Originally Posted by HoosierDaddy1987

Just came back from a 10 nite stay. This is our 2nd time there. We learned the lay of the land from our first trip. Room was on points and then paid for an upgrade to the Palm Beach Club. Did this last time too. We have 4 in our room (parents and 20 boys age 15 & 20). This got us a 9th floor room in the Aruba tower facing the pool / beach (vs. the roof) with two queen beds and some more space. The incremental cost covers a free palapa for each day of the stay - and can be reserved by # on the date of the reservation. That got us front row daily... The upgrade also gets full cooked to order breakfast daily, snacks and drinks all day and heavy hors d'oeuvres from 5 to 7. (think shrimp, tenderloin, sushi, etc). We would often take those and put in the fridge for lunch the next day. Lastly - it comes with a dedicated concierge - they were fantastic. Booked (and in some cases) re-booked all of our dinner reservations.

Comparting to the GW - I've spent 18 nights there... prior to Aruba - It worked well for us when our children were much younger. It's more elaborate and child friendly pool, slides and play areas were great.

As for us - we rented a jeep for the day and toured the island. From the lighthouse on one end to the national park, Baby & Eagle beaches on the other. Otherwise, we took cabs (which were about 9-12 +tip) per ride on the nights we did not eat local.

Yup - it's an island. If you're eating sit down for dinner.... a fish entre is 30+ Steaks even more. No free refills on soda (we probably were spending $15-20 dinner on that alone).

What I did not cover was the service. It was top notch at the hotel every day. Very happy to see almost all of the staff retained.

There are definitely more modern hotels in Palm Beach.. but for beach lovers - the ratio of rooms to beach front is really good (low) compared to many others on the strip which have a narrow beach front that is easily accessible (the beaches are all public - but the palapas, chairs and towels are hotel property) by others - especially from hotels that are across the street Marriott, Hyatt, Holiday Inn, etc.). All sorts of water sport activities are also very close.

Will definitely go back.