Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino

This is one of the best Hiltons in the world, definitely in the Americas. Our third visit (still here:) has reinforced that impression with the new tower, well-maintained rooms throughout, and beautiful updates to the pool area and the replacement of the Gilligans/Castaways "beach shack" themed pool/beach bar with an upscale Shore Club with much improved menu, seating areas and music. The tent cabanas have also been replaced with stylish modern cabanas and several new seating/relaxing areas have been added near the pool and beach. The location can't be better as the beach is excellent quality with clear,clean water and no seaweed, and yet steps away across the street are dozens of restaurants with plenty of outside seating to enjoy Aruba breezes and several nightclubs/bars for a post-dinner drink. Tips to have a great time - book a sunset-on-the-beach dinner (great value as the portions are huge) for your day of arrival through the hotel's Sunset Grille, to get onto Aruba time as soon as you can, and go onto the services website two weeks before your trip to book a pool cabana or beach palapa to lounge away your first full day - you won't regret it. Thanks especially to Cristian at Sunset Grille for his fabulous service as a first-time sunset server, and to Sharon at the Shore Club for her knowledgeable recommendations for the sushi options.

We can't say enough about the ambiance and elegance of this place. Our room was quiet and comfortable and we loved every minute of our 5 days on the property! I called our palapa (#96) our home away from our home away from home! The view was awesome...every meal at all 3 restaurants was perfect and the staff went above and beyond...We will absolutely be back! Thanks to all, especially Anastasia. ;)

This is my review for the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino. My wife and I stayed at this property from 10-June-2026 through 13-June-2026 with our two daughters, ages 17 and 18. Although we stayed in The Westerly building, this particular review is being done for the areas outside of that building, which are part of the Hilton Aruba. As such, it’s more appropriate to address my thoughts on the resort overall separately from that of The Westerly. I did a separate review for The Westerly. Now for the review…. As in my previous reviews, I am going to start my review by talking about what is important to me - the pool cabanas and craft beers/IPAs. - Beer Let's start with the beer. There are no craft beers or IPAs available, not even session IPAs, on this property. This Hilton is 100% lacking in quality beer, whether it be on tap, in a bottle, or in a can. As expected, they carry the Balashi beers. They also had Bud Light, Coors, Heineken, Miller Lite, Corona, Michelob Ultra and Modelo. However, if you prefer a quality brew to enjoy on vacation, you will need to swing by Super Food or one of the other local markets and stock up. The absence of a quality IPA is surprising to me, especially given the fact that there was empty space in some of the coolers in Tradewinds. Perfect spot, kid!!! I was told by one of the cabana attendants that they used to stock some Coronado IPAs, but they weren’t selling. Considering the large number of rooms at this Hilton property (the Hilton advertises 358 guestrooms, while The Westerly has another 161, putting the total at over 500 rooms), I find it hard to believe there is not enough of a demand for quality beer, such that stocking it could possibly be considered a waste of already-empty cooler space. - Pool Cabanas Because the sun is ridiculously strong in Aruba, just as it is in most places where we would be vacationing, our family prefers to have guaranteed shade, or at least a better chance of having a shady place to relax. Having never been to this property previously, I didn’t really know much about the cabanas at the Hilton. In addition, there was very little information online regarding the cabanas and, it seems, that none of the reviews of the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino specifically talked about what the cabana includes. Further, I couldn’t find any videos on YouTube that showed very much about the cabanas, other than quick glances at them as the person did a quick walkthrough of the pool areas. - Booking Cabanas, Palapas and other seating The standard way that Hilton guests typically book cabanas, palapas and other premium pool/beach seating, would be by going to the Hilton Aruba Beach Services website (accurate as of June 2026) and doing this online prior to your stay. Sure, you can always wing it and try to book your seating after you have arrived on property, but booking in advance, especially if you’re trying to book a cabana or premium beach seating during the peak season, would likely need to be done ahead of time. On the Hilton Aruba Beach Services website there currently seem to be three different booking windows, for the different seating options offered. One of the prior Questions and Answers on Tripadvisor, said that the pool cabanas and palapas could be booked “several months in advance by logging onto the Hilton Aruba beach services site.” The timing of that question-and-answer on TA shows “over a year ago”. That information is not consistent with my current research. The only seating that you can book well in advance (2 months prior to use) seems to be the Power Beach Lounging Experience (basically a palapa with a power outlet) and the Handicap-Accessible Beach Lounging Experience. The next group includes the Standard Beach Seating and Services, the Oceanfront Beach Lounging Experience, the Ocean view Beach Lounging Experience and the Partial Ocean view Beach Lounging Experience; all of which are palapas on the beach. In addition, this group contains the Pool Palapas. Those are available to book at 12 AM, 15 days in advance. The final group includes only the Pool Cabanas. Those are available to book 14 days prior to use. NOTE: If you login at midnight and see that the seating that you are trying to book is already taken, guests of The Westerly have priority access and can book through The Westerly concierge 21 days prior. - Pools, Layout of the Pools and Cabanas The North Pool and the South Pool are both zero entry pools. The South Pool has a few areas where there are alternate entry points, with steps along the sides and a small step-down area at the end of the South Pool over by The Westerly. The North Pool has similar entry steps at the north end of it, over by the Shore Club, and a ladder-type access on each side of that pool. Both of the pools were warm, clean and were probably in the lower to mid-80°F range. Both pools are open from 6 AM to 10 PM daily. That’s huge! We had been staying somewhere else where the pools had much more limited hours. That said, the cabanas are open from 9 AM until 5:30 PM, but nobody bothered us when we either showed up early to our cabana or stayed a little bit late in our cabana. The North Pool, which I had read in other reviews and now personally observed, seems to be the livelier pool with a lot more younger kids. That pool has 11 cabanas; 8 (A-H) on the side of the pool closest to the Hilton buildings and another 3 (I-K) on the beach-side of the North Pool. There are 3 additional cabanas (L, M and N) which are kind of tucked away in, what seemed to be, a more private area on the beach-side of the South Pool. These are not directly at the pool; rather, there is some foliage and a little pathway in between those three cabanas and the pool. I saw this area get roped off for a private event on one afternoon. The South Pool, which was the more serene pool, has another 10 cabanas surrounding it. On the beach-side of the South Pool there are 6 cabanas in two groups. There is a group of 4 adjacent cabanas (O-R) and another group of 2 cabanas (S & T). On the hotel-side of the South Pool, there are 4 additional cabanas arranged into 2 groups of 2, with cabanas U & V being closest to The Westerly and cabanas W & X being just slightly further away from The Westerly. I posted a video on YouTube showing what the shade situation was in some of these just before 10am. Just search for, “The Hilton - Westerly Aruba South Pool Cabana Walkthrough”. Oddity: As of 22-June-2026, the maps on both the Hilton Aruba Beach Services and Resort Map on the Aruba Hilton’s website, still show an active area of construction/closed pool just south of the footbridge that crosses the South Pool. It’s odd that they haven’t updated that picture to show the entire South Pool, including cabanas S-X, especially given the well-expressed online concerns, which pretty much everyone considering this resort has had over the last 1+year, regarding construction. Even the Westerly concierge shared a similar photo with me, in an email prior to our arrival, showing construction over the South Pool. When I received that pic, I had to ask for clarification as to whether South Pool was actually fully open or not. They confirmed, and I can confirm as well, that the South Pool is fully open. It's strange to me that updated information regarding The Westerly's construction, its impact on the rest of the Hilton property, and the opening status of the South Pool was so difficult to obtain from official sources. Oddity: In May of 2026, when I was trying to figure out the cabana situation at this resort, Pool Cabanas (S, T, U, V, W and X) were consistently only available to book one day prior to their day of usage, whereas all of the other cabanas could have been booked, as I stated previously, 14 days prior to their use. Coincidentally, those particular cabanas are the ones which are closest to The Westerly and were all in those same areas shown as still being under construction on the resort maps. With no explanation for the different booking timeframes online, I reached out to the Westerly concierge team for clarity and was told that they were currently unavailable for booking because the property had been hosting an event and those cabanas had been reserved for that purpose. In our case, we are trying to book a pool cabana as close to The Westerly building as possible because of my wife’s recent knee surgery and her difficulties ambulating. Although not initially available to us, the concierge was able to book Cabana V for us for the duration of our stay. - Cabana Amenities All of the pool cabanas are pretty much identical. They all include a round cooler-type table stocked with ice and water, chair towel coverings, two chaise lounge chairs inside the cabana, and two additional sitting chairs positioned at the foot of the lounge chairs. While walking through the 2 pool areas, the only difference we noticed is that the cooler-type table was slightly different at a couple of the cabanas at the North Pool. Each day, our cabana was already stocked with water and ice in the cooler. As we arrived, we would put our outside drinks, beers and food in them. The cabanas all have the same fabric-type of shade system. Although these are adjustable, using the spring-loaded rods that anchor the fabric location on the right and left-hand sides, they seem to already be set up for optimum shade based on the particular cabana’s location. As such, there is no need to adjust that fabric. The Beach Services stock photo of the cabana shows the shade as being evenly positioned over the top and sides of the cabana. Ours was set so that our fabric shade was skewed towards the north side. We never had to move that at all. The cabanas all have a wooden-slatted back that allows for a really good balance of shade while still allowing for good circulatory flow of the island’s balmy breezes. In addition, they all have a metal desk-type piece of furniture that has an additional storage area with a closing door underneath it. Ours had extra towels in that storage area, but there was enough room for us to store some personal items in there that we preferred to have out of sight. The cabinet doesn’t lock but, frankly, we didn’t see any reason that there would be a need for a locking area on that, as the resort is really safe itself. None of the cabanas, at least that I saw, had power outlets. At some point during the day, one of the cabana attendants comes over and gives you a snack. During the three days that we were in the cabana, the food/snack we were given was 1) oatmeal raisin cookies 2) fresh-cut pineapple cups and finally 3) fresh-cut watermelon cups. On the Beach Services website, it clearly states, “Amenities are provided for 2 persons”, but there were 4 of us and we were always given 4 of everything. - Arriving at the Cabanas After checking into the hotel, but not into our room as we had arrived at the property at 9 AM, we simply checked our luggage with the Bellman and walked down to our cabana. Everything had already been set up by the attendants. The chaise lounges and the small pillows on them were already covered with towels. There were extra towels already on top of the storage desk and there were even more extra towels inside of the storage cabinet. In addition, and at the request of our concierge, 2 extra chaise lounge chairs had been pulled over and placed in front of our cabana because there were 4 of us. Those 2 extra lounges had the same towel coverings on them as well. That was an extra nice touch on the part of the concierge and cabana attendants. A resort staff member approached us, at some point after we began using the cabana, to make sure that we had checked in at the main Towel Hut. I had not, and didn’t know that was something I should have done, so I went over and spoke with the staff there. Basically, they just wanted to confirm who I was, get my room number and have me sign into the cabana. This is something I only had to do on the first day and did not have to do on subsequent days. Nice Touch - in addition to asking for my name and room number, the woman at the towel hut was interested in my Hilton Honors status, I believe so that they could apply any available discounts to the cabana rental. I did not have any, but I appreciated their attention to that. The cabana rentals automatically have an additional 15% service charge on top of the rental fee. As frequent travelers to Aruba are aware, the service charges are split evenly among the workers, not just the ones who are attending to you. Not having been informed of that additional service charge and only finding out later, I now realize that I over-tipped the cabana attendants. Although worse things have happened, it would’ve been nice to know that ahead of time. There are no cabanas, or other seating, that are specifically reserved for guests of The Westerly. But there is a difference in all of the pool lounge chairs beginning immediately on The Westerly side of the footbridge that crosses the South Pool, whereby the lounge chairs south of that bridge, I’m talking about the ones outside of the cabanas, all have the same extra plush cushions as the ones inside all of the cabanas. The pool lounge chairs along the North Pool and along the part of the South Pool that is north of the footbridge do NOT have those cushions. I covered that in one of my vids. On our final day, our cabana’s cooler had ice and water bottles in it, but the cabana had not been fully set up as it had on the prior days. I’m not sure what happened on that day. I went over to the towel hut and requested some towels for our use. We then used the extra towels that had been in the storage cabinet in our cabana to cover the cushions on the chaise lounges, but we were never able to get the towels set up as well as the attendants had on the previous days. Unfortunately, I failed to pay attention to how those towels had been arranged/tucked in (and didn’t think to look at the videos I had already taken), so our towels just kind of blew around that day. That said, the two gentlemen, who were the cabana attendants in the time that we were there, were working tirelessly from right around 6am until well into the afternoon. I got a good chance to watch them from our balcony at The Westerly while I enjoyed my morning espresso. Those guys were constantly setting up cabanas, cleaning, power washing the fabric coverings on the cabanas, power washing the pool decks, power washing the cushions and pool furniture, setting up umbrellas and filling cabana coolers with ice and water. Those guys were busy all day. - Beach and Ocean Prior to our arrival at The Westerly, we had been staying at another resort on Palm Beach, a resort which claims, like most of the hotels/resorts down there, to have the “best beach in Aruba”. I had previously done a review of that resort, so I’m not going to name it here. If you’re interested, you can just look in my profile. The ocean quality at The Hilton property was noticeably better than what I had experienced previously in the Palm Beach area of Aruba. The ocean floor has a sandy bottom and there is no disgusting mud-like, lake bottom grossness which I personally observed at other resorts just north of here on Palm Beach. There is a little bit of seagrass in a tiny bit of seaweed as you venture out deeper towards the outer part of the swim area, near the buoys that demarcate the boating area from the swim area, but the water is crystal clear and doesn’t smell bad. I was able to get some nice underwater videos of fish and some videos that showed how unbelievably great the beach/ocean is in front of the Hilton. - Next Level Cleanliness I think it has to be mentioned how pristine this resort was everywhere. I could not believe the amount of people at this resort who were cleaning constantly. There was no debris anywhere on the resort. The pools were immaculate. The grounds amazing. The crew at the Hilton strives for Disney-level cleanliness and they probably are even exceeding that. Absolutely amazing how clean this place was. - Restaurants & Shops -- Shore Club – We had lunch one day at the Shore Club. The service was fantastic. The staff were all smiles. The drinks were amazing. The food and drinks were great. This place is pretty expensive, but it had such a great vibe and was so incredibly convenient that I wish we had eaten here more. Check out the pictures of the burger, tacos, spring rolls, salad and desserts associated with this review. You must try this place! -- Sunset Bar – We had a light dinner here on the evening before our departure. Food was good. We didn’t have drinks that evening because we were traveling the next day. We sat at a high top near the bar. The warm breezes coming through here were absolutely amazing. It was a great endcap to our trip. That said, this place has a very odd high-top table set up. There is no way on earth that the chairs and the tables were ordered together. I’m over 6 feet tall. When I was sitting at a high-top table, the level of the table is right around the middle of my chest. Either the chairs are way too short or the table is way too tall. It was actually kind of comical for the kids and my wife. The table was up by their upper chest areas. Had that been done at the bar, at least they could claim that it had been done intentionally, just because they ‘set the bar really high’ at this property. That would be funny. -Oscar’s Market They sell soda, soft drinks, seltzers, waters, wine, champagne and beer. Noticeably missing, at least for me, they don’t have any IPAs or craft beer. That was so disappointing for me. Not offering good beer, even in a can or bottle form, forces people who actually want to drink a decent beer to buy it off campus. Pretty much every other hotel in that area at least had a selection of one or two IPAs in their stores, usually the ones from Coronado brewing in San Diego, but anything would’ve sufficed. I spoke to someone who said that the IPAs weren’t selling, so they stopped carrying them. I’m sure they’re still carrying a lot of stuff that doesn’t sell great, but that’s a huge oversight. That forced me to go to Uni Casa Supermarket, up at the Rotary, and back over to Super Food when I needed to restock my supply. Oscar’s has snacks, sandwiches, chips, salads, baked goods, coffee, etc. The big thing here, at least for my kids, was the gelato. They have a pretty good offering of flavors and my girls said it was delicious. -Tradewinds This store was great! If you forgot something for your trip, they had it. They had a slightly bigger selection of beers than Oscar’s, but still no IPAs or anything I would drink. They had liquor, a bigger wine selection, sunglasses, sunscreen, all high-end stuff. Great store and really attentive staff. -Beach Bites We did not utilize the Beach Bites service from our cabana. That said, the people in the chairs near us did use it. Their food looked great. I saw the pool and beach servers walking around checking on everybody, including us, several times throughout the day. They were all over the place. They were down on the beach taking excellent care of the people in the palapas. If you’re coming to this resort, have no fear, you will be taken care of.

We stayed at the Hilton late May. We had 2 rooms. Our request to have the rooms nearby was honored. We upgraded on arrival to Aruba Tower and Palm Beach Club and I have to tell you it was worth every penny and then some. Concierges at the club, Vicky, Janice & Edwin are great! They really go above and beyond. My daughter had an allergic reaction and they immediately found a pharmacy that was open early in the AM. Next day Janice brought balm for my daughter when she saw the issue. That kind of service is what makes this hotel stand apart from others. Location is awesome. It is more spread out than other resorts nearby and doesn’t feel that crowded. I love the fact that you can reserve the palapas ahead of time (there is a fee yes) but it is well worth it not to have to get up early and play the idiotic towel games that nearly all of the resorts do. Beach service was great as well. They come around often to take orders for food and drink. Great resort. I almost never want to come back to the same resort twice. Hilton Aruba makes me want to come back.

We loved this hotel. We stayed on the 8th floor, in a Palm Beach Club room and it was worth every penny. The concierge service here was better than anywhere we have ever been. Special shout out to Vicky, Janice and Edwin who were absolutely amazing and helped make our trip wonderful. They are the best! Vicky knew our names and what we wanted to drink at the afternoon receptions after the first day. She even made me a special cocktail which is now call "the Vicky". Leaving day is always sad, but Vicky made me smile by giving me cookies, which she knew I loved, for the trip home. This was our first trip to Aruba, but it won't be the last. The hotel was beautiful and clean. Everyone very nice. Beach is beautiful. You can rent an ocean front palapa two weeks before arriving. We are beach people so this was great for us. Worth renting. There are free ones but they are in the back. The first two rows sell out fast so if you want one, don't wait to secure it. We rented a pool cabana on our last day. Also great. It comes with a safe and a table/cooler which was very nice. restaurants and bars were all great. Just know that an 18% gratuity is automatically added. You may or may not want to add more. Our room was always clean. The only complaint I had the entire trip was towards the end of the week they stopped refilling our coffee bar. We did leave gratuity in the room, so this surprised me a little. It really wasn't a big deal though since I could go upstairs to the Palm Beach Lounge and get coffee. They have a machine that makes lattes or many other choices. Janice shoed me this on our first morning and I loved it. I just like it in the room because I enjoy sitting on the balcony looking at the beautiful water with my coffee first thing. The new Westerly is now open and they had a grand opening party while we were there. Guests of the hotel were not invited, and one of the pools was closed down for two days to prepare for the party, so that was kind of a bummer, but not enough to spoil a minute. We loved how excited all of the Hilton employees were about the new tower. It looks and sounds great. Maybe one day we will try it, but as long as Vicky, Janice and Edwin are at the Palm Beach Club, we will probably just stick with them? We will definitely be back.

Solid all around. Great location and overall a really great stay. New construction looks good. Plenty of room around umbrellas compared to Hyatt area and feels less crowded. Serious drawbacks for consideration include: 1. Bed / pillows 2. Some food/drinks 3. Reservations 1. The bed is horrendous. (Aruba Tower). It was so firm and uncomfortable that I’ll book elsewhere for this factor alone unless they’re replaced by my next stay. Pillows were like sheets of paper but we didn’t ask for replacements so that’s on us. 2. Laguna breakfast is 5 out of 10 might not be worth it if you’re considering a package. Selection is good and some of it was good but a lot of it was not. Sunset grill and bar/restaurant food were pretty good and fairly priced considering. While the new bar is cool $24 margaritas is kind of over the top. I’ll be bringing a cooler, tequila, and limes next time. 3. Specifically requested adjoined rooms or close by for a family reason. Even settled on can you a least put us on the same floor. This was requested several times months prior to arrival. Unless you wanna pay the fee ($25 per night per room) for the guarantee which I’m not paying because it seems like a money grab they will not even try to help you out which was pretty disappointing. Can’t even manage to get two rooms on the same floor seems like you’re not even trying, I think it’s their way of making you pay the fee. I’m sure someone mentioned the service fee on food/drinks but I’m wondering if that’s making the some of the staff less friendly (bartenders)

Stayed here this past weekend for 3 nights and loved it here! The resort is fairly huge, staff are friendly and location is perfect (near restaurants, bars and shops). HOTEL: Got an Ocean View Two Doubles Room in the Curaçao Tower—room was decent size, clean and comfy and had the amenities we needed (fridge, coffee maker, safe, etc.). The “ocean view” was FAR, you could barely see it! More like a garden view in my opinion—but we did have a balcony. Order room service once—found out they only offer breakfast and dinner, no lunch. SUNSET BAR: Casual spot to grab drinks and light bites! Elvin made delicious Frozen Pina Coladas and White Tea shots for us. Tried the Lobster Roll, it was good. EFOREA SPA: Loved our couples massage here! The ambiance was so relaxing, and masseuses did a great job! On the pricey side, but worth it. BEACH: View of the ocean is beautiful here!!! We reserved the “Oceanfront Lounging Experience” to ensure we got the hut umbrella, lounge chairs, towels, water and most importantly, a reserved spot right in front of the ocean. Service was lacking here—was hard to flag down a server when we wanted to order more drinks and food. CASINO: Fairly small, has a few tables and variety of slot machines. Non-smoking. There’s a bar, but you get free drinks while gambling. If you sign up for their players card, you get I believe $10 free play!

From the moment we walked in, we felt so relaxed and welcomed by the staff. Stayed on the 7th floor in the Aruba tower, with a perfect view of the pools and ocean. King room was spacious and clean, with a balcony, and came with access to the Palm Beach Club. Having access to the Palm Beach Club was incredibly convenient. We did breakfast and lunch there most days. My wife loved the food, everything was fresh! I have a gluten allergy; they had a separate case full of gluten-free bread, muffins, and donuts, and prepared gluten-free sandwiches ahead of time for lunch. The concierge dedicated to those with club access helped us with any question we had. Outside of the club, every employee we encountered was pleasant and helpful. In mid-May, we were able to find chairs most days (non-shaded chairs were generally available), and we were allowed to sit in the back rows of the palapas for free if it wasn't crowded. Pools were amazing and big enough to have your own space. Staff was constantly walking around taking drink and food orders, and there were resort bars right there. While soundproofing of the patio doors kept outside noise out, it wasn't so great between rooms. It wasn't an issue for us, but bring earplugs if you're a light sleeper. Location is PERFECT! 50+ restaurants and bars within a mile, shopping right outside the door, and smaller stores for sundries/liquor. We walked to at least three bars/restaurants each night and (just like every other part of the island) felt totally safe.