I spent my time at the Renaissance Resort and Casino. It is probably the only resort within the actual capital of Aruba (Oranjestad), and located right next door to the Parliament building. There are three components, the Marina tower for adults only, another hotel for the family, and the Renaissance Island.
Both hotels have shopping districts pretty much geared toward the tourists, including stuff that are clearly imported, and pretty much the same stuff you can find at a nice luxury mall in a major city or a Las Vegas casino. There is a buffet restaurant serving decent food, a crepes spot serving Dutch-style crepes, and other places (including the mainstays of American chain restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Sbarro, and so on forth.) Rarely would a picky American eater go hungry in Aruba.
The casino, however, is a massive disappointment. There is a casino near my home in Laveen that I have always considered to be a pretty crappy spot. It is better than any of the casinos I have been to on the islands. I have indeed been spoiled by Las Vegas, but when you have to hail a cab to get to a poker room, something’s wrong here.
Speaking of cabs, you need to hail a cab to get anywhere outside walking distance, even to the airport. It is probably a policy Aruba has, but there is no Renaissance bus picking you up and dropping you off at the airport.
Aruba is very unique among foreign countries I have been to in where they are actively pushing you to use dollars instead of Florins. It even got to the point where if you would use the ATMs owned by the Caribbean Mercantile Bank to withdraw dollars, it’ll be free. If you would try to withdraw Florins, you will be nailed with the international fees in many forms depending on your bank. Considering that over 60% of the tourists to Aruba is from America, it is not surprising, but it is indeed odd, when a good number of folks from Holland do visit.
Renaissance Island is just southwest of the airport, yielding a fantastic vantage point of the runway and planes landing/taking off. At one certain spot, there is a hooked up radio allowing one to hear the pilots and the tower communicate with each other as they use the runways.
On the island, widely considered as the best spot for tourists and reserved for hotel guests (and others for a big fee), there are two separate beaches, one designated for family use, and one for adult use. On the adult side, you would see topless sunners on occasion, a clear sign of visitors from Europe. The island is pretty much overrun with Iguanas of many sizes. There is even a designated feeding spot where several heads of lettuce is provided for the larger ones. Pelicans and smaller birds do visit the islands frequently, but the popular ones are the Flamingos taking up root on the adult side of the beach (I suppose they don’t appreciate kids approaching and hassling them.)
It was a good stay at the Renaissance, with one caveat — do not expect miracles to happen. It is what you make of it.
