Bucuti Beach Resort: "Beach Front Retreat" Top 5 Page for this destination Aruba Hotel Tip by SabrinaSummerville

I chose Bucuti for our vacation because it appeared to have everything we wanted - fantastic beach, low rise accomodation, restaurant on site, and swimming pool. The beach was for my Mum, the pool for me (as I don't like sand!). I was therefore most disappointed to discover that the pool was under reconstruction when we arrived! I cannot describe my disappointment and it did colour my opinion of the holiday throughout.

Apart from that, the Hotel is indeed lovely.

The rooms are spacious and twin rooms contain two generous queen beds. There was plenty of storage space in wardrobes and drawers and the balcony was furnished with a table and chairs. All ground floor rooms also had two sun loungers, which was fantastic (especially if, like us, you had one of the four sea facing ground floor rooms). Initially we had a room on the top floor, which commanded terrific sea views, but we asked to move downstairs as the four flights of stairs were too much for my Mother. There is a lift, but it was at the other end of a long corridor and the stairs were more convenient to the beach access.

The hotel has some nice little touches - offering a glass of champagne to each guest on arrival, showing a romantic movie on the beach (free of charge) twice a week, and offering great welcomes to return guests.

There's a complimentary continental breakfast and though many people thought this was great, I thought the selection was poor. Eggs are available in the Pirates Nest restaurant at an additional charge of about $5. We preferred to eat breakfast at the Tara lounge as there were no flies there!

Dinner in the Pirate's Nest was a good experience, and I will write a seperate tip on that.

The Tara suites, situated in a seperate building, are aimed at couples only which, I think, is a pity. Mum and I would have been happy to pay the upgrade to the more spacious room (and indeed would have preferred the comfort of a couch to sit on) but as these rooms have only one king bed it was unsuitable.

Unique Qualities: The staff at this hotel are beyond reproach. As we left we went from place to place hugging the staff like old friends. In particular I would recognise Nakarid and Lulu in Pirates Nest, Margeurita in Tara Lounge, prince at reception, and Alexe at the Concierge desk. In all my travels I have never experienced such friendly and helpful staff.

Address: Eagle Beach, Aruba
Comparison: more expensive than average
Directions: In the lowrise area of the island.
Price: US$180 and up
Theme: Hotel