When selecting a hotel I found TripAdvisor.com to be very helpful! When reading any sort of review, I have a tendency to kind of give less weight to reviews that are extreme, whether it be too angry or too glowing. And be sure to look at reviews for the time of year you plan to be there. Of course there may be things that have changed in a year, like the hotel has been renovated which was true in our case. Doing your homework on a site like TripAdvisor will give you a heads up for concerns you should discuss with the hotel sales person.

Reading through TripAdvisor I did see posts from users that were bothered by late night noise in the Marriott lobby. Others complained about smoke. The hotel is smoke free but the casino isn’t and visitors with rooms above the casino thought that smoke traveled up through the vents. While I don’t know if these are real issues, I’ll tell my guests they may want to request a room away from the lobby and casino.

The other resource that has been a tremendous help is the Aruba.com forum. There you can find out just about anything you want – info on vendors, activities, restaurants, hotels…. There is even an entire section dedicated to Weddings and Honeymoons. You will also find reviews of vendors and even be able to talk to other couples getting married in Aruba. While there are a few people on there that rub me the wrong way most of the people are quite gracious and happy to help. The moderators do a great job and are quick to correct inaccurate posts. You’ll be able to learn about vendors available, though in my opinion the better vendors do not post. They hang back and let their work speak for itself though happy couples. I do have to say the “one post wonders” have a little less credibility for me though… people that never posted a thing until they suddenly decided to “review” their wedding and vendors. Take your time in selecting vendors because the best vendors may not be obvious.