Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

Would you stay at this hotel? We definitly WANT to do all inclusive in Aruba..and we stayed at the Divi Divi last yr... so we wanted to try someplace different..
I heard they recently did the Occidental and its good, but some old reviews have my leery..

Can anyone share an opinion?

Re: Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

We've had friends who stayed there and enjoyed it. It looks nice from the outside.

Re: Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

DH and I booked this resort this past June b/c our travel raved about it and was pushing us to go there. When we checked in, the place was nice but we were so wowed by the RIU Palace 2 hotels down. We checked in, checked out the place and then walked over to the RIU. We called our travel agent and had her switch us t the RIU which she did. We were very happy at the RIU, it was one of favorite vacations. Its not the occidental wasnt nice, we just preferred the RIU.

Re: Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

The Occidental doesnt compare to the RIU, but the RIU is much more money. We stayed at the Occidental in August. The hotel was nice, pool was nice, but the food was just OK. When we walked through the RIU, we said we would stay there next time, but we would have to save more money.

Re: Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

from the reserach I hae done the RIU is the best in Aruba.. Personally I dont want to spend THAT much more money. If the Occidental is nice in its own right that I would be very content.
How were the rooms? ANy good entertainment? We r not picky eaters..love burgers, pizza, steak--would that be ok at the Occidental?

Re: Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

my sister stayed there for her HM- this is what she recently wrote for my friend considering Aruba

We stayed at the Occidental Grand--- all inclusive--- we loved it but it's a very young scene(most people with no kids type of thing)--- food is OK/ drink OK not much of a variety)--- I would reccomend ARUBA in a heart beat; beautilful island; beautiful weather---but when we go back we would stay somewhere different--- if they choose aruba-- they should go to the RIU (also all inclusive) or the Marriot Surf Club (thats where we will stay when we go back) ARUBA is a amazing == Occidental Grand is like 3 out of 4 stars... ... my taste is just really high ya know? .. is that confusing or does that make sense? i liked it... but I wouldn't stay there again.... but at the same time I have extremely high expectations (because we always stayed top notch when we went away as kids)....BUT I LOVED ARUBA AND WOULD GO AGAIN TOMORROW IF I COULD

Re: Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

awesome beth! ty for posting that!

Re: Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

your welcome- I am still trying to figure out what she meant by young - she is only 25 and has no kids

I would think she would want young

Re: Occidental All Inclusive in Aruba

I really loved the Occidental. I would definately stay there again. The Rui is very very pretty but I have heard from many ppl that the food there is terrible! I think the Occidental and the Rui both fall in same category as mediocre. I would not consider either of them top notch. Next time I go there I would stay at the Marriott or the Hyatt!

Message edited 1/23/2009 1:27:38 PM.