Occidental Grand Aruba Resort Hotel

I recently stayed at the Occidental Grand Aruba, from May 29, 2006 to June 4, 2006 for my honeymoon, and it was wonderful. Check-in was quick and easy, and all of the staff was so nice and friendly. The entire hotel was not finished at the time, two more restaurants will be opening and they were still working on some of the rooms, but this did not affect us at all. The rooms were beautiful, and extremely clean. We had an all-inclusive plan for meals and drinks, and we had the bed turn-down serivce at night. Our room was cleaned every morning and restocked with towels at night too, the first night they lit candles in the room, and gave us bathrobes and t-shirts (said honeymooners on the back), and a bottle of wine. The food at all of the restaurants was great, they had an italian place, carribean, oriental, and buffet (there is a mexican one and a pizza place still to come) however for all of the restaurants except for the bufet no shorts may be worn to dinner. Reservations for the restaurants were made a guest services in the lobby where they also had a newsletter detailing the events of the day, and they would also call any other place on the island to make reservations for you too. The drinks were great - not watered down like at some resorts. There were shows in the ballroom each night, which were great, and live music in the lobby bar. The grounds were beautiful and the pool was great. The Occidental was great, and will only get better once it is complete, if you are considering going to Aruba, this is the place to stay!!

This was our first visit to the Occidental Grand Aruba and couldn't be more happier with our choice. I am a travel agent and would suggest this property without any hesitation. My husband and I travelled with another couple and had the best time ever. Our room was on the 7th floor, Royal Club Level and had beautiful oceanviews and also looked over the pool. The room was brand new, very clean and spacious. We also had a balcony that overlooked over the ocean. We did not hear any construction noise, and don't know what all the fuss was about. One mistake we did make was not getting a prepaid phone card. The first two calls we made back home, were put on our credit card and cost us 40.00 per call for only 10mins each. We did purcahse a 5.00 phone card that was good for 60 minutes. The cards can be purchased almost anywhere on the island. The resort was just beautiful even with the renovations going on. We liked going this time of year for the resort was not crowded at all. The pool was very clean and also had a swim-up bar that was popular. We found the drinks to be excellent and not watered down at all. The bartenders were all very friendly. We tried all four restaurants and had no complaints at all. The Palm Restaurant is where we had breakfast each morning. The food was plentiful and had a lot of variety. The Beach Club was located outside and served lunch and dinner. Again the food was plentiful and we had no complaints. Our favorite restaurants were Zen and L'Olio. Zen was the Japanese restarant and we had the chef cook right in front of us. He was very entertaining to all of us and the food was excellent. L'Olio was an Italian restaurant with white linen tableclothes. Again the food and service were excellent. A good tip is to make reservations at the restaurants 1 day in advance. You can make them in the lobby from 9am-1pm each day. We didn't get to see any entertainment for the dinners at night lasted at least 2-3 hrs. This let us have a relaxing time each night. The weather was very warm but with the trade winds we didn't really feel like it was scorching. We spent most of the afternoon at the beach floating in the ocean and couldn't be happier. We will return to this property once the renovations are completed. I would reccomend this property without any hesitation at all.

We just came back from the Occidental Grand Aruba. I've read many comments before this trip, and was expecting the worst. In fact, what I found was a very pleasant atmosphere, great food, wonderful staff and we all had a lot of fun! I want to thank the front desk staff: Eugene, Angelica, and specially Mirna, for being responsive and accomodating all our requests. I truly enjoyed talking to them and had all my needs attended. The whole experience was really above my expectations! The Hotel is clean, our room was fantastic, with a pool / ocean view, very nicely decorated. The pool is very beautiful, and the pool bar staff was always ready to serve us. Bernardine, our favority waitress at lunch, was efficient and very attentive to details. She knew exactly how to please each of us. The evening shows are better than the average I've seen in 5 star hotels before. The Las Vegas Show deserves your special effort to attend. Don't miss the Zen (Oriental) restaurant. We had dinner there twice, and the Hibachi Chefs are great! Elmo, the waiter, is special as well. The Italian restaurant is also very good. The beach set-up is one of the great assets of this hotel. Many guests "reserve" their chairs with towels early in the morning, but we never had trouble finding a comfortable spot near the beach bar. Yes, there is construction going on, but it did not bother us a bit. I guess it all depends on how one wants to spend their vacation... in a bad mood...or with a positive attitude!

We just came back Jun 1-7 with a 17 month old baby, and had the best time that we're buying a timeshare. We can only laugh at hearing negative results. The food was amazing. The service was without the best ever. We stayed in the Royal Club Suites 8th flloor,our room was 775 sq. feet livingroom, diningroom, 2 TV's DVD player, big spacious master bedroom with balconies through out room facing ocean and pool. No construction noise or any disturbance. We visited other hotels in the past and the Occidental rooms were all updated and amenities were just heavenly. No rush to wake up at 6 and get a beach chair, or pool chair. The Zen restaurant (Hi, Elmo!) was a blast. One night you can sit in the dining area/or on floor, and then the menu is different at the Hibachi, out of this world. The Italian was so tasty. Over all we loved the New Occidental Grand Aruba. Yes, the place is half occupancy but the QUALITY is super. So heavely we're buying a timeshare at the Occidental. No other hotel there compares to this one. We can't wait to go back in a couple of months. ALL HOTELS HYATT ETC...ARE REMODELING, so that should give you a level of exellence(OCCIDENTAL) to compare them too.

We just returned from Aruba and the Occidental Grand Aruba on Wednesday and had a lovely vacation. (May 19th - May 30th) This was mainly because of the great folks who work at the Occidental Grand. The bar staff and room staff especially. It is true that there is still work being done on site but those who make the hotel out as a construction zone are simply being drama queens. The occasional construction noise was not annoying in the least and actually it was interesting to wake up each day to see another addition to the landscaping or decor. As another reviewer stated: the real noise came from the nearby hotels under construction! We were on the Royal Club level, ( Hi Eva!) , therefore our overall experience was most likely a little different but when I got into conversations with other guests, their complaints were pretty painful to listen to. "They forgot to leave facecloths" or "the a-i rate is too high" or "where's the bingo?". Come on...the biggest complainers appeared to be the biggest drinkers (haha). Plus, who wants to play bingo on such a beautiful island? Go for a walk on the fabulous beach! We enjoyed the Italian restaurant - went three times! The food and service was superb. The Japanese restaurant (Zen) was so-so. We are from Vancouver and a little spoiled with Asian food but.. I don't think the sushi was prepared on site. The service that night was wonderful tho and we were laughing away with the antics of our chef. The Caribbean restaurant was a small disappointment as I too expected spicy Caribbean food. The buffets were great, yes breakfast was the same every day but what a huge variety. Nothing to really complain about there tho a few more choices of fresh fruit at breakfast and lunch would have been nice. I agree, the food dishes should be labeled and we mentioned in our comment cards. Also it would be nice to have other desserts. While we were there, the buffet just had a variety of squares. Oh well, no big weight gain from sweets! We didn't check out the entertainment as we considered dining late on scrumptious food good enough and usually finished dinner around 10. I believe full entertainment shows start this week, the Mexican restaurant is also opening and the Kid's area will be open. By the end of our trip they had positioned chairs around the pool bar and this attracted a late afternoon group. If you are a gym rat, the gym is not finished but you can take a brisk walk down to the Divi and get a full week's access for $25. To finish off this review, I do want to comment on Aruba itself. We did find the weather overwhelmingly hot. I wouldn't take the grandparents there in May! Over 100 each day. We were three single women, ages 28 and up and we only went downtown one night. It is for the young so that was very disappointing. The casinos are very small and not what we expected. Limited entertainment. I would say our only disappointment with this vacation was the nightlife or lack of. I have travelled to at least 11 Caribbean islands and this was the quietest vacation. Just thought single folks would appreciate knowing this. One place to definitely check out tho is Sopranos, across from the hotel. Great live piano music with all ages. Classy joint.

We actually are time share holders and would love to sell it. We are very disappointed in the new Grand Aruba and are hearing horror stories from other guests. I'm sorry to say that we will not be returning to the hotel because it is not at all what it was 3 years ago. The management needs to rethink it's policies because we found it very expensive for poor quality. I hope in the future they rethink their policies. The hotel will not be in full operation until at least next year despite their claims. We were there in April and found it a complete disaster. Sorry because we love Aruba and will not return until they get their act together.

My partner and I just returned from the Occidental Grand Aruba. We were there from May 21 - 28, 2006 and were all inclusive. Having stayed at an occidental resort before, we had some expectations but we also knew that there was stil some construction going on. Rooms: Check in was fast, our first room was brand new and in the Royal Club. Did not pay for the royal club so we were happy. Unfortunately, they were blasting the ceramic floor right beside us. I went down to the front desk and they readily gave us a new room which was also nice. The rooms were branch new and spacious. I would give the rooms a 4.5 out of 5. Food: They had one buffet which was opened for breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was the same everyday. Every restaurant only had watermelon and cantalope. We finally saw pineapple on our second last day. I would give the food a 3 out of 5. The Dinner buffet had a different theme each night but the food was always the same no matter wat the theme was. This was very disapponting. There was also an entire section that was never opened. On the caribbean theme night we asked if there were any spicy dishes. We were told no because not everyone likes spicy. But it is the caribbean??? We ate at the Palms and Zen restaurant. The Palms is supposed to be Caribbean fusion so we expected some caribbean food. The choices were steak, chicken or fish and none of them were exciting or caribbean. The Zen Tappanaki was very entertaining and good. It was weird that our best meal was a japanese one. Service: The bartenders and front desk were amazing. Very friendly and helpful. The service in the restaurants was non existant. We felt like we had to beg for water at each meal and the place wasn't even busy. We finaly had a great young waiter for our last 3 days at breakfast. Service in restaurants: 3 out of 5. Other servce: 5 out of 5. Facilities: The beach was nice and the pool was very clean. The beach bar could use a few seats to make it a little more social. There wasn't a lot to do at night but a walk to the Hyatt or Holiday Inn helped with this. Make sure you ask about the snorkel gear and hobie cats. They are free if you are AI but they do not advetise. This was our first trip to Aruba. The people of Aruba are great. Friendliest people I have ever met. The weather was sunny and beautiful every day. I am sure that the resort will get better with time. It is nice. The main thing to remember is that you are in Aruba. If you want some true caribbean food, you will need to go off the resort. We went to El Gaucho and Iguana Joes. Both were delicious. Overall, we had a great time!

Let me preface this by saying that before I stay somewhere on vacation ,I usually read other peoples reviews of the place. This time I did not and left it up to my travel agent(Liberty Travel). I am kicking myself now for doing that. We(new bride and myself) arrived at the Occidental Grand Aruba on May 1,2006. This was suppose to be their "Grand Opening". It never happened. The resort is still under construction, atleast 6 months to 1 year from bring completed. Some rooms were finished. The room we were in was completed and was very nice.The one next to us was not finished and at 8:30am every morning you would be woken up by the noise of tile saws and jack hammers. We were told all restaurants were open, not the case. The Beach Club was used as their main restaurant and they would change the name and menu each night. They did manage to open the Italian restaurant,luckily I managed to get a reservation for that night but other guests were told that the restaurant was full. The night club and lounge bar were still under construction. Only 2 shops were open. Tennis courts were being used as a staging place to hold the construction material. Had to argue with the frt desk manager to get the deluxe romance package that the travel agent booked for us. The resort had no idea what that package consisted of. Construction material piled all around the resort even by the pool area. Not very eye appealling. The food was alright. Really no variety. While sitting at the small bar in the lobby, we saw 3 newly married couples check in, go to their rooms and within 10 minutes were on the telephone with their travel agents to book them somewhere else. The resort had one couple staying in a room with one double bed because they had no other rooms with king or queen beds. Please take my advice and stay away from the Occidental Grand Aruba for 6 months to 1 year. The resort will be spectular once the renovation is completed.

We bought a timeshare four years ago. The atmosphere was the best on the island. You knew the pool bar was open when the music started. There were pool and beach activities daily with a bingo every afternoon. You had your choice of beers and the bartenders poored a good drink. With the new management it's a whole new ballgame. Management refuses to play the stereo unless aqua aerobics is going on. The pool activities were adequate but the management was to cheap to offer even a t-shirt to the winner until enough of us complained. They took away the ever popular afternoon bingo game. If you're a beer drinker you have you're choice of Balashi or Balashi Lite, forget about Amstel light, Heineken , Budweiser or Carona. When it comes to mixed drinks, a teaspoon of rum in a eight ounce daquri does'nt cut it, same with the tequila iin margerittas. The food at Lo'lio was great when you could get in. For the money that we pay for all-inclusive, lobster tail and the old rack of lamb would be a nice addition. The Desire restaurant's food was good for dinner also, again, the same menu every night. A dress code of long slacks is requested but not enforced. (a note to management : most people are on vacation in ARUBA, it's 88 degrees, a nice pair of dress shorts and collared shirt would be sufficiant.) The lunch and breakfast buffets were big, but nothing was labled. The hamburgers at lunch were all well done, other than that, the lunch buffet was good. Construction was prevalent throughout the complex, with saws going, painters painting etc. Tennis courts are closed, there is minimal parking because of the construction. We rented a car and had to park next door at the Radisson for two days. All in all we had a GOOD not great vacation. We'll give the new management time to listen to the people and hopefully make some changes.

OK, there is no doubt this hotel is going through some growing pains what with the renovations and such. My husband and I were quite worried about our stay due to things we read online but were pleasantly surprised. Yes, perhaps they should not have opened until they were fully functional but we had a great time nonetheless. The only construction noise we heard in our room was from the Radisson next door! We found the food at the buffets to be plentiful, fresh and tasty but some more variety from day to day would have been nice. The al a carte restuarants were perfectly acceptable although we also found it difficult to get a reservation unless you were one of the first in line. We learned our lesson the first day and had no trouble after that! The pool is very nice with a great swim up bar. The beach is very large with many palapas and a good beach bar. There was none of this getting up at the crack of dawn to reserve a palapa like you have to do at other hotels. The hotel was only half full when we were there so that might change. Their greatest asset at this hotel is the staff which were all wonderful. Even the construction workers were polite!! The staff went out of their way to make people happy and did everything they could to ensure a good stay. All waiters, hostesses, bartenders, service staff, etc. were so friendly. Housekeeping was amazing, they waited until were out of our room and came immediately to clean, which they did wonderfully, the rooms were spotless, they even cleaned our dirty dishes!! Once this place finishes all of the renovation and gets the little bugs worked out, it's going to be awesome!!