Anyone stay in a Cando/Townhouse/Apartment in Bonaire

[dvleemin]

Hi,
Was doing some research on Bonaire and I saw that there are a fair amount of apartments/condos etc availible for rent, that are really cheap. Has anyone ever done this before? The downside of course is that you're not right on the nbeach, but if you have a vehicle, thats not the end of the world.

What are your thoughts on this?

Darryl

 

[blawler1]

We have stayed at the Yachtsclub apartments twice (most recently in January) for 10 days each time and look forward to going back. They are clean and cheap (the one bedroom is $55 per night and the efficiency is $50). They come with full kitchens and are conveniently located just across the road from Harbor Village on the north end of Kralendijk just before the traffic circle heading north. We have stayed in the same unit both times and were pleased. The decor is spartan and there is no hot water in most units, but they have A/C in the bedroom and cable TV and are stocked with enough utensils to get by on.

Marcel Olij, the owner, also owns Total car rental and will work you a deal on weekly rentals of apartment and pickup. (You definitely need a vehicle) The best part is that Marcel will hold a reservation without prepayment or even a credit card number.

 

[kgblair]

the yacht club was indeed wonderful. the bed is a little hard, but so are the beds in most hotels anyway.. the only problem we have ever had there was we had our snorkel gear stolen jan 2001 from our padlocked porch. we believe they must have been young boys who scaled the fence, because they stole everything (including blawler's $5 walmart swimtrunks), but left my swimsuit and my force fins.. probably the force's were too small for their feet or they did not realize the price of them at that time because they were not readily available for sale on the island. we now leave our stuff usually in lockers at the dive shop so we don't have to cart everything home (after staying with marcel for a week, it seems like home).

if you stay at the apartments at the yacht club, the front is open air and the back is airconditioned. the back has screens too, so whether or not you use the air conditioner, keep the door to the bedroom closed to avoid bugs.. ok, mosquitos and no-see-ums can't really be avoided in bonaire, but they can be minimized. you will have the same issues almost anywhere you stay in bonaire with the bugs and no hot water. such a small price to pay for a true diver's paradise!