Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club

It was our 22 or 23 stay at the Ocean Club;I lost count. Anyway we moved from a short stay at the hotel next door for a two week stay. At the front desk Shulaika, I think that is how she spells her name, made the move smooth and quickly. She also facilitated the move from the lockout to the main portion of the 2 bedroom unit seamless. We ate breakfast at the Malmok Pool bar and Grill numerous times during our stay. I want to thank both Leidy and Maria for making sure the bacon was cooked to our liking; crispy, crispy, crispy, .......crispy where it breaks not bends! Both are delightful people and we enjoyed seeing them when we ate there. We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Geoffrey and Erica who had many chats with duringour stay.

This was our first stay at the Marriott Aruba Ocean Club. We have stayed at the Surf Club many times. We chose to stay at the Ocean because it seemed a 'step up' from the Surf, and has less kids. The location is wonderful. Close to everything and very walkable and safe. Unfortunately we had some bad experiences with this resort. Starting with the checkin at 4pm. Our room wasn't ready until after 6pm (they did offer a $50 credit for this, which I appreciated. It did go downhill from there. We got to our 2Br Lockoff 'oceanview' unit (on the 1st floor).. which faced some tall bushes, trees, and the other side of the hotel. Zero waterview. When I voiced my concern to the front desk- they told me that WAS in-fact an ocean view - behind the bushes somewhere? Not good. We requested a move. They moved us the next day to a 3rd floor unit, which was MUCH better. (and we could actually see the ocean). The 3rd floor room was very nice, spacious, and clean. But the very next day we had a note slipped under our door that the water for the resort would be turned off from 11pm-7am for a repair. Then, the very next day ,we received another note slipped under our door that the AC would be off from 11am-7pm ('the latest'), for some type of air leak/repair. It did, thankfully, come back on by 8pm, after I called to ask what was happening because it still wasn't on my 7:30pm.. They told me they 'were turning it on slowly starting w the first floor and going up'.. As if all these significant issues weren't enough, we were told housekeeping would be cleaning our room on Wednesday. We came back to our room on Tuesday afternoon and it was clean. Which was nice, but we would have preferred to put our things away and been prepared. Also, 1 of the 2 elevators was out of service, and being worked on one day also. On a positive note, the pool, hot tub and restaurants were wonderful and delicious. I work in the customer service industry, and know that little things can make a BIG impact. If the staff at the front desk smiled and greeted guests when they walked in from the pool, or from out to dinner - it would go a long way. They would look at you, and look back down at their computer.. not even being with a customer. (We travel often, and have experienced great service at other resorts, and it was wonderful). I did voice my concern over all the hotel issues, and I was told they are offering no credit, points, nothing to anyone. (We are also an owner). It was 'normal maintenance'. Again, terrible service. They didn't care. Needless to say - we will NOT be staying at the Marriott Aruba Ocean Club again.

Ocean Club situated next to Surf Club is quieter and a better hotel for families with preteen or teenage kids. Surf Club was more crowded and much louder than Ocean Club. Hotel was extremely clean and staff went out of the way to assist us. Palapa reservation system is easy to use. Recommendation is if you don’t mind getting up early, use there online system to reserve the palapa day off as it costs $10 compared to $30. To get the palapas closest to the beach you have to sign on when reservations open at 7am. Also bring your own float(s) and anchors for the beach as the cost in Aruba is $28 compared to $13 at home.

I've been here over 15 times, and it is upsetting to think this past visit may be my last. Most of the staff are not friendly and serve with attitude as if they're being forced to be here. Also, Wilma at the bar makes up her own rules. She didn't allow room charges and started charging for paper cups and $2.00 for a cup of tap water. Ridiculous. This place is losing customers by the day, so it is not accommodating and not up to the Marriott standard.

Our week-long trip at this property just concluded, and sadly, it was one of the most frustrating travel experiences we’ve ever had. This was our third year staying here (alongside ~15 family members spread across multiple 2 and 3 bedroom suites), and after two wonderful visits in the past, we were looking forward to another great vacation. We chose a lock-off room as my Wife and I felt it would best suit our needs. Instead, the trip was marred by relentless noise, rude and bizarre staff interactions, and a complete lack of accountability or basic hospitality. What’s most frustrating is that not a single person offered an apology or made any real effort to address the issues. Here are the major problems we encountered: 1) Nonstop Noise from the Connecting Room: From the moment we entered our room, it was clear we wouldn’t have a moment of peace. The connecting room housed at least six people—two adults and four children, with two grandparents joining midweek. Every day, from morning until late at night (as late as midnight), we endured kids screaming, parents shouting at full volume, loud music, and constant banging on the walls. The kids also ran unsupervised through the hallways, screaming while their father yelled at them from the doorway. Even worse, their fire alarm went off at 11 p.m. one night, waking us and many others. Adding insult to injury, there was a device in their room that beeped loudly every 30 seconds all night long. Security claimed to have spoken with them multiple times, but nothing changed. We have multiple videos from throughout the week highlighting how bad it was in our unit. These were showed to both the front desk and security. On our first night, we asked to be moved to a quieter room. We were initially told a room would be available the next day, but it would be on the first floor next to another loud family and directly facing the parking lot. The front desk suggested that if we wait another day the would be a better option. That evening, I checked again to confirm the better option, only to be told the earlier information was incorrect, and there were no available rooms after all. This lack of consistency and communication was infuriating especially given that we only didn't take the new room because of their own convincing. 2) Laundry Room: Midway through the trip, we used the hotel’s laundry machines. When we returned to transfer our clothes to the dryer, the room was a disaster. Another guest’s machine had backed up, flooding the room and her clothes with water and paper towels. When we opened our washer, it hadn’t drained, forcing us to reach shoulder-deep into soapy water to retrieve our clothes. Staff arrived, took our room number, and eventually called the engineering supervisor. He ignored us completely and instead got into a shouting match with the other guest, blaming her for the issue. Not once did he acknowledge, speak, or apologize to us for the inconvenience, let alone offer us a solution. 3)

Wonderful resort for family’s. We are so happy we chose to spend our Christmas holiday at the Ocean club. We love the pool, beach and all the water sport activities the resort has to offer. Wonderful resort to accommodate large family’s especially with teenage children.