Marriott's Aruba Surf Club

A nice hotel for sure and I’m hoping my experience was just a fluke. Our room was disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. The front desk was rude. An example was when I called and asked about getting chairs for the beach if we didn’t have a palapa reservation, she told me to go to the gift shop and buy a chair and sit wherever I wanted. I also got such a hard time getting towels for the room while ours were in the laundry that I had to dry my kids with kitchen towels. Very rude. Most of the employees were super friendly but I encountered too many rude ones at the “at your service” department. We found liquor bottles under our 4 year olds bed and he was coincidentally sick that day and when I raised my suspicions to housekeeping they said it’s my sons fault for drinking them (if he even did) but HES 4 years old!!! When I spoke to management about all my issues they basically ignored me. Housekeeping did come right away to clean the room but the manager promised to follow up with the other issues and never did. I went to the front desk and was ignored. I checked out without any kind of resolution. I don’t want a refund or to be comped or anything. I wanted someone to acknowledge there were issues and simply apologize for how we were treated. Wasn’t asking a lot.

Friendliest place I have ever been. Great beaches. Marriott accommodations were spacious, a d clean. Many fun activities on the island. Everyone speaks English. Aruba offers something for everyone. I plan on going again next year and I can’t wait!

I love my timeshare. Always great weather, friendly folks, activities. I always have things to do, activities to attend. Easy walk to great places to eat. Easy walk to the Marriott or the Ritz. Awesome sushi at Marriott hotel. Great spa at the Ritz.

Ten of us stayed here in June, six of which stayed at the Surf Club and four stayed at the Ocean Club. Upon our arrival (3:30ish) our room wasn’t ready but after a half hour, 1/2 of the room was ready. They provide wrist bands for the lazy river. We had a two bedroom villa in the Compass tower on the 5th floor but only had a partial ocean view. This wasn’t a big issue for us due to the amount of time spent at the beach and the pool. We had a stackable washer dryer in the kitchen which was very convenient. Make sure you buy pool floats for the ocean and lazy river as they are more expensive here. They provide free air hoses by the towel machines which make it an easy process. We didn’t waste our time waking up at 0530 to tag the pool chairs as the ocean/beach was our priority and the whole wake up early to achieve this was not our priority. We were provided with palapa reservation instructions upon check in which provide easy website access to pre-rent them. Make sure you log in at 5:30PM the day before for the next day reservations. They cost $15. We never had an issue getting them. We would stay at the beach until 4pm ish and then transition to the lazy river/ pool and by this time chairs opened up at the pool. The food on site was decent to include the convenient store in the compass tower. There are several walkable restaurants nearby and the ease of booking a cab was simple. I used the gym several times a week in the compass tower which had everything I needed. We did not rent a car so we taxi’d to Super Foods which is close by. Make sure you bring bags with you because they don’t bag your groceries. They also have a small liquor store inside which is convenient. Its $10 to cab here from the surf club and $12 on way back (plenty of cabs in parking lot). I also booked a massage at the spa at the ocean club which was fantastic. If you have an owners card you get 20% off as well as 10% off at food locations. After checking out our families rental at the ocean club it was definitely more modern with updates. They didn’t have a washer dryer though and couldn’t use the lazy river at the surf club. Without kids, I would definitely book at the ocean club due to the newer/modern rooms. All in all we had a great week. The ocean water is fantastic. Would definitely return.

Outstanding customer service. Outstanding amenities. Great activities. Outstanding food and drink specials. A whirlwind stay. I will definitely return. Renting a car is worth renting as the island has lots of places to visit. Scuba diving was great.

Another great time at the Marriott SC. Year after year this resort never disappoints. Besides the resort having all amenities you will ever need, it's the workers and staff that make this a "special" place. They are the most gracious people you will ever meet. I would like to give a special "shout out" to a few of the palapa attendants that work so hard and are the best...Benito, Julio, Philip and Jeanrick. They are like family and work so hard to make your beach experience that much enjoyable.

Once again they knocked it out of the park. Props to the following staff members: Yenny - Captains Galley Vener - Captains Galley Jenard - Captains Galley Chichi - Front Desk Louimar - Loss and Prevention Glinnys - Captains Galley Gloria Arrendado - Housekeeping *THE BEST All the staff setting up the Palapas So many more to mention

This was our 6th stay at the Surf Club and it still is one of our favorites. We always get the 2 bedroom and enjoy the space and kitchen/laundry options. There's so many great places to walk to (Nos Clubhuis, Carlitos, Pelican Pier) for happy hours and just tons of food options. I find the palapa rental online to be really easy. Yes its best to get on at the opening times of the reservations window (5:30 pm the day before or 7 am day of) but I consistently got a palapa in the 300s to 500s. And frankly throughout the day we would see people leaving and ask if they are gone for the day and they would offer us their palapa. The pool chairs on the other hand, I don't even try to get anymore. I get out to run at 5 am and people are out there sleeping on them to hold them. So we book palapas and then go to the lazy river as needed. I don't have an answer on a better way except for not allowing folks to 'mark' one until 7 am. But it did not impact our vacay. Staff is great and when I stand at the front desk and listen to what they deal with from other guests I genuinely appreciate what they go through. As a Marriott Elite I was granted a later checkout to noon and that was much appreciated as it gave us those precious extra couple of hours to enjoy the beach and sun before being locked in the airport and plane. I do wish the Marriott would bring back more regular housekeeping (4th day and 7th day). It does come across as substandard when comparing to other accommodations both on Aruba and elsewhere. And we loved the staff who did that work there. So book it, go with an attitude of gratitude and make it a great part of your Aruba experience.

Marriott Surf Club Aruba April 30 - May 6, 2024 Overall: Aruba is a developed island catering to American tourists, largely from the northeast based on our 2 recent visits. Easy cab ride from the airport, safe island with good restaurants and bars that we found reasonably priced. Actually slightly less expensive than the NY/NJ area. Despite the forecast for 50% chance of rain daily, we never had any other than a couple of overnight showers. Nice beach and constant trade winds. Be careful, sun is deceptively dangerous given the breeze. Resort: This is a really big Marriott vacation club, with the surf club (also a VC) next door, the Marriott hotel next door to that, and the Ritz next door to that. Lots of families, but we never had an issue getting a palapa. There is an on line system for the palapa reservations that opens for booking each day at 5:30. Only issue is it’s virtually impossible to be beach front, those are snatched up quick. If you care about being close to the water, then you may be disappointed. Lazy river pool is fun, we did it a couple of days late afternoon after we had HH, bring a couple of inflatable tubes. TBH, lots of people just leave them in the pool area on their last day, so you will surely be able to snag a few if you don’t bring any. There is an air compressor to fill up new tubes by the towel dispenser. Room: We were in a studio, essentially a hotel room with a small kitchen area that had a mini fridge, sink, plates, cutlery, toaster, coffee maker, microwave, etc. Comfortable bed with 48 inch TV, small balcony. Worked fine for us.AC, fan and water pressure in shower were all great. AC goes down to 66. Safe built into closet wall, my wife said the hair dryer was good. We stocked up on 2 bottles of tequila at the airport, and had the cab driver stop at the supermarket on the ride before checking in. It’s an extra $4 per 5 minutes, all you really need is 15-20 mins. We spent $150 on yogurts, fruit, bread, case of beer, case of water, cheese, cold cuts, wine, etc. Lasted us the whole week, we really only ate out dinner time. Saves a lot of $ if you are gonna have HH drinks and more daily. Exercise: There is a gym, but we opted to walk 5-6 miles every morning down the ***** on LG Smith Blvd, which has a nice sidewalk which turns into a bike and walking lanes from the high rise area to the low rise area. Bring your water bottles from home, which you can till up in the lobby of the hotel. Water is filtered and safe. Restaurants: Too many to list here, everyone has their own favorites. We walked to dinner all but 2 nights, Azar and Caya are both about a half mile walk away, out the back of the hotel past the Radisson to the main *****. Both are modern with creative menus. Burrata at Caya and Octopus at Azar were standouts. Madam Jeanette has been there forever, we still like it. Best beer selection on the island with many German beers to choose from, including many on tap. Tips: Drinks are p