Aruba w/ toddler

[Anonymous]

Hello, I am desperately looking for a nice summer getaway for my husband, myself and my daughter. I just looked at flights ot aruba and they look really reasonable. Any experiences there? I am worried about being able to find (and trust) a babysitter so my husband and I can try to go to dinner one night rather than be trapped in the room because of her early bedtime.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Calgone...take me away!!

[Anonymous]

I've been to Aruba a couple of times, and the place seems pretty kid-friendly. It very much caters to American tourists, so I would imagine any of the major hotels on Palm Beach offer babysitting services. I haven't used them, so I don't know whether you'll be able to trust them - but I'd imagine you'd have that issue no matter where you go. I've stayed at the Radisson and Westin and enjoyed them both.

[Anonymous]

a coworker of mine used to go at least annually and then when the first kid came along, went at least once a year -- always stayed at the hyatt. beautiful place. we stayed next door at the radisson -- those are the only two properties i think i would want to stay in if we ever go back...

anyway -- depending on age -- hyatt has some kids programs at least during the day -- maybe though at night too??

another place they really liked with young kids was paradise island.. shorter flight and direct from dc.

[Anonymous]

We went to Aruba when our kids were 19 months and 3 as part of a cruise. I am not a cruise person, but when our kids were so little, we really appreciated the on-ship camp/daycare, which we used in 2 90 minute increments each day--the first to do a couples activity and the second were able to have one meal a day (usually dinner) all to ourselves, take a walk around the decks, etc. Of all the places we went on the cruise, Aruba was one place we thought we might go back and visit with the kids. The beaches are very kid friendly and uncrowded. Check with your hotel concierge for the specific names, but there were a few beaches with calm, shallow, warm, crystal clear water--so shallow that you could wade out a good 50 yards without your knees getting wet. My kids loved it!

[Anonymous]

We went to Aruba last year when my son was 14 months and we LOVED LOVED LOVED it. I highly recommend the Marriott Hotel - it is right on a beautiful beach with power sand, super clean and shallow water, had a very nice seized playground and several gorgeous pools. In addiiton, the hotel employees are just amazing and know how to cater to kids. Even though we did not use them, the hotel offers in-room babysitting for a charge (I'd double check if they still do). Overall Aruba is great - there's a durect flight on United, 4 hours from DC, it is very safe, English is widely spoken, the beaches are amazing and it almost never rains and is the same temperature year-round. There is a ncie downtown area with a bunch of nice stores and restaurants. Unfortunately for us my son got very sick on our first night there (not related to Aruba, it was an infection) - the employees of the hotel drove us to the emergency room of the only hospital on the island which was actually manned by doctors from holland and the care we received was great for the Caribbean. There is also a 24-hour pharmacy near the hospital so we were able to get the drugs right away. Because he was sick, my son did not sleep almsot at all during the first two nights so I had to take him outside so that other guests can sleep. The night receptionist vould not be nicer bringing me coffee and water all night long.Luckily my son recovered in a few days and we were able to enjoy the rest of our time. Now we are looking forward to going back!