Marriott's Aruba Surf Club

Nice stay over the 4th of July

8.0

Nice hotel overall. Room was recently updated and very nice and clean. It had a washer and dryer which was super convenient. 2 bedroom had plenty of space for 6 adults. Location is great with a lot of shops/restaurants in walking distance. Pools were nice. The palapa renting is a pain in the rear though. Often times all were gone within a few minutes unless you want to sit in a spot with zero ocean views. Also, chair tagging at the pool is out of control. It is pretty much impossible to get a chair unless you are out there reserving your spot before 630am. The ocean area was busy. Boats are coming in every few minutes picking up people for different activities, so it makes the beautiful Aruba ocean pretty cloudy because of all the sand they kick up. Also, after walking out maybe 10', the ocean floor feels gross. There is like a 6" deep silt/muck layer at the bottom. That also smells terrible. Try to stand closer to the beach where the sand is more firm. I think I prefer the low rise area better due to the clear ocean and lack of boats coming in, making it feel more relaxing.

Rough start

4.0

Very disappointed the customer service. My granddaughter had to wait about six hours for them to finally bring a pack and play and the drain in the bathtub didn’t work for her to take a bath. Then we ask them for a comforter for the pullout couch and they told us that even though they have them, they would not provide us one. Not a good job by Marriott. Usually love their customer service, but this one really is disappointing.

Beautiful Marriott Aruba Surf Club

10.0

We just returned from our home away from home, beautiful Marriott Aruba Surf Club. We had the pleasure of meeting JD at the front desk. JD and the entire staff made sure all of our needs were met. We were assigned a unit in the newly renovated Lighthouse. The unit and view of the pool was absolutely beautiful. We are currently planning our next visit to the Surf Club.

Mostly fine

6.0

Our check-in experience was fine, and we were very happy with our room. We booked the two bedroom suite, and it worked out perfectly for our family. Our 18 year old daughter had her own space because the second bedroom is actually an adjoining room connected by an interior door. This gave her a full size refrigerator, microwave, and plenty of privacy. The rooms were comfortable, updated, and well maintained. We had absolutely zero complaints about the rooms. Although, my husband says the beds were hard. I thought they were fine. The pool area could definitely use some renovations. There was visible rust in several areas around the umbrellas and the tables are dirty looking, which was disappointing. Poolside service was virtually nonexistent, at least in the adult pool area and the food was just average. You can order using a QR code when they aren’t having “technical difficulties”. We chose to have dinner off the resort every night since so many great restaurants are within a 10 minute drive or less. There are a couple behind the hotel heading toward the beach. Aruba has a lot to offer, so it made sense for us to explore. Go to the California lighthouse around sunset. It’s beautiful! One thing to be aware of is that housekeeping only services the rooms once per week. This wasn’t an issue for us, but it may be important for other guests to know before booking. The beach was one great! The water was calm, beautiful, and perfect for swimming. If you rent a car, there is plenty of parking available, which made getting around very convenient. The elevators in the Lighthouse section were frustratingly slow. The resort is currently replacing them, so only two elevators were operating during our stay. Since the elevators do not coordinate with each other, wait times were long and many guests were complaining about it. One night there was a line out the door to get in the elevators…. The lazy river requires guests to use floats between 10:00 and 6:30. Fortunately, there is a designated area where departing guests often leave behind floats they no longer need. The resort also provides air stations for inflating them. They sell them in the gift shop too. They were reasonably priced. Be sure to bring sunscreen with you. We paid $75 for two bottles at the resort, which was NOT reasonable!! One thing that surprised us was the lack of evening entertainment. If you’re looking for nightly shows, live music, or organized activities after dinner, you may be disappointed. They don’t offer much during the day either. This wasn’t a major issue for us since we spent every evenings off the resort, but it’s something prospective guests should know. Especially if you expect games or entertainment during the day or evening. We decided to book spa treatments at another hotel because the reviews were better. We also did a UTV excursion and visited the lighthouse, both of which were a lot of fun. Neither activity was booked through the hotel. Overall, we had a nice stay. The room, beach, and location were excellent. While there are areas that could use improvement, especially the pool area, housekeeping schedule, elevator situation, and lack of entertainment, we enjoyed our time in Aruba.

Overated in value and service

6.0

My husband and I arrived the first week of June 2026 in the evening. We inquired about restaurants available in the area for a quick meal that evening. The clerks at the counter referred us to either the convenience store at the hotel or to the business strip close by (never mentioning the restaurants available at the next door Marriotts). We were charged 10 US dollars for a gallon of water (more expensive than a gallon of gas at 8 dollars). We thought the convenience store was actually a rip off store but as it turned out everything was expensive in the end. The short walk to the small strip took us thru a poorly lit back street to more expensive food places where tips are almost requested on top of the 10% service tax. Taxis are also expensive, even for very short distances. The city bus and Super Food supermarket were the only 2 good values around. Needless to say we watched our purchases all week. Everything is expensive for what is offered so Aruba is highly over rated in our view while knowledgable and courteous desk clerks are noticeably absent at this hotel.

Terrible beach

6.0

Terrible beach! I was so grossed out by the disgusting silty sand in the water. It was sticky and felt so weird, like mud. I would never go back to this hotel when there are so many nice beaches all over the world. If the Marriott Surf Club wants people to plunk down $45,000 for a time share, they need to start with cleaning up the muddy silt in the water. As for service, nothing to compliment about. No upgrades as a Marriott Elite member, no breakfast. They did not clean the room every day. This is a time share and it is a lot more dated than the other Marriott hotels along the beach. The lazy river is their claim to fame, but it is very small and gets full of people who bump into you. If you are picturing a large lazy river like in Orlando, think again. You can go around it in 5 min. I would not go back to the Marriott Surf Club. We also stayed at the Renaissance in Aruba and what a difference! At the Renaissance, we were upgraded to an ocean view room at the Ocean Suites, with complimentary breakfast. The best breakfast at a hotel is at the renaissance in Aruba. Also went to the Renaissance island with a ton of fish in the protected reef and flamingos too!