Marriott Ocean Club, Aruba

 We stayed at the Marriott Ocean Club while in Aruba.  Generally speaking I think we can recommend it.  It wasn't overwhelmingly great, but one of the nice features is that it's part of a three building complex.  There is a hotel, the Ocean Club and the, currently being built, Surf Club.  The size and number of guests means that there's a fairly large selection of restaurants, shops and even pools.  We ate "off resort" only once and that was mostly because we didn't feel the need.

  So while we're at it.. Here's a bit about the restaurants.  We ate at all but one: the Ketsu Sushi Bar.  You can imagine why.

Campions Sports Bar - Yes, believe it or not there is a Champions in the Ocean Club.  We ate there our first night mostly because we didn't know what else was available and we'd seen it on the way in.

Ristorante Tuscany - This restaurant is in the hotel and is obviously italian.  It is the most "upscale" of the restaurants at the resort.  We did really enjoy our meal there (we almost went back another night) although halfway through our romantic dinner for two a group with a small baby was seated at the table next to us.  Ah well.  If you go, make sure you get the risotto with asparagus appetizer.  It was big enough for two of us to share as a meal and we almost couldn't stop ourselves from filling up on it.  We left room for our entrees but the risotto was definitely the best part of the meal.

Simply Fish - By day this is the beach bar; located halfway between the hotel and the Ocean Club.  We recommend it both as a bar and as a restaurant.  We had our first and, ironically, last evenings watching the sunset from here.  We also had one of our best dining experiences.  They set up the tables right on the beach.  We got lucky with a table for two with nothing between us and the lapping waves.  Apart from the occasional beach stroller it was easy to forget that there were any people around.  The food was also very good.  They have little but fish, as you might guess, but the filet mignon (their only non-fish entree) was excellent.  Make reservations as soon as possible to reserve a table by the water!

La Vista - This is the "family" restaurant of the resort, located in the hotel.  They have a brunch there which was pretty good.  We also ate dinner there one night.  It was average.  But, considering the price, that was to be expected.  On the plus side, they have themed nights which would be fun for kids.  Another plus is outdoor seating in a patio area near the pool.

Wave's Beach Bar & Grill - This is only open for lunch and is located between the pool area and the beach at the Ocean Club.  It's pretty generic lunch food and gets incredibly busy around lunch time as the beach crowd gets hungry.

Food on the beach - There are, occasionally, wait staff walking around the beach area.  They serve the Wave's menu and will bring it to you.  It takes a bit of time, but how can you complain??

Cafe - There's a small cafe in the Hotel lobby which has a very large selection of various pastries, sandwhiches, ice cream and coffee.  Needless to say we stopped there a few times.

  Probably the most notable attribute of the resort is the beach.  It is located on Palm Beach which is something like six miles long.  It is where all of the "high-rise" resorts are as well as the "low-rise" resorts.  You can walk along it and find a number of beach side bars and restaurants.  At the Marriott they have palapas (your typical palm frond beach shelter) that can be reserved for a small fee or, if you're an early bird, half are first come, first served.  You might guess that we reserved one for three days.  It was a great investment.  Neither of us usually spend a huge amount of time at the beach but with the cover and the weather, it was probably the best beach experience that either of us have had.

  While we didn't spend any time at the pools, each of the three buildings of the resort has its own large pool area (the Surf club pool has yet to be built).  They were well designed and made to appear somewhat "natural" with many small areas in which to set up your chair.  They also have pool bars which we didn't use.

  And lastly, there is a casino in the hotel lobby.  We didn't spend much time in there as Melissa is not much of a gambler.  We threw away a few dollars on "slot" machines that were so complicated we couldn't tell why we were winning when we won.