Living thru Hell Week Aruba right now

[jlp879]

It does seem to me that there might be an element of political correctness and over-sensitivity here. I do agree we ought to be careful how we label "nuisance weeks." I'd be interested in how the folks (and organization or families) who are misbehaving at week 3/4 in Aruba identify the week in question and perhaps we ought to use their description of the week. I'm sure they would take offense at us calling their week, Hell Week. And if they don't take offense, maybe a Satanist would take offense.

I definitely agree that we are being too over-sensitive here. The organization has a name. They have a website that lists their trip dates and all their group activities. No different from what a large convention would do.

It is much more derogartory to label this "Hell week". We should call it like it is - [deleted].

If they are the group in question, I say we post their information to the sticky, which posts their calendar, and leave it to anyone plan accordingly.

 

[topmom101]

EKniager:

No, THEIR actions have been pointed out not the group itself.

The group itself DOES NOT deserve consideration from the very same people it annually terrorizes.

So let me get this straight, this particular group of "xxxxxans" (whoever they are) can break rules, verbally abuse other members, destroy property, etc. and you want to be considerate of their feelings by not labeling them for what they truly are? Give me a break.

 

[csxjohn]

So there's no confusion their brochure says their event starts on Sun. Jan 18Th so this is that group's week at the resort. ([Deleted.])

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I have no business in this thread but all this back and forth got me searching to find out who this group is that everyone is afraid to name. From the on goings of the thread it started to look like it was not actually private school children, which was blamed earlier in the thread. So it clearly is a [deleted] that actually has nothing to do with the NYS Regents Exams? What is politically worse, falsely blaming the bad reports on the wrong group or naming the actual group? Are we that afraid to be called prejudice? It's not like the years of horrendous stories on so many websites were made up based on prejudice. I don't have a prejudice bone in my body so race or religion make no difference to me but every person, family, and group should be held accountable.

That said, large groups especially with children tend to lower inhibition. They tend to behave worse than at home. Small family groups by nature are more well behaved than they would be at home. If you put any very large group at that resort with plenty of youth it is very likely that you would have a similar result.

 

[topmom101]

This same topic is being discussed right now on Facebook among Surf Club Owners. Here are a few excerpts:

My in laws were there during this week one year. Kids peeing in elevators! They witnessed that.

We woke up at the crack of dawn to reserve our seats at the pool, while away from the chairs our things were removed and thrown way back on the lawn and this same group decided it was their chairs. The group was large and intimidating... we opted to go to the beach and keep our distance. We will not travel again during the month of January

I happened to stay at the Ocean Club the week it opened and they were all down there. They brought a guy to sleep on the beach to get all the huts so no one else could get one.

Marriott employees HATE the week. Very rude group and kids run wild.

We were there and it is true !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!RUDENESS on the part of the guests, both the adults and the teenagers !!!!!!!

I've heard of the week and the group also. I know a few years ago we were told firsthand by friends who are there for the month that some of the kids were hurting/killing the lizards. Disturbing

I don't think anyone has mentioned cultural differences. We all have been splashed by the pool, this is destruction of property... example is the side bars on the elevators being pulled out!!

I have heard several housekeeping employees mention how filthy the rooms are when they leave. Trash everywhere. I have also heard they were bounced from the Hyatt several years ago.

the people at Champions didn't want to work that week. They would march back to the kitchen and demand to be in charge of cooking their brought food.

I have to admit the Garbage room was indeed clean. WHY,BECAUSE they left their trash in the Hallway in front of the ice machine. Upon getting in the elevator we were pushed to the back by kids trying to overcrowd the elevator. I just remember how rude and all the jewelry on these kids. Sorry guys, you hit a sore nerve with me and this horde of belligerent folks. Enough said.

There are several reports, through the years, of damage outside the villas that this group are occupying. Damage to chairs, biminis, palapas, pools, lights, railings, etc. They surely don't get charged for that. We do.

So that there is no confusion, these are the kind of people that some want to be considerate of? I say no. Shame them and expose them for who they really are. Every single Marriott owner of that week should band together... they should storm the lobby and demand action. I would use every available social media to expose them and, further, I would publicly shame Marriott for burying its head in the sand.

Ever since I learned of this this morning, I also have done research on the subject and some of the stories I read are too disgusting to repeat.

 

[SueDonJ]

So there's no confusion their brochure says their event starts on Sun. Jan 18Th so this is that group's week at the resort. (Sephardic Aruba)

Just to clarify - the brochure that's available for download on the website mentions Sunday, January 18th through Friday, January 23rd. Those days/dates do not correspond to the 2014 calendar, and in fact the website/brochure has not been updated since the first year that the activities were negatively described on the web. It's been quite a few years since the group has used the internet to organize this trip.

As far as trying to pin down whether it's Week 3 or 4, or tie it to the exact dates of NY Regents Exams schedules, we haven't been able to do it because it changes every year. Suffice it to say that if you don't want to be a part of it, you probably shouldn't risk a stay either week.

 

[SueDonJ]

And now with my moderator hat on:

It doesn't hurt my sensibilities if this group is called out by name, but I'm not here to force others to adopt my sensibilities. I want folks to be able to continue posting reports about the situation (hopefully with a resolution one year that it's been stopped by Marriott.) Whether we think it's right or not, over the years too many TUG threads about it have had to be shut down because the focus shifted from the negative behavior to the people exhibiting it, and then TUG Admin and mods were flooded with complaints by folks who took insult.

Several years ago it was decided that the only way the discussion could remain non-contentious was if the group is not called out by name. Whether you agree with that or not, please accept it as the price of being allowed to discuss the group's activities. I don't want to lock these threads every year but that's where we're headed.

I'm removing the group's name from all posts in this thread and will not post further admonitions about it. If you want TUG to be a place where you can continue to learn how this situation evolves in the future, you'll respect the compromise that's been reached.

 

[Mamianka]

So there's no confusion their brochure says their event starts on Sun. Jan 18Th so this is that group's week at the resort. ([Deleted.])

Me again - retired NYS teacher. Our Regents exams are held per the calendar posted in the sticky. HOWEVER - private schools can hold class - or NOT - whenever they wish, as long as they get in their correct number of days and hours, to keep their accreditation. For a couple of years, I taught flute lessons at a local Anabaptist (Hutterite) community. They taught their own kids on site K-8 - like home-schooling, but on a BIG scale - and sent their HS kids to out local HS. (Now they have purchased a former monastery, and have their own HS, including boarding students from other Hutterite communities.) These people are INCREDIBLY polite and upright citizens - and periodically I would get a call : "Mrs. M? Do not come for lessons today - we are all going FISHING because the weather is so nice - we stayed in school when the other kids had a Snow Day." Then they would bring me a couple of nice trout . . .

So the community/school that is coming the week BEFORE Hell Week ( and that cannot be ALL public school kids from NY state - please!) is a private school that keeps their own calendar and hours. They could come ANYTIME. The fact that they reserve their *camp* a year ahead should allow people to avoid them. None of us should HAVE to - but until (if ever?) we apply enough pressure on Marriott (and it actually does any good . . ) then we just have to dodge them. I have no skin in this game - we have NO interest of going to Aruba at that time of year - and would actually CALL the resort directly to ask about large groups, before we put in for a trade. If I heard this about ANY place - I would call the resort and ask.

We should not have to do this. There are a LOT of things we should not have to do , or put up with, in life. But until they change - I just choose to be elsewhere.

M

 

[Weimaraner]

Just to follow up, I called the front desk yesterday after the hot tub incident and had to leave a message expressing my concern about our safety at the pool. I was unable to get thru to the front desk but an operator said she would hand deliver the message. I have received a few voice messages following up and each time the staff refers to loud, noisy and unruly and unsupervised children. One of the messsages says they can not do anything about it because they are owners. I have tried to call back but the no one answers except an operator who transfers me to a number that disconnects. Maybe the Premier Plus hotline ? My husband who is back home told me to walk on down to address in person but I have mellowed out a out a bit since I stayed off property today. And thank you to the TUGger who sent me a PM to tell me how to avoid this week in future. I don't mind a little horseplay but when a teenager berates me in front of my child, who I am trying to raise as a courteous and respectful young lady (also with expectations that she should be treated by men as a lady)..that just set me off. I know some people wish I never started this thread but if I helped any TUGger from ruining a long awaited vacation on my favorite island then it was worth it to me. So please come to Aruba and the Aruba Marriotts, just not this week or Regents week (or so I hear)

 

[GrayFal]

And don't forget that us Irish Catholic New Yorkers have a bigger warship parked in our harbor than those uppity Irish Catholic Bostonians.

.

So true!

 

[topmom101]

Sue, please allow me to apologize. Yes, I admit, I am having a rather difficult day, however, I'd like to assure everyone reading this my rant was not based on racism or discrimination. I really don't care who those people are... I don't know who they are but if I did I would not condem an entire race/religion. I am an Italian from NY and if the group in question were NY Italians I would not take offense because their bad behavior is on them and not a reflection of who I am. I believe in rules and laws and proper behavior and I believe in accountability. Our actions determine how others view us and therefore judge us.

Every actions has a reaction and consequences follow. I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone and again apologize if my words were misconstrued.

 

[Wally3433]

I am confused, why are so many people trying so hard to hide or cover up the facts? I believe that people need to be accountable for their actions. Only recently have I become aware of this ongoing problem at the Surf Club. But it seems to me that if people go out of their way to avoid this particular travel week or look for compensation from Marriott for being forced to endure a hellish vacation then a REAL problem exists. So why not point a finger to the culprits? I don't get it. I don't care who they are; white, black, yellow, catholic, Jewish, protestants, new yorkers, bostonians.

I am so tired of the political correctiveness. If people behave badly, say so. Hold them accountable. You expect Marriott to step up and yet some of you aren't even willing to say it like it is. Do you act the same while on vacation? Do you destroy or thrash property? Do you allow your children to run wild disrespecting people? Well, if not, why in the name of God, would you protect them?

I love the fact that some of you are coming up with various ways to be politically correct in ways to describe this group, some as far as labeling them private school kids. Well, let me tell you something. I highly resent that. My husband and I made tremendous sacrifices to give our 3 children the best private/catholic school education we could afford and they are well mannered, productive and respectful young adults.

Let's not reinforce horrendous behavior. How fair is that to the families that work hard all year long and look forward to their yearly January vacation? We throw them under the bus in favor of the bullies? Because that's what you are doing when your solution to them is " have another drink, switch your travel week, go to another beach". Right is right and wrong is wrong. Period.

Maybe I am having a bad day but this is wrong in so many ways.

topmom - since you are so sick of the current descriptions, where is your version of the facts that is NOT politically correct?

 

[Wally3433]

I couldn't find any videos of Hell week on youtube. Is there any photos or videos posted?

I still think there is a great reality TV show in this somewhere. Maybe A&E could schedule a Harley Bike Week in Aruba at the same time?

 

[BJRSanDiego]

This same topic is being discussed right now on Facebook among Surf Club Owners. Here are a few excerpts:

I would use every available social media to expose them and, further, I would publicly shame Marriott for burying its head in the sand.

.

I looked at the Surf club OWNERs site and saw some comments. But everyone seems to be missing the ball by NOT posting anything on the official Marriott site. The number of people listed as "like" on the Marriott site is almost 4000. But the number of people on the separate owners site has less than 500 members. It is possible that Marriott does not monitor the separate and private owners site.

My advice for people who are legitimately upset is to make a post or a review on the official Marriott site.

 

[chris5]

And now with my moderator hat on:

It doesn't hurt my sensibilities if this group is called out by name, but I'm not here to force others to adopt my sensibilities. I want folks to be able to continue posting reports about the situation (hopefully with a resolution one year that it's been stopped by Marriott.) Whether we think it's right or not, over the years too many TUG threads about it have had to be shut down because the focus shifted from the negative behavior to the people exhibiting it, and then TUG Admin and mods were flooded with complaints by folks who took insult.

Several years ago it was decided that the only way the discussion could remain non-contentious was if the group is not called out by name. Whether you agree with that or not, please accept it as the price of being allowed to discuss the group's activities. I don't want to lock these threads every year but that's where we're headed.

I'm removing the group's name from all posts in this thread and will not post further admonitions about it. If you want TUG to be a place where you can continue to learn how this situation evolves in the future, you'll respect the compromise that's been reached.

I don't want to appear to be picking at a scab, and I really would like us to be fair and consistent in how we handle issues of this type. But I fail to see why it's not appropriate to name this group/organization that has run amok at the Marriott Aruba Resorts on the third week of January. It their name!

I mean some of us might take offense at identifying Memorial Day weekend at Myrtle Beach in the sticky as Black Bike Week, particularly since the sticky does not identify the week that precedes it as White Biker's Week -- which in my circles was the way we referred to that week since Blacks were not welcome to attend the activities during that week and hence created their own weekend of activities, appropriately named, Black Biker's Week!

I think the Tug moderators are tying themselves up in knots of political correctness here. It's their name. Seriously, we should have not any misgiving or hesitation to name this group or organization even if its loosely affiliated with an ethnic, religious, or racial group. Since when does someone's else sensibilities trump factually accurate reporting or identification of an organization? I doubt any of us would have any compunction in identifying misbehaving parties or clusters of people from the XXZ Chapter of the Knights of Pythias, XYZ Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi, or XYZ Chapter of the Knights of Columbus. As I said before, there is value in factually identifying and shaming the organization. It's their name.

There's almost an Orwellian irony to removing the group's name from this thread, especially since we defame this group by referring to its week of festivities -- at least to them -- as Hell Week. But I see that this issue opens up old wounds and it's going no where fast. So, to satisfy my own curiosity, could someone PM me and tell me the name of this organization.

 

[Ridewithme38]

So, to satisfy my own curiosity, could someone PM me and tell me the name of this organization.

No one knows the name of the organization, i sent you a PM.

 

[HatTrick]

A discussion from 2010: http://www.aruba.com/forum/f9/tons-kids-43613/

 

[Beefnot]

This PC garbage is such B.S. Cannot even name a specific group that has an actual name? What kind of horse sh-- PC nonsense is that? That shouldn't even be called PC. That is just plain stupid.

 

[benyu2010]

I found out it is NOT all NYS private school students after read whole three pages of posts, plus external links. This is not fair to those whom not involved. It seems possibly only behaviors of a particular group who has an annual organized getaway.

That said, if you have large group of families with many kids, without usual help of nanny at home, it would be pretty tough for everyone to manage the situation. Kids usually less behave away from home and it would be just crazy if hundreds of kids gone on vacation all together. Very unfortunate situation that not all feel get what they entitled as an owner and likely will not... It is a no-win for marriott, but a business decision to make every year...

 

[m61376]

While mentioning the group by name wouldn't violate Tug rules per se (imho), the issue is that there hasn't been one thread where it is just limited to that. For some reason, it devolves into generalized dispersions and ethnic and religious slurs or inferences, at least one of which has already been posted in this thread and removed by a moderator. I think that's why the moderators made the decision to eliminate any references.

I agree that the actions of this group are shameful, but that doesn't mean that others with the same religious persuasions act similarly. Large group mentality, as pointed out above, with loosely supervised kids is a recipe for disaster. It is not an excuse for their actions, though, and neither is Marriott's contention is that they are owners. There are rules that are posted and should be strictly enforced. Marriott shouldn't have to enforce common courtesy, but clearly they need to here. The Hyatt took similar action years ago.

Are the children being allowed to run amuck at the new Ritz??

 

[psguru]

The best thing to do going forward is to check the website of any sephardic hebrew school in Brooklyn to find out when their winter break is. They usually do not have off for Christmas so mid to late January is when they have their break.

I've been there many times with them. It's a horror show and gives us other Jews a bad name.

What i like to also do if they're playing football in the lazy river is to ask one of the kids to show me his arm, tell him he and his friends throw like 4 year old girls, then throw the ball over the fence into the street. The look on their faces is priceless. I usually get a least one or two free drinks from other members.

 

[psguru]

While mentioning the group by name wouldn't violate Tug rules per se (imho), the issue is that there hasn't been one thread where it is just limited to that. For some reason, it devolves into generalized dispersions and ethnic and religious slurs or inferences, at least one of which has already been posted in this thread and removed by a moderator. I think that's why the moderators made the decision to eliminate any references.

I agree that the actions of this group are shameful, but that doesn't mean that others with the same religious persuasions act similarly. Large group mentality, as pointed out above, with loosely supervised kids is a recipe for disaster. It is not an excuse for their actions, though, and neither is Marriott's contention is that they are owners. There are rules that are posted and should be strictly enforced. Marriott shouldn't have to enforce common courtesy, but clearly they need to here. The Hyatt took similar action years ago.

Are the children being allowed to run amuck at the new Ritz??

Loosely supervised kids????? How about non-supervised!!! I can't tell you how many times i've seen a kid younger than 3 or 4 in the lazy river by himself.

 

[Ridewithme38]

Loosely supervised kids????? How about non-supervised!!! I can't tell you how many times i've seen a kid younger than 3 or 4 in the lazy river by himself.

I don't understand what's wrong with that. I was a very strong swimmer from a young age, my daughter was about average. I wouldn't have had a problem with her in a lazy river at 3 or 4.

That is another question i have.....If they are doing damage to the resort that is a major issue and something that needs to be dealt with and the disrespect to the OP is NOT to be tolerated, i would have dragged that kid by its arm back to mom and dad and made sure they learned better....But, kids being kids, playing catch, climbing on rocks, running/jumping, swimming....may annoy you, but kids deserve to enjoy their vacation also.

Signed,
Seth from NY

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I don't understand what's wrong with that. I was a very strong swimmer from a young age, my daughter was about average. I wouldn't have had a problem with her in a lazy river at 3 or 4.

That is another question i have.....If they are doing damage to the resort that is a major issue and something that needs to be dealt with and the disrespect to the OP is NOT to be tolerated, i would have dragged that kid by its arm back to mom and dad and made sure they learned better....But, kids being kids, playing catch, climbing on rocks, running/jumping, swimming....may annoy you, but kids deserve to enjoy their vacation also.

Signed,
Seth from NY

3 or 4 in the water by themselves with nobody watching? That sounds ok to you? Strong swimmer has nothing to do with it. Anyone can hit their head or have other complications. It's even questionable whether any age should swim completely alone but at 3/4 supervision should be automatic.

 

[Beefnot]

The best thing to do going forward is to check the website of any sephardic hebrew school in Brooklyn to find out when their winter break is. They usually do not have off for Christmas so mid to late January is when they have their break.

I've been there many times with them. It's a horror show and gives us other Jews a bad name.

This is where we go off the rails.