We began our adventure Friday afternoon! We drove across Florida to the "other coast". We travelled on the Alligator Alley portion of the highway in the middle of the state, but we saw no alligators. There are only rest areas and a few places to put a boat into the water. NO WAY! I wasn't even comfortable on the highway itself despite a 6 foot chain link and barbed wire at the top.
We made really good time and only got stuck on the way close to the hotel. Not a bad drive in order to get really cheap free tickets on American. 4.5 hours with one stop.
I booked a Park n Stay at the Aloft Miami Airport. I've stayed in these hotels before and they seem to be a dependable quality.
Our room:
We sat out by the pool with some drinks and watched the planes landing. It was a gorgeous night!
The view from the beach.
On the way to the airport in Miami
Spent some quality time at the Admirals club before our flight. The bloody Mary's were fabulous.
Zero issues with the flight. It was a non-stop and took about 2 hours or so. I love looking at the clouds.
We had arranged a Private Transfer to the Resort. Turned out to be some janky old van, that Thank God, had a working air conditioner!
At the resort, we were ushered into a private air conditioned room and offered waters, juices or cocktails. The paperwork was done in a fairly timely manner and we hired a bellman to take our luggage to the room.
It was at the far end of the resort--a pretty decent walk. All the restaurants are near the lobby. I'm pretty sure we walked at least 10 miles in the week we were there just to get something to eat.
And they also don't tell you the preferred rooms building has no elevator and there are 3 floors. Thank God we were on Floor 2. There is a separate infinity pool and bar for preferred guests only.
Our room:
The pool and grounds around our building
The view from the beach.
We saw this boat regularly and when we asked one of the security guys what type of boat it was, he replied that it is a patrol boat watching the seas for drug smugglers. Curacao is right off the coast of Venezala.!
I spotted this little guy in the bushes around our pool!
A couple of things about the resort itself: They are constantly mopping, raking and just generally tidying up the grounds. The housekeeping folks were phenomenal! Please tip them appropriately! Every single day, they mopped the floors--including the bathroom. And the balcony outside our room was swept every day. Tables, nightstands etc were all dusted. Even the glasses were viewed for cleanliness. WOW
The mini-bar Man was named Santana. He brought us beer every day to fill our minibar. As many as we wanted. Such a nice man--I spoke to him about his life here etc... because you know, that's what I do.
The other stand out person was Kenneth at our pool bar. He is amazing and his drinks were fabulous. I will also mention him on my Trip Advisor review. Apparently, there is a contest every year for the best bar tender and he has won it 3 times. Last year, the prize was a washing machine that he said he needed very badly! Again, tip, tip, tip.
Now, onto the food. You will see no food pictures because the food was not very good. We went to various "premier restaurants" and NOTHING was ever hot. It was lukewarm, at best. Any meal. Finally, out of desperation, on Monday night we went into the buffet. Glory be! The food was on steamer tables and it was very hot. And the quality of most things was edible. And that is the story of the food. We made our minds up to eat at the buffet and remove the food from the happiness equation as we knew we wouldn't starve.
Some other minor things about the place. There were two bars that served "premium liquor." The pool bar at our building and a bar in the lobby. That's it. No place else. And the best they had for example: Gin - Bombay sapphire or Beefeaters. Rum: Bacardi Tequila: Some rotgut we never heard of that smelled like Pine Sol. There are lots of local brands of the blue Curacao and other flavors.
The pool bar closed at 5 pm and the Lobby bar opened at 5 pm but only until 11pm. Whaaaaat?
But, being us, we learned how to work it. LOL We'd order extra drinks from Kenneth at the pool and take them to our room for the minibar.
As for beer selection: It's the same all over the resort:
They also push the fact that there is a casino on the resort named Princess. We went in there and it was a throwback to early Vegas days. No free drinks. Mostly all slot machines ---and they are penny. They had a few table games and roulette. Oh and there is a sports book area. I was very disappointed. I'm missing 3 card poker. They didn't have that either.
The best thing about this place is that you can snorkel right from the beach. We loved it and snorkeled multiple times.
Monday we took a taxi into Willemstad to have a look at the town. First order of business was to visit the Pandora store to get a new charm! It's adorable. It says Curacao one side and had a pair of snorkel fins on the other side. This has significance because Mr. F had never snorkeled before. I got him the full face snorkel for Christmas. That is really nice and easy to use. Put it on, fall into the water and just breathe.
They do offer shows of some type most nights. None of it was interesting to us. 1 night, a trumpet player that plated for about an hour. Another night a very small Carnival like parade. Most nights a DJ playing stuff but it was very hard to even get a seat near the stage. The area was very small.
We walked past the kids club. It looked very nice and when we saw people there, they were always doing something with the kids. Outdoor playground and indoor more of a place for crafts and some sort of video games.
Willemsted - random shots around the city. Very colorful place. I liked it.
This is a huge sign in the downtown area. It sounds like it is spelled. It has a bunch of different meanings. DUSHI meanings
This is the famous pontoon bridge. It was very cool watching it open to allow boat traffic!
So many little alleys to explore!
On Tuesday, we met this awesome couple and hit it off right away! We spent the afternoon talking to them at the pool. They told us they had rented a car for 2 days and were planning to visit some very cools places on the island and did we want to ride along. Well, that was easy---of course!
After a perilous ride in the backseat of our 'roller skate" looking rental and the GPS telling us to go down closed roads or turn where there was no rode, we finally found destination #1. Turtle Beach
This is a must see. Although we have no underwater photos of our snorkel, it was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. You have to be there between 11 and 2. That is when the little fishing boats come in with their catch. There were men on the pier fileting the fish and throwing the remains into the water for the turtles.
It is free to park and visit. Although immensely crowded. There are vendors selling stuff and a bar of some kind. We lucked out and found a spot right next to a vendor and she said we could park there for free. (We bought a bunch of stuff from her on our way out---beach towels, beachy jewelry etc.
Oh and if you wanted a chair, I think they were $3 American. We rented one just to put all of our stuff on while in the water. There were a lot of turtles there. And you could just swim all around with them. It was magical! I'm pretty sure we were in the water for about an hour.
Next, we stopped at a beach that stated it was number 16 in a top beaches category. Grote Knip Beach. It wasn't far from Turtle Beach---maybe 15 minutes. It was also very beautiful but quite crowded. This beach had rest rooms and a building selling food and beverages.
And back we went to the "resort". LOL We drank by the pool and ate our buffet dinner.
The next day, we went to Tugboat Beach! It was in the opposite direction from yesterday. Maybe about 20 minutes from our resort. Again, there was no fee to enter or to park. Beach chairs were $4 each. We just wanted one to put our stuff on while we were in the water.
Getting there was a surprise because we were very close to huge ships docked there. Commercial ones.
This place was amazing! So kitschy.
This is a real map showing where everything is located. And that sunken Tugboat is titled is shown there with an X marking the spot!
We all planned to snorkel to the wreck. However, about two thirds of the way there, my snorkel broke!
The water was choppy and I wasn't wearing fins so I swam/floated my way back. Mr. F came with me to make sure I didn't drown! UGH
Our friends snorkeled the entire way out
As we walked to the parking lot. I saw this abandoned fort. I think I read that island had like 19 of them all around the island
We took a small detour on the way back to the resort. Mr. F wanted a pizza very badly. (Nope nothing like that at the resort) So, I looked on GPS and found a place that had decent reviews. WOW What a great place. I highly recommend it. It's more than just a pizza place. It's a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. The owner is Italian and he had a wood fired pizza oven! Oh yes he did!
The place is called Pizzaroni ! Check it out!
Mr F was so happy! We ate it back at the resort.
There were so many iguanas on the property. They would come right up to the pool area to sun themselves. Also, there was lizard poop on the pool decking. YUCK
People were freaking out when they were near. Sheesh
Actually, some of us wanted to go to a place that served the best iguana soup, but we never got there.
Next time!
Our last day at the resort..
Toes in the sand! Forget which day
A couple of things you do not want to forget:
Water shoes---it's very rocky
Sun Screen - I forgot mine and went to the gift shop to buy some. OMFG, I almost had a stroke. $40 American for 1 bottle of 50 sunscreen.
In summary, we had a fabulous time. We just took the food part (except the pizza) and factored it out and enjoyed the week for all of the other reasons we had----good beach, snorkel from the beach and lots and lots of free drinks. Add in the couple we met there and that made it even better for us.
I would rate this resort a 3. The all inclusive pricing was very overpriced for the experience. Although, we tried our best to get our money's worth with the alcohol. hahahaha (true) Mr. F rated it a 2.)
We loved the island though and plan to go back at some point.
I can tell you that Hyatt now owns the property. We were told remodeling begins in 2024. Hopefully they will bring it up to Hyatt standards.
It sure feels great to be travelling again.
And I promise to finish the blog for the cruise I went on in November....time just flies by
We have a Secrets resort outside of Cancun booked for November, but I know some additional travelling will be done before that!
tata for now.
jilly
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