If you’re planning a trip to Aruba I HIGHLY recommend that you take a look at this option – Tropicana Aruba Resort & Casino (check it out here). We went in February 2017 for 2 nights and 3 days, we weren’t sure what to expect, but it ended up being everything we wanted and more! I think we paid around $130/night, but if you plan it earlier than we did I’ve seen the rates get as low as $100! We found that in general, Aruba as a whole is not particularly cheap, so we were pretty happy with this find. Also, I wasn’t blogging at the time we took this trip, so I didn’t think to get more photos of the resort, so I apologize, BUT, the photos posted on Trip Advisor in the link above are accurate! (To check out what we did in Aruba read more here)

The Tropicana boasts 2 pools in the courtyard (one with a waterfall, the other with a swim-up bar), along with a pizza joint, 2 bars, and yard games. Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin’ Donuts are located in the hotel lobby, along with a small convenience store. The 2 bars have different happy hour times where you can get 2 for 1 drink specials, so definitely work around those hours if you’re on a budget! The casino itself is located in an entirely different building, so you are able to avoid that crowd and noise if that’s not what you came for. Side Note – the resort is home to a LOT of iguanas…they won’t bother you, but you can see them wandering around the pool area and the walkway to the beach often.

Fair warning, if you are looking for a view of the ocean you will not get that from this location, but it is only a short 2 minute walk to the beach where you get ALL the views 🙂 They also have beach chairs/umbrella huts on the beach (Eagle Beach) that you can use free of charge for the day, however they do fill up pretty fast….if you want to take advantage of that benefit, you really need to go to the beach early in the morning to claim your spot (early as in like 6am). We (“we” as in my husband) got to the beach early to lay out our towels and claim a spot for us until we were ready to actually come out and start our day.  Also, the hotel does provide beach towels, which you can exchange for fresh ones as often as you’d like. Eagle Beach also has several beach bars, which again, offer happy hour specials to take advantage of 🙂

Our room was great… newly renovated with a full kitchen, great shower, king bed, 2 flatscreen TVs, and a balcony overlooking the pool with the waterfall. Everything was very clean, and if you’re up early enough you can see employees cleaning all over campus for several hours. The staff was super helpful and accommodating as well. Our check in time wasn’t until 4pm, but they stored our luggage for us so we could change and hit the beach right away. The concierge service was amazing and helped us often in recommending dining and calling cabs for us since we don’t have an international phone plan and couldn’t use our phones for much. Check out was at 11am…heads up, if they are able to give you a late check out it will cost an additional $70 or so, BUT there is a hospitality room that you can request to book where you can shower before a flight if you plan on spending the day and flying out later, which was SUPER helpful (and free)! The hospitality room wasn’t as nice as the room we actually stayed in, but we only used it for 30 minutes to shower and change, so who cares! They’ll even house your luggage for you after your room check out if you plan to hit the beach again.

We came as a couple, but would recommend it for couples and families alike! Would absolutely bring kids here in the future with us, everything was wonderful! Especially for the price!

* Disclaimer: all photos and opinions are my own, for which I received no compensation or discount