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Curacao Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews
Breezes Curacao 03/18/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Great
Breezes Curacao
Transfers
Not the smoothest. We got all the way through the airport and never saw the rep. We eventually found the van, who called the rep over, and he indicated he did see us in the airport, but we didn’t see him, nor did another couple on our flight. Also, I had read how they give you your room at the airport. This did not happen. However, we arrived on a Wednesday. On Saturday, which was far busier with new arrivals, they may do this.
Room
We had requested a king size bed, and the room we were given did not have one. We inquired about this, and they said to check back after 6:00 pm, which I’m not sure why, but we did, and were given a room with a king. Both our initial room and the new one were very large rooms, probably one of the largest I’ve stayed in. The rooms were clean and comfortable.
Grounds
The complex is well maintained. The pool was clean, and the beach was raked just about every day.
Tour Desk
The hotel lacks a more typical concierge type person. They have a tour desk, but it is only a representative from Tropical Tours. This aspect is a major downside to Breezes, at least to any guest who wishes to do anything off resort. Arranging tours in Curacao is not easy, as they don’t have much information available, like more developed tourist locations. So if Tropical doesn’t offer it, you don’t hear about it. Also, they require minimum numbers to run tours, so while it appears that there is a large selection, some never seem to actually happen. The rep seemed very unfamiliar with the tours, and gave incorrect information on at least two occasions. Lastly, note that all tours must be paid in cash, which is something I wasn’t expecting.
Food
Jimmy’s Buffet – The Buffet was very good. Lots of variety. My wife doesn’t eat beef, and it did seem to have a lot of beef dishes, but she never went hungry. They usually had a pasta station open, and always had a salad bar.
Pastafari Italian Restaurant – Understand that I live in RI, with a very large Italian ethnic population (including me, at 100%!), so we have many, many fine Italian restaurants. Against that backdrop, this restaurant was somewhat disappointing. On the other hand, don’t take that to mean bad. The food was fairly good. We were there twice, and the second time had a waiter who was pretty bad. After he brought our meals he never returned, so we were never offered dessert or coffee. This was the only time service was downright bad.
Munahana Japanese Restaurant – We have never been to a Japanese restaurant, so I can’t compare it to others. But we both enjoyed the food and overall experience here very much. There is no menu. They bring you in, and you can go the appetizer table, which has sushi and seafood and vegetable tempuras. After that, you are seated in groups of eight around the cooking area, and the chef comes and prepares a noodles and vegetable mix, then beef, chicken, fish and shrimp. Don’t worry, no pressure to take anything you don’t like.
Watersports
We did the dive training, and our only complaint is that they wouldn’t take us the first day because they claimed the class was too full, but on other days they ran larger groups. Not a big deal, but it did interfere with our other planned excursions. The shore dive was very good. The staff at Ocean Encounters was knowledgeable. The snorkeling right off the beach is very good, but only in one area. If you don’t know where, you will be disappointed. The best area is against the rock breakwater between the island and the wall edge of the resort. We also took a small catamaran, just big enough for the two of us and the guide. The problem here is that he did not know how to sail, and, in the constant wind, got us a great distance from shore in no time, but could not get us back. Eventually a rescue boat came. Not a high point of the trip.
Car Rental
We rented a car one day. There are two desks right in Breezes, Hertz and Star. For one day, it cost us just over $40, not including insurance options. It was a good way to see what we wanted. Of note, the island does not mark things well, and the roads are fairly hard to follow from the map. (They don’t use route numbers, just names, and usually there was no sign). Once you got the feel for the island, you could pretty much figure it out, though.
Summary
Overall, we very much enjoyed our stay. As you can see, it was not without a few wrinkles, but we fully realized this was not an exclusive resort. For what we paid, it was a good deal. Most other people we talked to enjoyed it as well, though we did hear someone at a table next to us saying it was a nightmare. It’s all in what you expect, I guess.
Russ
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