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Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of Aruba
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When you work hard for a week of R and R, you don't want a tropical storm coming between you and your days in the sun. Therein lies Aruba's appeal: A 75-square-mile wedge of sand, rock, and scrubby vegetation, Aruba, 16 miles off the coast of Venezuela and yet part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has stretches of white sand as well as weather that is almost constant—nearly year-round temperatures around 85 degrees, few clouds, cooling trade winds—making it a dream destination for beach bums who wish to do nothing but feel the burn.
Attractions & Activities If you're like most visitors, you'll typically spend your days parked on the sands that front your hotel, your nights at nearby restaurants, bars, and casinos. To explore farther afield, catch one of the Arubus buses that run every few minutes from the major hotels to the capital of Oranjestad (arubus.com). To see the rest of the island, consider renting a car. Oranjestad is a cruise ship port of call, and the pastel-colored Dutch Colonial buildings lining its marina cater to passengers looking for duty-free shopping before their ships weigh anchor. For those more inquisitive than acquisitive, the Archaeological Museum of Aruba is several blocks away. Through artifacts left by the island's earliest inhabitants—first, nomads who arrived from the mainland 4,500 years ago; then the farmers who followed three and a half millennia later—it gives a glimpse of island life before the Spanish moved the natives to Santo Domingo as slaves in the early 1500s. The museum is due to reopen after a renovation in 2008 (297-582-8979). Oranjestad and Aruba's high-rise and low-rise hotel areas lie to the south. Off-roading is the best way to see the uninhabited side to the north. Rent a four-wheel drive and begin at the California Lighthouse, a Georgian beacon at Aruba's northernmost point and one of its most distinctive landmarks. From there, follow the tire tracks along a brushy expanse of red soil that runs parallel to the wild surf crashing on the rocky coast. The going is slow and bumpy, but you can catch your breath with a stop at an eerie landscape of countless piles of stones, where previous visitors have stacked three rocks (one each for health, wealth, and love) within view of the roiling sea. Worth a detour, too, are the Alto Vista Chapel, built by a Spanish missionary in 1750 above the waves and recently restored, and the Bushiribana Ruins, the hulking remains of a gold-smelting operation from the early 1800s, whose upper reaches have impressive prospects of the water. At the end of the road is the Natural Bridge, 98 feet of limestone that spanned the incoming waves and was Aruba's most photographed site until it collapsed one morning in September 2005. A refreshment stand and a gentle beach remain to offer respite for those who still make the drive. On Aruba's eastern half, Arikok National Park comprises about 25 percent of the island and is its nature reserve. Visitors can hike the trails—or drive the dirt roads—past rock formations and canyons that create unique microclimates for the lizard, snake, and bird species found only on the island. You can also explore abandoned gold mines and caves, which are sometimes home to bats. Lodging One of the only players in Oranjestad, the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino has two halves, one a complex of towers next to the Seaport Village shopping center. Beyond a South Beach-inspired pool area, its river-like pool has views of the hotel's private island with three beach areas, regularly serviced by private tender. A short walk away, the annex on the marina has a similarly breezy feel as well as direct access to the adjacent casino and duty-free mall. North of Oranjestad, the low-rise hotel area is home to a series of two- to three-story lodgings, most of them no-frills time-shares. An exception is the elegant Bucuti Beach Resort Aruba, perhaps the closest you'll find here to a design hotel. Recently renovated, it has a creamy colonial exterior with expansive suites and rooms done in sleek lines, soothing neutral cottons, and dark rattan. Beyond the well-manicured lawn is a small pool and the Pirates' Nest, the property's restaurant cum grounded galleon. On the buzzing, busy high-rise hotel strip is the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino, whose jungle-like grounds are among this arid island's lushest. Rooms have generous Caribbean touches, such as louvered shutters to keep out the sun's heat, and sizable ottomans on the balconies. Nearby, the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino completes a renovation in summer 2007. In the meantime, prime draws include the leafy central grounds, centered on a faux-manor restaurant complex made of native limestone, and a two-story, twisty-turny waterslide that lands you within a short doggy paddle of the pool bar. When combined with its two (and growing) adjacent time-share developments, which share its facilities, the Marriott Aruba Resort & Stellaris Casino, at the high-rise area's northern edge, is the island's largest hotel. Its atrium lobby is unique on Aruba in that it is glass-enclosed—a scoop of gelato from its café makes for a cooling snack when the sun's rays get to be too much—and the lively pool scene centers on the swim-up bar with good midafternoon happy hour specials. Just shy of Aruba's northernmost point and far from any beach, the Tierra del Sol, Resort, Spa & Country Club is for serious linksmen. The centerpiece is the 18-hole championship course designed by Robert Trent Jones II, around which individually owned villas and a series of two- and three-bedroom condos are arrayed, within view of one of the island's most distinctive landmarks, the California Lighthouse. Dining Across from Oranjestad, where cruise ships disgorge their passengers, Iguana Joe's is the place to grab a table on a second-floor balcony overlooking the sidewalk and order a plate of locally caught mahi-mahi sautéed in peppers, onion, and Creole sauce, along with any of the novelty cocktails that come in a half-liter carafe—including a pink lemonade, a benign-looking lemon concoction spiked with plenty of rum. Then just sit back and watch the crowds parade below (Royal Plaza Mall; 297-583-9373; entrées, $14–$20). A few blocks off the marina, Cuba's Cookin' stirs up a taste of Havana inside a well-maintained kunuku ("country" in the Aruban language of Papiamento) house. At lunch you'll have the dining room—whose walls are covered in colorful Cuban artwork and posters—largely to yourself. The scene picks up at night, when a live trio performs to a crowd downing plates of Cuban specialties such as zarzuela de mariscos, a seafood soup that's a cross between bouillabaisse and paella, and moros y cristianos, a traditional rice and bean dish (27 Wilhelminastraat; 297-588-0627; entrées, $15–$25). At the Hyatt, Ruinas del Mar occupies a re-created old manor house built of limestone blocks mined from the island's rocky, desolate northern side. Reserve a table on the rear patio and, by flickering torchlight that illuminates the surrounding lagoon, tuck into such preparations as a mixed grill of veal, lamb, chicken, and pork over creamy risotto (85 J. E. Irausquin Blvd.; 297-586-1234; entrées, $23-$38). Tierra del Sol's main restaurant, Ventanas del Mar, serves standard country club fare—grilled filet mignon with a mushroom wine sauce, simply grilled fish—and the service, while courteous, can be a bit confused. The site, however, is without compare: Come before sundown and get a table on the wraparound terrace for a prospect of the fairway and the surrounding desert. Arrive after dinner and your view will be of the California Lighthouse, a beacon in a sea of black (297-586-0879; entrées, $26–$38). A short drive from the high-rise hotel strip is one of the few truly Aruban restaurants on the island. Gasparito Restaurant-Art Gallery occupies a kunuku house that was formerly home to one of the area's leading ranching families. (The well by the front door provided water for them and their neighbors.) Inside, canvases by local artists hang inside the small dining rooms, and many of the works are for sale. Outside, strings of lights illuminate a breezy courtyard set with several tables for two. Go for the Aruban combo to sample such local specialties as keri keri, a mix of tomato, spices, and barracuda, and keshi yena, stewed chicken and vegetables topped with Dutch cheese (3 Gasparito; 297-586-7044; entrées, $15–$33). At Salt & Pepper, in the middle of a stretch of restaurants across from the high-rise hotels, the young and friendly Dutch wait staff are quick to pour you a Heineken from the freely flowing tap or set you up with bottles of Balashi, the pilsner brewed on the island. Sit on the front patio, or head inside to admire the shelves of unusual salt and pepper shakers that visitors donate to the collection in exchange for a free drink. Tapas is the specialty here; try the gazpacho dotted with shrimp and local tilapia (368-A J. E. Irausquin Blvd.; 297-586-3280; tapas, $3–$6; entrées, $11–$20). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
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