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| Occidental Grand |  | Please send in your pictures of this resort or hotel
| | Report number 1 of 2 | | First | Previous | Next | Last | | | Ratings: | Location
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| | Details: | | Male Adults: | 0 | Date: | June 2007 | | Female Adults: | 0 | Tour Operator: | First Choice | | Number of Children: | 0 | Board: | All Inclusive |
| | Comments: | Booked this holiday several months in advance out of the First Choice brochure, we had always wanted to go to Aruba but didn’t fancy travelling via Holland.
We had upgraded to premium seats on the plane, which gave us more room on the 9-hour flight and better films to watch. This meant that our luggage was unloaded first which was great, but were then allocated bus number 3, which was not so great, as we spent the next hour waiting for everyone else. Another bad point to bus 3 was that it was the last bus to get to the hotel and this meant that we were at the back of the queue to ‘cheque in’. We felt like second-class citizens as we had to ‘cheque in’ in the ballroom and the queue was about a hundred people long and we were right at the back of it. After a long wait we were eventually allocated with room 1207. This room was directly overlooking 4 large white air conditioning tanks and nothing else. The room had a pungent smell of a/c fluid and looked as if it was rarely used. We asked for a change of room and were shown to room 1220 which had a view of the wall behind the Desire restaurant. We spent the next 4 hours at reception with two First Choice reps trying to sort out our room allocation. We were told that the hotel was overbooked and that as we had been the last to arrive at the hotel and because of this all of the good rooms had gone. The rep offered to drive us around Aruba the next day to show us alternative accommodation. But we declined, as we had wanted to stay at this hotel, as it was the only ‘premier’ hotel in the First Choice brochure.
By this time it was 9.30 pm and we were getting no joy out of the First Choice reps, as it transpired that First Choice are only contracted to the third floor and below (this is not mentioned in their brochure by the way). Even the hotel reception staff were getting fed up by now and explained that there were other rooms available but not for First Choice guests, as First Choice paid bottom dollar to Occidental for rooms. To resolve the problem and start our holiday properly we paid Occidental 721 ‘US’ dollars and what a difference we got room 1604 with a view overlooking the swimming pool and the sea. This is what we expected from a ‘premier hotel’ and should have been given to us in the first place, but First Choice is too tight to pay.
Aruba is a lovely Island, much more affluent than most in the Caribbean and is very accessible. We rented a jeep off Avis in the hotel lobby (their representative was very pleasant indeed and a pleasure to do business with) and went exploring. You really do need a jeep if want to go around Aruba as most of the roads on the north side of the island are sand and rock. Avis cars were competitively priced and offered four days rental for the price of three, which came to 240 ‘US’ dollars. Money well spent in our opinion as there are lovely secluded beaches if you are able to go off road to find them.
We did an around the island helicopter tour with Heli-tours, we enjoyed this immensely and would recommend it. They can be found right at the end of the pier in Orangestad and the two lads are great. Dead honest, they actually told us that anyone adding purchase tax on top the advertised price was ripping the tourists off. Incidentally all of the shops add this tax on top of the advertised price (Avis didn’t), which is illegal, but the tourists don’t know this. We even paid for the trip afterwards as there was a problem with their credit card machine. How many people would trust you for 230 ‘US’ dollars: not many.
The beach at the hotel is one the best that we have come across and is cleaned and raked every morning. Sunbeds in the shade are reserved with towels very early on in the morning, so if you want some shade you will have to be prepared for an early start.
The Occidental Grand is a nice enough hotel, but not the five stars given it in the First Choice brochure and the attitude of some of the staff can be ‘rude’ to say the least. We would say that it is a good 3 star and that some of the a la carte restaurants are very good, we especially enjoyed the Zen and the Mexican. The food in the buffet was very bland and limited; we were lucky to only eat in there twice, the first night and one other. The queuing aspect to get seated in restaurants was a bit of a bind, especially as they seemed to be empty. The quality of the drinks was good but they kept shutting down certain bars of a night, which meant some queuing to get served.
We liked the fact that you can go out of a night; the choice of bars and restaurants is excellent. The high-rise part is still undergoing some building work, but it is nearly finished and was not a problem. The shopping was good, nice sunglasses, good quality handbags and decent clothes; we bought some fab bits at really good prices.
All in all, a lovely holiday, in a nice environment, with a few hiccups, all down to First Choice. I would recommend Aruba and the Occidental (not as a five star hotel) for a nice holiday in the Caribbean with a bit of ‘class’. Would go again but not with First Choice, probably with Kuoni for better customer service, which means less hassle.
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