Avila Beach Hotel Curaçao 

The Avila Beach Hotel: Paradise, Once Again! A++ We spent the last 2 weeks of November at the Avila Beach Hotel, one of the most beautiful resorts we have visited in the over 30 years we have been traveling on beach vacations throughout the Caribbean islands. This is our 5th time visiting this very special resort. We keep coming back because of the beautiful beach, clean, comfortable and quiet rooms and especially the wonderful people. Air Canada Vacations offered the Octagon wing and we enjoyed the room’s spaciousness and cleanliness. Our housekeeper Itelga was very conscientious and our room was perfectly appointed every day. Thank you Itelga! We enjoyed 2 excursions organized through our Air Canada agent Jeanysay. We went on the Sunset Cruise with the Irie company and had a marvelous time, delicious food and drinks. The crew was super kind, hospitable and friendly. The scenic tour of the Spaanse Waters region was well worth it. It reminded me of Lake Cuomo in Italy! The sunset was spectacular. We also did the day-long island tour around the whole island through FBTT Tours and we learned a lot about the history and geography with our tour guide Magda. We met some fellow Canadian tourists who were wonderful to have lunch with. We wish to particularly thank the wait staff at the Pen and Blues restaurants at the resort, especially ‘spiritual philosopher’ Sharnon. He took the time to extend a very warm welcome to us each time we arrived for dinner. Our Dutch servers Famke and Valerie were delightful, always so cheerful and were wonderful to chat with. We wish their families who will visit their daughters in Curacao soon a wonderful family reunion in December. We would like to also thank Naama, Vicky and Juninho who were always gracious, smiling and most helpful during our stay. The front desk and porters also deserve a special mention. Each and every person we spoke with and asked questions of were very helpful and went to great lengths to find information for us and help us. You are all excellent at what you do.

Though I didn't stay, I visited the facility and found it stunning. With a beautiful sandy beach offering a gorgeous sunset view, the location is convenient, allowing easy walks to other restaurants, the old city, or the art district. The resort staff were positive and friendly, and the facility was impeccably clean. Update 12/5/2024 This place has great potential due to its location and beautiful beach, but there are several areas that need improvement. I felt that the online check-in was pointless since we ended up waiting and had to provide the same information again when we arrived. It was quite disorganized. We booked a lover's package, thinking the charges were already applied to my card, only to find out we were supposed to pay at check-in, something that never happened. When the check came at dinner, we were confused about the situation. Our dinner reservation was moved to the day we checked in due to "weather concerns," but the next day we saw another couple having dinner on the beach with a setup that was even better than ours. This inconsistency was frustrating. When we got to our room, we found champagne and a chocolate-dipped plate, which was a nice touch, but we had expected the champagne to be served at dinner, not in the room. The hotel staff called us to ask when they should bring the flowers, as we thought they would be at dinner. There were no rose petals, as promised. The atmosphere, service, and food were good, but overall, things felt very disorganized. The lover's package was supposed to be romantic, but it didn't feel that way. The massage was another issue entirely. Our stay included breakfast, but the buffet was just okay, so we only ate there once. They do have a nice gym. I really enjoyed the resort's jazz club and the beach, but there's a lot of room for improvement. I hope they can become more organized and consistently maintain the cleanliness of the grounds.