The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba

The Ritz in Aruba is my favorite place to stay on the island. Great staff, rooms and restaurants. The food is outstanding. The best dirty martinis are at the bar watching the sunset. During the day, the best tropical drinks on the island are served right near the adult pool by mixologist extraordinaire José at the Bus stop. Which is a converted van bar. Any drink you want he can make exquisitely, with fresh tropical fruit and top shelf liquor. José is a wonderful kind man, who enjoys his work and serving the many Ritz Carlton guests. Do yourself a favor and stop by, you won’t regret it!

Me and my family walked the beach and found a cute bus parked outside of the Ritz on the beach side. Look for the yellow and white awning. Jose’ has a beautiful bar setup. He makes the best crafted drinks that he will put them in either a pineapple of coconut for you. We visited the bus daily. Jose’ has such great energy and the drinks are 5 Star. I definitely recommend going to see him while on the island.

This is now our fourth trip to the Ritz and once again we were not disappointed. Considering this is one of their busier weeks of the year, you would not even know it. The staff is always cool, calm and professional. From the moment you are greeted at the front desk, to the staff that takes care of you on the beach there is never a hiccup along the way. The rooms are super clean, the cleaning crew and turn down staff are on point. BLT Steak is always a great meal but the sushi at Divi is maybe the best on the Island. That is not an exaggeration. The lobby has the best view of the beach/ocean of any resort on the Island. This is a can’t miss stay. No websites or going crazy for palapas, just soft beautiful beach chairs with big beautiful umbrellas and attentive beach staff who will bring u drinks and food in minutes. The resort is at the end of the strip so no walkway/boardwalk traffic, pure serenity.

I’ve always wanted to come to Aruba and earning my doctorate recently was the perfect reason to celebrate with my husband. We haven’t even been here 24 hours yet and we are already planning to return next year. This place is paradise. We were welcomed with “welcome home” as we entered the lobby and offered champagne or water. Check in was at 4:00 and although a couple rooms were ready we waited to get the premier ocean front room and just as Shaequil at the front desk said, it was worth the wait! A photo from our balcony is included and the view is spectacular! Shout out to Shaequil for his wonderful recommendation and for keeping us updated on when the room would be ready I’ll need to get names of all of the employees we have encountered because they are all so accommodating. They love their little island and so do we. ❤️

We returned to Ritz Aruba the second time for our daughter’s birthday this year. The Ritz team went above and beyond to make our stay special. Huge thank you to Angela at Casa Nonna, Kate at breakfast, the super talented violinist, and Bella at the towel hut. You guys made our stay so much more memorial and special. Thank you!