Aruba & Costa Linda resort - info needed

[JeffW]

Snagged a 2br at Costa Linda this morning on RCI. Never been there (usually do Key West for out tropical vacations; have been to Harborside twice), so have some questions before I confirm it.

- how is transportation in Aruba? Is it safe to drive a car around the island, vs buses or taxi's?

- if you do a rental, any reason not to get it at the airport? From posts I read, seems like a lot of people get cars at their resort for 5 days.

- how handicap accessible is the island? My wife can walk, but likes a mobility chair for long distances

- my checkin is Fri-Fri, but due to FF availability, Thur-Thur is better (Fri-Fri is 70k; Fri-Thur 52k; Thur-Thur 42k). Any chance the resort might let me trade down my 2br for a 1br, in exchange for free/discounted Thur night accomodations? Still waiting to contact the resort, but TripAdvisor shows $265-$500 per night for lodging. Hope I'm not looking at $300+ to stay there one night.

- for those recently at the resort, anyone know the success rate of getting a refurbished room if asked for?

- any good units/bldgs to ask for? With my wife, would probably want one with less walking than more, but still would like a decent view for our stay.

- lastly, what is internet access there like? The website says: With a purchase of a Setarnet Wifi card you can. Reception is best in the lobby area, however you may find reception at the pool and some of the patios. I'm a little concerned: 1) you need to add some hardware (won't work on an iPad), and 2) sounds like access is only in public areas, not in the room.

Almost had a Galleon unit for the same period, but the RCI site sort of froze while I was trying to hold the unit. After a refresh, it was gone. So I saw this resort, thought it might be equally as warm, but a new place for us.


Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Jeff

 

[ilene13]

Snagged a 2br at Costa Linda this morning on RCI. Never been there (usually do Key West for out tropical vacations; have been to Harborside twice), so have some questions before I confirm it.

- how is transportation in Aruba? Is it safe to drive a car around the island, vs buses or taxi's? We have been going for 27 years and we always rent a car.

- if you do a rental, any reason not to get it at the airport? From posts I read, seems like a lot of people get cars at their resort for 5 days.We rent at the airport from Economy

- how handicap accessible is the island? My wife can walk, but likes a mobility chair for long distances

- my checkin is Fri-Fri, but due to FF availability, Thur-Thur is better (Fri-Fri is 70k; Fri-Thur 52k; Thur-Thur 42k). Any chance the resort might let me trade down my 2br for a 1br, in exchange for free/discounted Thur night accomodations? Still waiting to contact the resort, but TripAdvisor shows $265-$500 per night for lodging. Hope I'm not looking at $300+ to stay there one night.

- for those recently at the resort, anyone know the success rate of getting a refurbished room if asked for?

- any good units/bldgs to ask for? With my wife, would probably want one with less walking than more, but still would like a decent view for our stay.

- lastly, what is internet access there like? The website says: With a purchase of a Setarnet Wifi card you can. Reception is best in the lobby area, however you may find reception at the pool and some of the patios. I'm a little concerned: 1) you need to add some hardware (won't work on an iPad), and 2) sounds like access is only in public areas, not in the room.

Almost had a Galleon unit for the same period, but the RCI site sort of froze while I was trying to hold the unit. After a refresh, it was gone. So I saw this resort, thought it might be equally as warm, but a new place for us.

Restaurants: Madame Jeannette
Screaming Eagles
Chef's Table
Taste of Belgium
Smokey Joe's
Chalet Suisse
El Gaucho
Yemanja Grill
Blossoms--Chinese side
Ruth's Chris


Go to Ling and Son for your grocery shopping.
Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Jeff

Have a wonderful trip and if you have any other questions send me a PM.
ilene

 

[JeffW]

I'm going to PM ilene on some specific Costa Linda questions, but a more general one. As mentioned, I need to pick up an extra paid rental for Thursday. C/L got back to me, said they had 1br's available for $195. Wondering:

- is it worth staying there, and hope that maybe they'll put me in a 2br (or 1br lockout), such that I won't have to checkout and checkin?

- if I have to do that, is it worth staying someplace else (at same price), to say that I've seen a different resort?

I guess I could live in a studio for a night if necessary. My wife commented though that if I pick a different place, and it's a lot nicer, it's going to make the 6 night stay at C/L seem like forever.

Jeff

 

[Larry]

JeffW;1182487]Snagged a 2br at Costa Linda this morning on RCI. Never been there (usually do Key West for out tropical vacations; have been to Harborside twice), so have some questions before I confirm it.

- how is transportation in Aruba? Is it safe to drive a car around the island, vs buses or taxi's? Driving in Aruba is very easy and rentals are available for decent prices. Having said that we have been to Aruba six times and only rented a car once. Buses are very cheap and run frequently and taxis are not too expensive. A taxi from airport to Costa Linda is about $25.

- if you do a rental, any reason not to get it at the airport? From posts I read, seems like a lot of people get cars at their resort for 5 days. There is an airport tax added to car rental so usually less expensive to rent from off airport location and they will pick you up and drop you off at airport

- how handicap accessible is the island? My wife can walk, but likes a mobility chair for long distances

- my checkin is Fri-Fri, but due to FF availability, Thur-Thur is better (Fri-Fri is 70k; Fri-Thur 52k; Thur-Thur 42k). Any chance the resort might let me trade down my 2br for a 1br, in exchange for free/discounted Thur night accomodations? Still waiting to contact the resort, but TripAdvisor shows $265-$500 per night for lodging. Hope I'm not looking at $300+ to stay there one night.Prices vary depending on time of year you are going. It would be helpful if you provide dates for your trip as winter weeks are much more expensive

- for those recently at the resort, anyone know the success rate of getting a refurbished room if asked for? This is a fixed week fixed unit resort so you will almost always ger whatever unit was deposited that you snagged. check the Costa Linda website which has a map by room number
so you can see what you are getting

- any good units/bldgs to ask for? With my wife, would probably want one with less walking than more, but still would like a decent view for our stay.See previous answer as you will probably get whatever is on your confirmation

- lastly, what is internet access there like? The website says: With a purchase of a Setarnet Wifi card you can. Reception is best in the lobby area, however you may find reception at the pool and some of the patios. I'm a little concerned: 1) you need to add some hardware (won't work on an iPad), and 2) sounds like access is only in public areas, not in the room.There is also a small snack shop that has two computers avaiable for free that you can use for 15 minutes at a time

Almost had a Galleon unit for the same period, but the RCI site sort of froze while I was trying to hold the unit. After a refresh, it was gone. So I saw this resort, thought it might be equally as warm, but a new place for us.


Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Hope this helps. we have friends that own at Costa Linda and we visit them whenever we are there in January. I have never stayed at the resort but it is very nice on a great beach but rooms are dated but comfortable and are being refurbished but I think that will be starting next year

Jeff[/QUOTE]

 

[JeffW]

Larry,
Thanks for the info.

I'm still checking on rental cars. I looked at Orbitz, also National (my preferred choice). Orbitz showed extra airport fees (even though National was at the airport). I need to reprice, and then contact National, and find out if their shown price was correct (ie. they won't add on those airport fees later).

If driving is convenient (and safe), I think I'd prefer to do that. Not sure my wife is a bus person anymore. Plus, if you are looking at $25 or each way to the airport, the incremental cost to get a car for the week may not be that much more.

For internet access, I need 'direct' access: me for a laptop w/ VPN software, and for my wife's iPad. Access to a shared computer is better than nothing, but wouldn't help with using our local devices. [I'm sure we can find hotspots, but would not have to drive around looking for them.]

Thanks.

Jeff

 

[JeffW]

Just head back from the resort:

Regarding Internet access it is Wi-Fi, the fee is $ 10,= per day or $ 35,= for the week per device

You can get connection in the room

I'm hoping it's really not per device. I know it's technically possible (each login only works for one MAC address for the given access period), but I've never seen that done. Hopefully it's a simple username and password that will work for all our devices.

Jeff

 

[amycurl]

Jeff, it probably is per device. It has been that way at every Aruba resort. My husband was hired to do software training for two weeks down there for most of the IT/telecom employees on the island. They confirmed that they specifically designed the resort systems this way.

Maybe it's changed in the two years since we've been there, but I doubt it.

 

[sun&fun]

Based on the progress to date in renovating units, there is a high probability your unit is newly renovated. Either way, the hope would be your unit is not next to one that is under construction. If you know the unit no. there is a maintenance schedule available to owners that lists the units and weeks that are being renovated. We've been going to Aruba for 2-4 weeks for the past 10 years and CLBR is our favorite resort.

The internet access charge is per device

We like Hans at Tropic for car rental. You can check him out on the internet. We always rent a car when staying at the Costa Linda. Driving is safe and getting around is fairly easy.

I hope you enjoy your Aruba vacation!

 

[silverfox82]

We use Hans at Tropic for the car, he will either meet you at the airport or your hotel if you don't want the car right away although you will have to see which is cheaper adding the cost of a cab from the airport to the hotel. Dropoff is at the airport. The setar card is activated when you purchase it (cash only when I've done it) at the hotel desk and it has a scratch off # that you enter upon log-in, don't know why it wouldn't work on multiple devises.

 

[sandkastle4966]

internet - one device at a time. if you LOGOUT fully, you can login with a different device. sometimes you need to wait up to an hour to login with a different device - that only seems to be if we did not properly log out.

 

[JeffW]

Thanks for that tip. Would be nice if I didn't have to pay for two devices, not sure if my wife will go for 'sharing' service on one.

Jeff