Holiday Inn Resort Aruba - Beach Resort & Casino by IHG

Best customer service ever and amazing food

Location was excellent, the hotel has direct access to the beach and there are lots of restaurants, shops and water sport / activities across the street and on the shore. The breakfast and food in the restaurants was excellent also, Da Vinci (Italian) and Sea Breeze Restaurant & Bar were delicious, AGAVE (mexican) was good but with limited options. No Japanese restaurant in the hotel.

For an all inclusive hotel I found it too expensive in comparison with the services provided, the all inclusive package did NOT included a frigobar in the room non room service. Canned and bottled beverage was NOT included, you have to pay 7 to 10 dollars for those. Palapas were also charged and you have to reserve them. Also, for any order at the bar or the restaurants, you have to signed a ticket this is ok at the beginning but it's annoying after a few days.

Angelo provided outstanding service from start to finish. He was friendly, attentive, and made sure everything was perfect throughout our meal. His positive attitude, professionalism, and attention to detail made our dining experience truly enjoyable. He went above and beyond to ensure we were well taken care of. Highly recommend asking for Angelo if you visit,he’s one of the best waiters we’ve had!

Great ambiance, outstanding service from Angelo!

Adriana was great!!! So attentive and sweet! Amazing service provided by her (:

We were back for our 6th or 7th time in May, and all of my previous reviews stand. The Employees at this Holiday Inn Resort are Top Notch when it comes to service, friendliness, hospitality, and personality. This is the main reason we will continue to go there, as often as we can. If you want the review, the weather is excellent, the location is excellent and the food is excellent.; I already said the employees are the best! I would rate the restaurants in order as Sea Breeze, Agave, Oceanside, Pizza Now (Really not a place, but pizza you can order from the different restaurants), Corals, Da Vinci, and the Palm Bar. I would rate the bars in order as Oceanside and Sea Breeze tied, Agave, and Palm. They are working at updating the hotel, as it is old and in need of some TLC, but the lipstick on the pig works fine for us; we are usually out and about all day. I guess, the only negative for us, is that sometimes, there is deep silt in the ocean after wading about 8-10 feet into the water and at about 3 feet deep. This only happens at certain times of the year, but it was there again this time. There is some seaweed under this silt that is breaking down, so you may smell Sulphur if you walk in the silt (muck). If you don't float and want to walk, just move to the north or south from the main hotel property and the sand is fine (talking maybe 100 yards at most in either direction). We float so not a biggie to us, but pretty gross for some I would imagine. Like I said, I think it has been this way maybe twice. Maybe the Hotel can respond to this review and explain what causes that at certain times and at others there is no issue. Anyway, that's it for negatives. Oh yes, the Hot Tub button was broke over at the Sea Tower, and I forgot to let them know. I am sure someone has by now though. This trip we only had 3 dinners at the resort and the rest of the time we ate out at different locations. Listen, the food is great everywhere unless you are a highfalutin food snob, then yes, everything will probably be horrible. There are so many places in walking distance and Buses and Taxis are abundant, so I wouldn't worry about renting a car. You can find the Taxi rates online and they are standard, more on Sundays, but the prices are fixed. We took a Taxi this time from the airport. It was a little more expensive, but we made it in about 20 minutes, as opposed to 45 minutes to an hour with a shared service. They are doing great things with the airport and we can see the improvements made from our first trip to now. This is a family resort, so kids are welcome. I want to give a shout out to my pal Ed (aka Eduardo) at the Oceanside and my pal Andres at Sea Breeze. These two are excellent at their job and great to talk to. But, the shouts don't stop at those two, there was Maxi at Sea Breeze. Yaqui, Wilfrido, Jimmie, and Lucas at Oceanside, and Juan Miguel with that green pistachio drink. And then Pedro, Jose and Calvin at various locations Sea Breeze/Agave; sorry we missed Monique this time. Hope the hand heals up. And although we didn't get to Corals this time, we were so happy to see Eddie in the hall on the way out. We will get you next time pal, missed seeing you each day. All in all it was another great trip. Looking forward to our return in a few months. If you are hesitating, DON'T!!! Go as soon as you can! To my friends, our second family, see you all in a few. Dominick and Elaine C. #$2.00 Typos need to be excused.....Happy Hour in the Garage!!!

Amazin experience! Izea is the best, very friendly!

Everyone was so kind during our stay. Our housekeeper was Rosa. She was great and always made our room look pristine. Angelica, our vacation specialist helped us book one of the many tours that were available. She helped us book the Jeep Tour through Pelican tours and it was amazing (ask for JP as a guide he was attentive and included everyone. We felt very safe). We enjoyed a day at the pool in our Gazebo and booked two days in a Palapa on the beach. We also explored the shops across the street which had tons of little souvenirs and knick-knacks to buy. Only thing we found annoying was that some of the rules weren’t always enforced. I don’t want to be relaxing on the beach and everyone around us is smoking and then when they’re done they just litter the beach with the cigarette buds. They have specific zones to smoke in, but it’s not enforced. Same thing with the Palapas. The sign on them needs to say “reserved.” Not that little red and green arrow. You would be surprised how many times either we or other people had to ask people to move because they had no idea you had to pay $40 online beforehand. I also suggest putting a vent in the bathrooms because mold is going to form as people take showers and there’s no place for the steam to go. Overall, place was a solid 8.5/10 would come go back.

Excelent experience with Veronica Duran waitress

Veronica was an amazing waitress!