Plaza Resort Bonaire - Villa or Suite?

[D_O_H]

Well, I just booked my flight to Bonaire for the end of May (flying to Curacao, actually, since it's quite a bit cheaper and it looks like an easy hop to Bonaire). I think we're going to stay at the Plaza, given the great reviews it seems to get around here.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether it would be better to get a suite or a villa? The cost difference is insignificant. I don't really care about the kitchen - I'm more concerned with which is roomer, nicer, newer, closer to the beach, has a better view, etc.

If anyone thinks there's a better place to stay, I'd also love to hear that. I just scrapped a planned trip to French Polynesia due to the extreme cost, so the prices on Bonaire are looking super dirt cheap and I'm feeling the urge to splurge.

Any other helpful tips on Bonaire would also be appreciated!

Edit: P.S. it's just me and my girlfriend going, so more than one bedroom is not an issue.

 

[diversteve]

Well, I just booked my flight to Bonaire for the end of May (flying to Curacao, actually, since it's quite a bit cheaper and it looks like an easy hop to Bonaire). I think we're going to stay at the Plaza, given the great reviews it seems to get around here.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether it would be better to get a suite or a villa? The cost difference is insignificant. I don't really care about the kitchen - I'm more concerned with which is roomer, nicer, newer, closer to the beach, has a better view, etc.

If anyone thinks there's a better place to stay, I'd also love to hear that. I just scrapped a planned trip to French Polynesia due to the extreme cost, so the prices on Bonaire are looking super dirt cheap and I'm feeling the urge to splurge.

Any other helpful tips on Bonaire would also be appreciated!

Edit: P.S. it's just me and my girlfriend going, so more than one bedroom is not an issue.

I can't really say whether the suites or villas are better. We met a diver couple that stayed there, they said it was pretty nice. They had $$$ so I'm sure they had a villa. A lot of Plaza is built around the pool which is 100 yds. or so away from the beach, so some of their rooms have little/no view of the ocean. And unless you want to be right over the water, you don't really want the laguna view rooms, they look across at the Port Bonaire condos 100' away the way they're situated.

There is another section that is right across from the beach, but I don't know what the accommodations are in that area. It could have been the villas.

The diving's not the best at the Plaza, I've read mixed reports about it, there's no official Bonaire divesite there as there is at some of the other resorts, but they do dive/teach classes there. They make the beach so maybe it's better offshore.

From Plaza it's under 2 miles to the good South Bonaire divesites - Angel City, Invisibles, the Hooker, Salt Pier etc. and they have 24/7 drive-up tank pickup. Kralendijk is over a mile the other way, maybe a little farther due to their entrance/parking being inland.

If you're looking for a beach, Plaza's got a nice one with a beach bar and watertoys. Not too wide but pretty long.

Toucan Dive is on-site, it's a good outfit, 3 boats, small groups and no time limits. We dove with them 3 days last summer and I'd do it again. One afternoon dive out to Klein it was two of us, a Dutch couple and the crew.

The only downside for Plaza is that it's pretty far south of town near the airport. So you'd have a 10 min drive to the north divesites, 1000 Steps, Karpata etc. Staying at one of the northern resorts would put you closer to those sites and probably the same distance north of town that Plaza is to the south.

You might want to PM Natasha, she's the moderator here that's coordinating the Scubaboard trip there this fall.

Or if you want to splurge, Harbour Village is probably the most upscale property on Bonaire, although I've read it's mostly European tourists that stay there.

Although nothing in Bonaire is more than 10-15 min. away no matter where you stay.

If you haven't already, check out the forums at bonairetalk.com. After reading through them, I knew exactly where everything was when we were driving around.

 

[D_O_H]

I can't really say whether the suites or villas are better. We met a diver couple that stayed there, they said it was pretty nice. They had $$$ so I'm sure they had a villa. A lot of Plaza is built around the pool which is 100 yds. or so away from the beach, so some of their rooms have little/no view of the ocean. And unless you want to be right over the water, you don't really want the laguna view rooms, they look across at the Port Bonaire condos 100' away the way they're situated.

There is another section that is right across from the beach, but I don't know what the accommodations are in that area. It could have been the villas.

The diving's not the best at the Plaza, I've read mixed reports about it, there's no official Bonaire divesite there as there is at some of the other resorts, but they do dive/teach classes there. They make the beach so maybe it's better offshore.

From Plaza it's under 2 miles to the good South Bonaire divesites - Angel City, Invisibles, the Hooker, Salt Pier etc. and they have 24/7 drive-up tank pickup. Kralendijk is over a mile the other way, maybe a little farther due to their entrance/parking being inland.

If you're looking for a beach, Plaza's got a nice one with a beach bar and watertoys. Not too wide but pretty long.

Toucan Dive is on-site, it's a good outfit, 3 boats, small groups and no time limits. We dove with them 3 days last summer and I'd do it again. One afternoon dive out to Klein it was two of us, a Dutch couple and the crew.

The only downside for Plaza is that it's pretty far south of town near the airport. So you'd have a 10 min drive to the north divesites, 1000 Steps, Karpata etc. Staying at one of the northern resorts would put you closer to those sites and probably the same distance north of town that Plaza is to the south.

You might want to PM Natasha, she's the moderator here that's coordinating the Scubaboard trip there this fall.

Or if you want to splurge, Harbour Village is probably the most upscale property on Bonaire, although I've read it's mostly European tourists that stay there.

Although nothing in Bonaire is more than 10-15 min. away no matter where you stay.

If you haven't already, check out the forums at bonairetalk.com. After reading through them, I knew exactly where everything was when we were driving around.

Thanks. I'm starting to get cold feet on the Plaza after doing a little more research - people's reports after staying there seem to be pretty hit and miss. Anyone have any thoughts on whether the miss reports (poorly maintained room, lots of bugs, terrible food, noisy airplanes, mean staff, bad bang for buck) are based in fact? It's always hard to tell whether a bad report is caused by the place actually being bad or by the guest being a type A who belongs at club med or on a cruise ship instead of someplace a bit more adventurous. I'd like to support a SB sponsor, if possible.

I'm going to look into Tivi as well as Harbour Village and Deep Blue View. HV and DBV look like they're really nice, though I'm not sure how great their dive operations are. At a minimum, I'd like to be able to get nitrox, a couple of good boat dives and a couple of tours with a really good DM or naturalist, and I'm not sure these places are big enough and dive oriented enough to deliver. Tivi looks very cool too, though different and more laid back, and seems to have a dive shop that is as highly thought of as Toucan.

Anyway, I'm sort of thinking out loud here, but if anyone (Natasha?) has thoughts on the Plaza, Tivi, Deep Blue or Harbour Village, please pipe up. I think I'm going to book something on Monday.

 

[scubaaaronh]

Thanks. I'm starting to get cold feet on the Plaza after doing a little more research - people's reports after staying there seem to be pretty hit and miss. Anyone have any thoughts on whether the miss reports (poorly maintained room, lots of bugs, terrible food, noisy airplanes, mean staff, bad bang for buck) are based in fact? It's always hard to tell whether a bad report is caused by the place actually being bad or by the guest being a type A who belongs at club med or on a cruise ship instead of someplace a bit more adventurous. I'd like to support a SB sponsor, if possible.

I'm going to look into Tivi as well as Harbour Village and Deep Blue View. HV and DBV look like they're really nice, though I'm not sure how great their dive operations are. At a minimum, I'd like to be able to get nitrox, a couple of good boat dives and a couple of tours with a really good DM or naturalist, and I'm not sure these places are big enough and dive oriented enough to deliver. Tivi looks very cool too, though different and more laid back, and seems to have a dive shop that is as highly thought of as Toucan.

Anyway, I'm sort of thinking out loud here, but if anyone (Natasha?) has thoughts on the Plaza, Tivi, Deep Blue or Harbour Village, please pipe up. I think I'm going to book something on Monday.

Well i'll tell you about our experience at the Plaza. It was awesome. Better than MOST of the hotels i have stayed in in the states. The rooms were spotless. they washed the floors in the rooms every other day. they say that if you want clean towels to throw them on the floor. we hung them up to reuse to conserve water and still ended up with 12 towels a piece by the end of the week. the only bugs i saw were on the sidewalk or if you left the slider to the balcony open. The food was so-so but we went to some of the other resorts that we were told were good and it was the same way. Eat at the restaurants in town they were awesome. As far as noise from the planes, i was concerned about that to, they only have a couple flights a day and i think i heard one or two planes while at the resort. Most of the time we were diving not sitting in the room listening for planes to take off or land. The staff was very nice and helpfull. I think people expect Plaza to be Club Med But it isn't. After looking at the other resorts we will stay there again i was not as impressed with some of the other resorts as i was with PLaza. The diving in from of the Plaza is a actual dive site it is called 18 palms and is in the marine park. it has a great coral wall to dive there with lots of life. it leads down to windsock which was one of the best sites we found to dive and returned to that site one more time before we left. We have already reserved there again for next year. It was an awesome time and we are going back again

 

[diversteve]

OK,

I guess I was mistaken about the divesite off the Plaza. (thx Aaron) I've heard good things about 18 Palms and didn't realize it was near there. I'd pick the Plaza over Divi. Advantages Divi has are the casino (Plaza's is closed) and you can walk to town from there. From the back, Divi looks like a group of buildings that were added over time, but we only briefly stopped there to look over Chibi Chibi so I have no firsthand experience with the quality of the resort there. Plaza is much more spread out than Divi and the beach is better at Plaza due to the way each resort is situated.

My perception of HV is that it's a 5-star beach resort first and a dive resort second. It is very upscale for Bonaire. If I was looking for a "Four Seasons" experience with a little diving, I might stay there. Although probably not.

The mean staff issue might be a matter of perception. Bonaireans are slightly shy and reserved but generally very friendly. The locals will stop to chat with each other anywhere, which can be slightly maddening when you're behind them in line. Also when local people honk as they drive by, they're just saying hi.

Also it's considered rude at restaurants on Bonaire to present a check so you have to ask your server for it, otherwise you're welcome to sit there all night. We also learned to ask for the check 10 minutes before we actually needed to leave.

It's all part of "island time", which is great once you get adjusted to it, no one's in a hurry to get anywhere. Some places in town close down for lunch/siesta daily, so posted hours on a store are just really a best guess.

We spent Friday evening at the Plaza and never heard a jet go over, I've read it's only a problem at Port Bonaire on certain night flights. But it does get mentioned on bonairetalk. I don't know about bugs there, but at our condo in Belnem, we had a permanent ant problem. Although we had the same problem in Cayman last year, I think they're in the sand near water and there's not a lot you can do about it.

One other interesting thing about Bonaire, at least at our condo, is that due to power prices, most of the A/C units are only in the bedrooms, or are on a sensor so they only work when the room is occupied. I know this is the case at Port Bonaire also, I assume it's the case at some of the other properties also. When it says cooled by ocean breezes, it's not optional.

So you leave the arcadia doors open to get the breeze at night which probably affects the amount of bugs, at our condo we didn't have screens so anything that wanted to enter did. Although all we ever had problems with was a couple of moths one night.

Actually most people left everything open anytime they were there, even when at the pool or diving locally, we did after the first day, there's virtually no crime there. We only locked the doors at night when we went out. This dutch couple next to us walked around naked all the time and no one seemed to mind. I've heard the beach at Plaza is popular for topless sunbathing also.

I'm sure there's others but the naturalists I know are Jerry Ligon and Michael ?? at Bonaire Dive/Adventure. We did a REEF fish count at Bari Reef with Michael. He's very good at finding/pointing things out, carries one of those etch-a-sketch slates. There's also Dee Scarr, she does semi-private tours. I've heard she does an excellent job.

I've read really good things about the service Esther and Menno provide at DBV, but it is a little removed from most of the activities near town. Which can be a good thing, I'm guessing it's really quiet there. I think they have a smaller boat, if that's an issue for you. Although the water's glass smooth in the mornings so it shouldn't matter.

Most of the good restaurants in Bonaire are either in Kralendijk or located at one of the waterfront resorts and most of the resorts are clustered in an area north of town. Plaza and Divi being the exception to the south. I second Aaron's opinion that the better restaurants are in town. Go to Casablanca, it topped the resort restaurant list in Scubadiving a couple months ago.

One other tip, pay your departure tax($20) before waiting in line to check-in for your flight back. You can't go to the gate without it. It's the little window to your right facing the terminal. And if you want a "Diver's Paradise" license plate, they sell them at the giftshop.

Dive safe,

Steve

last post, PM if you have any other questions.

 

[scubaaaronh]

Dee Scarr at touch the sea is awesome i would dove wioth her any time. It is worth what she charges. She is very knowledgeable on the reefs and critters in the reefs. She actually did a five year project when the government decided to fix the pier in town. When they did this they scraped all the coral and sponge off the pier. Dee and two others spent five years tieing the sponges and coral on to the pier and helping get the coral and sponges replaced on the pier quicker than nature alone would have done. Like i said i would dive with her anytime again. When we go back we are going to do the three dive padi cert with her.

As far as food CASABLANCA's is the meat lovers dream come true. The mixed grill for two was an adventure in itself of flavor. There must have been five pounds of meat there. There was steak beef ribs pork ribs pork chops two different sausages and i think i am missing something, plus salad french fries(i hope you like french fries and rice cause thats what you get everywhere), rice.It was 38 dollars US with each of us having a coke. The t-bone was another adventure another night we were there. Richards is the best for grilled Mahi-Mahi. A little pricy but well worth the money we spent. Old Inn had great subs and burgers for lunch right across from the plaza, and city cafe had the best burger i had ever had downtown. If you are a walker like me town isn't that far from the plaza. Its 3/4 of a mile to the edge of town where the post office is. As far as security it was pretty good we had a villa on the second flor and the people under us left all their dive equipment out everynight at the resort and never had a problem. As a matter of fact most people left most of their equipment out and i never heard of a problem.

As far as being treated well when we arrived the girls at the front counter greet their guests with a glass of fresh and ICE cold fruit Punch, and helped us learn our way around quickly. We had a Laguna view but if you are going there to dive you arent in your room very much anyways, instead of looking at the ocean out your window at the surface we spent most of our time under water exploring.I hope i have helped a little with a little bit of what we learned on the island. I woulw go back and stay at the plaza anytime. If you have any questions just ask and you will find there is a guy named Herman that is almost a native there that is on the boarb and he will answer any question and give you tips on the island.

Oh yeah when you get to the island ask the dive shop for the yellow dive book it is 12.50 US and tells all about the sites and the life you will see there.

 

[socaldiver]

to stay at the Plaza again. We have been there twice now the past couple of years. I am not familiar on how they compare to other places since I have only stayed at the Plaza. But, our stays were very good.

From the time we checked in until we left the staff was friendly and very helpful. The food was decent, if there was a drawback it was the service, but that is how things are on the island and it was not an issue for us.

We had a lagoon view, the housekeeping for us was impeccable, always clean towels and no sign of bugs anywhere within the unit. The rooms are big. You have 2 queen size beds, a dinette table with 4 chairs, a balcony, fridge (although it is a small one) and a huge walkin closet. The restroom is spacious as well.

I have not stayed in a villa, but to me the only advantage would be that you have a kitchen (personally we don't want to cook when we are on vacation) and 2 bedrooms just in case you are traveling with other people and don't want your own space. A 2 bedroom might be good if it is just you and your SO and someone is having a hissy fit.

As far as noise, during the daytime we were out diving so noise wasn't an issue. There were a couple of times at night when we would sit out on the balcony that you would hear the KLM flight either landing or taking off but again it was not LOUD and didn't interefere or disrupt anything.

Either way, I don't think you can go wrong.

 

[Natasha]

Well, I just booked my flight to Bonaire for the end of May (flying to Curacao, actually, since it's quite a bit cheaper and it looks like an easy hop to Bonaire). I think we're going to stay at the Plaza, given the great reviews it seems to get around here.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether it would be better to get a suite or a villa? The cost difference is insignificant. I don't really care about the kitchen - I'm more concerned with which is roomer, nicer, newer, closer to the beach, has a better view, etc.

If anyone thinks there's a better place to stay, I'd also love to hear that. I just scrapped a planned trip to French Polynesia due to the extreme cost, so the prices on Bonaire are looking super dirt cheap and I'm feeling the urge to splurge.

Any other helpful tips on Bonaire would also be appreciated!

Edit: P.S. it's just me and my girlfriend going, so more than one bedroom is not an issue.

Hi D O H

Sorry, I only found this thread today. But, it looks like everyone has given you great info and advice as usual.

Isn't Scubaboard the best?

I have stayed at the Plaza Resort twice, but have sent groups down without me, several times. While 99% of the people involved with these trips came back saying great things, I can only tell you about my experiences.

I have found the Laguna and the ocean view suites (which are the same size and now in the same category) as being very large rooms. All rooms have a mini fridge and a safe. ( The safe is an extra charge..I think 5.oo a day optional)

One of the main reasons I like the Plaza is the fact that I do not need to rent a car while I am there. It would take a lifetime to just see what is at the 18 Palms dive site. There are two entry points to the reef right behind the resort. As I said you could dive there and nowhere else and still not see it all.

Also, the Plaza is 1.5 miles from town. So it's an easy walk to dinner and back every night.
The villas are a bit farther from the beach and I haven't been in them since my first trip down there.
I hope this helped. If you have any more questions feel free to post them.

 

[D_O_H]

Thanks for all the helpful advice, everyone! I think I'll write off the bad tripadvisor.com reviews of the plaza and go for it.

I'll be sure to let everyone know how it went when we get back!

 

[SDAnderson]

Something to remember about the Plaza is that it isn't a super-deluxe American hotel. A large part of whatever reputation it has for excellence comes about because it's the best place on the island when, in fact, it's more of a Hyatt (better, friendlier, but still) than a Ritz. That said, though we usually stay in first class hotels and rarely would submit to a Hyatt, we love the Plaza. We've stayed there a number of times over the years and will continue to do so without hesitation.

First, it's a Dutch operation. Most of staff are either imports from the owners European hotels (they own a mess of them) or locals, in either case they tend to be more reserved than Americans. That's the way of the world. We've found the staff to be good at their jobs and pleasant but less casual than many of us gringos are comfortable with. When the chips are down, they will come through for you, however. 9/11 found us at the Plaza and we will never forget the great pains that the Van der Valks and their staff took to make us feel safe and welcome. If you need casual bonhomie, you'll find it at the beach bar, however. That place is the scene of more goofy good times than should be legal and if you get invited to play volleyball with the staff you can expect some tall, athletic kids to give you a no holds barred drubbing.

Second, it's a Dutch operation. The food is not American and, frankly, the Dutch diet isn't much better than what the English have to suffer through. There's a reason they put reefer in their brownies back in the mother country, but if you develop a taste for fricadelle (I love the stuff, my wife gets green just looking at it) and beer, you'll do fine. The breakfast buffet is a good intro to a different world of food - it's good, it's plentiful, and they have some American stuff there but I'd rather eat European for breakfast any day of the week. The restaurants are decent but not great and who cares? There are a number of terrific places in town that you're going to want to visit, anyway, so it won't matter. We stay in a room with a kitchen in part so that we can fix some of our own meals/snacks and in part so that we can have an excuse to explore some of the oddities of the local markets - no trip to Bonaire is complete without a visit to one of the local groceries.

Third, it's a Dutch operation. You won't find rooms as big as the ones at the Plaza at any American hotel. They're well appointed (though casual - but you'll have sand between your toes anyway) and well maintained and air-conditioned and the housekeeping staff is pleasant, efficient and accomodating. We usually stay in one of the 1BR villas on the back island because I like having two rooms and a kitchen, we also like the privacy and the view of the boats tied up in the harbor. It's a little bit of a walk to the beach or the dive shop, but it's pleasant and a nice chance to stretch the legs. We're only rarely in a hurry to get anywhere while we're there and enjoy the bit of isolation. Over the years we've had the chance to see a number of different rooms and they're all nice, I would hesitate to take one overlooking the pool but the place is laid out well and there aren't any rooms I'd call "bad." As to the bug issue, there are times of year when the noseeums are ubiquitous on the island. Screens do nothing to stop these little ankle biters, so we bring a can of bug killer along (it's $$$ on the island) just in case. One spritz of the room and the bugs are dead and we can go on about our vacation. You'll hear the occasional plane but it's not loud enough to be disruptive and the sight of a 747 gliding in just feet above the water is too cool for words.

The Plaza has one of the few beaches on the island. It's clean and pleasant and the water is warm and clear - close to my definition of happiness. Sometimes the topless gals are a distraction but I think you'll find that your girlfriend will be more than willing to help you learn how to conduct yourself. The diving at 19 Palms isn't the best on the island but it's pretty damn fine. Once you drop over the first bench you'll find the reef is in pretty good shape. There is a terrific eel garden on the second bench and, if you wander away, you'll find the rubble from digging the harbor and the runway at the airport. We've found seahorses on every trip and I usually burn one or two tanks each day exploring the area without disappointment. It's a nice night dive site, too.

We go there to dive and the dive operation at the Plaza is truly first class. The staff is excellent, the shop is nice, the boats are terrific and the dive sites are wonderful. I've never heard anyone say otherwise and, based upon years of experience, wouldn't believe them if they did. We usually sign up for the morning two-tank which leaves the afternoon free for another boat ride, some shore diving or exploring the island. Evenings are for night diving or dining in town.

We've never stayed in any of the other hotels on the island and keep telling ourselves that we should. Over the years we have, however, visited virtually all of them more than once and have never found a place that we liked better than the Plaza. It's largely a matter of style: people especially susceptible to culture shock might be happier elsewhere, likewise anyone wanting frat-house casual should look at other options. If, on the other hand, you think the idea of meeting and diving with people from all over the world is for you and are prepared to return home with some new time-zone impaired friendships, you'll probably love the Plaza.