Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino

Our family of 3 had a great stay at the Marriott Resort & Stellaris. Our vacation was for 5 nights. I would not hesitate to book again at this location. The staff in all aspects were very helpful and accommodating. Our room was clean as was the entire resort. The location is excellent and within walking distance of many shops and restaurants. There are plenty of activities on the beach. Some cost as they are run by separate vendors, but the Marriott did supply paddle boards and kayaks for free. TIP - bring your own floaties for the beach or buy one your first day there. I believe there it’s a pump at the beach hut. I bought one for $24 at the Marriott Beach Club which is right next to the Stellaris. Otherwise, it costs $10 a day to rent one from a vendor. The Marriott does have those long ones you can lay on but you only get it for an hour I believe and I did not see any in the pool. RESERVING PALAPAS - We used a palapa 2 of the 4 full days we were there. We never had an issue securing one. However, we were never actually able to reserve one for free. There are actually 4 ways you do it. First, you need to download the BON BINI! App and click on “Beach Chair Setup”. 1. You can pay to reserve the palapa you choose. This is probably the easiest way to ensure you get one. We never used this option. 2. Use the app at 5PM the day before to reserve one for free. We logged on at 5:03PM and nothing was available. 3. Use the app at 8AM the day of to reserve a palapa for free. We logged on at 8:10AM and nothing was available. 4. Stand in line at the hut near the beach the day of at 10AM. They have a list of unused palapas and will give them out on a first come basis (reserved palapas must be used by this time). This option is free. This is what I ended you doing with no issue securing a palapa close to the water. I was in line with maybe 10 other people and pretty sure everyone secured a palapa. The staff started assigning palapas promptly at 10AM and got through the line very quickly. Beach staff set up the chairs. POOL There are two pools. One is the adult pool that closed at 7AM. This was relatively quiet and not crowded. I believe the main pool closes later (check the time). Both pools were well maintained and had bars. Never had an issue getting drinks. The main pool has a swim up bar whereas the adult pool the bar is separate. Watch for happy hour where you can get 2 for 1 drinks. The one day we wanted to sit by the pool I walked down around 10:30AM and had no issue finding chairs for the 3 of us. In fact, any day we walked to the pool there were chairs available. The staff was quick to point us to open chairs and setup up umbrellas where available (there needs to be a spot on the ground for the umbrella). RESTAURANTS This Marriott has several restaurants to choose from that were all excellent. We didn’t do the Ruth’s Chris since we live 5 minutes from one back in the states. We ate lunch everyday at the Waves Bar and Grill as it was very convenient and tables were always available. Mercat was excellent our first night there. They also have a dining experience on the beach and in the lobby. We did not do those but I would not hesitate the next time we return. The reality is the Marriott is in a great location and within very easy walking distance to many dining options. We wanted to try a few other options off site as well. CAR RENTAL Hertz is on site and car rental was very easy. We were able to secure a car for the day to explore the island, EXCURSIONS We booked a UTV tour ourselves. But, there was plenty off information on site as to what tours were available. Most of the tours pick you up at the hotel. SNORKELING You can’t really snorkel off the beach as sand is getting kicked up from everyone else. You need to book an excursion to snorkel. We did use our car rental to drive to some spots close by. TIP - some spots you need water shoes due to rocks. Overall, that was a nice relaxing stay with no stress (which is what we all need!). Would definitely go back and highly recommend.

This is a great place to stay in Aruba. The property was clean and well maintained. There are plenty of restaurants in the hotel as well as within walking distance nearby. The beach is gorgeous, and you can reserve beach chairs & palapas daily at 5pm for the following day free of charge. This is a random assignment, but you can also pay $30 if you want to pick a spot. It’s easy to grab a pool seat at the main pool before about 9-10 am, but after that it can be a bit tough. I would highly recommend staying here and feel confident we will be back again in the future!

We absolutely love the Marriott Stellaris in Aruba! It truly is our favorite place on earth. Our most recent visit was just as wonderful as our very first. What makes this resort so special? Without a doubt, it’s the exceptional hospitality and genuine kindness of the staff. Beverly Morris is nothing short of AMAZING! She is always a pleasure to see and work with. If she had a fan club, we’d be the first to sign up. We also always look forward to seeing Ludwig and Arsenio. They are consistently warm, friendly, and make every visit even more enjoyable. This trip, we had the pleasure of meeting Charles Barran, who was professional, attentive, and excellent at his job. We also met Mergy, whose work ethic truly stood out. She worked tirelessly on the beach all day with a smile on her face. After all these years, she still hustles like it’s her very first day. She is an incredible asset to your team. Our newly renovated room was beautiful and had a wonderful view. While we felt the food isn’t quite as exceptional as it was 11 years ago, it’s still very good. We also love the convenience of having the casino right on the property, and it was easy to find chairs on the beach every day. Once again, we had a relaxing, memorable vacation. We will definitely be back soon and will always have a special place in our hearts for this property. We highly recommend the Marriott Stellaris to anyone visiting Aruba!

Such an awesome hotel for a family with teens. Rooms are big and clean, cleanliness from the rooms to the amenities are top notch, atmosphere was warm and inviting. All the staff were amazing, one in particular was amazing Ryan our waiter he was one of the best we have ever meet. The hotel is close by lots of food places and easy to get back and forth. Thank you Marriott Stellaris for making our family vacation memorable!

This morning we were invited by family to have a brunch in this huge hotel complex. The restaurant has a spacious air-conditioned inside section, and a smaller but more cosy and tropical looking outside section with a view on the green palm trees, white sand and blue sea, really a bonus. The brunch delivers a very extensive variety, from salads, seafood, pastry and snacks to tapas, soups, fruit and pancakes, very welcoming assorted, and really mouthwatering! I went for the breaded shrimps, sausages, beef kroket, different cheese (from brie to manchego) and chorizo, scrambled eggs, and finally dessert with cheesecake, flan, brownies and tiramisu, wow! The service is very good and the prices according to the food. Highly recommended!