Overall Ratings & Reviews Talk of the Town Hotel and Beach Club

The birthday lady Amirah and I ( in pink), took a taxi from the cruise port and asked that he take us to a few places on the island 🏝️. Note: most cabs only accept cash, not credit cards but, Alvin, seen here, does accept card payments. There is a 3pct fee charged as well. Alvin was a great guide and host driving us around. He dropped us at the beach and came back at the agreed time to continue seeing the signs and sites of Aruba. He is very knowledgeable and friendly. I recommend you can contact him on Whatsapp and arrange transportation. We asked him to take us to this Aruba sign and a few others seen here. Didn't stay at this hotel.

LOCATION: • Extremely close to the airport — you could easily walk the distance. • Taxis only accept cash (fixed rate of $21). • 25-minute walk to downtown, safe to walk alone during the day and night, even as a solo woman. • Besides a few bars, there’s nothing immediate around the hotel for use or necessities. • Taxi to the cruise port (inside the port) costs $25, cash only. GENERAL: • No carpet on the floors — just tiles — meaning they get very dirty with dust, sand, and humidity very quickly. • Towels are outdated, but clean. Decent prices for the food and drinks - I recommend ⸻ ✅ PROS: • Beautiful outdoor common areas. • Pleasant restaurant with very tasty food and a good variety of drinks. • Comfortable bed. • Pool area is very pleasant, with the water temperature being just perfect. A huge thanks to the reservation team and receptionists very pleasant and accommodating !! Great staff overall. ⸻ ❌ CONS: • There is no elevator, so carrying luggage up or down two flights of stairs (if staying on an upper floor) is highly inconvenient. • Internet connection in the room is extremely poor — at best two bars, often just one. • A “convenience store” is heavily advertised on the front of the hotel, listed as open daily from 8 AM to 8 PM. However, during the weekend I was there was a holiday - it was closed entirely. If the hotel promotes this store so prominently, they should either manage it properly or remove the huge advertisement from The front of the hotel. • The noise level is horrendous. Across the street is a large parking lot and a few bars — but the problem isn’t music. It’s the locals who rev their motorbikes and tuned cars at maximum volume for show. This continues from around 7–8 PM until 1 AM. It was genuinely the worst noise experience I’ve had at any hotel. • The daily lunch advertised in the restaurant menu is only available Monday to Friday — not on weekends — I was told only after trying to order Sunday noon. • The AC unit in the room has a very strong dusty smell, indicating it needs serious cleaning. And was either freezing or no air at all. • Pool rules are not enforced at all by the hotel staff. One family with a single child managed to disrupt the entire pool area: cannonballing into the water, screaming nonstop, jumping into the hot tub, spitting into the pool, and throwing fruit (grapes) around. While this behavior stems from a clear lack of parenting, it is also the hotel’s responsibility to ensure basic pool etiquette is maintained. Most other children were polite and respectful — this situation should have been addressed immediately. ⸻ OVERALL: The hotel has some beautiful elements and could be a relaxing stay — but the extreme noise, poor maintenance on basics like the AC and internet, and the lack of enforcement on facilities seriously diminish the experience. Management needs to step up attention to detail if they want to live up to the potential the property has.

Surprisingly I really liked this motel. Now I say that from just spending a week at the St. Regis Aruba Resort (my company paid for that hotel). Since I wanted to stay an extra day after my company paid event (on my dime) my wife and I looked for a "affordable" hotel / motel and we found the Talk of the Town Hotel. I fell in love with the local and welcoming feeling of this motel. The motel was under construction when we stayed but all the important things to me functioned. The pool was clean, the on-site restaurant had a nice breakfast buffet. What really surprised me was the home cooked dinner and local drinks from the on-site bar. (Better than the other restaurants in the area). The motel common area felt more like a hacienda home than a motel. Now, the rooms are like a motel (not a high end hotel) but if you go in with the expectations of a motel room you will be fine. The rooms and bathrooms were 95% updated. The air-conditioning, shower, and toilet worked. They had an in-room iron, ironing board and safe. The motel also has a coin operated laundry. Since a vacation in Aruba is meant to be experienced out of the room this is a perfect place to stay. It is very close to the airport. Across the street is the beach, and a number of local restaurants (see my other reviews). The big bonus is that the motel accepts the American Express card! If you are coming to Aruba for the beaches, scuba diving, sailing and will spend your days doing typical tourist activities, I highly recommend staying at the Talk of the Town Motel and saving your money on the other adventures.

Recently stayed at TOTT. We loved the location. Rooms were spacious and beds were so comfy. Clean and the AC was great!! The only issue we had was with one staff member who worked the front desk. Always playing on her phone behind the desk. Intimated when we asked for anything. Never greeted us or looked up from her phone.she would sigh if asked for a beach towel!! She should not work in hotel hospitality. Everyone else, AMAZING!! They are doing renovations and im certain that this will no longer be a hidden gem. I would stay again. We rented a car. We were in the middle of Noord and Oragenstaad. Shirt drive to anywhere. Was awesome.

I’ve traveled extensively and never raise concerns about accommodations as long as things are even slightly functional and safe. Unfortunately, this hotel felt like the Twilight Zone the entire time, and I cannot in good faith recommend staying here. I badly injured my toe and discovered there was no first aid kit on the premises. Bleeding and crying, I asked for help and was sent to the hotel’s gift shop, where overpriced basics (that literally $30-a-night hostels provide for free) barely included band-aids. At a hotel with a pool and children everywhere, this isn’t just strange—it’s dangerously irresponsible. For $300 a night: The hotel operates fundamentally on a “pay extra for everything” model. When I was injured, I tried to buy a bottle of water from the bar to clean the wound. I stepped 3 feet away for a second and was immediately barked at to "pay now!!!!" because the bar was “technically closed.” Just take my $6 while I bleed out on your patio, okay? This place is disorganized, creepy, unkind, and unsafe, and absolutely not worth $300 a night. Aruba is STUNNING—stay anywhere else.