and our room. At 5:50pm our luggage was delivered in just enough time to get dressed for dinner. The porter that delivered our luggage was 12/10 and asked if we wanted a fridge and fan for the room! The fridge in the room is useless because it's filled with overpriced items vs going to the local market and buying water/drinks at normal prices. This employee gets MVP for the stay and was compensated accordingly!!! While at dinner our fridge and fan were delivered to the room. I should note that we booked our room months in advance and were promised that we would be put on the highest available floor for our room type and given the best view. Our room was on the second floor of seven. Housekeeping did a pretty good job of honoring our preferences for cleaning times. The other reason besides the check in disaster which is not how anyone wants to start their trip was the beach experience. We noticed jet skis operated by employees of the neighboring jet ski rental operating at top speed with in a foot of the swim area. I am not aware of Arubian law regarding this, but internationally when there's a swim area 200 ft is the standard. The following day a jet ski almost struck a swimmer who flailed his arms to get the attention of the operator (employee). The employee then comes back full speed and does a power turn to throw a wall of water at the guest. Every beach employee of the Ritz sees this and every guest on the beach stops and watches at this employee then berates this guest and using vulgar language in front of women and children and when he notices everyone watching him he says "Do not come to Aruba, all of you should not come back to Aruba, stay away, we don't want you here." Not a single employee did a thing to help this guest as this maniac continued to operate recklessly around guest. We reported it with video to the hotel. Where we come from that video alone would warrant an arrest. I contacted the police who didn't even come to speak with me or ask for the video. The Ritz clearly did not address it because for the next four days this recklessness continued. My 11 and 13 year old daughters were terrified during the incident and thought the man was drunk. I was considering renting a jet ski but would never after this experience, nor would I ever stay at a resort that my kids can't safely swim in the ocean. We had high hopes staying at the Ritz. It's not the nicest hotel we've ever stayed at but it was certainly a splurge and we had hoped it would be an amazing experience but next time I'd save money and stay at the Marriott, Hilton, or a time share.

Amazing experience at this phenomenal hotel. Food was great and so was the service. A huge shout out to Jose with his pop up bar in the Volkswagen, his drinks are awesome