What I Liked
- Beachfront resort
- Large swimming pool
- Great location on Palm Beach
- Modern guest rooms
- Most rooms have sea view
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The Aruba Marriott Resort is located on Palm Beach in Aruba. It’s part of three Marriott Resorts next to each other. The other two resorts are the Aruba Surf Club and the Aruba Ocean Club. Those two are run under the Marriott Timeshare Vacation Club programme, with apartments rather than standard rooms.
The Aruba Marriott Resort is an normal hotel, with rooms. If you stay at any of the Marriott resorts, you can use the facilities at any of the three resorts. I was staying at the Marriott Aruba Surf Club and not the Aruba Marriott Resort. But I did visit the Aruba Marriott Resort.
The Marriott Aruba Surf Club has the most facilities of all the 3 resorts. It has a lazy river, water slide, main pool with dj and kids pools. That resort is most kid friendly. My review is here. The other two resorts are quitter and more focussed towards adults.
The Aruba Marriott Resort (i.e. what I am reviewing here) is a beach front resort, with casino and a lovely large swimming pool. Palm beach itself is really nice, with calm waters and beautiful yellow sand.
Frankly, the biggest surprise at the Aruba Marriott Resort Stellaris wasn't the casino floor. It was the Tradewinds club — an adults-only hotel within the hotel, complete with its own pool and five food presentations a day, breakfast through to a complimentary evening bar. That's the kind of detail that doesn't show up on the resort's own website copy.
Read on for the honest verdict on the rooms, the beach, and whether the Tradewinds upgrade is worth chasing.
Bottom line — if you're planning a Marriott stay anywhere in the Caribbean, it's worth checking whether hotel status (or a decent upgrade trick) can land you one of those sea-view rooms. I've got a few hotel-loyalty and travel tools I actually use listed on my Recommended Resources page, including the Hilton Gold status card and the Marriott Vacation Club deal on Hawaiian resorts, along with the rest of the deals I actually use.
I didn't book a room at the Aruba Marriott Resort Stellaris myself. I was staying next door at the Surf Club, so I can only go on what I found while researching.
Cash rates at the Aruba Marriott Resort Stellaris start from around $750 a night (based on a recent search), though prices swing by date — resort fees and taxes aren't included, so budget extra.
Prices here swing a fair bit by date, so it's worth checking a few different weeks before you commit.
Book your stay at the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino here
One thing worth clearing up: this isn't an all-inclusive resort. It's a standard cash-rate Marriott hotel, so factor food and drink into your budget on top of the room rate.
The resort next door (Aruba Surf Club) is a Marriott Timeshare Resort. Before you say yes to any timeshare presentation here, it's worth reading my Marriott Timeshare Vacation Club guide so you know exactly what you're being pitched.
The Aruba Marriott Resort is right on Palm Beach. With Palm Beach being the most popular tourist destination in Aruba. Aruba is a small island and the trip took me about 15 minutes in the car from the airport. The nearest supermarket is Super Foods Plaza. A 5 minutes drive away. You can also get them to deliver groceries to the hotel. In addition to the fantastic beach, Palm beach is an excellent tourist destination. There’s a huge outdoor mall with restaurants, cafes and shops. There’s loads of choice for food, when you go out in the evening.
Everything on Aruba feels close, because the island itself is only around 20 miles long tip to tip. That's the real appeal of the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino location on Palm Beach — you're never far from anything, so you spend your holiday on the sand rather than in a hire car.
Use an eSIM in Palm Beach
When I was in Palm Beach, I used an eSIM rather than paying roaming charges through the nose.
I paid $4.50 for 7 days of data — 2GB. Other packages are available if you need more.
The eSIM provider is rated 4.7? from over 17,000 reviews.
This deal is a no-brainer. I'm annoyed I didn't start doing this years ago!
California Lighthouse
Head up to the north tip of the island and you'll find the California Lighthouse, perched on rocky cliffs above the crashing surf. The grounds around the base are free to explore, and the views back down the coastline are some of the best on Aruba. I'd go for sunset if you can time it right. Wear proper shoes though — the rocks around the base are sharper than they look.
Dolphin Catamaran Snorkel and Sail with Open Bar
You can book here for $69, rated 4.75* from over 2,700 reviews. You get snorkelling stops plus an open bar on the sail back, which is a proper way to spend an afternoon on the water. Popular tour though, so book ahead if you want a specific date.
National Park Arikok Jeep Safari Adventures
Book your ticket here for $85, rated 4.93* from over 760 reviews. Arikok covers a big chunk of the island's rugged interior, and a jeep is genuinely the best way to see it — you'd struggle in a normal hire car. Bumpy ride, so it's not one for anyone prone to travel sickness.
Aruba UTV Tour: Animal Garden, North Coast & Andicuri Beach
Buy tickets here for $122, rated 4.87* from over 5,300 reviews. It's the priciest one on this list, but you're covering a lot of ground — the north coast, an animal garden and Andicuri Beach in one go. Worth it if you only have one day to spare for exploring beyond the resort.
The Aruba Marriott Resort has the following facilities:
The resort has been fully refurbished and is modern and plush.
The resort also has Tradewinds club, which is an adults-only floor — a hotel within a hotel. There is an adults-only pool. The club lounge has five food presentations a day, including breakfast, afternoon tea and a complimentary evening bar.
If you’re travelling as a couple (e.g. for honeymoon), then the Aruba Marriott Resort Stellaris is a much better option than the Aruba Surf Club. At the Surf Club, expect to have lots of kids running round you at all times!
The Aruba Marriott Resort has 414 guest rooms and suites, spread across a fully refurbished property with five restaurants and cafes on site. It's home to the largest casino in Aruba, plus a 24-hour fitness centre and a spa. Base-level rooms are around 470–500 square feet according to most booking sites, though Marriott's own site lists square footage per category — worth checking before you book.
The Aruba Marriott Resort has five restaurants and cafes, though I didn't eat at any of them myself since I was staying next door at the Surf Club. With the club lounge alone running five food presentations a day (including afternoon tea and a complimentary evening bar for Tradewinds guests), you're not short of choice if you book a room there. Worth checking the resort's own listings for the individual restaurant names before you go, if dining options are a big factor in your decision.
I didn’t stay at the Aruba Marriott Resort, so I didn’t see inside the rooms. However, looking online, the rooms look to be modern, sleek and luxurious. The base level rooms at the resort are 500 square foot. Which is a really good size. Expect to find large double bed, separate sofa and living area, large desk, oversized bathroom, walk-in closet and large balcony. All of the rooms have a coffee machine. I don’t know what proportion of the rooms have a sea view. But from my online research and walking round the hotel, it looks like the majority of rooms do have a sea view. Having status with Marriott will help you have a room with sea view.
The resort has a large swimming pool at the back with swim up pool bar. One really good thing about the Aruba Marriott Resort, is that it’s easy to get a seat. The biggest issue with the Aruba Marriott Surf Club is that it’s very difficult to get a seat by the pool. Residents get up at 7am to reserve a seat. You don’t need to do this at the Aruba Marriott resort. There are more than enough chairs for the guests.
If you want water slides and a proper activity pool rather than a quiet swim-up bar, my JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes review covers a Marriott resort that goes all in on that instead.
Palm Beach is lovely. It’s nice and sandy. The water is very calm and warm. It’s easy to spend hours in the water, without realising!
There are loads of chairs available for hotel guests. It feels private, although I don’t think the beach is private. Frankly, it’s so hot, that nobody would want to park in a public car park and walk 30 minutes to the Marriott Beach.
If beachfront Marriott resorts are your thing, I also reviewed the Marriott Frenchman's Cove in St Thomas, another one with a genuinely nice stretch of sand.
I didn't stay at the Aruba Marriott Resort Stellaris — I was next door at the Surf Club — but a proper visit was enough to form a clear view. This is a beach front resort with a lovely large swimming pool, the largest casino in Aruba, and that Tradewinds club hotel-within-a-hotel, which was genuinely the biggest surprise of the whole trip.
The Aruba Marriott Resort Stellaris is a good one, with a clear caveat on who it suits. Couples get the better end of the deal here: an adults-only floor, an adults-only pool, five food presentations a day including a complimentary evening bar, and none of the 7 a.m. chair-scramble that plagues the Surf Club's pool deck. Families will find plenty to do here, though the Surf Club next door leans harder into kids' amenities with its lazy river and dedicated kids pools — worth comparing if you're travelling with children.
So: couples and honeymooners, book the Marriott Resort Stellaris and don't look back. Families, stay next door. Either way, it's worth checking whether Marriott status can land you one of those sea-view rooms before you go.