I've been to Aruba twice, once on vacation and just a couple of weeks ago on a layover.
The first time, when I was still at XJT, we stayed at the Renaissance in Oranjestad, which was the Continental crew hotel at the time (I don't know if it still is). Delta puts us up in the Westin, which is on the west side of the island.
Of the two, I much prefer the Renaissance. There are many more restaurants around plus the hotel has a private island with two secluded beaches. There's also a very nice pool with a swim-up bar. We just called the hotel directly, asked them for the airline discount rate and got a nice room for around $90/night, which came out to be about $120 with taxes. They also have an all-inclusive package but you must stay there for a certain number of nights. We just decided to go into town to eat and drink.
The Westin is also nice, but there's not much around the hotel in way of restaurants. It's right next to the Riu, which the van driver says is one of the best resorts on the island. I didn't go to check it out but it looked nice. It's also all-inclusive, while the Westin is not.
I've never been to curacao so I can't tell you anything about that. I will add that Aruba is not a pretty island. It's arid, sandy and, at this time of year, very windy. Don't expect lush tropical paradise.
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Bill DeBrauwer
ex-XJT CA
DAL 767 FO
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