OK, first things first - arrivals! The airport was a bit rough around the edges, and there were clear signs of construction work being done. The taxi driver we found to take us to the hotel was really friendly, called Axel ("like from Beverley Hills Cop") as we were reminded. Chogogogogogogo (!) was quite pretty, but looked inferior to the two surrounding resorts. Our 2-bedroom bungalow was very spacious, even for 4 of us. As other reviews mention there were mosquito nets provided and they were essential for a good nights sleep. There were some language problems, due to the local language being Papamango (I think), and most people having Dutch as a second language. Most people spoke some English, however. The pool was the highlight, featuring two levels, a waterfall with a shelf under it to sit on. During our stay it was never uncomfotably busy. The Zanzibar restaurant near the hotel served very good food, although there was a bit of a wait at busy times. The restaurant in the hotel was disappointing. The beach was not like traditional beaches, but instead was a metre above the water, on top of a concrete "shelf". There were plenty of steps going down, however, and the sand met the sea for a very short stretch at one end of the beach. There is a nice pontoon about 50m from the beach, very good for jumping from, just don't try swimming under it - there are anenomies living on the underside and the securing chains, and it is surprisingly easy to get stung by them! Car Hire is easy from the hotel, and allowed us to explore other beaches. Most beaches charge to get in, and amenities are generally limited (few beaches even have toilets). The snorkelling is reasonable, particularly in Jan Thiel Bay, however most of the coral very near the beach was dead or damaged, so you have to make a short swim around the corner to find living coral and exotic fish. We only ventured into Willemstad once, and did not stay very long, as we did not feel particularly safe, partly due to large number of drug dealers openly offering their wares on many streets. At night there are helicopters and armed warships (!) patrolling the coast. After returning to the UK, we discovered that Curacao is one of the main corridors for drugs being smuggled from South America to Europe, via Amsterdam. As we flew back to the UK via Amsterdam, we were stopped and searched at the airport. This added a delay of about an hour on top of the normal baggage collection etc, and nearly resulted in us missing our connecting flight. BE SURE TO LEAVE PLENTY OF TIME BETWEEN ARRIVING IN AMSTERDAM AND CATCHING THE PLANE BACK TO THE UK! It was a generally good holiday, but we would probably not return again, because for the price we have been to better Carribbean islands, for instance the Dominican Republic.

After reading some of the earlier reviews we were a big unsure of what to expect, but we found this place absolutely perfect for a holiday with two young kids. Bungalows are minimalistic, which is very practical for us. They are very well equipped but a microwave & toaster would have been good. We have been here a week now and have not seen a single mosquito, so appears that the mossie problem is seasonal (i.e. wet season). The pool area is fantastic for everyone, particularly kids with lots of other young kids and water toys to play with. Only problem was that only bedrooms have air-conditioning and main living area has ceiling fans which are not really enough, however, we spent most evenings on the deck with awesome sea breezes to cool you down. Villas are surrounded by gardens and visited by a wide variety of colourful birds including a hummingbird. All the staff have been very friendly, organised and helpful. Jan Theil Beach is just a few minutes walk and has a really cool Morrocan style beach restaurant with great pizzas and tapas, also boats to hire, nice corals to snorkel/scuba dive over and a small water play area. Overall, we rarely return to the same place more than once but this may be an exception.

We spent a week at Chogogo. We absolutely loved the bungalows. We had a two bedroom bungalow. It was spacious and clean. The kitchen was small but contained everything we needed. There was a tv and a stereo, airconditioning in the bedrooms which we turned on during the day and switched off at night and a fan in the living room. The deck was huge. The staff was friendly and efficient.

But .... here are the reasons why we would never go back. The swimming pool area is too small for us. We have a 10-year old son who likes to splash around and we had the feeling that we had to tell him to be quiet all the time because the pool as well as the deck was so small and it seemed to be a place where children are merely tolerated .. The restaurant and bar is nice for a drink but the food is at snack level.

The beach is indeed a short walk down the road but I cannot understand how people can call this 'absolutely wonderful' ! We thought it was hideous. It is not a beach but a concrete deck filled with a thin layer of sand ! You have to enter the water by metal steps that were not attached to the concrete too well. There is only a very narrow area where there is actually a normal beach and the sand was very dirty with bottles, cans, bits of paper... The four poster beds had dirty torn apart matresses. I wouldn't want to touch them let alone lay down on them. The restaurant and bar area is quite nice but as a whole the beach area needs to be 'restyled' urgently. We went there once, it was a big disappointment, we went for a short swim, had something to eat in the restaurant and decided not to come back to that beach.

If you do not like the Jan Thiel Beach you have a problem.... you need to rent a car and drive to one of the other beaches... and you need to get there early in the morning or else there are no beds left and certainly no beds in the shade.. You have to pay an entrance fee on every beach. We though Porto Marie was a nice beach. We went there early in the morning and found a quiet place in the shade for the three of us. We paid for the beds and the umbrella only to find that after our short snorkeling trip a whole family with lots of children (birthday party) had gathered under 'our' umbrella ! They had just placed their own chairs around our beds ...

We used our rental car to drive around the island and in fact there is not much to see. Some of the beaches are nice but the beaches we've seen in Mexico, the Dominican Republik, Thailand, Indonesia, ... are nicer. You can walk around the city for an hour or two but there is not much there... And then there are the Hato Caves, the National Park, Seaquarium, ... Not really worth the trip but hey you have to do something to spend time on Curacao.

We'll never go back. That's for sure...

We spent a week at the Chogogo Resort in December 2004 and my experience is a mixture of the reports left here previously:

Yes, the beach is further away than promised - about 5-7 minute walk, depending on where your accommodation is...
BUT the beach is gorgeous, with wonderful snorkelling and diving, and is quite child friendly with water canons and slides. The food at the restaurant is quite nice as well (I especially recommend their dessert of brownie with caramel ice cream!) and the four poster beds dotted thoughout the beach, where you can have a nap with your child is a very very nice touch! And the sunsets from here are spectacular!!!

No, there are NO window screens in any of the accommodations and there are ALOT of quite ferocious bugs on the island!
BUT making sure to always carry bug spray with you everywhere takes care of that (and don't wait until your second day when you are completely disfigured with large red welts everywhere before getting some, like I did!!) And there is a bug net over the bed, so there are no worries whilst sleeping.

Yes, the lightbulbs are quite dim and come sunset, it does get quite glum inside.

We stayed at one of the apartments on the ground floor. It was adequate, but lacking... Our apartment had a distinct mouldy smell to it, which was quite unpleasant. We tried to keep the shutters open during the day, to make the most of the trade winds, but during our weekly stay it was very humid and the wind seemed a breeze at best.
After seeing what you get from a bungalow, I think it might be worth the extra money getting that instead. Having a dishwasher would have been nice for example... And there are ceiling fans, which we sorely missed in our apartment.
The breakfast at the restaurant is quite alright for the price - $10, but the quick lunch we grabbed in a moment of urgent hunger was okay, but nothing more.

Some other points to make:
There are buses into town (about one every hour in any direction really!), which the resort will give you free tickets for.
When we notified the resort that the air conditioning unit had started to leak quite a bit of water during the night, it was fixed almost immediately.
When we expressed an interest in seeing more of Curacao with a jeep tour, the reception staff got us in contact with Henri, who gave us a wonderful private tour of the island.
The laundry room is very convenient, with a cost of about 10 Guilders (about $5-6)