Bonaire - question on condos

[under water]

Anyone have experience how noisy the restaurant at Den Laman gets at night time? And what is behind the building where the studios are? Parking lot? Some major noise factors?

Pikki,
I haven't been there yet (March). I'll be interested to see if anyone responds. However, I decided to go to Den Laman because all I could find were people that raved about it and not one person that had anything negative to say that I can find on the internet.. and I looked. That may be because it is smaller than some of the rest, but people seem to like it so far.

 

[skynscuba]

Anyone have experience how noisy the restaurant at Den Laman gets at night time? And what is behind the building where the studios are? Parking lot? Some major noise factors?

We were there in early October. No noise at all. Nice, nice, nice. A/C throughout.
We had 1BR unit C, which has its view partially obstructed by a palm tree, so you
may prefer to get 1BR D or be on the top floor. If you get unit F, which rents as a
studio but has a separate bedroom, it is on the side of the building and has an ocean
view. If I went back, I might stay somewhere else just for a change, but not because
I have any complaints!

There are not any rooms on the "ground" floor, which is occupied by office and
restaurant. It is a bit confusing, at least to me. The floorplan link posted above
calls the floors Ground, 1st, 2nd, but I would have called them 2nd and 3rd.

Access to the condo levels requires a room key, to get into the stair well. This
improves security.

At some point (already?), a new resort will start construction just to the south, on
the old Sunset Beach Resort (?) location, which I would expect to make noise during
the daytime.

There are more photos at http://gotobonaire.com/denlaman/index.htm

 

[skynscuba]

Thanks. What about the one bedrooms? On their per-night rates, they list one bedroom as Ocen Front/Ocean View, but on their packages, they only describe the two bedroom units that way.

I think there is only 1 "ocean view" 1BR, top floor, unit NO (Pufferfish). Photos
at http://gotobonaire.com/denlaman/DL%20pictures/3ON/index.htm

I think it rents at the same rate as the other 1BR units. If so, I'd try to get an
ocean front one, but it really wouldn't make much difference.

 

[blawler1]

We stayed at the Den Laman back in February. We were in a studio just above the kitchen and did not hear anything other than the slamming of doors in the other rooms due to the vacuum created when you had the balcony doors open. The condos themselves are very new and nice and the entries are all on the inside, with the doors locked after the restraurant closes and the stairwell has a separate locking door. As our balcony overlooked the parking lot, it was not very private as people were coming and going all the time.

We were going to stay at Den Laman again when we went back over Christmas and New Years this year, but ended up booking with Yachtclub again (our fifth time there) as Den Laman was full and did not regret it. While we gave up the flat screen TV, DVD player and walk down to the dock, we got a private porch, free wireless internet, and nice pool for half of the cost of Den Laman and it is only a quarter mile from BDA. They also opened up an intimate restaurant on site while we were there that was very good and reasonably priced.

 

[gangrel441]

There are more photos at http://gotobonaire.com/denlaman/index.htm

That may be the single most helpful site anyone has ever shown me for making a decision on any trip ever! Thank you very much!

Ok...one more silly question that came up, since we are comparing amenities between resorts and it's going down to the wire...does Den Lamen have onsite laundry service? We tend to like to pack all our gear and pack as light on the clothing as we can...

Ewww...not that way...

 

[diversteve]

If you want an ocean view, stay at BelMar condos down in Belnem. Every single unit faces the water. No onsite restaurant though and about a 5min drive to town. They're very nice units, almost new and well maintained. Not the dive that Bari is though if you're looking to dive the house reef often. And really quiet at night, all you hear is the ocean hitting the rocks and the occasional donkey bray from the rescue about 1/2 mile away. They're the other Buddy dive op so you can take advantage of the Buddy 24/7 tank pickup.

 

[gangrel441]

If you want an ocean view, stay at BelMar condos down in Belnem. Every single unit faces the water. No onsite restaurant though and about a 5min drive to town. They're very nice units, almost new and well maintained. Not the dive that Bari is though if you're looking to dive the house reef often. And really quiet at night, all you hear is the ocean hitting the rocks and the occasional donkey bray from the rescue about 1/2 mile away. They're the other Buddy dive op so you can take advantage of the Buddy 24/7 tank pickup.

I think we have it narrowed down to Den Laman and Bel-mar, and leaning towards Den Laman. The main thing that seems to be tipping it in is the free Nitrox upgrade. We will book for a few boat dives, but are much more interested in the shore diving.

One more question on Den Laman. Some of the wording on the restaurant page would lead me to believe that they provide guests with complimentary breakfast, but the resort page doesn't really say that outright anywhere. We don't mind paying for breakfast if that's the deal, but it is one of the many give-and-takes we are trying to factor into our decision. Can anyone confirm one way or the other?

 

[diverbob]

Sand Dollar has free Nitrox upgrades as well, at least they did when I was there. When you are in Bonaire, you have to go over and dive with Larry on the wildside. That was the most turtles and rays I have ever seen on a dive.

 

[gangrel441]

Den Laman, from what I understand, shares dive shop with Sand Dollar, so both offer free Nitrox. The ones with a question mark for that are Bel-Mar and Buddy.

 

[ianr33]

There are not any rooms on the "ground" floor, which is occupied by office and
restaurant. It is a bit confusing, at least to me. The floorplan link posted above
calls the floors Ground, 1st, 2nd, but I would have called them 2nd and 3rd.
[/URL]

That is the English way of numbering floors so it is probably Dutch as well

Ground floor(Europe) is 1st floor (USA)
1 st floor(Europe) is 2nd floor (USA) and so on

It is all a plot to confuse Americans