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Not as extravagant as the other hotels on the High-Rise strip, the Holiday Inn does offer value, which makes this hotel a favourite among travelers to this sunny paradise. Holiday Inn reserves SunSpree status for its best resorts; this resort was extensively renovated in 2000 making it more modern. In addition to complete changes to the rooms, the lobby was re-designed into an open concept with Asian themed decor allowing the constant trade winds to gently blow through towards the white sand beach and turquoise waters.
The all-inclusive resort has three seven-story towers. Two of which are attached to the main building, while the third is a small walk away, past the pool and by the spa and exercise room. The rooms are modest, but more than serve their purpose (at the time renovations were being done on one of the towers).
The towers themselves are ice cold so be prepared for a shock when walking from outside to inside.
Although most rooms do have some sort of view of the water, try to avoid the lower levels, which have their views obstructed by the trees. Also try to stay away from rooms close to the shoreline but run perpendicular to the water. These rooms may have an obstructed view of the water because of the full ocean viewed rooms that are situated in front of them. The unfortunate part is that these rooms may be advertised as superior.
On arrival we were stuck with one of these obstructed views and after a bit of fighting we were able to get moved to the third tower a bit away from the main building, but eventually got our partial ocean view. We still were stuck with two double beds instead of the king sized bed we were promised.
The resort's biggest plus is the fact that it has one of the longest and cleanest beaches (Palm Beach) of all the High-Rise hotels. The beaches of all the hotels on the strip are inter-connected so you can enjoy a nice walk along the shoreline to see each of the other hotels.
If salt water is not for you, then the Holiday Inn also offers a decently sized pool with waterfalls, plus two hot tubs. A well-sized tanning area is also available with plenty of beach chairs.
An important part of every all-inclusive resort is its food and drinks. There are not too many bars throughout the resort, but they are ideally situated at the main points of the resort, so you never feel like you have to wander far to satisfy your thirst.
I am quite picky with food, so for me the food was not overly spectacular, but decent. At the time of our visit there were 3 restaurants, but renovations were being done to add a new restaurant/cafe. Buffet and a la carte options are available with reservations needed for the a la carte restaurant at night. Usually getting a reservation is not a difficult proposition and remarkably not a long wait to do so either. The restaurants are themed for the different nights of the week, but I found that after seven days, my choices were exhausted.
Given that this is a Holiday Inn, it is expected that the hotel be moderately priced compared to other options on the island. Therefore, you will see a vast variety in the type of people who stay here. A lot of families, as well as honeymooners and couples will be seen with two-thirds from North America, while the rest mainly from South America. Since the resort covers a large amount of space, it can easily handle a large amount of people without too much invasion on privacy.
For those who wish to stray off of the resort, which is encouraged in order to take in the vast and distinct culture and landscape, many of the big name car rental agencies exist on site. Also, to get downtown, a bus stop is a short walk away, and for a small charge you can get a round trip ticket to Oranjestad and be down there in 15-20 minutes. Enjoy the ride as the bus runs along the shoreline and the strip of High-Rise hotels.
The hotel also has its own casino for those willing to try their luck after spending the day on the beach. It is modest in size and I found not always the most busy.
Overall, if you are planning a trip to Aruba and you want to have a good time without hurting the wallet too much, then the Holiday Inn SunSpree has everything you are looking for. You nearly can never go wrong with this choice.
Last updated: December 2005
