When travelling to Aruba, there are a few main areas to stay in. There’s Palm Beach, Arashi Beach, Oranjestad and Eagle Beach. Palm Beach and Arashi are expensive, Oranjestad is nice, but I’d rather be on a beach. Then there’s Eagle Beach, a top 10 beach in the world, with more affordable low rise hotels. It was a no brainer. We found Eagle Aruba Resort for a good price of $250 CAD a night. It was on sale and I thought the hotels.com sale would last forever… turns out it didn’t. The price went up to about $350 a night, so instead I booked with my Aventura Points and saved about $800. It was totally worth it.
Restaurants/Groceries & Location
Eagle Aruba is a resort, but it isn’t all-inclusive. All-inclusive resorts are hard to find in Aruba and if you do it’s expensive. But Eagle Aruba still has two restaurants, Uncle Tony’s Pizza and Double Down Sports Bar & Grill and a few pools. Tony’s has pizza, pasta and sandwiches while Double Down is an excellent place to watch sports and eat bar food. Even though it’s not all-inclusive, the restaurant prices are about average, and the food is okay; but we didn’t come to Aruba for an all-inclusive epic food trip, so we were okay with the food. Besides, all the rooms have a kitchen, so we saved money by grocery shopping and cooking breakfast. The location is excellent as it is a 5-minute walk from Eagle Beach and a 5-minute walk from Super Foods, a large grocery store with plenty of options, good prices and even a restaurant inside. So between groceries, the two restaurants and a few surrounding restaurants, you’ll eat pretty good at Eagle Aruba Resort.
Beach
It would have been nice to be a bit closer to the beach, but there aren’t really any hotels directly on the beach, and the only ones that are closer are Amsterdam Manor and La Cabana Beach Resort; and like I said it’s only about a 5-minute walk. And with Eagle Aruba, you are given towels which you can pick up by the pool and beach loungers and tiki huts right on the beautiful Eagle Beach. There are plenty of spaces, but if you want a spot in the front two rows by the beach you’ll need to get there early. And if you aren’t there for more than an hour, they can give your spot to someone else. I don’t think the beach really needs it, because it is completely safe, but there is security to watch the spots and make sure everything is okay.
This was a plus, and the spots were nice. Eagle Beach is beautiful and one of the best beaches I’ve been to, so being located right beside the beach and a grocery store are two reasons to stay at Eagle Aruba. The sand on Eagle Beach is super white and soft, the water is calm and turquoise and the beach is quiet. You can’t ask for a more relaxing beach experience. One negative is there aren’t a ton of bars and restaurants on the beach, but there are a few.
Pools and The Grounds
And if you’re tired of the beach, there are always 3 pools to enjoy. There is the adults only pool which is where most of the entertainment is. There are things like bingo, trivia and live bands. And on our last night, they had Carnival Dancers who put on an excellent cultural show.
There is a kids pool, waterslide, and splash pad. This was a lot of fun for our baby girl; except the splash pad is a bit small and the water slide is quite fast. It was fun for me but my daughter got scared both times, going down it with me. And then there’s the main pool with waterfall which is beautiful. The pool and grounds are nice, especially by the waterfall. There are also a hot tub and gym right beside the pool. Despite being nice, besides a few drinks and a couple of hours throughout the trip, we didn’t spend a lot of time at the pool as we were touring the island and wanted to spend most of the time on the beach. Just be careful for the Iguanas, there are a lot and they will actually try to get your food if given a chance.
The pools are nice and there are several barbecues to use throughout the grounds. There are lots of tables to sit at and games like beanbag toss and a large chess board. While the grounds are nice, the lobby is basic and probably the worst part of the hotel. But it’s not like the lobby is that important when selecting your hotel. And outside the lobby there is even a Hertz car rental, a gift shop and Dunkin Donuts. If we had known, we would have rented our car from there, but we rented ahead of time and chose the cheapest one we could find which was a 5-minute drive away. But at Eagle Aruba, there are tons of parking spots and parking is free too.
Rooms
Besides the location, the best part of Eagle Aruba was the rooms. The rooms are large, have a pool view balcony and have a kitchen. The kitchen has a coffee maker, microwave, fridge, stovetop elements and an air fryer. The only problem is, they have a coffee maker but don’t stock any coffee. I guess they want you to purchase from Dunkin Donuts in the lobby.
There is also a living room and nice sized TV and a separate bedroom that also has its own TV. The room is large with a nice king-sized bed and the washroom is ensuite. The washroom is nice with a waterfall shower and modern amenities. The room looks newly renovated and is one of the nicest rooms we’ve stayed in. There aren’t any beach view balconies, but at least our room’s balcony looked out at the waterfall pool.
Final thoughts
Aruba is a beautiful and surprisingly relatively affordable island. But with that being said, if you want all-inclusive treatment, you’ll be paying big bucks. Eagle Aruba Resort is the perfect solution; it’s got the resort feel, without being all-inclusive and food focused. There are restaurants and activities, but you might be out and about exploring the island or cooking in your room so don’t need to worry so much about the restaurants. I think a lot of people who travel to Aruba cook, whether it’s in their hotel or an Air BnB. All the rooms in Eagle Aruba Resort have a fully functioning and nice kitchen and the hotel is located right next to a large grocery store so it works out perfectly.
And the best part, you’re staying on Eagle Beach; one of the world’s best beaches. You can choose to stay in the high-rise zone of Palm Beach if you like, but for me it’s a no brainer, save some money and stay on a better beach with a bit more peace and tranquility. I’d recommend anyone to stay at Eagle Aruba Resort, especially if you’re a beach lover.
Overall here is how I’d break down my rating of the hotel:
Location – Excellent
Price – Good
Rooms – Excellent
Pools – Good
Restaurants/bars – Okay
Services/Activities – Good
Amenities - Good
Staff – Good
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