Wanted to give a little report on our trip.
We were two families of five traveling together. Between us we got three rooms. We used points, they used AmEx rewards. They got free breakfast for two adults as part of their points package. We got...nothing. Haha. No free breakfast for titaniums, but we knew that going in from research.
Our ambassador was able to secure us an ocean-view king room with an adjoining room with two queens. The other family was supposed to have a two queen room, but there was a problem. Upon check in they said they only had a king room and hotel was completely sold out (it was the week before Easter). We nicely asked for a rollaway bed as the other room would have a teenager in it. They demurred, saying it was against code. We asked nicely if there was some way to get around this as they had specifically requested two beds. The man came back a short while later and said they could add a rollaway to the room. Wonderful. We enjoyed our free glass of champagne at the front desk and met the on-duty manager, who was a lovely woman. We theorized that they may have bent the rules because we were already getting three rooms for 10 people. They may not have been as accommodating for five in one room.
Our rooms were great. Clean, spacious, big bathrooms, large balconies facing the sunset. We hung out on the balcony every night with a few drinks and snacks before heading to dinner.
Beach was definitely not as crowded as the Marriott next door or the other hotels a short walk down the beach. But those hotels had cheaper snacks and drinks. Obviously, this is a RC so we knew prices would be a bit high. But $26 for a dozen chicken wings and $40 for nachos (meat added upped the price) was cray. They charge $14 for a non-alcoholic pina colada! It was only $16 with alcohol. Seems a bit insane for a blended drink with no alcohol. Our kids were sad but we walked a couple hundred feet down the beach to a great little smoothie place that only charged $5 for a larger drink.
As breakfast was not included, we hit the local super grocery down the road (we rented a car) and got croissants, muffins, yogurts and cereal for the kids. They also had the hotel buffet two days as it was only $15 for kids. That was somewhat reasonable. It was a very nice buffet with lots to choose from. We also picked up beer (Chill is the local beer and decent) and some snacks at the store. Glad we had the car to do this. We rented from Sixt (economy car) and the trunk fit four carry-ons and our backpacks. Kids sat three across in the back. It was fine as we didn't go on any long trips, just to meals. We were very lazy this trip.
The other thing to note is that it is a bit of a situation to get beach chairs, especially ones with shade. We got up at 6:45 am to get seats every morning (granted we were a group of 10) but that's just silly. And there were about 20 other people doing the same thing. Not sure what time chairs at the adult pool were gone, as we had kids with us, so didn't sit there. The water is cystal-clear and VERY calm. Despite the unrelenting wind, there are no waves on this part of the beach. You can walk out at last 50-75 yards and it's only about 3.5 feet deep. Water is refreshing, not cold. The pool water is warmer than the ocean, which I liked.
The RC offers SPF50 sunscreen (lotion) and SPF8 (spray). After the first day, we were not sure the provided sunscreen was doing its job. There was no label, it was just in large white pumps. We stuck with our Target spray that will probably take 13 years off our life expectancy but that our kids will actually put on and not complain. But the sun there is no joke. Because it's windy, you can't tell how hot it is. And you're practically in South America, so the sun is intense. Wear a hat, even in the water, and reapply once an hour. Make your kids wear sun shirts. It's really intense sun.
They have free stand-up paddle boards and kayaks. There were also two circular float things that could hold about six kids at once. Ours liked jumping off the floats and just hanging out on them. Our friends did a Hobie sail cruise one morning, we did parasailing and two of us tried kitesurfing. The kitesurfing was just north of the RC on the beach, the Hobie and parasailing was just south of the RC on the beach. Very easy, cash only.
We walked down the beach several days for smoothies and lunch. We saw many RC guests walking back from the Marriott next door with Starbucks cups. Right outside the Playa Linda resort, just up from the sand, are a few quick-service restaurants. We tried Scott's Brats, Kouzina (gyros) and Eduardos (smoothies, poke). We also ate at Garden Fresh Cafe, which is outside the front of the hotel. It was about a 15-minute walk. Nice way to get away from the beach chair for some exercise and cheaper prices.
Sunsets are spectacular at the RC. We did a few on the beach and a few on the balcony. They have live music every night, so it was nice to sit on our balcony with a bottle of wine and listen to the music and watch the sun set. (We checked bags and brought wine with us, huge cost savings.) The hotel felt very safe, kids able to explore on their own (14, 13, 12, 12, 11, 9) without worry. There were a ton of families there (obviously as it was spring break for many) and everyone was from Boston. Really. If you live in Boston, you were the only people who were not at the RC Aruba that week. We also had some celebrity sightings: Zach Levine from the Bulls (we live in Chicago so recognized him) and one of his teammates and a Kid Rock encounter on the sand. There was also a former Patriots player, but I didn't know who he was but heard him talking.
For dinner, we ate at Madame Jeanette's, Pappillon, Pincho's and Papiamento. All were recommended by a foodie friend and all were excellent. Would recommend them all. Pincho's is out on a pier and quite lovely, even after sunset when it was already dark.
Hope this helps anyone planning a trip to the RC Aruba. It was a perfect family vacation!