The St. Regis Aruba Resort is the hotel people ask us about once they have priced the Ritz-Carlton and want to know whether the newer name down the beach is the better buy. It opened in January 2025 as the first St. Regis on the island, and it arrived with the brand's first casino and a rooftop restaurant from chef Akira Back.
We are a local team, and we have not stayed here as review guests, so this is not a claimed overnight stay. It is a local-knowledge assessment: what the resort is, where it stands on Palm Beach, what the published facts and nearly two years of guest feedback agree on, and who should spend the money somewhere else. The facts about the resort below were each checked against at least two sources in November 2026, and where we lean on one reviewer's judgment we say whose it is. If you want the wider field first, our best hotels in Aruba pillar maps every category.
Three details further down that most readers scroll past.
The short answer
The St. Regis Aruba is worth it if you want newly built, full-service luxury on Palm Beach: 252 rooms, 52 of them suites, with six pools, six places to eat and drink, a spa, a kids club, butler service and a casino. It suits couples, and families with older children, who care more about design, pools and dinner than about a wide beach.
It is not the right pick if you want one prepaid price. The St. Regis is not all-inclusive: rooms are sold room only, and breakfast, dinner and drinks are billed as you go. It is also one of the most expensive stays on the island, a nightly resort fee sits on top of the rate, and it is not an adults-only hotel.
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What the St. Regis Aruba actually is
This is a new building, not a rebrand. Marriott International opened it in January 2025 as the first St. Regis in Aruba, which makes it a corporate sibling of the Ritz-Carlton and the Aruba Marriott at the far northern end of the same beach. The resort has 252 rooms, 52 of them suites. That is big next to the island's boutiques and small for a Palm Beach flagship: the Ritz-Carlton has around 320 rooms and the Hyatt Regency roughly 360.
What you are paying for is the St. Regis formula in a Caribbean setting. Butler service is part of the stay. The brand's evening ritual, a champagne sabering, happens daily at the St. Regis Bar, which also serves afternoon tea and a house Bloody Mary called the Bon Bini Mary. Around that sit a spa, a fitness center, a kids club, and the first casino the St. Regis brand has opened anywhere, with slot machines and table games. One detail both smokers and non-smokers should know: the resort lists itself as smoke-free, and reviewers who stayed report that includes the casino.
The part that surprises people is the bill. It runs the way the Ritz-Carlton does: the room rate buys the room, and every breakfast, dinner and drink is a separate line. If you are used to Aruba's all-inclusive resorts, budget differently here, and read the resort fee line on your quote before you compare it with anything else.
The location: near the southern end of Palm Beach
The address is J.E. Irausquin Boulevard 75 E in Noord. The St. Regis is beachfront near the southern end of the Palm Beach high-rise strip, between the Divi Aruba Phoenix and the Riu Palace Antillas, with the Riu Palace and the Hilton next along the sand. That is the opposite end of the beach from the Ritz-Carlton: the two stand about 2.1 kilometres (1.3 miles) apart in a straight line.
The position cuts both ways. You are a little removed from the busiest middle of the strip, where the Hyatt Regency and the Barcelo stand roughly 750 to 850 metres further up the beach, and you can still walk to the restaurants, shops and casinos along the boulevard. You are not in a quiet corner of the island, though. This is still Palm Beach, the most built-up coast in Aruba, with a hotel on either side and a public beach in front, as every beach here is public by law.
From the airport, the official taxi fare to the St. Regis is $40 for up to four passengers, $5 more on Sundays, holidays and at night. Fares in Aruba are set by a government tariff, not a meter, so that figure does not depend on the driver. Our taxi rates guide has the rest.
The rooms
There are 252 keys, 52 of them suites, roughly one in five. Standard rooms are sold by what they look at: pool view, partial ocean view, ocean view and oceanfront, and the published room types come with a balcony. The look is pale and ocean-toned, neutrals over bright Caribbean colour. Published reviews praise it, and one group of advisors who stayed points travellers who prefer classic Caribbean styling to the Hyatt Regency or the Ritz-Carlton instead.
Two things to check before you pay. First, the view category: the difference between a pool view and an oceanfront room is the main thing your money is choosing, so compare those two prices on your own dates. Second, whether a suite is worth the jump. With one key in five a suite, they are a real option here, and a family that needs a separate living room should price one against two standard rooms.
Dining
The resort counts six places to eat and drink. The headline is Akira Back, the rooftop restaurant from the Michelin-starred chef of the same name, serving Japanese food with Korean influences, steak and sushi. It takes reservations from people who are not staying at the resort, so it is also a dinner you can book from any other hotel.
The rest of the line-up has already changed once, which matters when you read older reviews. At opening the main ground-floor restaurant was Eskama, which 2025 reviews describe as Caribbean or Mediterranean. The resort's own dining page now lists La Florentina New York, a modern Italian restaurant, in that role, alongside Sachi Sushi Bar, the St. Regis Bar, Nuba by the pool and the beach, and the Grano Cafe for coffee and pastries.
Two honest notes. Breakfast is not part of the standard rate: the resort lists it for a fee, so a family eating three meals a day on property will feel it. And you are not locked in. The Hilton, the two Riu resorts and the restaurants of the high-rise strip are a walk or a short taxi away, and our dining guide has the local tables we would spend that money on.
The beach and the pools
There is no road to cross: the resort stands on the sand side of the boulevard, with direct access to the beach. What you should not expect is a wide, empty beach. Travel advisors who stayed in 2026 described the beach in front of the resort as noticeably less crowded than the sand in front of the bigger hotels, and also as not as wide. If the beach itself is the point of your trip, Eagle Beach is the wider, quieter one, and our Eagle Beach vs Palm Beach guide explains the difference.
The pools are where this resort makes its case. There are six of them, by Travel + Leisure's count and by guests' own, including a separate adults-only pool, a children's pool and infinity edges, with private cabanas to rent. The same advisors named the pools, together with the less crowded beach, among the most compelling reasons to choose the St. Regis. It takes all ages, so expect children at the family pools, especially in school holidays, and use the adults-only pool if that matters to you.
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The catch
Four things come up again and again in what guests and reviewers have published since the resort opened.
The price, and the fee on top. This is one of the most expensive hotels in Aruba. When it opened, One Mile at a Time found rates from a little over $800 a night in the low season to more than $1,200 in peak winter, including a $90 nightly resort fee and before taxes, and The Points Guy later put standard rooms at roughly $731 to $1,308 a night. Those are published 2025 figures, not a quote. Check the live rate for your own dates, and read what the resort fee is on your booking before you compare totals.
Everything on property is priced to match. It is not all-inclusive, breakfast is extra, and guest reviews on TripAdvisor and Expedia describe the resort as very expensive once you are on it, resort fee included. If you want one number for the week, the Riu Palace or another of Aruba's all-inclusive resorts is the structure you are looking for.
It is still a young hotel. Guest ratings are more mixed than the brand name suggests. On Google the St. Regis stood at 4.2 out of 5 from 323 reviews when we read it on November 14, 2026, against 4.6 for the Ritz-Carlton, and some guest reviews on TripAdvisor say the experience does not yet match the price. The restaurant line-up has already changed once. None of that is unusual for a hotel this new, but you are paying a mature price for it.
The beach is not the headline. You are on Palm Beach, with a hotel on either side, on sand the advisors quoted above found less crowded but not as wide. The pools are the reason to come. If you would trade them for more sand, this is the wrong address.
Who should pick something else
Families with young children who want slides and a full day of activities. The St. Regis has a kids club and a children's pool, but the Hyatt Regency, with its two-story waterslide pool, is built harder around keeping kids busy, and our Aruba family resorts roundup compares the rest.
Anyone who wants no children at all. Bucuti & Tara on Eagle Beach is strictly 18 and over, and our adults-only hotels guide lists the others.
Beach-first travellers. If the sand matters more than the pool, look at Eagle Beach, where Bucuti & Tara and Manchebo sit directly on a wider beach.
Luxury shoppers who want the proven version. The Ritz-Carlton has the longer track record, the quieter northern end of the same beach, and the higher guest rating on Google when we read both. We set the two side by side here, with Agoda's rate for the same week at both, and the St. Regis also has pages against the Marriott, the Hyatt Regency and Bucuti & Tara.
Bottom line
The St. Regis Aruba gives the top of Palm Beach a second answer. If you want modern, full-service luxury with six pools, a rooftop restaurant from a name chef, butler service and a casino on site, and you are comfortable paying for every meal on top of one of the island's highest room rates, it fits. If you want a wide beach, an adults-only mood, one prepaid price or a hotel with years of settled service behind it, pick something else, and price the Ritz-Carlton against it before you decide either way.
Not sure which end of Aruba's hotel market is yours? Browse the full picture on our where to stay hub, see live options on the book your stay page, or tell our local team your dates and priorities on the trip planner and we will point you to the right fit.
For the full island-wide picture of where to stay, start with our guide to the best hotels in Aruba.
