Hotel/Resort Recommendations

[cruzbound]

Hi All,

We will be heading to Curacao the last week of November (23-30). We originally booked at the Hilton but have been informed by Hilton that the hotel will no longer be a Hilton franchise and it will still be a hotel but they are closing down for renovations from September through January. So now we have to find another hotel and try and get Hilton to pay for it since the main way we were able to take this trip was to use Hilton points and frequent flyer miles. With that said, the Hilton recommended Santa Barbara Resort. I have also received other recommendations - Lion's Den and Sea Aquarium. We are not renting a car so we would like a dive shop onsite, which I believe these three have.

We are a husband and wife couple, no kids - just looking to relax and do some diving, maybe check out the town one day but this is not definite. We would like the resort/hotel to have at least a couple of restaurant options with some decent food so we will be able to have dinner there.

Any insight in to the three recommendations would be appreciated - pros, cons, etc.

Thanks!

 

[rhwestfall]

I have been to Lions twice this past year (Easter, and November 2018). We do really like Lions (but have nothing to compare it to). The Resort is kept up really well, the staff is great, food choices are plenty on site, the pool is amazing, and the beach/lagoon is nice. The Mambo Beach area is also a great little retail strip and had more choices. I believe you can do shuttles from Lions if you wish to go in to Town. We have had a car each time, and did our own exploring. We did not dive through them (Ocean Encounters?), but rather chose to do The Dive Bus both times.

We were set to do it a third time (we are going back in December), but Lions was full, and so we decided to try just getting an apartment off the beach to save some money.

 

[diversteve]

You actually lucked out b/c the Hilton is a dump.
Grounds were decent but the hotel building itself looked vintage 60's. I ate there once - average at best.

The Marriott Renaissance a few miles south (still on the north side of the port) is not bad but the cruise port is next door and they all walk by to get to downtown. It's also adjacent to Rif Fort/Renaissance Mall for shops/dining. They dont have a dive shop on-site and in fact shuttled you to Carib Sea Sports at the Hilton. No beach so there's sand around the pool.

Lion's Dive as mentioned above could be another option - nice facilities, 50 yds. from the main Ocean Encounters shop and next to the Sea Aquarium. They also have Mambo Boulevard nearby - shops/restaurants. Mambo Beach Club is adjacent.

The Avila looked decent also but we were only at the jazz club, we didn't see the rooms. They're behind the fixed breakwater so you'd have to drive to a shop to dive. Or as mentioned, the Dive Bus picks up at any resort in town for escorted shore dives.

 

[diversteve]

Santa Barbara is way south of town. And there's not much around there. It is nice, a golf resort rhat used to be an upscale chain. Ocean Encounters has a shop there for boat dives but no shore diving since there's an active boat channel in front. I would not stay there w/o a car.

Sea Aquarium is a condo resort across the channel from Lions Dive. I don't believe they have a restaurant on-site but there are a couple nearby.

Both share the Ocean Encounters shop there. Slightly longer walk from Sea Aquarium but they should have a better ocean view.

W/O a car - Lions Dive has a shuttle to downtown.
It's a very pleasant property, small beach, Hemingways on site is one of the better restaurants.

It would probably be my choice. If you stay too close to downtown there's a lot of congestion on cruise days. And no shore diving to speak of.

 

[rhwestfall]

From what i understand, Sea Aquarium is actually a timeshare, and I have heard of folks getting bumped around in various rooms due to other people's visit schedules while staying there.

 

[tkaelin]

Lions Dive has a dive shop and boats on site that get very good reviews. We stayed at Lions Dive once, enjoyed it and would return. Very nice grounds, rooms, facilities and beach. Nice restaurants on site including a beach bar restaurant which is a perfect spot to enjoy the sunset.

You will likely get the best price booking directly with them and if you do they include free transfers from the airport. They also run free shuttles to the downtown during the day.

Lions would be a big improvement over the Hilton. Hilton did you a favor.

 

[Damselfish]

Yeah, aside from the miles issue, probably dodged a bullet with the Hilton. Thats been a common opinion here for a long time, with at least one person saying they’d rather pay elsewhere than stay at the Hilton for free. (I’ve not stayed there but eaten and seen the rest of the place, and definitely wasn’t impressed.)

With your criteria Lion’s dive seems like a good choice. Wondering though, has the Hilton actually offered to pay for another place or are you just hoping they will? I’m not sure if that is typical but if there is a chance they will do that or have some arrangement I would talk to them more about that.

Caribbean Sea Sports moved to the Hilton from the Marriott when the Marriott closed for renovations. I wonder where they will go now?

 

[cruzbound]

Damselfish

I spoke with someone higher up in Hilton regarding the situation they have put us in and he said for us to provide him with where we think we would like to stay and he will work to get Hilton to approve paying for it. Of course I need to stay in a reasonable price frame. I know it would have cost us about $1400-1500 for the week at Hilton if we would have paid so I am hoping they will pay for that amount towards another hotel. I think the Santa Barbara reaper sounds nice but it will cost us like $70 one way to get from the airport to the hotel. Plus I sent an email to the dive shop there and they haven’t responded yet so I am thinking about reaching out to the Lions Den dive shop to get some questions answered and then if they respond timely I will let Hilton know our first choice is Lions Den. I place a lot of decision on good customer response and service. Lions Den looks like it has a nice choice of restaurants too. I figure worst case scenerio is we stay at Santa Barbara resort if that is the one Hilton will pay for but hopefully they will pay for the one of our choice.

Is the dive operator at Lions Den good? Do they take trips to the Far East and far west of the island? I heard that is where some of the really good diving is.

Thanks all.

 

[rhwestfall]

If you are at Lions (or many others), The Dive Bus would pick you up (they are like a mile away). It is a shore diving operation. I really like diving with them. My daughter gets seasick really easily, and shore diving has been a best bet. The shore reefs are quite good.

YMMV

 

[Damselfish]

I get the sense the dive shop at Santa Barbara is pretty new so might be hard to find much feedback on. If you do it be sure to come back and let us know how it is. The resort is somewhat isolated - not necessarily a bad thing, but maybe not ideal if you don’t plan to rent a car. Sometimes restaurants at resorts where it is hard to get off the ranch can be pricy, not great, or both, so you’ll want to check into about things besides than the diving and look at the bottom line.

The shop at Lion's Dive (not Den) is Ocean Encounters which is a good shop. There is shore diving there though I don’t remember it being all that great. That area does have more for restaurants and other activities you can walk to without being trapped at a resort, and all the better if theres a free shuttle. Downtown has lots of restaurants & shopping and is an interesting place worth exploring.

Sunscape AI is nearish Lion’s, also with an Ocean Encounters shop and (somewhat better) shore diving. I don’t know how their prices compare but might be worth checking out.

Dive Bus would be worth considering for at least some of your diving. They have a great rep and shore diving with them should cost less than boat diving.

Its a big island. Dive boats from the west will generally not go way east, or vice versa. Takes too long. So unless you have a car you will mostly be diving the end of the island you are staying on. Without a car, the Dive Bus is probably your best option for covering more of the island.