Paradise Beach Villas, Manchebo Beach

Our Cayman Islands vacation was wiped out by hurricane Ivan, but we were able to book into PBV during the same period. This was our third time in Aruba; both of our previous stays were in the larger Palm Beach resorts. Understand that PBV is a relatively small resort, without a lot of the amenities you may be looking for.

On premises food is a definite negative. There is a small restaurant on premises, which is not directly associated with the resort - meals cannot be charged to your room. There is a miniscule grocery/souvenir mart on premises; again, no charges to your account. The resort does operate an outdoor cabana-type eatery and bar, open for a very basic breakfast and lunch service. Theme type dinners are served three times a week, by reservation only - if a minimum number of guests do not sign up, the dinner service is cancelled.

The room in which we stayed was a 1 bedroom, with sitting area/dinette/kitchenette. Nothing special here, in terms of its physical setup. Bedding on the queen size bed and on the pull-out was. . . well. beat up is the best that can be said. Holes in the blankets, etc. The huge disadvantage, though, was with the environmental controls - the air conditioning. There was no provision for dehumidifying the residence area; in fact, condensation was dripping from the walls and ceiling in the hallways. Inside the room, the A/C had to be kept at such a high level that it was actually uncomfortable. Backing it down to a higher temperature on our first night, we awoke to condensation on the tile floors. I'm not talking about damp - this was an actual layer of liquid over the entire floor surface and was highly dangerous. Our two year old took two bad spills on the slick floor surface within a matter of minutes.

On the plus side, the small size of the resort made for a very pleasant atmosphere, both at the pool and on the beach. There was never any feeling of crowding, and the relatively small number of guests encouraged a much friendlier and more communal feel to the resort. If you enjoy lounging by poolside cheek-by-jowl with 5 rows of 20 lounge chairs, take yourself down to the Hilton or Allegra on Palm beach. Here, the atmosphere was pleasant and relaxed, with plenty of space to move your chair around to follow (or avoid) the sun or to stroll about the pool without the Times Square feel of the larger resorts.

Ditto the beach. In fact, the difference between the Palm Beach Villa beach area and the adjoining La Cabana beach area was striking - there had to be at least 5 times the population density of PBV at the La Cabana. (all of the beaches are public and unrestricted; I'm just talking about the beach areas closest to each resort).

For young children, the lack of crowding made it much more pleasant for them and much easier to keep track of them. Our two year-old and 9 year old had a great time, both at the pool and at the beach. Which was good, as there were *no* organized activities for the younger set. In fact the only organized activity was twice a week afternoon bingo. Pretty pathetic.

This is Aruba, so to say that the staff is friendly and pleasant is redundant. However, resort management left a lot to be desired, being pretty lackadaisical in addressing guest concerns. unfortunately, this was reflected at the staff level - friendly and pleasant doesn't necessarily translate into any particular urgency or focus on customer satisfaction.

Bottom line: If you want a pampered vacation stay with all of the amenities and easily available dining, go somewhere else. If you want a simple, relaxing vacation with a focus on a beach experience (and what an experience it can be on Aruba!), PBV may be an option.

In fact, given the accomodations, you may want to consider sleeping on the beach.