What are some nice CC properties in the caribbean?

fulthrust7

Level 2 Member
We want to take a 4 day trip to the caribbean and perferably use of some of our accumualted CC points. Ideally, we can do a 7500 avios trip (I live near DC). I know SXM has a nice raddison, but we went to SXM last year. Have you all stayed at any nice properties in the caribbean? If so, which one? Thanks!
 

Mingy

Level 2 Member
Radisson Aruba is very nice. Went this past January and loved it. Aruba is a great island, beautiful beaches and weather. The Radisson had by far the nicest grounds of the few hotels near it that we walked past. Its within walking distance of a commercial area with shopping and restaurants. A substantial portion of the guests were repeat and regular visitors too (paying full price too and not with the credit card's last night free!), which we thought was indicative of the quality of the hotel. I fully intend to go back sometime soon, also probably using Avios.

If you have any questions about the hotel, I'd be glad to try and answer if I could.
 

projectx

Level 2 Member
Thanks Mingy. I've been looking at that property as a potential place to use CC points in the future. For what it's worth, my parents have visited many caribbean islands and rave about Aruba. They say it's one of the friendliest, and where they've felt the safest. Oh and apparently it's beautiful too. :)
 

fulthrust7

Level 2 Member
Radisson Aruba is very nice. Went this past January and loved it. Aruba is a great island, beautiful beaches and weather. The Radisson had by far the nicest grounds of the few hotels near it that we walked past. Its within walking distance of a commercial area with shopping and restaurants. A substantial portion of the guests were repeat and regular visitors too (paying full price too and not with the credit card's last night free!), which we thought was indicative of the quality of the hotel. I fully intend to go back sometime soon, also probably using Avios.

If you have any questions about the hotel, I'd be glad to try and answer if I could.
Thanks! We went to Aruba 3 years ago and loved it. Had a great time. May do it again. Though, my wife is all about trying different things.
 

cz606

Level 2 Member
Heading to Aruba in 2 weeks and staying at the Radisson. Very excited and will be happy to write a review when I return.

The Blu at SXM looked gorgeous, but we read a few reviews saying that there is not a ton of activity on that side of the island this time of year. Would be interested to hear anyone else's opinion of the BLU as I already envision a return to the Caribbean next year.
 

cz606

Level 2 Member
Sorry it has taken me a few weeks to respond. I have been really busy at work. Anyway, as far as the Radisson in Aruba goes, we really enjoyed our stay at the property (6 nights in total, split across two cardholders). We are both gold status thanks to the Club Carlson credit card and received an upgraded room and a small gift.

The room was nice, but unspectacular. though the view was outstanding. The only complaint we had is that the walls were fairly thin and you could hear your neighbors even if all they were doing was speaking in normal tones. Outside of that, everything was great. The hotel sits at an excellent location with a ton of decent restaurants sitting within walking distance of the front door, while immediately out the back door is a gorgeous beach and seemingly endless blue water. While I won't go into too much detail with this post, the grounds were well maintained and included many tiny details that brought smiles to the faces of their patrons. One I found particularly amusing was that they taught some of the tropical birds lining their walkways to whistle at guests as they make their way to the beach in their swimsuits. The staff was also wonderful and took customer service very seriously. All questions and concerns were immediately addressed and done so with a smile.

In short, while I have stayed at fancier hotels, the Radisson Aruba was one of my favorite trips and I fully intend to make my way back in the coming years.
 

Mingy

Level 2 Member
Has anyone tried to book at the Radisson Aruba recently?
They only seem to have premium awards available on any day during the winter, but the premium award seems to correspond to their lowest level Gardenview Room. On other days throughout the summer they have a Guest room, which seems to be the same room, for a standard award. Is this a new seasonal pricing rip-off? Last year when I booked it was into a Gardview room and it was a standard award.
 

Maria Sangria

Level 51
Yep. I was in the middle of my trip planning when I found this out. Since I already had flights booked and there are only two chain hotels on the island, I decided to split my stay between them. Currently staying at the RIU right now on MR points. The conversion to an all-inclusive RIU won't be complete until December and charges are showing up as Radisson. The grounds are nice, the staff is very friendly, the free breakfast buffet is good. Very nice infinity pool and a small beach. There are a couple of restaurants across the street as well. Le Calypso was very good (I'm not a cat person, but cute little PomPom who lives upstairs occasionally comes down for a visit.) It IS pretty remote. Up a big windy hill, and down a big windy hill, but all of St Maarten-St Martin is one big hill. Definitely not much on this side other than Grand Case. Heading to the Westin on Thursday.
 
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