The St. Regis Aruba Resort [Master Thread]
 

Any reviews of this newly opened property?

Anyone?

Just got back from a 5 night stay. Nice new resort, great views from rooms, large balcony, butler service, refrigerator, safe, turn down service, robes, big tub and stand alone shower with fantastic shower head, the beds (2 queen) were very comfortable. The breakfast buffet is $42.00 and is very good. As Marriott Platinum, received breakfast for free. The beach is nice and the beach boys do a great job getting you set up either at the pools or beach. The foam rafts are great and included in the resort fee. The sushi is good at the bar in the lobby. Drinks are expensive, but free if playing in casino. Casino is on the small side. The pool area is very windy and sun drops behind building in the afternoon for most of the pools. Easy walk to many restaurants down the street. Setup coffee delivery by the butler every morning along with ice delivery at night. The also will press two items of clothing per day. Resort fee is $90.00/night. The reviews don't get give it good ratings, but I thought it was a great stay, but I used points too, so I wasn't paying $1,200/night. I guess if paying $1,200/night you might expect more or better service.

The resort fee cancer has spread to Saudi Arabia!

Eh?
This is Aruba not Arabia

Does the casino have a craps table?

Never been to Aruba, any off property recs? Or tours that we should book?

I also find it interesting this property cash/points rate for the month I was looking was cheaper that the Ritz.

anyone have an email for this hotel?

Hi atojbk,

We would be happy to provide you with information or assistance.

May we ask you to advise the nature of your request for the hotel via private mail here or by email below?

Best Regards,

Christina Z
Specialist, Social Media Care
Marriott International

[email protected]

Been to Aruba a few times and the Ritz but not the new St Regis. I checked dates in November and on points, the St Regis was less than Ritz and even Marriott. Might be a good time to go before the point rates go up.

From reviews it sounds like they are still going through... 'growing pains'. Definitely not the experiences I'd want to hear about what is supposed to be a top of the line level resort.
Appears to be getting better, since the reviews were absolutely scathing for the first few months, and I saw the avg on the Marriott site dip into the 2s for a few weeks which is horrid especially for a resort of this caliber.

Resort fee still blows me away though. They want 600+/nt in low season and then a 90/nt 'resort fee' on top of that.

Resort fee is way to get us to pay something on a reward reservation. Since they are advertising rates inclusive of fees and taxes, that is the only reason left to do it.

I hate them but they are not likely to disappear anytime soon.

September 2025 Review - Work In Progress
 

Our conclusion is at the end but, overall this is a property with a lot of potential but hasn't fully figured it out yet to live up to the St. Regis brand and 5-star expectations.

Food/Restaurants - During our 4 days at the hotel, we were able to try all 5 dining establishments including Akira Back, Eskama (for both breakfast and dinner), Nuba (poolside), Grano Cafe and Sachi. Overall we were very happy with the quality of food and breadth of options on the menu. The service on average was friendly though a little slow. For additional commentary on each:
- Akira Back: The views from the restaurant and walkway are second to none on the property. The food was great and the Cow Wow sushi is a can't miss. The service was a little slow but passable.
- Eskama: Breakfast spread was good though the omelette station was easy to miss. We had breakfast included otherwise the price wasn't worth it in our opinion. For dinner, we were very pleased with the food.
- Nuba: Ordered for lunch one day by the pool and it was fine.
- Grano Cafe: Great for afternoon drinks after being by the pool. The gelato was solid based on convenience.
- Sachi: Either this or Akira was our favorite restaurant on the property. We had this literally every day we were there and discovered your poolside server will deliver to you.

Room: We got upgraded (on award stay) to a St. Regis Suite which was an excellent room but definitely larger than we needed. A lot of space went unused but we weren't complaining since we weren't really paying for it. Bath tub was excellent and a highlight along with the great view from the balcony. One downside (since we like to sleep cold) was the air conditioning automatically reverts back to 75 at some point in the morning so we were constantly warm when we woke up.

Spa: We got massages when we first arrived and they were excellent. We do a massage basically every overseas trip we've done and this was a top on for us. Not the cheapest but would do again.

Why We Won't Be Back
- Butler Service: During check-in we were reminded about the St Regis butlers multiple times. During our stay we were never actually introduced to any butlers or one for our floor. We've stayed at the St. Regis in New York and our butler introduced themselves shortly after check-in. We asked for my wife's dress to be pressed the next day and told them where it would be in the room while we were at the pool. We had to follow up to get it done and the quality of work left a lot to be desired so we ended up steaming it ourselves.
- Cabanas: We were there during non-peak season and did not find the cabanas worth it at all. We actually had one reserved for both our full days and cancelled for our second day. For being a new property, the curtains were already tattered and torn and with the sun and no front shade, the cabanas on one side of the pool are unuseable after about 1:30pm. We had asked at the beginning of the day to be put in a cabana on the opposite side of the pool. They told us they were booked for the day. Throughout the whole day they were never used.
- Afternoon Tea: We booked afternoon tea for our third day there and when we showed up for it, they went to speak with the kitchen and let us know that there was a mix-up and they had no afternoon tea for us. I will say the bartender did their best at recovering the situation and was great. He ended up getting us free pastries from Grano.
- Poor Service: This trip was meant to be a trip to celebrate my birthday which we let them know at check-in. Sitting at the lobby bar one day, they brought us a free dessert and told us "Congrats on celebrating your 1 year anniversary!". At the cabana, toward the end of the day, it came up in conversation with the server and they told us they had no idea it was my Birthday. Overall there seemed to be a massive disconnect between the front of house and back of house. Management needs to get it under control because the property was 5-star but the service and organization was 3-star.

Bottom line, even with using points for the room, we spent over $2,000 on the property between food, spa and cabana and we left feeling left down. The property has a ton of potential, but based on our experience, we're not currently willing to give it another shot, at least not in the near term.

Wow that is shocking for a high end property. Just crossed this one off my list. I hate this new trend of hotels thinking they are allowed to f with your room temperature just to save themselves a couple bucks.

At $1200 per night, one should get to control the room temperature!

That temp control means I will never stay there. WTH!