The St. Regis Aruba Resort — Hotel in Aruba

Staying here and… whew. This place is a disaster. But honestly? One small change could fix almost everything.

I thought a few days in Aruba might be a nice reset. I was wrong. I cannot wait to leave. 🛫

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Service

The staff is mostly enthusiastic—bless them—but wildly undertrained. There’s a lot of smiling, not a lot of execution and follow through.

Check-in was a sluggish ordeal. Only two guests were ahead of us, but it somehow took 45 minutes. I was offered welcome champagne by the gentleman in the lobby, which was lovely—until I saw the guests behind us weren’t. Inconsistent much?

That said, the representative that checked me in was incredible. A real asset to the property. She did a great job setting the tone and creating that “surprise and delight” feeling… unfortunately, the rest of the stay surprises were all tricks, no treats.

Housekeeping and turndown? A disaster. Turndown isn’t even guaranteed. First night: skipped. Second night: requested it… still skipped.

They also broke something in the bathroom and just left it—no maintenance call, no note. There was no soap in one bathroom, and not enough in the other. Because turndown never happened, I had to dip into my emergency stash of soap I packed with me. Yes, St. Regis Aruba will have you out here roughing it. But they don’t care. And that’s fine, because I don’t have to come back.

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Room

Now this is the one highlight: spacious, modern, and genuinely beautiful. If the rest of the hotel matched the room, we’d be having a different conversation.

Still, a luxury hotel room with no soap at check-in? Come on.

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Dining

Breakfast is included with my stay, but unlike at other properties, you can’t use the credit for à la carte. Buffet only. This is more obnoxious than I can even verbalize. And the buffet was both bad tasting and dirty. To be fair, part of the problem is the guests—some were reusing plates for refills like it was their cousin’s backyard cookout. Still, it falls on the hotel to manage that, and they didn’t.

One incredible staff member did eventually clear the plates from my table, but it took a while. He was a gem in a sea of chaos.

As for restaurant options: • A Japanese restaurant (Akira spelling?) on the 12th floor that only opens for dinner. • Salt (spelling?), which handles all other meals. Pro tip: Salt doesn’t allow indoor seating for lunch, which seems to upset many. I personally don’t care, but it’s a weird choice. • A small sushi outpost near the lobby bar

By Day 2, the food was repetitive, bland, and uninspired. Other guests I spoke with had the same complaint—so it wasn’t just me being picky.

Speaking of the lobby bar, it does not open until AFTER 5:00 p.m. (17:00), which is insane. That should open no later than 2:00 p.m.

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Beach & Drinks

Beach service is glacially slow, and the drinks? Suspiciously weak. Rumor has it they’re having trouble getting liquor deliveries, so maybe they’re rationing. Or maybe they just think we can’t tell. Spoiler: we can.

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Final Thoughts

St. Regis, the overall brand, is sprinting toward mediocrity, and Aruba is leading the charge. The only other St. Regis that’s disappointed me this much is New York—and that’s saying something.

But here’s the fix I mentioned: just rebrand this place as a W. Or even a Westin Plus. Or perhaps sell it to Holiday Inn. No shade (okay, some shade), but the expectations would be lower. No one walks into a W (or a Courtyard) expecting impeccable service and elegance so no one is shocked when they don’t get it. That’s exactly the level we’re working with here. It should be premium but it isn’t.

You’re paying premium prices for a mid-tier experience. Aruba desperately needs more luxury hotel options, and we all hoped St. Regis would fill that gap. Spoiler: it doesn’t. And it won’t. Worst of all? They don’t even care.

But see, I’m not a chronic complainer. I just smile and go along with it to get along with it, then leave honest reviews—so you don’t have to suffer...

I want to start this off by saying everyone has their own experience and their own version of impeccable service that the ST.Regis is known for having and should be giving. All negative or positive reviews are worth sharing because not all experiences are the same and they all will help other people to make their choices where they want to stay. My family comes to Aruba 2-3 times a year, we always stay at either the Ritz Carlton or the Marriott Stelaris because we are Ambassadors with Marriott . We travel A LOT. Our favorite St.Regis resort is in Sarasota so we were VERY excited for them to be opening one on our favorite island. Starting off getting to the St.Regis and pulling in . A doorman did come to our taxi to get our belongings but no one opened the door , or greeted us coming in the hotel … this would NEVER happen at the Ritz. Every time I leave the hotel , no one is at the door to get it for guests( not super important but I have never experienced this at any other St.Regis). Second … how in the world do you not have a store in this hotel with snacks , drinks , medicine or feminine products to buy. The actual fact that I am a mom of 2 with toddlers and I needed products that I had to walk to the RIU next door which is a hike to the family one is ridiculous!!!!!!!! Absolutely unacceptable to not have anything available for your guests to purchase for them or their kids or anything , I have never came across that . Another thing … the food is terrible here. The private dining has 4-5 options that no one wants . The buffet breakfast is gross and I opened one pot of the scrambled eggs this morning and had to tell the waiters they were moldy and from the day before , they immediately took them to fix it and apologized …. We are not at a Motel 6 THATS TERRIBLE !!!!! We stayed in a ocean front bedroom suite which the room is beautiful I will say that , they did a great job with the rooms … THATS IT . The butler service our room comes with . NEVER ANSWERS THEIR PHONE. It’s stupid and a hoax , the concierge desk know NOTHING, if you can even get them on the phone … they never answer. Everytime I walk up to their desks they are on their cell phones . Every shop in the hotel ( ice cream , coffee, shops, ) all close at 8!! Who in the hell gets back from dinner before 8 and not we can’t even get a late night coffee or ice cream , insane ! Every other hotel opens at least till 11 pm for their shops. The pool and beach guys that do your chairs are truly so sweet and nice but everyone else is rude or don’t know anything . It’s insane . I know this place just opened but they need A LOT of help. The ritz is 10000000 times better and we will never back . Oh !!! Another thing . If you want to stay in the suites like I am in , they are only on one side of the hotel next to the RIU the all adult hotel which BLARES music till 12am so remember that. There is nothing by the hotel either it’s at the end of everything ! The part of the beach it’s on , is COVERED in rocks in the ocean water, be careful . They did not do a good job of taking care of the waters where the st.regis sits , you will stub your toe everywhere. Every single couple I have spoken to with kids or with out , will not come back and we all usually stay at the Ritz Carlton. There is a reason they are the best on this island and it will stay this way. I don’t think I have ever written a review on a hotel but this one for what the st . Regis should be … is like a Motel 6 stay. Oh and our power went out for 4 hours so that was fun. We are ending our trip early of 8 nights because I can’t be here any longer. Very very sad and I’ll be calling Ambassador services and st. Regis corporate line when I get home on this hotel because of how bad the stay was. The general manager needs serious evaluations of this hotel and their staff. They will never make it . Stay the Ritz much much...

Let me start by acknowledging this was the first week of operation at St. Regis Aruba. So please take that into account while reading this review. Also good to mention I’ve never written a negative review for anything in my entire life.

My wife and I booked this reservation two months ago unknowingly that we would arrive the week it opened. Upon finding this out we emailed the hotel several weeks before to ensure everything would be operational and up to the standard of a St. Regis. We were assured all would be perfect and fully functional upon our arrival. We arrived on Thursday at 12:30 pm; we waited (3) hours to check into our room, as we were told it was being cleaned and inspected. Keep in mind there were no guests in the hotel before our arrival. Once we arrived at our “cleaned and inspected” room, we were shocked to see the stains on the room carpet, a broken shower, bird droppings covering the outdoor furniture, and no hangers for the closet. The butler assigned to our room explained the hangers hadn’t been delivered yet and there were no hangers to hang our clothing. While I understand first-week kinks, hangers can be purchased from a local store? Stains all over the carpet and a broken shower are quite unacceptable, for a 3-star hotel let alone a St. Regis at $1,500 + per night. As a Platinum Elite Bonvoy member, my expectations would be a welcome gift or a sign of gratitude. My welcome gift was bird poop on our furniture. The hotel itself. It’s beautiful by design but falls short overall. The casino was not open as promised prior to our arrival. The hotel was undergoing cement work, painting, and other construction-related esthetic work that would not be expected upon welcoming guests. The hotel is adjacent to the RIU, if you love hearing blasting music with a 90’s spring break feel the St. Regis Aruba is the hotel for you! On the other side of the hotel is the local Aruba police station, next to the local bathroom for locals all situated next to your lounge chairs on the beach. The hotel's pools are beautiful, but if you like any sun whatsoever you will not see any, as the western hotel tower blocks all sun on the pool pretty much the entirety of the day. As you cozy up to your lounge chair, feel free to share the beach with nonhotel guests who are free to inhabit the beach area and bring plastic chairs to pull alongside your $ 1,500-a-night experience. After inquiring about a prenatal massage for my wife, the spa was not yet equipped with personnel trained in prenatal massages. Understandable, as they did just open. When i inquired about sister hotels from the concierge I was told neither the Ritz nor Stellaris had this available option. I was given the option of the Marriott Courtyard Spa. Not to sound unenthusiastic about the Marriott Courtyard but we are staying at The St. Regis, far from the option I would have hoped for. Within five minutes I booked the prenatal massage on my phone at The Ritz Carlton, clearly one of the first menu options on the Ritz Spa Website. After voicing my above issues/concerns, mainly for feedback purposes to Oliver the General Manager, my hope was for the hotel to go out of their way to make things right. Nope! Nothing, not even a set of hangers! In all my years as a valued Marriott Customer have, I been so underwhelmed, and unappreciated. I am surprised the Marriott has placed the name of St. Regis to this hotel. Perhaps many weeks and months of getting it right will help steer the ship in the right direction. I’m not sure you can change the direction of the sun or the proximity to the RIU and the Police station. A little hospitality and over-deliverance could have...