Casa del Mar Beach Resort

This resort is in the low rise area with a beach that provides rolling waves...so much fun to just bob in the water. Since the last review, the resort has undergone a partial renovation. All that is left is to renovate are the 2 bathrooms. Each 2 bedroom unit has a spacious master bedroom with its own bathroom, makeup station and sliding glass door that opens to a large covered balcony. The guest bedroom has 2 twin beds that the staff will make up into a king upon your request. There is also a sofa bed in the living room.The kitchen is fully equipped with new stainless steel appliances and plenty of cabinets. You can dine at the dining room table, the breakfast counter or on the balcony. Ours had a lovely view of the Caribbean Sea. The on site restaurant, Matthews, provides oceanfront dining with many delicious offerings. It also has 3 happy hours each day and some days there is music on the pool deck. Also on the pool deck is M's Crepe Shack which serves made to order crepes, coffee, smoothies and ice cream. Just across the street is the Alhambra casino and a shopping area with several additional restaurants. In the lobby you will find a concierge to help you with dinner reservations and excursions. Also on site is a spa, mini market, car rental and gift shop. There are palapas on the beach and pool deck to provide shade, getting up early will snag you a primo location. f you like a low key vacation, this is the place for you.

My husband and I just returned from a week at the Casa Del Mar. While we have no complaints about the accomodations the week was disappointing and difficult. Arriving on Saturday afternoon, we were unable to get a chair/umbrella hut on the beach until Monday, even though there were plenty of empty chairs, sometimes all day. The practice of the resort is to allow people to "save" chairs by putting a towel over them. When I attempted to sit on a chair under a hut that didn't have a towel on it, I had an uncomfortable exchange with a man sitting under the hut beside it, who told me I couldn't sit there because he was saving ALL the chairs under that hut for his brother. Security is supposed to discourage this practice by removing towels that have been left longer than 2 hours, but they don't. Some huts are "saved" before 6:30AM and are allowed to remain "saved" all day without anyone showing up to use them. As a result, very few people are allowed to enjoy the beach, especially because the beach is small to begin with, due to erosion. Although I was pleased with the cleanliness of the resort, I will never return and I do not recommend this resort to others, especially if you are going to Aruba primarily for the beach. TERRIBLE practice and NO SUPPORT FROM SECURITY.