Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino - Aruba

Home » Caribbean » Aruba

Know Before You Go!

Have you visited Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino? We'd love to know what you think...
Please write a review with as much detail as possible. Tell us about the amenities, facilities and staff.

Click Here to post your review for Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino.

Where the Action Is Visited: September 2001 Posted by elmouchi Our stay at the Sonesta Marina in Oranjestad was tacked on to the front end of a 12-day vacation. We stayed the first 4 nights at the Sonesta, then moved to condos on the beach. The Sonesta is a great choice for those who enjoy being in the city in the heart of all the activity. It was an easy shuttle bus ride from the airport to the hotel, which has impressive frontage across from the Marina and close to the cruise boat docks. Our room was nice but not exceptional or particularly large. We were first taken to a room that smelled heavily of smoke, but were moved immediately to a non-smoking room when we complained. We had an interior view right above the shuttle boat dock. There are no real balconies, only "step-out" balconies that are about two feet deep. The hotel is connected to the Seaport Mall, which is very convenient, as it houses lots of stores and restaurants. We had coffee and pastry every day right below our room at the Umbrella Cafe. There's certainly no need for a car, as there's tons of shopping, restaurants, casinos and a movie theater in walking distance. The shuttle boat is kind of neat, but also kind of a hassle if you just would like to go to the beach for an hour or a quick swim. The boats come every 15 minutes or so and also make a stop at the Sonesta Beach Tower, which is the all-suites sister hotel a couple of blocks away. The island is very nice, with lounge chairs, hammocks, shade umbrellas, a beautiful beach, good swimming and an open-air restaurant. They also come around and take drink orders to bring to your chair. The pool at the Sonesta is very small and overlooks the main street, so is quite noisy. The pool at the Sonesta Beach is much nicer and you can use it, which we did (it's a couple of blocks walk away). The Marina does have a nice spa and exercise room, though. Each resort pushes whatever tour company that they affiliate with, so don't be fooled into thinking the tour desk is impartial. Sonesta promotes DePalm Tours, which are actually quite good. We went on their Catamaran snorkeling trip and had a great time. But we went on the ABC Tours Extreme Jeep Tour (also great), which we booked ourselves. Look through the free Aruba books, which you can find all over the place and decide for yourself which tours you want to try. If you are looking for a beach vacation, where you really get a sense of Aruba's beautiful beaches and ocean then I would choose one of the resorts located on Palm or Eagle beaches. But if the beach isn't that important to you, and you are there more for the restaurants and bustling activity, then the Sonesta would be a good choice. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? It was breathtaking Visited: August 2001 Posted by hally1980 My husband and I stayed at the Marina Tower for one week. It was spectacular. The view would set any mind at ease. Everything about the place would make me come back every year if I could. I loved the constant breeze, the sound of tropical music playing all day and the crystal clear water at the private beach. Everything was perfect. Sonesta Resort was everything I expected it to be. It was absolutely beautiful and completely peaceful. I would recommend this resort to anyone who wanted to visit Aruba. The staff here was very friendly, and the food on the resort was excellent. This resort gets five stars! 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? A well-kept secret. Visited: February 2001 Posted by schillerja What a great place to stay! The web site only shows it with 1 star, but I think the Sonesta is a 4-star hotel. It’s very nice. Sonesta is actually a well-known name in New Orleans, Bermuda, Boston, and some Middle Eastern countries. We had a great time in the 6 days that we were there. The private island is really unique and there are two high rises on the property: the regular hotel and the condo/suite type building across the street. There are three pools altogether, and a lagoon/beach on the private island. There are lots of restaurants and shops nearby and two casinos on the property. I would stay in Aruba and at Sonesta again in a second. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? The best place to stay Visited: October 2000 Posted by pmirishlass My husband and I were in Aruba twice before and stayed at the Sonesta hotel both times. We absolutely love the Sonesta! It's the best place on the entire island. You are so close to everything. Both times we had a room overlooking the ocean. Our last trip there was actually our honeymoon and they treated us like gold. The food in the hotel restaurants is good. We would like to recommend one other place on the island...Try EL GAUCHO. It's about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. It has the best beef we have ever had, but they also have good seafood dishes. My husband and I have been to Cancun, Curacao, St. Thomas, Grand Cayman and St. Croix and Aruba and the Sonesta is by far the best of all. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? One place you can be sure to relax and have plenty of sun. Visited: May 2000 Posted by eric Our first trip here was for our honeymoon in 1992. Since then we have been back two more times and plan a 4th trip in May of 2001. It's nice being in town so close to shops and a variety of dining locations. Or you can just relax by the pool with a cool tropical drink from the outside bar and literally watch the world go by on the main street just down below the pool deck. The greatest part however, is the private beach. You board the private launch right inside the hotel atrium and take a relaxing 10 minute ride to a private island where pure white sand and clear aqua marine water awaits you. If I had any negative comments to say it would be that it is a little noisy on the island due to its close proximity to the airport. You can often hear the rumble of big jets coming and going throughout the day. Also, getting a room overlooking the pool and ocean has been a challenge at times. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Fun place, near everything Visited: January 2000 Posted by LilyMoon7 We had a great time at the Sonesta. It was so convenient to walk everywhere..shopping, restaurants and even a cyber cafe. The pool at the Sonesta Suites across the way was great. There were no crowds and iguanas were walking around taking lettuce right from our hands! My 11 year-old had the best time. The boat to the private island left right from the hotel lobby and the beach was beautiful with good snorkeling out by the rocks. The food at the restaurant on the private island was a little disappointing however, the island of Aruba had some wonderful restaurants. I would surely return here. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Imagine Fantasy Island meets Disney. Visited: January 2000 Posted by teresaohio We just came back from an amazing and unforgettably relaxing vacation at Sonesta Resort in Aruba. You first take an elevator down to a lobby, have some coffee and wait a few minutes for a boat come up and pick you up and take you to a private island. The waterfall in the lobby is a nice touch. In fact, we kept the sliding door open at night that faced the lobby so we could hear the relaxing waterfall making it possible for us to fall asleep quickly and easily. Ivan was the nice boat driver. The concierge was helpful and pleasant. She helped me by giving information about restaurants, laundry delivery service, confirming my flight the last day, tour recommendations (horseback riding was the best). The island was relaxing, fun and wasn’t crowded a bit. The salads were quite good and the pina coladas great. Happy hour is from 3pm – 5pm and four pina coladas ran about $20 due to the service charge and tip. The gym is neat to have there, and we went and relaxed on the hammocks each day we were there. The iguanas eat at 12 noon and even the animal caregiver is nice, informative and genuinely smiles. If you can go during off-season, it’s great. I only heard about two planes a day, and it never was a big deal between sipping our drinks and basking in the sun. The turtle likes his neck rubbed if he doesn’t hide from you; he’s near the parrots next to the bar and restaurant. I would go back tomorrow if I could. I’ve been to Hawaii, Madrid, Cancun, London, all over southern Spain and this vacation was the most RELAXING one for me. Don Carlos has great food and service across the street. And Rancho del Campo has the neat horseback riding trip to the natural bridge, which is located on an uninhabited coast that looks like it’s from the show Fantasy Island. We didn’t see Mr. Rork, but had a great time. You’ll also get better pictures during this horseback ride than during any other tour. Again I would stress going during off-season so that you can make sure you get your own hammock, etc. The last day there I saw a mere 19 people on our part of the beach…too cool! The pool is cute at the hotel and has a small bar. It is next to the spa that has a great locker room, where they offer massages. I really wouldn’t have done anything different. If you speak Spanish, English or Dutch, you’re set. You can e-mail me with questions. Enjoy your stay! 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful?