Exploring ArubA with Prince Issa and NikkRich

This December I had the pleasure of visiting Aruba for the first time to celebrate my sisters birthday. What made this trip special is my sister’s paternal ties to Aruba. We were able to visit where her dad grew up and explore the less touristy side of the island. The highlight of the trip was our stay a The Boardwalk Boutique Hotel and the vegan spread made special for us by Chef Djurick.

After scribbling in my note pad for days. When I finally narrow everything down I create a digital itinerary in my notes app on my phone. This is a screen shot of my guide during the trip. I also add a screen shot of a map. It helps me remember the relation of the locations. During the planning stage I spend hours on google maps. It is the only thing that helps me prevent creating a plans that have me driving like a yoyo verses a person that actually vetted the sense of the route.

Hotels

We stayed at three hotels for various reasons. I was able to get the first room using my Marriott points. This helped me reserve the savings for the 2nd nights stay at a premium location fitted to my sisters personality. While I imagined the night of luxury would be amazing, I didn't find it fiscally responsible to stay there for more than one night. For the last day I chose a resort where I discovered the rate to be inflated on the weekends but quite a steal on the weekdays.

Marriott Courtyard Aruba

The Courtyard Marriott resides on a block full of mega hotels. It is a quaint two level hotel. We did not dine there. The room was okay. It wasn’t great or upsetting. There was a patio but the door to the patio was deadly. Extremely heavy and almost killed each of us at different times.

I enjoyed the pool the most. The look of it is inviting both day and night. I love jacuzzis. I dipped my toes in the jacuzzi while Issa played in the pool. I have no idea why he enjoys the cold water over the warm water.

BOARDWALK BOUTIQUE HOTEL

The Boardwalk was by far my favorite hotel stay to date. The pros are:

The pool has no open or close time.
Boardwalk beach guest receive waiter service from the Ritz Carlton.
There is a walk up smoothie shack on the property.
The most impressive thing about Boardwalk is the atmosphere. There are coconut trees EVERYWHERE. It feels like you are in the jungle. The rooms are themed after little houses to make you feel like you live there and each room comes with a grill. It is truly a dream. The textures and color scheme refreshing.
The bathroom has a window that is easy to open and you can hear birds chirping while you take a shower.

The Cons:

1. The primary con is the hold they place on your card. There was a 500 dollar hold placed on my card. The room was already prepaid so I had a hard time wrapping my head around such an aggressive incidental hold. When I ordered breakfast they placed an additional hold for the cost of the food. I was rolling my eyes. I called as soon as checked out. The jig is up, release the hold!

2. Also the hotel is also not directly on the beach, however, there is a cute little shuttle, and a designated space of the beach for Boardwalk guest. Servers on scooters come to take your order.

3. I have recently learned they are only accepting children over 12 going forward according to the website. Issa is 10, I knew nothing about this when booking.

4. There seems to a cat that lurks and runs up to the door meowing non-stop

For breakfast I had the “Scrambled Breakfast” (tofu option) and Nikky had the Açaí Bowl. I scrapped the plate. Sitting on the patio eating breakfast there was a memorable moment.

Eagle ARuba Resort & casino

I chose this space for the full kitchen, patio and enclosed bedroom. While it was as spacious a regular one bedroom apartment, I couldn’t adapt to everything being beige. Even the staff had on beige shirts. The pool closed early so we couldn't take a late night dip.

The one thing I did like was the life size checkers and chess games. We played that late night.

Overall it didn’t excite me and for that reason, I would not book this place again. I never went to visit the casino. It is located in a separate building so you don’t have to walk through it to get to other amenities.

food

Cubas Cooking

The tacos where ok, the cake vegan chocolate was a yummy surprise. They had a lot of non vegan options so maybe all the fun on the menu is located there.

Yemanja

Yemanja was a disaster. I tried making reservations from the US. I wanted it to be our last meal but realized they don’t open until 5:30pm by which time would be on the plane. I missed their correspondence because by the time they emailed I was already on my way to Aruba.

They had no availability for us as walk ups and even gave us a hard time when we asked about ordering carry out. The hostess told me the had to check with the kitchen to see if carry out was ok. We did eventually get carryout. I complained about the resistance to serve us and the manager gave us free drinks while we waited for the pre authorized carry-out.

Due to the pure anger of having dinner ruined on the first night, there are no pictures of the food. The food was very good but the presentation of it was affected by the one million individual containers. We ordered the vegan sampler.

If you plan to visit Yemanja, secure reservations. It is a popular spot. They also don’t really welcome kids. They only offer 1 hour when kids can dine-in 5:30pm—6:30pm.

Fishes & more

We enjoyed a guitarist playing live music on the patio. The and more in the tile means vegan options which was interesting to learn.

Vegan Calamari, no for me, yes for Issa.
Coconut Soup, I loved the soup.
Vegan Portobello was a yes for Nikky.
Tofu Tower was a hit for Issa.
Peanut Butter Brownie dessert was so good we ordered two.

One thing that made no sense was the bathroom. It doesn't match the ambiance of the restaurant. It reminded me of gas station bathrooms.

Solanio, Ritz Carlton

I was ready to order the exact breakfast that I found on a blog while planning the trip. It was clear my server wasn’t familiar with the items I was requesting. I asked another server what happened to Chef Djurick and his fabulous meals. He explained he is at another restaurant located near by and he would bring him to the table.

Chef Djurick told me that he has moved from Solanio and currently creating lunch meals at Moderna, another restaurant on the property. He and his wife were vegan and he made many creative things during his residency. He is no longer vegan but willing to whip up something for my sister and I based on the ingredients he has available.

Himself and three staff members brought out a lovely spread. The apple cinnamon pancakes were my favorite. I usually like one flavor on my pancakes at a time but the way he blended the syrups and other flavors was something only a professional could do.

My sister felt extra special. Bless the server that went the extra mile to make this happen and the Chef for being so kind and personable.

Happy Bowl

Located in the same shopping center as Cuba’s Cooking, Happy Bowl has a robust and overwhelming menu for first timers.

I had the Protein Explosion, Nikky had the Fresh Energy and Issa had oat banana pancakes. I liked my food but I was still hungry when I was finished. I tasted Issa’s pancakes, I thought they were horrible but he finished them. Nikky said she liked her bowl.

We packed this lunch for our time at Baby Beach. I would go again but order more food and skip the pancakes.

Ike’s Bistro

This was the best dinner of the trip. The restaurant is located inside of the Manchebo Hotel which wasn’t easy to find. A man was playing the saxophone when we arrived. Our table was by the pool which was lit in blue. This place screams date night.

The server was a bit too raw for me. As refined as the space was she lacked decorum. Nikky ordered truffle risotto, I ordered vegan fish, for dessert we had the warm apple crumble.

My dish came with yucca and mango salsa. The yucca was crisped perfectly, the fish took me back to a dinner I had in 2010 at Ruth’s Chris. This is a big statement but the chef at Ike’s mastered texture and flavor.

The Aruba Experience Cafe

This was our last meal. The breakfast spot I read great things about. The interior an exterior are full of exuberant colors. The seating areas feel private because the tables are not too close and not many are larger than a four top. The back patio feels like the coolest backyard at someones grandmother’s house. The walls have lots of art and murals that are conveniently tagged with IG handles.

The entrees are named as affirmations which I found to be beautiful, “I am Confident” “I am Beautiful” “I am Charming” to name a few. I tasted many things here, mocha pancakes, tamarind lemonade, arepas but things went south when I ordered the “I am Beauty” vegan option …… and received the regular one. I remained calm and still left a tip but I was pissed. I still ordered extra food to-go for the plane ride home.