Tamarijn Aruba - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4568 reviews

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  LOVE this resort but disappointed in the changes

  We have stayed at the Tamarijin in 2021, 2023 & 2025. We stayed at Divi in 2004 (honeymoon). We LOVE this resort. We have stayed at the Tamarijin side for the last 3 trips to Aruba due to the family friendly and fun atmosphere. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is because they don't do the dinner buffet anymore on the Tamarijin side and they took down the 2nd bar and put in a shallow pool with lounge chairs that noone seemed to use but toddlers. Also, there is a lack of entertainment on the Tamarijin side. Most of the entertainment is on the Divi side. The Divi pool was not skimmed in the mornings and full of dead mosquitoes so we stayed at the Tamarijin pool for our full stay. The staff is outstanding, the food is good and housekeeping did a great job.

  Aug 19, 2025
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  We loved it and would go back

  PEOPLE! Y'all had me scurred with your bad reviews of this place, but we had already paid in full so we came. We had a GREAT time! Customs at the airport from the US was a breeze. We quickly found a taxi outside the airport (an Escalade) for $35. On arrival to the resort we were promptly greeted and check-in was quick. The receptionist advised us to take a picture of the resort map. She explained what was and wasn't part of the all-inclusive package for both resorts. We were given a golf-cart shuttle ride to our building and the driver offered to carry our bags upstairs to our room but we declined. The room was very nice (we had #1902). The buildings are not brand new, so don't expect perfection. But the bed was comfortable, the a/c worked well and the view from our balcony was great. The bathroom door stuck and the outlet in the bathroom didn't work, but we made due. While there isn't a dresser typical of what you would see in the US, there was plenty of storage, including a lighted cubicle for hanging clothes and deep, lighted drawers in the bathroom. There is an espresso machine in the room, not a coffeemaker. I noticed a coffee machine in the main lobby area and you can get coffee in the buffet or probably any of the restaurants. You don't have to go to the coffee bar at the Divi for a normal cup of coffee. I did not think the bathroom was too small (I read this in some other reviews). We had a room with one king bed and the bathroom still included two sinks and plenty of counter space for personal products. Water pressure was good and we had hot water whenever we needed it. There is a rack in the shower for hanging bathing suits to dry. Other reviews mentioned a sewage problem: we did not experience that. If I had one complaint about the room, it is that there is no exhaust fan in the bathroom. Room service was good. They changed our sheets and towels and cleaned the floor every day, which we appreciated because of the sand. There are stations to refill your water bottle scattered around the property. There is an ice machine in the breezeway of about every other building. The property is well-landscaped. I enjoyed looking at all the trees and flowers that we don't have back home. We saw geckos, iguanas and other lizards, and many types of birds. There is even a cat that roams the property. The equipment for guest use at the pools and the beach was generally in good shape. We didn't spend that much time at the pools. We never had a problem finding lounges on the beach under a palapa, and in the area with easy water access. Beginning at about building 19 and going down to building 23 there is good beach/water access. I dubbed the area right outside building 19 as the kiddie pool, because they have built a protected cove with the sand bags that blocks the waves better than other beach areas. I saw many families bring small children into the water there so I think overall it was viewed as safe. We snorkeled some in the ocean right at the resort, and saw lots of fish, mostly around the sandbags and the rocky areas of shoreline. The snorkeling is not as good as it is at the snorkeling destinations on the island, but there is still something to see if you don't feel like leaving the resort. Most of the workers were very nice. They say hello when they walk past and the bartenders and servers were mostly pleasant. We only called for a shuttle ride once (when we were leaving for the airport) and it came within a few minutes. Shuttles were always readily available to take you from one resort to the other. We never waited more than a few minutes. We did meet the towel exchange lady that other reviews mention and she was about the most unpleasant worker we met. However, her station is actually at the adjacent Divi Dutch resort so technically she's not even a Tamarijn employee. The next time we needed to exchange beach towels, we went to the towel hut on the Tamarijn property where a very nice young man helped us. I found the app to be fine. It included updated information about entertainment, exercise classes and opening and closing times for various places at the resort. I used it to make dinner reservations without any problems. As an aside, I also used the concierge to make reservations for one night. She was nice and very helpful but she also tried to get us to attend a timeshare presentation. She didn't call it that but that's what it was. They offer you a 7-day stay at any of their resorts and some other bonuses in exchange for attending, so if you don't mind spending a few hours with them and a high pressure salesperson, you might get a free stay out of it. We said no and the concierge wasn't pushy about it at all. We went to the Papparazzi and Ginger restaurants, and both were very good. Papparazzi was our favorite. Food at the buffets was good as well. We found the buffet restaurant at the Tamarijn to be stuffy sometimes, and just plain hot other times. (The a/c seemed to work better at the buffet restaurant at the Divi). We opted to sit outside for the breakfast buffet since there was usually a breeze and it was more pleasant at a shaded table than inside the restaurant. Other reviews mentioned birds being a pest: there were birds hanging around the tables at breakfast time, but I never saw one land on an occupied table. Just try to get a table that's completely under a shade and not under any of the artificial trees :) We got food multiple times from the main bar at the Tamarijn. Pizza, chicken nuggets and onion rings were all very good (we didn't try the fries or garlic bread, but they looked good). You can tell they keep the fryers clean and the onion rings seemed hand-breaded and not out of a freezer bag. We did not feel that the drinks were weak or watered down. In fact, our first night there we got accidentally schnockered :) They have a drink menu that you can order from, but you don't have to. Most of the drinks on the menu are sweet, so if that's not your thing, be thinking of what you would rather have. We followed advice from other reviews and brought our own insulated drinking bottles and the bartenders made drinks in them for us. It was a great plan when sitting out in the hot sun. We really enjoyed seeing the island. We took the bus to the snorkeling beaches on the northwest part of the island multiple times. For only $2.60 US you can ride all the way to Arashi Beach if you want. From there you can hike up to the lighthouse for a view of the island, if that interests you (we didn't do it). We snorkeled at Tres Trapi, Boca Catalina and Arashi Beach, and all were beautiful. We saw sea turtles (leatherbacks and loggerheads), an eel and an amazing variety of fish. Schools of fish everywhere. It was like swimming in an aquarium. Even when it was windy and water was choppy by the resort, the northwest beaches were still mostly calm. You will see all the commercial vessels offshore at the northwest beaches. You can pay them to take you out or you can access the same areas for the cost of a bus ticket there and back. We really enjoyed our stay at Tamarijn. If you need perfect, new everything, you might want to try a different resort. But if you're not a prima donna and can overlook the small things, you'll have a great time at the Tamarijn. In our opinion you won't find a better location, and it was nice to not have to deal with elevators like you do at the high rise resorts.

  Aug 17, 2025
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  Already Regret This: Night One

  Received a Low Number Room, at first blissfully unaware of what awaited me. Beach is inaccessible from the room and is filled with large boulders. It is literally a drop off. Would recommend a helmet and a helicopter lift basket to deposit you into the water. Ground floor room: everyone uses the public walkway which is 4 feet from our sliding glass doors overlooking our 3 foot patch of sand, directly overlooking the boulders and the water we can’t access Even better: all the other rooms have a shaded thatched palm table situation to provide some shade at least. While ours, and the room next door has just the small patch of scorched earth. As I write this review (after a full day of travel) I am unable to sleep because some rando is sitting a few feet away from my patio watching YouTube videos at a def con 10 level. I’m pretty sure he’s not a guest since he has a 12 pack of water and an assortment of bags. That, along with the NO HOT water shower and the AC unit, which blows air directly down onto the unlucky occupants of the bed from the high positioned wall unit, has made me feel like I have the worse case of chronic dry eye disease/insomnia ever known to man. Going outside on the patio at night, in an attempt to rehydrate my corneas was not helpful since the Coast Guard Search and Rescue level brightness patio lights cannot be turned off. They also shine into the room so I have now resigned myself to never opening the curtains to actually see the ocean during the day (people constantly walking by a mere few feet from your patio doors) or night (burned retinas from the blinding lights). We did walk over to the other side of the resort for dinner and it had us wondering if we had been banished to the Island of Misfit Toys. The rooms and beach access (actual white sand, ability to swim in the ocean and absence of volcano size boulders) had us wondering if we had inadvertently meandered onto a different resort. That side, and those lucky vacationers, have an assortment of aesthetically pleasing pools, hammocks and hanging pod chairs to leisurely lounge in. The one adult pool on our side is small. The kids pool actually looked more interesting to me, with seats built into a wading area, but I came on this vacay to escape my own kids, so it wasn’t something I was prepared to maneuver. Vinyl-ish lounge chairs were dirty and sticky (no towel kiosk to be found anywhere) and overlooked what appeared to be a shipping port type of industrial (?) area The bed in the room leaves much to be desired, (considered pulling a lounge chair into my room to sleep on) but the room was clean on arrival The limited interactions I’ve had with staff have been pleasant and the one dinner we’ve had so far, at the other side of the resort was delicious First time visiting Aruba and feeling FOMO from the other side of exile island

  Aug 16, 2025
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  Wish it were better

  Most staff here seemed super pissed off. We weren't given enough bath towels and never pool towels in the room. When we went to ask for them they were mad and asked 195 questions. Roaches in the room unfortunately and you can here everything next door in the rooms. Every last noise. 🫣 Front desk individual was almost annoyed we were there checking in early. Very few helpful staff.

  Aug 14, 2025
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  Even a rainy day can turn into an awesome day.

  The entertainment has made my initial 4 star to a 5 star. Calvin was the man, made one of days extra great, got everyone involved during bingo as it rained the entire day, which usually doesn’t happen. Everyone was dancing in the rain, wish I took pictures. He cracked jokes, overall it was a great day, thanks Calvin.

  Aug 08, 2025