Rum Journal: The Best Lobby Bar in Aruba

It’s been quiet, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Over the last few years, Marriott has been on a push to redefine the Caribbean hotel lobby — to make it a place worth congregating, a place worth admiring, a place, well, worth drinking in.

And it’s succeeded.

From San Juan to Cayman, the company has made its lobbies some of the coolest in the Caribbean — all centered around a terrific lobby bar.

The lobby at the Aruba Marriott

And that’s especially true at its hotel in Aruba, where the Great Room Bar at the Aruba Marriott isn’t just a great lobby bar, it’s the best lobby bar of any hotel on the whole island.

That’s due to a number of factors — beautiful design, great service, huge TVs that make for great theater (and a place to watch a sporting event) and the general atmosphere cultivated by the lobby, which has been turned into a kind of, yes, Great Room, filled with travelers on laptops, hobnobbing guests and, of course, cocktail enthusiasts.

And it also means some great cocktails, led by the Aruba Ariba, a blend of 10 Cane Rum, Grey Goose Vodka, Grand Marnier, Banana Liqeueur, fruit punch and a dash of CoeCoei, Aruba’s locally-produced liqueur.

It’s the island’s signature cocktail, and it’s fittingly served in the island’s signature lobby bar.

— CJ