Spanish Water Marina Apartments

The owner never replied after I emailed to explain what had happened and give them a chance to address it. That capped off a very disappointing stay. We were also charged extra for electricity at checkout, which felt unfair after all the problems we’d had. The unit felt neglected from the start, and the bed bugs made the trip stressful and left us feeling unsafe. Several basics were missing or broken: no soap in either bathroom, no paper towels, a coffee machine and toaster that didn’t work, and a shower in one bathroom with no door or curtain. The other bathroom’s nozzle was broken and made it nearly unusable. The power also went out completely at one point. I wouldn’t recommend the property unless it gets significant improvements.

It was quiet, and our apartment was clean and functional. The managers, Peter and his wife Mireille, were kind when we contacted them about an issue. One evening we returned from activities to find the power out. Mireille came over and helped replace electrical parts damaged by rain on the outside wiring that morning. Peter was told the patio fan wasn’t working, but he never came to fix it. The place is about 30 minutes from the airport, and Curacao was a great vacation for us. A few practical things caught us off guard. Our second-floor apartment meant climbing about twenty steps, so ask about a first-floor option if you have bad knees. There’s also a $250.00 electricity deposit, paid in cash in USD or Caribbean Guilders; they check the meter and subtract your usage, which can add up in the heat. We were told there’d be a coffee brewer, but there wasn’t one, just a kettle for instant coffee, so we went elsewhere for coffee. There were at least 10-15 flies in the living room that we had to kill. Mireille gave us bug spray, but we couldn’t leave the patio doors open, and even sitting outside briefly we saw flies. She didn’t know how they got inside. The pool area is cleaned in the morning, though there was still an iguana dropping stain on the pool ground. Iguanas wandered around the grounds and pool, and we saw two jump into the water, swim across, then climb out into the bushes. Another left a large dropping on the pool ledge. The apartments are nice but a bit overpriced. The beach setup has sand and chairs, but you can’t swim there, so you need the pool or another beach. Mambo beach is around 12 minutes away.

The Spanish waters setting is gorgeous, with an astonishing view. The rooms are modern and clean, though a few amenities could use an update.

The apartment was spacious, clean, and had what we needed: a full kitchen, laundry room, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms with plenty of room. The garden and pool were lovely too. Our host was great, checked in during the week to make sure things were going well, and made sure we had everything. Coming back here feels like coming home. It’s a nice, quiet place.