We visited Barcelo Aruba in early February 2017. I found the hotel and grounds to be nice , comfortable and clean. The service was good and our room was clean , we had plenty of towels and the bed was comfortable. I found the buffet options to be just average while the other dining option were quite good. Kyoto, the Japanese restaurant was very good and the service was commendable. The Italian and Seafood restaurants were also good and offered alfresco dining. There were however a few shortcomings. The lack of a bar to service the beach area puts a strain on the pool bar . Actually the pool and lobby are the only two places to get a drink . The buffet did run short on some items especially later in the serving time. No bacon one morning, out of hot dogs one day at lunch. I don't like to waste food but really thing it would not cost too much to put out a few pounds of bacon or hot dogs. And I can't believe you can't get a Bloody Mary or Mojito at the bars. They do offer Bloody Mary makings at the breakfast buffet but not at the bars. But I was surprised that they never had mint for Mojitos. The place is a bit small and that limits the number of palapa are available at the beach as well as loungers by the pool. Be prepared to get up before dawn to steak your claim. Overall we had a fun time and Barcelo Aruba offers a fair experience for the budget minded. For those looking for a higher end experience I might recommend skipping the all inclusive route.

Room was very nice clean.
Loved the beach very clean, walking the beach for miles was wonderful, can either walk on sidewalk or walk along the beach. The pool was nice relaxing, although people know the routine and claim chairs at 6am, so you snooze you loose. I loved the many different types of iguanas/lizards that sunbath on the rocks near the pool - nothing to be afraid of they just cool and lazy and interesting to watch!
Watch the drinks at the beach bar they are really powerful!
We did get to meet Cesar, the bartender at the Lounge bar, he is a very nice guy, he is very popular, we were sitting at the bar when a couple came in to say to hello to him, they were staying at another hotel but he left such an impression on them from previous vacation they came back to say hello.
He makes wonderful drinks have a Miami Vice - really good!
I wish I had asked more names, but the bartenders, wait staff, security guards, & housekeeping all wonderful happy people, never missed a chance to greet and say hello!
Food was ok, nothing too special, we ate at buffet morning and evening. We did eat at the Japanese, Italian, and Steak and seafood - Steak and seafood was very good, we had a waitress her name was Dani maybe? - she was very, very, hard working and sweet.
But I can honestly say we had all good experience with staff.
We had intentions of being a little more adventurous on our 5 day visit,but unfortunately we had not prepared for the intense sun on our 1st and did not properly lather on sunscreen on 1st day, so we didn't do as many activities in the sun as we had originally planned.
We did shop, walk, and check out the pool bar and local bars along the beach.
We also went on Inland morning fishing trip, with Arufishing.com, Mario was our fishing guide, we just went out from 7am to 10:30, something my husband really wanted to do.
We fished close to shore, which meant you could see bottom, so there was no getting seasick. Went with my husband and a father and his son - We all caught a lot of fish!
We shopped along the beach and across the street all very friendly people!
We did go with a large automotive group, the location was picked for us, so I guess you could say it was a business trip? But we were free to do whatever we wanted.
The weather was very warm and humid, but there was always a breeze - so don't worry too much about your hair, it probably wont stay in place, just go with it.

Overall, a very very good place to stay. We spent 10 days at the resort for our anniversary trip. The location is excellent. Best spot on Palm Beach in my opinion. Convenient to all restaurants and shopping and close enough to walk to both piers where the excursions depart. The rooms were super clean and comfortable. We wanted a king bed, but had two queen so,the staff came right up and put them together for us. Food was good always plenty of choices at the buffet and seating was always available. Staff is really friendly. We spend most of our time at the pool. We made sure that towels were in place by 6:45 am to get our seats. It is harder to get a great spot on the beach, but we were happy just walking down to swim. We ate at three of the special restaurants, the two best for us were the Italian and the Japanese. MINDY was a joy at the Kyoto. We heard people complaining about this or,that but honestly if you are expecting gourmet food at an all inclusive you are in the wrong place. Everything else was awesome and really Aruba in February should be enough for anyone. Great weather great people .