We got here with high expectations since the reviews on Tripadvisor says 4 out of 5 rating. But no…
The rooms are really worn down. Furniture must be 20-30 years old. Cleaning staff is doing a great job making the old rooms feel fresh. The images on their website looks so much better than reality.
The location is good with nice views over the sea. But the road that is described as a "small road" is full of heavy traffic from early morning until late night. It might look like the place is situated on the beach but it's not. You have this road right outside with thousands of cars, buses and ATV's going back and forth all day long.
The beach is not really a beach and you can't take a swim. At least not without shoes on your feet. You have to go down to High Rise Hotels to get to a better beach.
Staff is only available between 9am - 4pm and you need a rental car if you're not into public transportation by bus to the supermarket etc.
----- More important than anything else -----
IF YOU ARE A REAL WINDSURFER = DON'T GO HERE!
The equipment is really old. Newest board is about 10 years old, other boards at least 15-20 years old. Sails are OK but rigged totally wrong. This guy Phil, the owner, won't let you change anything like downhaul or outhaul and since the wind is really gusty you can't catch it the right way since your sail is as flat as a wooden table. In fact you will have better windsurfing on a wooden table than with this equipment.
Be careful on the water, it's likely that the gear will break down on you while you are out on the water. They have no rescue boats or anything else to help you if you are in trouble. Wind blows from shore so next stop is Panama. BE CAREFUL!
They write on their website:
"We have the largest and finest selection of windsurfing equipment in the Caribbean."
HAHAHAHA, that must be a joke?! They should give people money back since trying to fool them like this. As written above - the gear is 10-20 years old and they have like 2-3 sails in a couple of different sail sizes. Maybe thats the reason to why they have no pictures of the windsurfing equipment on their website?
If you are going here to windsurf you should ask them to take pictures of the gear and email it to you.
Walk down to Vela Aruba if you want to go windsurfing with modern equipment. Or even better, go to another island in the Caribbean if you really want the best windsurfing possible.
This place has got a great potential and it's sad to see that they run their business like they do. The only reason to give Aruba Beach Villas more than 1 out of 5 rating is the view over the sea. And the cleaning staff that is doing a hell of a job to keep this worn down place as good as possible.
