All-Inclusive Vacation in Aruba
A few years after we were married, I stumbled upon a magazine article that listed the “top beach destinations in the world.” The flamingo island in Aruba was featured in the article. We had been looking into traveling to Aruba and after doing some research I put flamingo island on our “bucket list” of places to travel.
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We were finally able to visit the island of Aruba a few months ago.
Since we are Marriott Bonvoy members, we booked directly through Marriott for a 5 night stay at Renaissance Wind Creek Aruba Resort. We purchased the all-inclusive package, which we highly recommend! We have been to a number of all-inclusive resorts and this one is really no different. It is truly all-inclusive! We enjoyed 3 meals a day along with beverages (alcoholic beverages included). We dined twice at L.G. Smith’s Steak & Chop House as well as twice at Fresco, the Italian restaurant, for dinner. We also dined at Blue one evening.
Our room was in the Renaissance hotel on the marina side, near the luxury mall and casino. The hotel has a water taxi scheduled every 15 minutes to transport guests to the private island, beginning at 7am daily. The boat will arrive downstairs from the lobby (by the Starbuck’s). Most days we took the 7:15am boat over then returned around 5pm.
The Ocean Suites property is much larger and is for families, while the Marina property is adults only. Ocean Suites is a short walk across the street and down a few blocks. Fresco is located on that side, along with a large pool with swim-up bar. You can access either property when staying at the Marina Hotel.
Renaissance Flamingo Island = PARADISE! It is stunningly beautiful and never crowded. We had our own little oasis each morning as we arrived to the island. There were just a few other guests on the private island before 8am. On the flamingo side of the island, you’ll see the flamingos walking around the beach area in the mornings. There is a food dispenser where you can get a handful of food (for a quarter) to feed the flamingos. They take the food very gently from your hand. It is such a cool experience!
After settling into our beach chairs and enjoying the gorgeous surroundings, we walked over to Papagayo to have breakfast. Each morning we dined in the open air restaurant overlooking the incredible views. The kind and hospitable staff here were like long-time friends. It was a joy to get to know them and learn about the island. Aruba really is “One Happy Island.”
The daily agenda was to relax, eat, drink then repeat. And that is exactly what we did! The delightful ambiance of the beach and turquoise blue ocean water was all we needed to relax. We spent every day on the beach with not a care in the world.
Tip: The island of Aruba is always windy, so bring clips or bands to hold your towels in place. We purchased these towel bands from Amazon and they definitely came in handy!
Later in the afternoons, we would order lunch from the Mangrove Beach Bar & Fish Shack. It was brought to our beach chairs so we could continue soaking up the sun. Later in the day, we would walk to the boat deck to catch the water taxi back to the hotel. While waiting for the water taxi one evening, we caught the flamingos walking across the boardwalk to the other side of the private island. Flamingos are such beautiful creatures!
Throughout our stay, we were able to explore Oranjestad. We walked to souvenir shops and found the I ❤️ ARUBA sign near the cruise ship port. Aruba is a very safe, family friendly island.
On our departure day, we took a taxi to the airport. The taxi ride was $25 and a short 15 minute drive to get to Queen Beatrix International Airport. While waiting for our flight, we purchased local coffee from Aruba Coffee Roasting Company inside one of the gift shops.
In summary, Aruba met and exceeded all expectations for a wonderful relaxing vacation. We can’t wait to return to One Happy Island!
