Some pretty harsh critiques further down in this section. It's possible they had a bad visit for other reasons. My opinion, the resort is fantastic. Both the 2 bedroom and 1 bedroom units are very large and well equipped for all types of entertaining. The units can use a design change for better reviews, all the same, they are very clean and well maintained. The beach is spectacular. Very large and never over crowded. There is a casino across the street with shops nearby. Overall, the resort is a great find. If you are a regular of Ian Schrager- type hotels, you may want to by pass Aruba all together.

Beautiful view of Ocean. Great pool grill with chair side service. Several pools & Hot tubs for kids. Great variety of stores - Jewerly, Pharmacy, Clothing, Perfume, Grocery etc. Gambling & entertainment across the street. Never left the complex and had everything I needed. What a great time.

Just stayed at the Casa Del Mar 3/07 , the place is still a great place, I had food at great restaurants and the food that was at the Aruba Beach Club Rest. and the Casa Del Mar were also very good. I really didn't have to leave there at all. If you wanted to rent a car ,it was available in the lobby for $50 for 24 hrs and was a small 4 pass Toyota. There is a place called De Palm Island that is an all inclusive food , drinks (inc alchohol) snorkeling and some great colorful fish to see even from the stairs to the water. $55 for adults and children 1/2 price. The bus picks you up at the door and there are 1/2 and full day trips . 1/2 day is plenty. As always the water in the sea is amazing.

The Ambassdor wing (1-BR units) of CDM are across the street from the main part of the resort. There is no comparison to the Presidential (2-BR Units) located directly on the beach which are of the highest quality that you will find anywhere in the hotel industry. There is FREE DAILY MAID SERVICE. The Resort sits on the best beach in Aruba.

The beach is GREAT the staff amazing and gracious and the rooms clean and spacious 5 star for sure!!!

12/17 Nice location, well maintained good beach frontage. Hot tubs were either too hot or too cold. Stayed in Presidential building.

(12/17/05) What a big disappointment - good thing RCI helped us out and moved us to another resort. Thisone bedroom suite in locted what is known by RCI as the "overflow" building. When Aruba resorts overbook - this building is used - its worse than a Ramada Inn. Way way way in the back with a lovely view of many many parking lots. The floor was so filthy that my feet turned black in a few minutes of walking into the condo. Manager came - put hands across floor - and said "I do not see any dirt". Well, I took a cloth with water and showed him (a duhhh !!!). Even more disgusting was the welcome letter telling us that if they find the room too dirty - they will charge us an extra $10/day. Well - it was not even close to clean to begin with. Gold Crown? No way. Hospitality awawd? A joke. My recommendation - don't go unless you really don't have an alternative or don't care much about the room and location.

We had the best view on the island. we stayed in the presidential suite with a direct view of the ocean from our balcony. We loved that this was a small resort with only 150 rooms. No problem getting a palapa on the beach. A lot of older people own in this resort. It is quiet at night. We preferred this to the high rise area where the Marriott is. We felt comfortable leaving our young teenagers in the room eating pizza while we went close by for a nice dinner. This is a great family resort. We also liked the beach area here because it was much quieter than the high rise beach. I would definitely stay here again when I return to Aruba.

VERY SPACIOUS TWO BEDROOM UNIT, CLEAN, BUT IN NEED OF UPDATING, VERY 80'S. POOL IS NOTHING GREAT, SMALL, NOT ALOT OF HELP AT THE RESORT, YOU CAN ONLY GET CLEAN POOL TOWELS ONCE FOR THE DAY AND MUST KEEP THEM UNTIL THE NEXT DAY, DIRTY, SANDY AND ALL AND EXCHANGE FOR CLEAN ONES NEXT DAY. STAFF NOT OVERLY FRIENDLY OR HELPFUL. WOULD NOT GIVE THIS A GOLD CROWN RATING AND WOULD NOT STAY AGAIN, HAD FRIENDS ALONG AND THIS RESORT WAS A REAL LET DOWN.

MY HUSBAND AND I STAYED AT THIS RESORT IN JUNE 2004. WE ENJOYED IT!!!! WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A SITUATION THAT HAPPENED IN ONE OF THE ON SITE BOUTIQUES (BEING OVERCHARGED FOR POSTAGE STAMPS AT THE RATE OF 200%, SIMPLY BECAUSE WE WERE NOT VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE EXCHANGE VALUE) OUR STAY AT THE RESORT WAS MEMORABLE. THE BEACH FRONT IS SOMEWHAT SMALL, BUT IT WAS LOW SEASON SO IT WASN'T A PROBLEM. THE GROUNDS WERE WELL MAINTAINED. I WOULD GIVE IT A FIVE STAR IF I HAD NOT HAD THE PROBLEM WITH THE ON SITE BOUTIQUE AND THE FACT THAT SHOULD IT BE HIGH SEASON I BELIEVE THAT THE BEACHFRONT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY CROWDED.

We stayed at the CDM during the first week of June. The Casa Del Mar has two sections. The main building and the Ambassador Wing which is right across the street from the main building. We stayed at the Ambassador wing and it was perfect. All of the Ambassador rooms overlook the pool. Nice Balcony(two chairs and a table) and if you are on the 4th floor you can see the ocean. We were on the 2nd floor and we had lovely Palm trees on each side and again the pool. The Ambassador rooms have a large bedroom with a King Size bed, Dressers, large closet and TV. The bathroom was larger the we expected with a full tub with the shower option. The Living Room/ Kitchen area was very roomy. Two chairs, tables, pull out sofa and Entertainment unit with another TV. The Kitchen had a table and four chairs and everything you would need. Large Cabinets, Microwave, Stove, Oven, Refrig, blender, toaster, and other kicthen items. We only used the pots and pans once when we were there as the restaurants we great and many a very short walk across the street. The Calypso is the restaurant on the CDM property which was great and all tables are steps from the beach, Calypso has such a great location is's one of the hidden secrets of aruba. You have to eat at the Calypso food is the best. Watching people on the beach during lunch or watching the sunset during dinner. Just returned and already planning next year for another visit.

I am currently an owner at this resort. We had done the time share thing at most of the other resorts on the island while we were on our honeymoon before we made up our mind. Our friend had given us her unit as a wedding gift (her parents have owned since they opened!) It is a smaller resort which makes us feel more comfortable. Everything is at our fingertips, we don't need to walk a half mile from our room to get to the beach or the pool. It offers a small grocery store which is great to stock up on breakfast foods or for that quick snack. The maintenance fees are very reasonable, all of the Presidential rooms have been recently redone and the only way you can buy into the resort is through resale with very reasonable prices. Oh, and NO SALES PEOPLE BOTHERING YOU!

If you are looking to purchase a unit or just stay somewhere very nice for the week, Casa Del Mar is it. Oh and for dinner, may I suggest going across the way to The French Steakhouse at the Best Western and ask for Flip. He will do card tricks for you, sing, play his guitar and if your lucky make you balloon animals.

Stayed here in Nov 2002/Dec 2002, it was absolutely wonderful. Although the staff isn't necessarily the friendliest in the world, the place itself makes up for it. The units are very clean, well-decorated, and our view was breathtaking. You can walk across to the casino and to the Chalet Suisse which is an awesome restaurant.

The Casa Del Mar Beach Resort is without a doubt one of the top resorts on Aruba. If you are lucky enough to get a 2BR Presidential Suite at this resort, you are in for one of the most memorable times of your life. The resort is situated directly on a corner oceanfront property with some of the world's most beautiful beaches in either direction. The world famous Alhambra Casino is directly across the street from the resort.

The 1BR Ambassador Suites are across the parking lot access street from the 2BR Presidential Suites and are not as luxurious and spacious as the Presidential Suites. Any negative feedback you will ever read about this resort will only be targeted at the 1BR Ambassador units. Without a doubt, there are no better units on Aruba than the 2BR Presidential Suites at Casa Del Mar. We have seen or stayed in them all.

The Presidential Suites are approx. 1400-1600 sq. ft. with a 10x12 private lanai, full kitchen, including full size refrigerator, stove, microwave, coffee maker, blender, toaster, and full service for 6, dining room table with seating for 6, and living room with pull out queen size couch and satellite TV. These units will easily and comfortably sleep 6 adults.

The Master Bedroom has a full king size bed, chest of drawers, side tables, satellite TV, sliding glass doors leading to the suite's private lanai, full size window in bedroom, and floor to ceiling mirrored double-door closet. The Master bath has a jacuzzi-size step up bath, make-up table and chair with full size mirror, walk-in shower, full size sink with plenty of counter space, and hair dryer.

The Guest Bedroom has 2 double beds with side tables, floor to ceiling double-door closet, chest of drawers, adjustable reading lamps over each bed, and satellite TV. The Guest bath has a walk-in shower, full size sink with plenty of counter space, and hair dryer.

There is a Happy Hour every afternoon at the Seagull beachside restaurant bar from 4 to 6 and the restaurant will be undergoing a complete updating beginning in Feb. 2003.

The resort has 2 computers to provide internet access at a reasonable hour or 1/2 hour rate. The pool is large and the pool area is spacious, with plenty of chaise loungers and tables and chairs. The pool is unique for a resort pool in that the deepest point is more than 4 ft. deep (approx. 6 ft). Fresh beach towels can be picked up daily from the poolside towel stand.

Please feel free to check my ad for pictures of the unit and an awesome view from the lanai. gresmi

We stayed at this resort during week 50, 2001. It is a nice, older resort. Some of the rooms are newer than others. We stayed in the "Ambassador" suites which are across the street from the main resort. These rooms were older, and ours had electrical issues... Our lights kept going out... If we ran the microwave (even with all of the other lights/electrical appliances off), the electricity went off...

The showers--water indiscriminantly goes to scalding with no warning. We assumed that someone in a unit around us flushing a toilet caused this problem.

Anyway, this resort is in the "low rise" area, which is nice, because there were not a lot of people everywhere, crowding the beach and restaurant like there were when we stayed in the high- rise area. The staff is very nice--except for the fact that our electrical problems did not seem to be a priority...

I don't want to make this seem like a bad resort. It was okay. I would look for a "good" price for my stay...and possibly try to stay in the main resort area, not the Ambassador wing.