aruba questions

davidbaum1970 RemoveThis @aol.com (DavidBaum1970) wrote in
news:20030916212817.20895.00001264@mb-m21.aol.com:

 > Hi There,
 >
 > Looking for advice on places to stay in Aruba. My wife and I are
 > planning to spend 5 days and have idea where to begin. We basically
 > want a great beach and lots of relaxtion, but we don't want to break
 > the bank. Pleas email. Thanks.
 >
 > David

We stayed at the Aruba Grand last year.... loved it! Can't wait to get
back!

Nice thing about the Aruba Grand is it's the smallest of the High-rise
hotels.... less people, which we loved.... they also have the widest
strip of Palm Beach.... DePalm Tours schedules all kinds of activities:
diving, sailing, island tours; and DePalm pier is right next to the Aruba
Grand.... another bonus, we thought: the beach cabanas at the Grand are
first come, first served.... not so at most of the other high-rise
places.... no need to worry about getting there first though, like i
said, less people and plenty of cabanas to choose from...the reason we
chose the high-rise section is everything is right on the beach.... the
low-rise is closer to Oranjestad and on the other side of the main
highway (if you can call it that).... not a huge road, but you still need
to cross it to get to the beach....

If you want to save some a little money.... rent a car for the time
you're there.... so you can get to restaraunts away from the resorts....
you'd be lucky if a dinner for two at a resort place was less than about
$70 US.... restaraunts in the town are cheaper, or what we consider
average price.... $30-$40 for dinner for two.... plus the cities have
your typical American fast-food joints: Taco Bell, McDonald's, etc.....
so unless you want to hike across a desert to get there, you'll need
wheels.....

whatever you decide, i'm sure you'll have a great time!

mike<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 01:28:17 +0000, DavidBaum1970 wrote:

 > Looking for advice on places to stay in Aruba. My wife and I are
 > planning to spend 5 days and have idea where to begin. We basically
 > want a great beach and lots of relaxtion, but we don't want to break the
 > bank. Pleas email. Thanks.

Just got back Sunday. We stayed at The Mill on Palm Beach. It's a couple
of hundred yards to the beach, but it is a nice beach and I got a good
deal on rooms on Expedia, far cheaper than booking direct.

Food and drink is expensive though. The Mill does a $12 evening meal,
otherwise you're looking to pay at least $20 for a main course in most
places. A small beer was $3.45 in The Mill, which might explain why the
bar was dead outside Happy Hour.

The only cheap place was McDonalds. At least you could get breakfast there
for about $3. An American buffet at the Mill was $10 + 15% service charge
and then they had to cheek to print "tips not included" on the bill.

Jason

--
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/</a> for Aussie diving reports including
Coral Bay, Rottnest Island, Dunsborough and Darwin<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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Just a thought, but why not eat where the locals eat when exploring a new
international destination? I for one would not want to dine in an American
franchise. There are lots of little local places in all the islands so ask a
cabbie or staff at your hotel. It's my favorite way to eat in the islands.

IMHO

Annie
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.bonaireworldfreestyle.com" target="_blank">www.bonaireworldfreestyle.com</a>
"Jason" <jason.usenet.nospam RemoveThis @ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2003.09.17.22.48.11.262201@ntlworld.com...
 > On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 01:28:17 +0000, DavidBaum1970 wrote:
 >
  > > Looking for advice on places to stay in Aruba. My wife and I are
  > > planning to spend 5 days and have idea where to begin. We basically
  > > want a great beach and lots of relaxtion, but we don't want to break the
  > > bank. Pleas email. Thanks.
 >
 > Just got back Sunday. We stayed at The Mill on Palm Beach. It's a couple
 > of hundred yards to the beach, but it is a nice beach and I got a good
 > deal on rooms on Expedia, far cheaper than booking direct.
 >
 > Food and drink is expensive though. The Mill does a $12 evening meal,
 > otherwise you're looking to pay at least $20 for a main course in most
 > places. A small beer was $3.45 in The Mill, which might explain why the
 > bar was dead outside Happy Hour.
 >
 > The only cheap place was McDonalds. At least you could get breakfast there
 > for about $3. An American buffet at the Mill was $10 + 15% service charge
 > and then they had to cheek to print "tips not included" on the bill.
 >
 > Jason
 >
 > --
 > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/</a> for Aussie diving reports including
 > Coral Bay, Rottnest Island, Dunsborough and Darwin
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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In article <pan.2003.09.17.22.48.11.262201.DeleteThis@ntlworld.com>, "Jason"
<jason.usenet.nospam.DeleteThis@ntlworld.com> wrote:
 >
 >The only cheap place was McDonalds. At least you could get breakfast there
 >for about $3. An American buffet at the Mill was $10 + 15% service charge
 >and then they had to cheek to print "tips not included" on the bill.
 >
This isn't all that unusual, especially outside the US. Most of Europe,
etc., don't generally tip and figure the cost of the meal included all
payments to the help. This is just to let them know that it doesn't. You'll
see this on restaraunt bills all over Indianapolis next week, for instance,
when the "out of towners" come in for the Formual 1 race.

--
"Never in the history of mankind, has there been an incident
recorded where large numbers of people were motivated to go to
their windows, fling them open wide, lean out and scream at the
top of their lungs: 'I'm as content as Hell and I'm not gonna
take it anymore!'"<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 00:33:51 +0000, Kurt Ullman wrote:

 > This isn't all that unusual, especially outside the US. Most of Europe,
 > etc., don't generally tip and figure the cost of the meal included all
 > payments to the help. This is just to let them know that it doesn't. You'll
 > see this on restaraunt bills all over Indianapolis next week, for instance,
 > when the "out of towners" come in for the Formual 1 race.

I know what the normal customs are in Europe. I'm British. 15% seems pretty
high to me for a service charge. Most places I've been to including other
Caribbean destinations like Barbados charge 10%. In many parts of Europe,
tipping is about 5%. I'm sure they don't charge 15% in Holland and it was
noticeable that the couple of Dutch run restaurants we went to in Aruba
didn't have a service charge.

If you're paying a service charge, I don't expect to pay a tip as well.
It's either one or the other.

Incidentally, in the UK at least, if they charge a service charge and you
thought the service was rubbish, you are entirely within your rights not
to pay it.

Jason

--
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/</a> for Aussie diving reports including
Coral Bay, Rottnest Island, Dunsborough and Darwin<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 23:07:53 +0000, Comcastnews wrote:

 > Just a thought, but why not eat where the locals eat when exploring a new
 > international destination? I for one would not want to dine in an American
 > franchise. There are lots of little local places in all the islands so ask a
 > cabbie or staff at your hotel. It's my favorite way to eat in the islands.

Because in Palm Beach, which is just basically hotels, there didn't seem
to be anywhere else to get a cheap breakfast. McDonalds was also the only
place I went to where they priced everything in florins rather than
dollars. They accepted dollars, but used to have to get the change out
especially. In contrast in the hotel, if you paid in florins you still got
your change in dollars. Sadly it did seem that McDs was where the locals
went.

And as I never eat in them at home, it was a bit of a novelty. I gave
Dunkin Donuts a miss though.

Jason

--
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/</a> for Maldivian trip reports including Kuredu,
Fesdu, Meedhupparu, Summer Island Village and Velidhu<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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I assume you did not rent a car? So you did not venture out of the hotel
strip? Bummer..

Annie
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.antiguacaribbean.com" target="_blank">www.antiguacaribbean.com</a>

"Jason" <jason.usenet.nospam DeleteThis @ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2003.09.18.09.34.22.983078@ntlworld.com...
 > On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 23:07:53 +0000, Comcastnews wrote:
 >
  > > Just a thought, but why not eat where the locals eat when exploring a
new
  > > international destination? I for one would not want to dine in an
American
  > > franchise. There are lots of little local places in all the islands so
ask a
  > > cabbie or staff at your hotel. It's my favorite way to eat in the
islands.
 >
 > Because in Palm Beach, which is just basically hotels, there didn't seem
 > to be anywhere else to get a cheap breakfast. McDonalds was also the only
 > place I went to where they priced everything in florins rather than
 > dollars. They accepted dollars, but used to have to get the change out
 > especially. In contrast in the hotel, if you paid in florins you still got
 > your change in dollars. Sadly it did seem that McDs was where the locals
 > went.
 >
 > And as I never eat in them at home, it was a bit of a novelty. I gave
 > Dunkin Donuts a miss though.
 >
 > Jason
 >
 > --
 > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/</a> for Maldivian trip reports including
Kuredu,
 > Fesdu, Meedhupparu, Summer Island Village and Velidhu
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 22:26:26 +0000, Comcastnews wrote:

 > I assume you did not rent a car? So you did not venture out of the hotel
 > strip? Bummer..

I didn't rent a car. We did get the bus a couple of times. At $2 return to
Oranjestad, it's a lot cheaper. Having said that, I was thoroughly
underwhelmed by Oranjestad anyway. It's a typical cruise ship place. Lots
of shopping malls, lots of jewellery shops and lots of casinos. It
reminded me of Cozumel.

A visit to the supermarket does reveal quite how much they're taking the
piss on beer prices in your average tourist bar though.

Jason

--
See <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/</a> for UK diving reports including
trips to Plymouth, Weymouth, Falmouth, Exmouth and Scapa Flow<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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