Arriving at this hotel we were optimistic and glad to be anywhere in Aruba escaping from Illinois in the winter. By day three we have been extremely unsatisfied with our bathtub which leaked every time we showered forcing us to cover the floor in towels that the hotel was very hesitant at giving us a fresh pear in exchange for out wet dirty ones. Anyway even though it was after hours of the towel service they refused to give us more when my son had to go swimming at a watermark the next morning with no clean dry towels. There janitors couldn't fix the problem so the next day part of it was spent moving all of our unpacked cloths and food was moved to another room with a filthy kitchen downstairs. Sure there's a nice pool and some hotel workers our nice unneeded stress has been added onto our vacation enough for me to be writing this in the middle of it. Go to la cabana across the street overlooking the beach or any other hotel on the island, I am unsatisfied and frustrated on my vacation, time to just take a deep breath and live on with the problems I am facing.

the newly renovated rooms are a great improvement. We love the pool area. Great poolside bar and grill. The nearby beach (across the street) is great. Near several nice restaurants. They work working on adding a casino last year. We've stayed several times. 20 min walk to the high rise area or short cab ride.

The Tropicana was as we had expected. The resort does need updating and you can see that they are trying. The exterior of the buildings are being painted and they are cleaning other exterior railings and buildings. The pools are clean and the slide is fun. The jacuzzi was clean but we wished it had been hotter. It is quiet compared to La Cabana because the amount of people at the Tropicana is a lot less. The toaster oven and stove were really dirty. Housekeeping came inspected them and took care of it. They replaced the drip trays and rack in the toaster over. They cleaned it all and it looked much better. The refrigerator did have a water leak so we left a towel on the floor to absorb the moisture. Housekeeping did a good job cleaning the room every day after that. We knew that it needed updating before we booked. It really wasn't a problem. The weather is fantastic the beach is a short walk through La Cabana. Eagle Beach is so beautiful and the water was great. The new Casino is nice. We have a burger there and it was real good. You still have a great vacation the island of Aruba is awesome. I can't wait to go back again. I would stay here again I am sure it will get better.

My husband and I have just returned after a week's vacation (January 14 - 21, 2012) at the Tropicana. It IS an older hotel, undergoing renovations, but our room was quite large, very clean, with a separate bedroom, large bathroom, and a living room/kitchen that met all our needs. Closet space was more than adequate.

The staff was very friendly, and helpful. We asked for two repairs which were done within 15 minutes (replace filter on AC, and fix light in the bathroom). They answered any questions we had (where was the best seafood?) and seemed to genuinely care about us.

The pool was very clean. Unlike other reviewers, we saw them vacuuming the pool on at least three occasions (we did not always get up early!).

The casino was open, and is very small. But the drinks were free, and frequent, and on Thursday evening they had a Ladies Night with free champagne, free manicures, and a blackjack tournament. I understand that will be an ongoing activity.

We only went to the beach at La Cabana one day. Very crowded. We had rented a car, and spent most of our beach time north of the high rise area snorkeling and enjoying Malmok, a very quiet beach where you could rent beach chairs, watch the lizards and birds, and swim to your heart's content.

Having a car, what we really liked about the Trop was its location. We were sort of equidistant between Oranjestad, and the high rise hotel area. Grocery stores were within 5 minutes (go to Lings) and the flea market on Saturday and Sunday was also very close, and full of great buys.

Our room was on the fifth floor - whenever we came or went, we could look out on the ocean, and see the California Lighthouse in the distance.

We would definitely return here - we feel it can only get better as the renovations progress. Great value for the price.