ksucats

My wife, kids (10 & 12) and I have flights booked for 5 nights in Curacao this March. I am still debating on how to book my hotel nights. We don't have a large budget for this trip (would like to keep it under $3k, not including flights). I have enough Hertz points for a free rental week. We want to explore the island a couple days and also want to just hang out at a resort/beach for a couple days. We will drink several alcoholic beverages per day. We aren't foodies, but want to have decent food. We don't need to be pampered. Will want a place where kids can have fun without having to be entertained by us. I will have enough Marriott points for 2 nights at one of their resorts.

With that being said, I am thinking that we should use points for our first two nights at a Marriott and explore the island those two days. Then stay at the all inclusive Sunscape for 3 nights and only leave the resort if we feel there is something we missed in our first 2 days.

Does anybody have any suggestions for me?

PWMFlyer19

When we were there, we went to a different "local" beach each day as the Marriott beach was okay, and we like getting out anyway and seeing different stuff. If you need suggestions on beaches, let me know.

Also, I would have the "talk" with your kids. They will see some topless sunbathers, not many mind you, but there will be some here and there.

Cheers.

ksucats

Thanks for the info. What did you do besides beaches? Did you use a rental car?

PWMFlyer19

Yes, we had a rental car...it was pretty easy (though not as easy as some Caribbean islands). Downtown is congested and busy, but in the country side it is easy.

We did a snorkelling tour that was just fine and drove around the whole island including way up north to the Westpunt area. We liked Playa Porto Mari a lot and some of the other beaches you'll drive by. Playa Porto Mari is a good drive.
Jan Thiel Beach has a more European vibe though does not have a huge sandy beach, it was still nice with restaurant and nice chairs.

There are plenty more beaches too. We did not do much else except go downtown at night for dinner once or twice.

Cheers.

ksucats

I just tried to book my rental car using hertz points and found out that they don't accept them there. I don't think it is worth the roughly $400 for me to have a car at least not for the entire time. If anybody has any advice, I would appreciate it. We were going to split our stay between the Marriott and the Sunscape All Inclusive. Now, I am rethinking that. We might be better off spending the entire time at one place if we don't have a car. My concern was I didn't want to be paying for all inclusive when we were out exploring for a couple days.

cmhua777

$400 for a five-night rental seems quite expensive. Take a peek at Kayak (or similar) to search all options. $40/day after tax is a fair price for a small car.

If you want to cut down on days with a car, consider driving just two of the days. The island is small and you can drive its entirety in one rushed or two more leisurely days.

Kay_nyc

I like the rates I've seen on carrentalsavers.com. I usually rent with Hertz also, and I find that I can ID more and move coupon codes to stack with my USAA CDP as the date of the rental gets closer. Not sure if my strategies apply to the Caribbean though.