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Curacao Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews
Breezes 01/27/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Great
January 18-25, 2003: From Toronto on Skyservice; no audio/video on this plane made for a long cramped flight (both directions) the flight crew tried their best. The flight left and arrived on time.
Arrived in Curacao, went through customs, Breezes reps were waiting in baggage area to hand out envelopes with room assignments, hotel info sheet and wrist bands. Some people also got their luggage tags some didn't, if you don't just write your room number on your Sunquest tag at the airport so it can be delivered to your room. Got our luggage and went to find the bus. On the way out a girl was handing out bags with island info (map, video etc.). Outside the building we were directed to the luggage truck and the bus. Note: there is no "Sunquest" rep, they are represented by "Tropical Tours" a local company. I believe 3 buses went to Breezes. Somehow we got all our bags and were the 1st. on the bus. A nice 15 minute drive later (over Juliana bridge, saw a cruise ship and the town) we arrived at the hotel where we got our room and safe keys and left a credit card imprint at reception. We went to see our room got cleaned up and then went downstairs to the Carousel Bar and Grill for drinks and burgers and fries (delicious). After eating we went back to the room where our luggage had been delivered and began our holiday.
The hotel and grounds are nicely laid out. The beach farthest from the lobby has nicer sand and is quieter. All activities centre around the main pool area.
The bars have premium brand name liquor, great drinks, we tried everything. In the evenings you can get martinis and brandys in their proper glasses(not the plastics cups). The bartenders are still learning but if you can tell them specifically what you want you can get almost anything.
The main beach grill has burgers, fries, great fish sandwiches, quesadillas, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and popcorn. The Carousel Grill has nachos and cheese sauce, burgers, hot dogs, fries and nuggets.
Munahana; nice show/presentation, good service, good food, filet mignon overcooked(most of us asked for medium-rare). Pastafari; nice atmosphere, service and food good, beef overcooked (on my 3rd. visit I specifically stressed medium-rare and it still came overdone). Jimmys Buffet; food good, wait service can be very slow(not enough staff clearing tables and filling wine and water glasses, especially when busy on weekends), if you arrive at the wrong time you can have trouble finding a table. Breakfast buffet is the usual variety(great pancakes, and french toast if you like lots of sugar on it). There are different dishes at the lunch and dinner buffet; always cooked to order pasta and steak or fish, burgers and dogs and fries at lunch, beef tends to be overcooked mostly(I had to direct them when I felt my cooked to order steak was done as they tended to overcook it, when it's cooked right it's delicious). The variety was the worst I've encountered on all my all-inclusive holidays. I was expecting more cooked tropical vegetables and entrees. (I had more variety of local dishes in Cuba, Dominican, Mexico, Jamaica, St. Maarten). I guess Breezes spends their budget on the alcohol. The fruit and salad bar was good. The desserts seemed to be the same cakes, pies and tarts every night and they weren't the best. Usually no more than 1 or 2 types of cheeses available. The ice cream was cool and refreshing. The bread was hit and miss, sometimes fresh sometimes not. The croissants were not very good. Made to order Caesar salad lacked flavour. Overall I expected better food from the Breezes name.
The Kids Club is attentive(always at least 2 ladies on staff), my 5 year old was happy there. Attendance varies but was usually low if any, mostly babies - 6 year olds. I once saw 5 toddlers napping in the afternoon. There was a couple who left their 2 kids (2-3 yr. olds) there almost the entire time including evenings.
There is 1 shuttle bus (which holds about 25 people) from the hotel into town so if the bus is full you have to wait for it to return and reload (a 5-10 min. drive each way). The stores are closed on Sunday so on Monday morning there were about 60 people waiting to catch the shuttle.
There is usually some type of band playing from 8pm and the 9pm evening entertainment most days was performed by hotel guests in various activities (karaoke, talent show, pool party ...). One day there were some local dancers, another day was the circus show.
We rented a car for 1 day $42US including taxes (didn't buy their insurance) and drove most of the island. Gas cost us $22Nafl. ($1.44Nafl per liter, twice the cost of Canada) The view from Fort Nassau is a most and the lights at night in town are very nice. Walking across the pontoon bridge and taking the ferry are fun.
If you're shopping for alcohol this is not the cheapest place or best variety. T-shirts, beach wear and beach bags are reasonably priced souvenirs. Visit the Sea Aquarium and the Ostrich Farm if you have kids or are young at heart. The feeding shows are pretty good. The Sea Aquarium is also very popular for the dolphin encounter and shark and giant turtle feeding. They can get very busy with people from the cruise ships.
Curacao is a great place to scuba dive and snorkel and just relax in the warm sunshine. We actually had a few short rain showers but not enough to spoil anything. We also had a few intermittently cloudy days but unless you're trying to bake yourself it can actually be a relief.
Well that's all I can think of right now. We had a great vacation but will not be returning to Curacao as there are too many other tropical places to visit.
A, A and T
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