This trip we traveled with our extended family of 12 people. This group
included children ages: 17, 16, 15, 13 and 10 years old. Three of the
children had stayed at the Tamarijn previously and quickly became
reacquainted with the pizza bar and self service ice cream machine. My
parents have mobility issues, and anticipating traveling with my 96 year
old grandmother we had requested building 1300 through our travel agency
MCM Tours.
Unfortunately my grandmother had to cancel at the last minute due to a
broken pelvis the month before. Upon arrival we were assigned four
adjacent groundfloor rooms in
building 1300.
As to the Tamarijn itself, not much had
changed from June. They were allowing people to make reservations for up
to two nights in advance. I believe this policy varies depending upon
time of year. I have heard since then that they now allow reservations
for three nights in advance. Making reservations each morning is not
fun, but a necessary evil if you do not wish to eat at the buffet or
wish to choose a specific restaurant and specific time. If you are late
diners, say 9 pm, you will have a better chance of getting a reservation
at your restaurant of choice. In June
when we were unable to get a reservation for dinner at an ala carte
restaurant, we chose to dine at
Windows on Aruba
(for an up charge) or
have dinner “off property”. Visiting some of our favorite
Aruba
restaurants (“off property”) figured into our plans anyway so was no
real inconvenience.
Paying the up charge of $35 per person for
the 3 course dinner, we ate at Windows on Aruba Christmas night. Having
five children in our party, we were a little unsure how much our "meat
and potatoes" kids would enjoy it, but our worries were for nothing. Our
family traditional has Chateaubriand on Christmas Eve, so this year they
waited a day later and ordered the "Chateaubriand for 2". All in all, it
was a nice change after eating at
Paparazzi twice and the
Red Parrot
three times. We also ate at
Ginger which was just okay and the
Palm
Grill which was awful. The Palm Grill was at the children's request. The
novelty of cooking their own food is a big attraction, but for the
adults, it was hot being seated next to the wall and an overall greasy
experience. If you do go, the Profiterole dessert is to die for.
At the buffet now for lunch they "discourage" you from serving yourself
soda and water. We used to hit the self serve bar before sitting down
and this time we were politely told not to do it, we would be served.
AND we were, even being offered refills! Another nice touch which was
added, were "real" glasses and linen napkins.
We headed over to
the Divi
Aruba for lunch one day and it is definitely a notch above in the
buffet department. On a whim on the way out I asked the front desk if
they had a room available to see and they gave us a key to a room in the
Vista Building. The rooms were MUCH nicer than the Tamarijn and I was
very impressed. On the way back to the Tamarijn dh kept reminding me
staying at the Divi would be different; we stay at the Tamarijn for the
oceanfront rooms. The oceanfront rooms at the Divi are much more
expensive than those at the Tamarijn. The other downside is that now we
are used to the familiar faces at the Tamarijn: Carmen, Iris, Igmar and
Andrea just to name a few. Dh’s final argument was that for the extra
money we do not spend any time in our room except to sleep and shower.
Rooms are being updated little by little. 2008 they installed flat
screen TV's. In 2008 they began replacing sliding glass doors on rooms
(not yet completed) starting at the higher numbered buildings and
replaced all room soft goods. During 2009, they had begun replacing
mattresses. Evidently this was being done on a piece meal basis. During
this stay, my parents were two doors down from us and had a thicker
mattress than us. Theirs was new, ours was not. This was not a factor
for us. We always sleep like babies in Aruba (must be all the fresh sea
air) and have never had a problem with the mattresses at the Tamarijn or
awakened with a backache.
Also since our last visit in June 2009,
the
Bunker Bar was spiffed up with a new roof and fresh coat of paint.
There was some exterior painting going on throughout the resort while we
were there, but none of the buildings themselves. They were painting
buildings when we were at the Tamarijn in June. I suppose because it is
slower then. At that time, they would shut down an entire building to
paint it.
The palapa issue at the Tamarijn this trip, as in our
three previous visits to the Tamarijn, is extremely frustrating. You
will never find a resort on the island of Aruba with one palapa for each
room. It is what it is. The island is much too windy for umbrellas so
shade palapas are the only way to provide shade. I personally am very
fortunate in that dh awakens very early and was out to claim a palapa as
the sun was rising. He has to work while on vacation so takes his laptop
out under the palapa to work until I wake up.
This December trip
there was a Swedish couple staying at the end of our building and we had
the next 4 consecutive rooms. They had a palapa out in front of their
room and for all purposes, claimed "ownership" by leaving their
possession out under it 24 hours a day. A shame for sure, they hardly
ever used it. They had an infant as well as two toddlers, so afternoons
were spent in the room or on the patio. Many other times I saw them
spending time at the swimming pool. Complaining is fruitless and it
makes no sense in spending all that money and allowing it to ruin ones
trip. If you know what to expect and bring plenty of suntan lotion, you
should be okay.
All in all we had another great stay at the
Tamarijn Aruba and look forward to returning to our "home away from
home". You cannot beat this resort for value on the island of Aruba. |
