ARUBA

Go All-Inclusive or Not?

Pros:

having everything prepaid
not having to leave the premises except when you want to
getting great service from a staff that gets to know you
meals are not cheap in Aruba and cab rides or car rentals have to be added on to the price of the meal
avoids endless "I don't think you should get the $27 conch fritatta entree cause what if you don't like it" conversations (Mark, ABB)
good for big drinkers as alcohol is very expensive in Aruba

Cons:

There are so many wonderful restaurants on the island it would be a shame to miss them
Unless you are heavy drinkers, you would probably be able to spend the same or lesser amount of money to get you through all of your meals
Aruba is an island where you can venture out at night for meals without fear.
You don't have to worry about getting back to your resort to eat if you're downtown or on a tour.
Eating all your meals at the same place can get monotonous.

Some islands are good candidates for all inclusive since you are not "supposed" to go off property at night, Aruba is NOT that kind of island. (Lisa, ABB)

If you like to drink a lot of alcohol, then consider all inclusive, but understand that they do not always offer top shelf drinks. Also, consider your schedule - if you plan to be at your hotel all day, it would make sense to go all-inclusive. If you do much sightseeing, you may not be back in time for lunch, or dinner, so it may not be worth it to pay for meals at your hotel that you won't be there for. (Betty Gregg, ABB)

The consensus for Aruba leans towards not going all-inclusive, as there are a lot of great restaurants, and "hotel-hopping" is very popular.

The only people I would recommend all-inclusive for are Canadian travellers, as the currency conversion is so poor. It is much more economical to pay for meals ahead of time in Canadian dollars than to covert to US$ once in Aruba.

This site went online 1999.
Photos by Patti MacK copyrighted 1999 and may not be used without permission.

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