Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club

The next day, a different manager managed to move us to another room. That should have happened sooner, after we complained about the first one: the bedroom windows were boarded up with wood from floor to ceiling, leaving the room completely dark around the clock and with no view. So much for an ocean view. Check the photos. I’ve stayed here several times, but this will be my last. Dwight, as manager, should be ashamed of his hospitality. After all the complaints, he offered four free $10 passes for beach palapas and said there might be a chance to switch rooms in two days. I wouldn’t risk hard-earned money hoping the hotel won’t pull something like this. No respectable hotel should rent out a room like that. The whole thing caused needless stress and ruined the first two days of my vacation.

When water from a burst pipe above our front door flooded the kitchen, living room, and dining room, the team handled things with courtesy. The laminated floors were covered, and the bedroom entrance carpet was soaked, though fortunately none of our belongings were damaged. Engineering tried drying the carpet with a blower, but it didn’t work, so they moved us and our things to another room and credited our bill. Camilo Cardona, the engineering team, front desk, housekeeping, and bell staff were all apologetic and polite throughout. It was a tough situation outside their control, and they handled it with class. Kudos.

I keep coming back because of the wonderful people here, from the bingo and aquatics staff to the pool bar staff and bellmen. But the check-in is so disastrous and stressful that every year I say I won’t return. This may be the last straw. Our Saturday arrival was delayed until Monday because flights between the U.S. and Aruba weren’t running. Even then, our room wasn’t ready. We waited three hours, despite it supposedly having been ready two days earlier. They blamed the third-party cleaning company, and there wasn’t a manager on site to help the front desk staff deal with the angry crowd. We’ve been coming to the Marriott Ocean Club for five years. Marriott should be ashamed to let this keep happening year after year. They’ll lose longtime customers.

The way this place has gone downhill is sad. I’ve stayed here about ten times, but this was by far the worst. The staff were unhelpful and unwilling to accommodate us, the rooms were dirty, and access to the pools and balconies was restricted. We had to be in the lobby at 9 am to get our names on the pool list. To use the surf pool, everyone had to be there in person to get a wristband. Our oceanfront room was on the first floor, where we couldn’t see the ocean. Strange men kept working outside, so we had to keep the shades closed, leaving us without light or the oceanfront view. Nobody told us before arrival that the pool and balcony would be closed. There was no notice on the website or through Interval when we booked. We only found out when we arrived and were told to deal with it. They said the balcony would be closed for three days, but it was five, and they wouldn’t honor the promised palapa accommodations. The room wasn’t clean: dirty towels, hair on towels, a huge yellow stain on the ottoman, and mold in the shower. I’d read the earlier reviews and thought they couldn’t be right, but they were. Terrible hospitality.