I jetted off to a last minute trip to Aruba for the weekend with Marriott Caribbean & Latin America Resorts. I went through their newly launched Solo Travel Series which is such a cool concept for traveling solo. It offers two packages- one called “All About Me” and the other “Solo & Social” to cater to different types of solo travelers. This really appealed to me because I started traveling solo after I quit my steady job last year, and basically started traveling alone to build my own brand and try to make a living out of it. Many people don’t have someone to travel with so they decide to travel alone, and this program offers all the safety precautions so all you have to do is enjoy yourself and not have to worry about the risks that come along with traveling solo.
I got to Aruba after a hurricane and left right before Hurricane Nicole (how coincidental/appropriate lol) so I got really lucky. The weather was cloudy the first day and the ocean wasn’t calm like it usually is there, but the second day was beautiful. I have always wanted to visit Aruba and it was the perfect quick getaway.
Although it was a quick trip, traveling to Aruba from Los Angeles was actually a lot longer and farther than I expected. The island is right above Venezuela/South America which is around a 4 hour flight from NYC. I traveled to New York for a layover, then to Aruba which was a total of 12 hours travel time. It’s definitely a lot easier to get anywhere in the Caribbean from the East Coast but it was still well worth the trip.
Aruba was a lot smaller than I thought, in fact when I was flying over I didn’t think it was Aruba- I expected the island to be much bigger. All the resorts are pretty close to the airport-nothing is too far of a drive which was nice.
I stayed at Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino on the tip of the island and had a great experience there. It was in a perfect location right on a beautiful beach. The resort offers water sport activities, two pools, (the main pool with a swim up bar and an adult pool with cabanas), a spa, a casino, and a few great restaurants on property.
My favorite part of my stay besides the beach was the food. Every meal was so good. The breakfast buffet which I had everyday was amazing. They have a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on the property (I love Ruth’s Chris!), and Atardi which is the beachfront restaurant which I had for dinner two of the nights and loved it. The Sashimi Snapper there was life changing….I had to go back and have it twice.
It is a great place for a couple’s retreat or a family getaway. It’s also the most perfect place on the island to watch the sunset. The sunsets were killer.
Check out my video from Aruba below!
I couldn’t leave Aruba without visiting Flamingo Beach. I had seen pictures on the internet and made a mental note to visit if I ever traveled to Aruba. It’s off a private island which is a 5-10 min boat ride from a dock in the center of town. It actually was closed when I tried to go because the hurricane ruined the beach, but I somehow managed to convince who I needed to convince to let me go- I didn’t go all the way to Aruba to not see the flamingos lol. We were the only ones that were allowed on the beach which was cool. I had limited time but had the beach to myself and had the chance to feed them. I had never seen flamingos on tropical beach before. It’s a definite must do in Aruba.
I ventured out one night because I wanted to see what Aruba night life was all about. The island has a few fun bars. I was recommended to go to Gusto so I went to check it out. It was a small bar/club in the center of the town’s nightlife. It’s quite small but the music was good. I went on a Wednesday night and the place was packed. There are a few places around Gusto if you want to hop around. Check it out if you want to venture out one night.
My trip was quick but I wanted to highlight my must see’s. I definitely want to visit again and spend a little bit longer there. It’s also a perfect stop if you want to venture to South America after, it’s so close!
-Nicole
2 Comments