great overall vacation

none Nov 18, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

All inclusive resort in the middle of a great stretch of beach; very relaxing; great bartenders and waitstaff; the only ... negatives are very small and poorly equiped fitness center and the check in/out process takes way too long for a resort this size.

5 Star prices, 3 star service.

Pete Nov 17, 2009

This was our second time staying at this hotel. It seemed that the service and food had taken a turn for the worst. It took ... the staff to fill our mini fridge 4 days to restock and 2 days to get fresh towels for our bathroom. The food was very limited and reservations for the restaurants were booked solid. There was a convention going on during our stay, and it seemed the staff combined all the attention to them. We payed a lot of money for this well deserved vacation and were treated with a "I don't care attitude". Overall the Island and beaches are beautiful. You could do better without an all-inclusive resort. The restaurants across the street had better food.

great time

Whitey Nov 16, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Great all-inclusive good nightly shows ...

Mixed review

Do not want to give one Nov 16, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Loved the place with the exception of housekeeping (had to call for towels 4 different days). Was also surprised that for a ... 7 day stay you could only make dinner reservations for 4. The last item is that the mini-bar did not live up to expectations.

Girls Weekend

Cathy Nov 16, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

We had a great girls weekend. Everything was great, pool, ocean, staff, drinks!!!! We will be back next year. Thanks for ... everything.

Excellent

Rocco Nov 15, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

We had a great expierence at the hotel. Everything was so close to us. The concierge service is a must! They even scheduled ... all our activities for us so a bus would pick us up and we were off.

Average, expected more

S Nov 13, 2009

I went for my sister's wedding. They put my sister in the wrong room for the frist three nights. Housekeeping was very slow ... to bring extra pillow and such. The rooms were always missing something. The refrig is only filled every two days and you get very minimal amounts of beverages in the refrig (two waters for two days!!) The resturants were very good, but the buffet's food wasn't very good. The beach was very beautiful and they had enough chairs to accomidate everyone staying there. The bar staff was great too!

Loved it! Honeymooners!

Honeymooners Nov 2, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

We were very warmly greeted while checking-in at front desk, given a drink upon arrival. Front desk was extremely courteous ... and helpful. All staff was warm and friendly, always smiling and saying hello. Bartenders are "heavy-handed", which is a pleasant surprise. Swim up bar is definitely a plus. Extremely clean pool and beach sand was well maintained. We were so pleased we bought a timeshare with the Occidental Resort Family! Can't wait to go back. P.S. we saw the newly renovated rooms to come and they are fantastic. Would definitely recommend.

ArrrrruBA! Occidental Grand Hotel!!

PQuack Nov 1, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

A family member has a time share, so my 2 sisters and I and our husbands joined them this year. We had a fabulous vacation. ... The hotel is beautiful, and the staff is very friendly. The pool is absolutely gorgeous, and the swim up bar??? What can I say? It just doesn't get any better than that! All inclusive is the only way to go. It was certainly one of the better vacations we have ever had.

Was just ok!

A Oct 31, 2009

Hotel was just ok! They need a better system for all-inclusive dinner reservation at various restaurants. Rooms were clean ... late some day. We did an excursion and came back in the afternoon and the room was still uncleaned. They only left 1 washcloth in the room with 2 people. The Food was good. I don't think that I will stay here again.

Good but not great

V Oct 28, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The hotel was very nice but the food was not good and you had to have reservations to eat at most of the restaurants. There ... were long lines to make reservations and it was difficult to get reservations at the times you wanted.

Occidental Grand

AMHT Oct 27, 2009

The hotel is very nice and the staff were pleasant enough but our experience definitely lacked some essential aspects. We ... booked our reservation and chose to upgrade our room to an ocean view. When we got to our room it had no towels, the floors hadn't been cleaned and there was some broken hardware n the bathroom. Aside from that it only had a slight view of the ocean and 80% of the view was of a parking lot. You couldn't see the ocean from the room, you had to go out on the balcony and look right . Very disappointed but because we arrived so late in the evening (11:00pm) they told us to speak with the front desk the next morning after 8am. I did that and they said they were booked but that they would move our room the following day. After two nights we were moved to a room that had a view of the pool/ocean. No discount for staying in a lesser room for two nights. Just an apology which was good enough for us at that point. We were there for a wedding and three other parties, one of the parties was that bride and groom, had similar experiences. Wrong reservations. (Ordered a king bed, got two doubles.) Unclean rooms (Chips all over the floor, no towels, etc) At one point we called for towels and they told us they didn't have any at the moment. When was the last time you were in a hotel that ran out of towels??? The worst experience was the bride and groom's. The hotel gave their suite away to another customer who was dissatisfied. The dissatisfied customer turned out to be the bride's sister. They told the bride they could put her in a comparable room and upgrade her the next day but that she would have to check out and check back in the next day. The next day was her wedding day. She was getting married at 5, check in was at 4. Needless to say, she opted out of the upgrade in order to keep her sanity on her wedding day. To makes matters worse, the honeymoon treatment that came with their package (champagne, strawberries, etc) went to the suite they gave to her sister instead of the room she was actually in! They constantly ran out of towels on the beach as well. In order to get a cabana on the beach we had to sneak out late at night and put towels and beach bags on some chairs so that people thought it was already taken. Annoying but not awful. Overall, I would NOT recommend this resort. Too disorganized, and I think they need to lose some business in order to wake them up and get them on the ball.

Occidental Grand Very Nice Property

CorvetteXNJ Oct 25, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The hotel was beautiful, the people were great dont listen to all the bad reviews out there this place is perfect the food ... was so-so the drinks were strong!! You must upgrade to the royal club to get any kind of top shelf liquor and private check in where they make all your reservations for the week its a must have trust me spend the extra money you wont be dissaponted in the royal club package it added budwieser, bud light, corona, miller light, grey goose, belevidere, johnny walker black/all the top shelf stuff if you are just a reular guest all you get is balashi which is ok but not always as cold as you would like, rooms were very clean, no problems with towels, the only thing is that if you want a good spot at pool or beach you have to get up early and reserve your spot with a towel then go back to bed. casino was great I won money, good activities, overall the plave was great we went outside 2 or 3 times to other resturants so i didnt have to eat that food 24/7 but this place is well worth the cost nice people, dont go and not tip or you will be waiting for a long time for your drinks....

Great hotel

Ryan the Newlywed Oct 24, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Overall, we had a great experience at the hotel and were more than impressed with what was provided at the hotel and ... available in Aruba. The overwhelming majority of the hotel staff was very helpful. They have rep's that tell you about the attractions available through the hotel and through outside vendors. !!!DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE!!! We spent a few hundred dollars extra to upgrade to an "Ocean View" room. At that's all we got was a view of the ocean. I found this upgrade to be incredibly misleading and not worth the extra money. There are so many other rooms that were more desirable than ours and there is no way we'd upgrade to type of room again. Mainly, I want to tell you the list of things we wished we would have known when we started our stay. However, do NOT let these things deter you from your stay. My wife said during our trip that if we ever go back this is where we would stay and she had no interest in trying out other resorts. 1. The hotel has several restaurants yet they all have different hours. They have 4-5 main dinner restaurants and how many times you can eat at those restaurants is dependent upon how many nights you are staying. 2. You are required by the hotel to return your towel cards and will be charged $30 a piece if not returned. 3. If you want one of the blue rafts from the hotel you need to get down there around 8:30 am to make sure you get one. After that, who knows when one will be available. 4. There is no free internet access in the hotel. They have a business center with 3 computers and you can purchase internet time from the person working in that office. 5. Make sure you check out the vacation club presentation! It's about an hour long presentation about time shares and once it's done your choice from a couple decent gifts (sunset cruise, $150 in the casino, etc.). 6. The mini bar in the room is stocked with 6 soda's , 2 mini beers and 2 bottles of water. It is restocked every 2 days.

Beautiful, peaceful resort

MJ Oct 22, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

This was our second time to this resort (previous trip was 3 years ago). The staff was excellent (especially the front desk) ... at making sure you are satisfied with your accomodations. The food was good and we had no problems making reservations for dinner at the restaurants. We ate at the Carribean, Mexican and Italian--the Mexican was my favorite. They have themed buffet at nights and the only one we ate at was the Seafood Buffet which was TERRIFIC--they had huge shrimp and crab legs. The pool area is clean and nice. My only disappointment was the activities staff was barely ever around. Of the 7 days we were there they had water volleyball only 1 day and water aerobics 4 days. They post a schedule of activities but most of them are not done (except of course the bingo you had to pay for--they were around every day for that). Some of our friends went down to the beach and you could take a free sailing lesson (every day if you wanted to)..they said this was great and they wish they had found out about it earlier. This is not publicized very much but it is included with the hotel. Each room had a mini-fridge which they filled every other day but if you called for a refill they were quick to come up and bring you whatever you needed. The rooms were clean and housekeeping was good. We did have a different number of towels every day but no big deal. All in all, I think the resort is a great value. The location is great--you can walk to several shops and casinos within minutes. I would definitely recommend this resort.

It is 'One Happy Island'

Single mom on Vaca Oct 21, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

I love Aruba and Occidental is a 'Grand' hotel. ...

A little bit of paradise

FXDED Oct 19, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Everything was near perfect........food, drinks, cleanliness of room, restaurants fabulous, beach wonderful, pool great. ... Though no one is supposed to reserve lounges/umbrellas, everyone does and one finds oneself having to get up before 6AM to reserve one. May be a better system here? Also, music and noise levels a bit too much later in PM at tower where we stayed. Other than that, terrific!

Friendly and helpful staff

Aruba's Fan Oct 18, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The hotel was very nice, however, when we received our key and went to the room, it wasn't cleaned yet. There weren't enough ... towels in the room and I had to ask several times for extras. The pool was always crowded and felt like a college dorm. They wouldn't let us reserve dinner for more than 3 days at a time! On a positive note, the staff was very friendly and helpful, the location was perfect and the landscaping was excellent!!!

Thumbs up at the Occidental

Shelly Oct 17, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Over all experience excellent. Good location. Nice Beach. Good food. All inclusive is the way to go. ...

Occidental - Never Staying There Again

John Oct 16, 2009

I paid for an ocean view room with a king size bed. I was given a room with a view of the parking lot next door and a single ... bed. [...] Also, The room was not cleaned. There were several unfinished drinks and empty bottles left around the room. It looked like a party had been thrown in the room before I arrived. I was also approached by a security guard and another person not associated with the hotel at the entrance to the property. I was asked if I was wearing a rolex watch and if I was rich. I was at the entrance to the hotel trying to hail a cab when this incident occurred. It made me feel very unsafe. I confronted the front desk manager about this incident and the only reaction I received was a shrug of her shoulders as if to say what did I want her to do about it. I will be telling everyone I know to avoid this hotel...