Renaissance Aruba isn’t trying to be the flashiest resort on the island, and it doesn’t need to be: it does the basics well and then hands you the one experience nothing else on Aruba can match. Set right in Oranjestad, it’s a solid, well-run base with plenty to keep a family busy, but the real story here is a short boat ride away. We enjoyed a hosted stay here, and it was one of the absolute bucketlist memories for our family.
The resort itself
On the ground, Renaissance Aruba delivers a genuinely good stay. The pools were a highlight in their own right, complete with a swim-up dive-in bar that made for a proper afternoon without ever needing to leave the water. There’s enough going on around the property to keep a young family occupied for days without repeating yourself, and breakfast was a strong start most mornings — good enough that we crossed paths with some of the island’s local wildlife wandering the grounds while we ate.
The room: built for a family
Our room made the stay noticeably easier — a proper separate bedroom alongside a generously sized living space, giving everyone room to actually spread out rather than living on top of each other. For a small family, that layout did a lot of quiet, practical work.
The real headline: Renaissance Island
Here’s the thing that sets this hotel apart from almost anywhere else in Aruba, and possibly the Caribbean: guests get access to a private island, home to a small resident colony of free-roaming flamingos. Getting up close with them on the sand, camera in hand, is a genuinely unique experience, and the photos we came home with are some of our favourites from the whole trip. Paired with a beach that’s every bit as beautiful as the birds sharing it, it’s an afternoon that’s hard to replicate anywhere else on the island.
A useful tip for anyone chasing the same shots: drones aren’t permitted here, given the island’s proximity to the airport, so plan your photography around handheld shots and getting genuinely close instead.
Getting to the island
The route there is half the fun. The speedboat to Renaissance Island departs from inside the resort’s own shopping mall — an unexpectedly cool detail, boarding a boat from what feels like a storefront before heading out onto open water minutes later. Renaissance Aruba is actually made up of two sister properties sitting right next to each other, and we’d recommend picking up the boat from whichever is closest to where you’re staying at the time, since both have direct access to the dock.
Learning the island’s story
One of the best things we did all trip wasn’t on the water at all — a guided history tour of Aruba that gave real context to everything around us, from the landscape to the culture to how the island came to be what it is today. It’s easy to spend a trip purely on beaches and pools, but understanding the place you’re standing in adds a different layer entirely, and this is one we’d recommend to anyone visiting, regardless of where they’re staying.
The takeaway
Renaissance Aruba is a genuinely solid resort — good pools, a great breakfast, and rooms that work well for a family — but its real value is the door it opens to somewhere else entirely. Renaissance Island, and its flamingos, is worth the stay on its own, and combined with a proper history tour to understand Aruba beyond the beach, it rounds out into a trip with more substance than the postcard version most visitors get.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get to Renaissance Island from the hotel?
A complimentary speedboat departs regularly from inside the resort, including a boarding point inside the shopping mall, with the crossing taking around 10–15 minutes.
Do you need to be a hotel guest to visit Renaissance Island?
Guests of Renaissance Aruba have free, unlimited access to the island; a limited number of day passes are also sold to non-guests.
Are the flamingos on Renaissance Island wild?
The flamingos are a resident, free-roaming colony kept on the island by the resort rather than a fully wild population, though they move freely around the beach.
Can you fly drones on Renaissance Island?
No — drones aren’t permitted due to the island’s proximity to Aruba’s airport.
Is Renaissance Aruba good for families?
Yes, particularly the Ocean Suites side, with family-friendly pools, spacious rooms, and access to the family-oriented Iguana Beach on the private island.
Is there more than one hotel at the Renaissance Aruba property?
Yes, the resort is made up of two sister hotels close to each other, with guests able to use facilities across both.
