Tamarijn Aruba - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4489 reviews

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  Hoping for a better future

  We spent our week at the Tamarijn as usual, enjoying the weather, snorkeling, and the warm ocean water. We were pleased to see they have updated Palm Grille. The remodel is remarkable, although the dining experience at the new "Club Margot" was not for us. The menu was not typical, very limited, and the choices were not our taste. We were disappointed that we can no longer enjoy our buffet breakfast in an open experience with our front row seat to the water. (they no longer seat buffet guests in the former Palm Grille) The wait staff was typical for our experience, they are attentive and very polite and friendly. Anthony and Nelson are our favorites, but almost every one of the wait staff is excellent. The food was all great except for Club Margot, just not our thing, and the pancakes, french toast, and waffles at the Tamarijn buffet were not warm and fresh like in the past. Fruit could be a little fresher, and please find a way to deal with the flies and birds. I know this is an "open concept" dining experience for the most part, but there has to be something that can be done. The grill staff has a few workers that sort of tarnished the trip. They weren't as cheerful as they usually have been on our past trips. This time it was as if they didn't want to be bothered. Hopefully that changes for our next trip. Losing the evening buffet option at the Tamarijn was really inconvenient, it was always our go-to option when we have a busy day of activities. That is a real downer to put it mildly! Now we have to go to the Divi buffet and hope to find a table. The restaurants are not always available for reservations, yet it seems that not all the tables have guests. It would be really nice, especially for the price that we pay to stay here, to be able to have a coffee bar at the Tamarijn as well as the dinner buffet. Currently we have to go to the Divi in the morning for a real cup of coffee at the coffee shop there. 5 stars to the resort for their efforts in battling the ever receding beaches. We know that is an ongoing struggle to maintain the beaches. It would however be nice to have access into the water in each section without having to climb over the rocks. Little things, like our second floor balcony door not locking properly should be addressed by staff, it's not like the housekeeping staff doesn't know about the issue. They open it every day to clean the balcony. We also noticed they had a hard time keeping up with the trash that the tourists are too lazy to clean up after themselves. In summation, with a few tweaks this resort can get back on track to being a real top contender of best resorts in Aruba. It's not the fanciest resort by any stretch, but its location directly on the beach, and proximity to the center of the island make it a great location to stay. We will be back in early 2025, hope to have a better experience.

  Dec 18, 2024
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  Home away from home

  The Tamarijn is our home away from home. Love the friendly staff, amazing views, clean rooms, excellent food & fun nights. Donny & Zef always give us a great bike tour on the e-bikes & make the days fun with good music & pool vball. 5x here. More to come!! The new lounge pool is just the ticket and Club Margot is fantastic!

  Dec 18, 2024
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  Will be returning!

  Great experience. Will be returning again in the future! Donny and Zef provided a great bike and snorkeling tour. The e-bikes made it easy to explore. Having them available past 3:30 would be a suggestion. Staff at the activities center and the al a cart were extremely friendly and helpful.

  Dec 13, 2024
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  Beautiful and Friendly Resort

  My husband and i just returned from our Aruba November 6th. I would highly recommend this resort for couples that just want to sit, relax, read a book and enjoy soaking the sun! This was our 9th trip to Aruba and we have always stayed at the Tam because it feels like our home away from home. Your treated top notch the minute you arrive, from the bus boy, reception, cleaning ladies, bartenders and servers, everyone greats you with a big friendly smile! There is nightly entertainment, but if your looking for some sort of disco, then this is not your place, you would be much happier in the high rise section. The beach in front or building 11-14 has big bolders in front but building 21-25 have a beautiful beach across your room. Having said that, if you are in building 11-14 you do not have far to walk to Druif beach, the beach between the Tam and the Divi (which you also have access during your stay) or you can go and grab a chair in front of the Divi. Food is amazing, from the buffet to the restaurants that require a reservation Unfortunately, the buffet at the Tam is no longer open for dinner but hey if you really want the buffet, take a nice walk to the Divi. New this year was Club Margot, we tried and enjoyed! kinda nice where you can go to a restaurant and no need to look at the menu! You also have the Ginger, asian restaurant, Paparazzi italian restaurant. At the Divi you have Pure Lime a mexican restaurant and Red Parrot a international cuisine restaurant. We have tried them all over the years and keep booking again and again. If you download their app, you can make your dinner reservation online, i did and it was great, no need to wait inline at the concierge desk. For a quick lunch were you just want to sit by the pool or beach there is the Pizza Per Tutti at the Tam and Coco Grill that make great pizzas as well as sandwiches. The Pizza Per Tutti has mexican fries which you MUST try or perhaps their chicken fingers. If you like hamburgers, hot dogs or grill cheese try Sand Piper bar at the Divi. If you are a early riser and not a fan of the gym, then you can try pickelball or a nice walk to the town's marker (walk is about 1/2 hour) but i suggest you dont try these in the afternoon as its HOT!! You can also take the bikes and go to the market or even to the high rise section of Aruba. They provide you with water bottles ya i agree they look funny (previous review), but let me tell you they are very handy especially when you have ice and water areas you can fill up. Now i have travelled alot and they say not to drink the water at most places but trust me, the water in Aruba is soooo good. Like i said earlier my husband and i have been here 9 times and we do drink alot of water and have never ever ever been sick! So trust me when they say you can drink the water, you can I think i have summed it up well enough and hoping you will consider this resort. We enjoy it so much even though we just returned home in November we are going back to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary in January. P.S. The best thing is that all rooms are ocean front, you can sit on your deck and enjoy the view of the ocean, the sound of the waves and watching the cruise ship pass by to make its way to the port!

  Dec 10, 2024
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  Beautiful resort; some minor issues

  This was our first trip to Aruba and the Tam is a nice resort. The rooms are comfortable and clean, but getting repairs done on one of the rooms in our group was difficult. They ended up having to switch rooms. The resort grounds are wonderful--the beach is right in front of the rooms with the restaurants and bars in a central location. (This excludes the Bunker Bar which is off on its own but must be visited for sunsets!) We explored Aruba on our own, so I can't comment on any of the excursions offered by the resort. My only complaint is the food situation. The food at the buffet was often overcooked and dry. Getting reservations for the specialty restaurants is near impossible, but don't give up because the food at The Red Parrot (at the Divi) and at Ginger (Tam) is amazing! We were not impressed with the new restaurant Margo. It has a set menu--no options to choose from--and the food is tailored to a very specific taste profile that was not family-friendly. (It was obviously very well cooked and beautifully presented, but was not anything that we would've ordered had we had the choice.) This year the dinner buffet for guests at the Tam was only available at the Divi resort. This meant that unless you were able to get a reservation at a restaurant, you had to get a shuttle to the Divi for a fairly average buffet dinner. Interestingly, the main courses at the buffet are cooked to order (they give you a buzzer to come pick up your order when it is ready), but the food was often overcooked and dry. In short--not worth the hassle of getting onto a shuttle. The specialty restaurants are your best bet! The bars are great! The ocean view is amazing. Wonderful pools that also overlook the ocean. In general, this is a great resort with great staff. I hope they bring back the dinner buffet and figure out a way to make getting dinner reservations easier for everyone. I would recommend.

  Dec 06, 2024