Jamaica Jim's Resort Report -- Breezes Curacao

In the following review, I want to convey to the reader some of my thoughts and impressions about Breezes Curacao.  At the outset let me state unequivocally that -- of all the resorts where I have stayed, on all the various islands I've visited in the Caribbean -- SuperClubs' Breezes Resort on Curacao ranks extremely high with me. 

Some messages I had seen posted on the Internet castigated the management and railed against the resort for being less than expected.  Despite the majority of these, I feel such complaints to be basically a product of some visitors' expectations exceeding what more experienced Caribophiles would expect to find at the resort.  Most of the complaints I read also seemed to be unwarranted, to say the least, particularly in light of the fact that the resort's rather recent opening in December, 2001 (two months prior to my visit to the resort in March, 2002, and now six months ago-- June, 2002 -- as I write this resort review). 

I would also like to point out that the following isn't intended as a "whitewash" of SuperClubs, the resort, the management or the staff.  I have been friends with a number of SuperClubs' management and staff personnel over the years, and this "resort review" is in no way an attempt to say anything for their benefit or to curry favor with them.  Quite the contrary, I have here attempted to provide an honest review of the resort, from my own personal prospective.  If anyone disagrees with what I've said below or feels that it disagrees with their opinions of the resort, I can only say that the following are my personal observations and I stand by them.

I have of course read about desert islands in books but -- until a recent trip to the Caribbean -- I had only the vaguest of ideas what such places were truly like.  In Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, I found that under the listing for desert, the following is the dictionary definition…

n  [ME. Fr. OF, fr. LL desertum, fr. L, neut. OF desertus]  1  a : arid barren land; esp: a tract incapable of supporting any considerable population without
artificial water supply  b : an area of water devoid of life   2  archaic : a wild uninhabited and uncultivated tract   3 : a desolate or forbidding area

While most islands I've visited before abound with teeming tropical plants, the skimpy moisture found on Curacao tends to foster only dry weather plants.  There are numerous varieties of cactus and other succulents such as the aloe plant, as well as the local scrubby divi-divi trees -- with their characteristic bent shape, due to the constancy of the prevailing easterly trade winds.  These few tend to be about the only vegetation that is indigenous to the area, while green grass is in very short supply.  The same easterly winds tend to also keep this arid island cool, so that the visitor doesn't feel nearly as hot as on the other, more northerly islands of the Caribbean. 

It was to Curacao that my wife and I headed in March of 2002, on our first ever visit to the Netherlands Antilles.  And, it was to prove to be a delightful getaway -- there was absolutely no precipitation during the entire trip.  However, there was an abundance of sunshine -- and lots of it -- every single day, since the three island archipelago lies so close to the northern coast of South America, and so close to the equator.  A second reason for the low precipitation is that the island is located far south of the Caribbean's traditional tropical storm track, which brings severe weather to the more northerly islands.  For vacationers who are avowed sun worshippers, Curacao (and the other islands of the "ABCs" -- Aruba and Bonaire) is a premiere place to visit.

Again turning to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, it lists the following as the definition of oasis…

n  [LL, fr. Gk] (1613)  1 : a fertile or green area in an arid region  2  :  something providing
relief from boring or dreary routine : REFUGE

Personally, I found Breezes Curacao to be a real refuge on one of the very few very arid places I have visited in my journeys around the Caribbean Basin.  And this resort provides its guests with real relief from the otherwise boring and dreary landscape that surrounds it on three sides -- the remaining side looks out on the azure warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.

Traveling to Curacao

I had been following various messages posted on the Internet about Breezes since its opening in mid December, 2001.  There had been some less than glowing reports about the start-up problems encountered there by the new management.  We decided that we wanted to see for ourselves, since we had seen and/or stayed as guests at a number of the other SuperClubs resorts.  In addition, we wanted to have an opportunity to see what the ABCs had to offer -- and provide us with the ability to compare them to our experiences on the other islands we have visited.

We (or rather my wife, Nina!) wanted to use some "free" airline tickets, "to go as far as we could," since the tickets covered anywhere in the Caribbean.  (We had received vouchers for free tickets on US Airways by taking a voluntary bump on a prior trip to Jamaica.)  It was also her idea to go to "a new island" -- and she decided she wanted that to be Aruba.  I told her that, since we would be so close to the other two ABC islands, it just made sense to visit them as well and she agreed.  We're both glad we did visit all three -- it afforded us a wonderful opportunity to add these to the already extensive number of Caribbean islands we have visited.

Our flight was perfect -- a Airbus 300 nonstop from Charlotte to Aruba.  The total flying time was about three and a half hours and the flight path took us down along Florida's east coast, out across the southern Bahamas, across the Dominican Republic and over the vast expanse of the Caribbean Sea direct to Aruba. 

Upon arrival in Aruba, we cleared immigration and customs and immediately went to the departure gate for our scheduled DCA (Dutch Caribbean Airline)) flight to that day's final destination of Curacao.  The flight was uneventful, since only a few miles separate Curacao from Aruba, and we arrived in the late afternoon.  The resort representatives for Breezes Curacao had closed their welcoming desk, but a telephone call to the resort quickly brought a staff member in the resort's van and we were whisked away to the resort.

GENERAL  - The "ABCs" on the ABCs

The comments that one makes about any of the ABCs could equally well address the other two islands, with the exception of the physical size of the three islands.  All three share an extremely arid climate, due to their location just off of the Venezuelan coast of South America, and only 12 degrees from the equator. 

(For additional information about Curacao, see my

BREEZES - History of the Property

Breezes Curacao was formerly known as the Princess Beach Resort and Casino, and prior to the change was operated as a Holiday Crowne Plaza Resort.  The property is the largest single resort on Curacao, with its three hundred and twenty-plus room units.  With a management change in 2001, when SuperClubs (a Kingston based resort company) was given a contract to manage the property, the property was officially opened under SuperClubs' highly successful Breezes brand name.  It became the second largest of the SuperClubs properties anywhere in the Caribbean (it's sister resort, Breezes Bahamas, has four hundred rooms).

FAMILY FRIENDLY

Breezes is a "family friendly" resort, the only one under the Breezes banner (other than Breezes Brazil), since the others in Jamaica and the one in the Bahamas are adults only.  The Curacao resort caters to couples and singles, as well as welcoming families. 

As an aside, I just saw that between June and October 2002, children under 13 stay, play and eat free!  In a press release, Breezes Curacao announced in late May that kids under 13 are accommodated free (one per paying parent) during the months of June, July, August September and October!  Not bad deal at all, if you ask Yours Truly! 

CHECK IN

As I stated above, we had a short wait to be transported from Curacao International Airport to the resort.  However, a van driven by a staff member picked us up and we had our first views of the island while we were in route to the resort.  Upon arrival, our bags were unloaded and we were quickly -- and efficiently -- served by the main desk staff.  Upon assignment to our room, went to the bar for a cooling cocktail while our luggage was placed in our room by the bell staff.

FACILITIES

The resort consists of a collection of buildings housing the guest rooms and a large casino -- the largest on the island.  There is also an assortment of support facilities, including the two free standing bars and the newly built disco on the southerly end of the property (with the scuba dive shack on the far side). 

To provide for the sports conscious guests, Breezes has included or added the following amenities...

• An air conditioned gum, 
• A health spa, 
• An ice skating rink -- the first in the ABCs (with a plastic surface that is supposed to mimic real ice!), 
• A rock climbing wall, a complete "circus" layout including trampolines and trapezes, and
• An assortment of children oriented activity areas.

As an aside, we did take one tour.  One day we signed up for a snorkeling excursion.  It ended up being simply a car excursion up to Santa Martha Bay, where the former Coral Cliff Resort and Beach Club was located, but nowadays (for the last two years) that place is called Sunset Waters and is the only other all Inclusive resort on the island.  The tour proved to be simply a boat ride to five nearby beaches.  On arrival at one beach, the "captain" of the outboard boat anchored and we had an opportunity to snorkel the sheltered bay.  It was "okay" and we did get to see some of the island we might not have otherwise seen.  However, the trip was a bit pricey, for what it offered.

Bert Knubben with one of his babies!

Bert with another bird

Bert's Babies

ACCOMMODATIONS
 

The resort consists of mostly two and three story buildings facing the beach or looking out on the interior garden areas.  There is a newer multi-story building which was built in 1993, and rooms in it are the more sought after by returning guests.  However, most of the older accommodations were refurbished before the property became a Breezes resort.  These older rooms are more than adequate -- by Caribbean standards -- with either a king bed or two double beds.  In addition, all of the older rooms are beach front opening directly on to beach patios or beach view having balconies overlooking the beach.
 
 

View of Main Pool & Royal Tower

Flamingo Wing and Pool

Our accommodations were located in one of the older buildings -- the Plover Wing -- on the second floor just to the left of the dining area, coming from the lobby.  The room was nice and better than many we have stayed in around the Caribbean.  It consisted of a "Holiday Inn" style room, which was faintly reminiscent of a 1980's stateside motel room.  The room we had, had two queen size beds, a table and two chairs, as well as a long chest-of-drawers and a settee.  It also had a television connected to the resort satellite dish.  The bathroom was on somewhat small in size, with a shower only, and the lighting left something to be desired. 
 
 

View of Plover Building Beach Front

View of Beach in front of Plover Blbg

View of Beach and  Bar From Balcony

However, the balcony was definitely a plus -- it over looked the beach and afforded a wonderful view out across the water and its encircling reef.  It had a couple of lounges, which provided us with a semi private place to sun.

DINING OPTIONS

Breezes has five separate dining venues:

• The open air "Jimmy's Buffet" dining room
• The casual elegance of the ala carte Pastafari Italian restaurant (dinner only and reservations required, also gentlemen are asked to wear collared shirts)
• The Munahana Japanese restaurant's casual atmosphere (dinner only and reservations required)
• The Beach Grill, for hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.
• The SuperKids SnackBar, for light snacks and refreshments geared toward the younger guests.

We found the food in the main buffet dining area to be a decided cut above many all inclusive resorts we have visited.  There was a large selection of dishes at every meal and we never felt that we were not able to find something to satisfy our fancy.  Table service was excellent and the wait staff did a marvelous job of removing plates immediately after we were finished with them.  Likewise, waiters and waitresses were always quick to ask if we needed our glasses filled.  All in all, we were completely satisfied with the buffet area meals.

As an aside, I heard soon after arriving that the chef at Breezes was named "Jeff" and I was happy to hear that an old friend had been selected to serve in this capacity.  (I was familiar with Jeff from my visits to Hedonism III, another SuperClubs' resort in Jamaica.  To find that he was now working at Breezes Curacao was a plus, in my opinion.) 

On my second day at breakfast, I inquired of a slightly older fellow working behind the line, "Is Jeff, the chef, working this morning?"  He replied, "I'm Jeff!"  When I told him that he wasn't the Jeff I was looking for, he replied, "Oh, you must mean Little Jeff -- I'm Big Jeff!"  It seems that he had been the one who had originally trained my friend Jeff and he -- Big Jeff -- had relocated to the assignment at Breezes Curacao as Food Service Manager, from his former assignment at Breezes Bahamas.  I'll say this -- Jeff is definitely doing something right, where it counts -- in all of the various restaurants!

Pastafari Restaurant We had occasion to dine in the Pastafari Restaurant two evenings -- and both times the menu was excellent, and the meals were superior.  Wait service was superb and we were most pleased with the entire experience both times.       Munahana Japanese Restaurant

Nina and JJ eat at Pastafari Restaurant

We didn't partake of the Japanese cuisine, but the restaurant itself is well located between the main pool area and the multi story building.  From comments by guests who did dine there, we were given to understand that the meals were well prepared, efficiently served and the Oriental ambiance contributed to an overall excellent evening dining experience.

Beach Grill

The Beach Grill provided extremely good snack fare -- its hamburgers far surpassed those we have had at other resorts on other islands -- and were as scrumptious as we could want.  In addition, this beach venue offers other "fast food" items such as hot dogs and French fries, as well as other, less "fast" fare.

Kids Snack Bar

This was a surprise, but a most welcome one, I must say.  Having a separate facility for children provided them with their very own place to go for snacks and tended to make the more adult areas somewhat "child free" which could be a plus, depending on how well -- or how bad -- the children were behaved.  For myself, I didn't really experience and "children -- from Hell" but found that the ones at Breezes when we were there to be above the average in deportment and decorum -- while we were there.

As an aside, the whole area somewhat set aside for the children was well planned and laid out.  In addition to the Snack Bar, there was also a separate "bar" for kids shaped like a sailing ship, replete with a bow and main deck, where there was a bar.  (While we were at Breezes, we didn't see this bar in operation, but believe it to be a super place for kids to "hang out.")  It pointed toward a small island set within the main man-made reef, and it was an easy wade to it.  We did see some youngsters on the island, playing together.  And, after all, that's what a vacation is for, for kids -- enjoying playing together.

There was also an arcade area, with a number of video games for the older teen guests.  There is a nursery, with Nanny's and Baby Sitters available (for an extra charge), for the youngest ones.  There's a Playground and an Arts and Crafts area is located on the grounds and both appeared to be a hit with kids of all ages.

EVENING ENTERTAINMENT

The main buffet area is the location most of the evening entertainment.  However,  is doesn't really lend itself well to being a "theater" venue. The guests who are late for dinner continue to dine, which causes a bit of confusion, in my opinion.  In addition, the table seating isn't the best layout for a large group of guests to watch the shows, etc.  The open air configuration left something to be desired since the sound system was loud and the acoustics weren't all that good.  (We were told that the resort had just obtained a  db -- decibel -- sound level meter for use in balancing and leveling the volume.)   We watched a local band playing one night and the guest-staff talent show another, both of which we enjoyed.  The disco opens late and stays open until five o'clock in the morning -- or until the last guest leaves.  Being that I need my sleep a lot more than I do staying awake, drinking, into the wee hours of the morning, I passed on the disco. 

BEACH & SPORTS

At approximately one half kilometer (approximately fifteen hundred feet) long, Breezes' beach is one of the longest -- if not the longest -- private beaches on the island.  It has its own offshore, manmade reef that shelters the waters along the shore, providing a well protected area in which the guests can luxuriate in the Caribbean's soft salt waters.  (In some messages posted on the Internet, I had read that the waters along the beach dropped off sharply just a few feet our from the water's edge.  We observed this, but it wasn't a major detraction from enjoying in the salt waters across the beach front.)

Along with the beach Breezes offers guests three cool freshwater pools -- which on this arid island are the true oases of the resort!  The primary pool is adjacent to the Pool Bar and the Buffet area.  It consists of a group of smaller interlocking pools, with low cascading waterfalls from one to the other.  There is also a separate pool at the Kids Snack Bar, plus a couple of Jacuzzis scattered around.  All in all, there are more than enough pool places for a guest to find an area that meets their needs for a cool get away. 

Boating

This trip was to be a purely rest and relaxation getaway and Breezes proved to be an excellent choice -- for us -- to accomplish that goal.  While the resort offers both Hobie cats an ocean kayaks, we opted to simply watch others enjoy sailing and boating just offshore. 

Scuba Diving

While I have been a certified scuba diver for a number of years, I have pretty much given up diving.  I originally took up the sport because it was fun.  In the past few years, I found that diving was no longer fun -- for me -- had become plain work.  Therefore, I didn't do any diving at Breezes Curacao, though it is my understanding that the island is a diver's paradise.

I had read some messages complaining that Breezes didn't offer diving.  But Breezes resort does offer scuba diving in the all inclusive rate, but that includes shore diving only.  Boat dives, night dives and certification courses are not included and are available at an extra charge.  I did meet a group of three couples -- Bill and Kathy, Bonnie and Jay and Gale and Michael -- who had selected Breezes because they specifically wanted to dive the waters around Curacao.  They told me that they were satisfied with the dive program and they would not hesitate to recommend Breezes to other travelers interested in Curacao as a dive destination.

Land Sports

As an "older" guest, there was no way I was going to take part in climbing the rock wall, skating on artificial ice, jumping on a trampoline or swinging from a trapeze!  Not Yours Truly!  But, watching other -- less aged -- guests participate was enjoyable, not only because they were fun to watch -- and because I wasn't doing it with them!  I can recommend viewing the scheduled circus presentation, as well as watching guests -- and not just the very young ones, either -- climb the wall. 

Likewise, while "Bouncy Boxing" and "Sumo Wrestling" are offered, at my age, I decided I could just as well do without showing my stuff in front of a bunch of strangers.  Nina and I did play one game of Giant Chess on the board located beside the walkway from the lobby to the beach -- she won!  (So much for my having taught her to play, low those many years ago!)

AU REVOIR BREEZES

Too soon, our stay was at its end.  We had our final breakfast and bade our good byes to our new friends, both staff and other guests.  We packed up and had the bell staff collect our luggage.  Checkout was pretty painless and we were soon transported back to the airport for our departing flight.  (In fact, we continued our ABC Odyssey by flying on to Bonaire for four nights, followed by another four nights on Aruba, prior to returning home.) 

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS

For my money, Breezes Curacao resort is an excellent property and is well operated, and I feel will continue to improve as time goes on.  I believe this will happen as a result of SuperClubs' choice of Richard Bourke to oversee the overall operation as General Manager.  He has been a member of the SuperClubs management team for a long time.  (In fact, he was at Hedonism II back years ago, when we first stayed there.  However, this trip was the first time we had the pleasure of meeting him.)

Richard has the same drive and verve that seems to typify most of the SuperClubs managers I've met.  He is an experienced hotelier who has surrounded himself with a truly talented team of employees.  I believe, under his management, and with the efforts of the staff he has personally picked, Breezes will become yet another shining jewel in SuperClubs' crown.

As the reader of my resort review can tell, Nina and I definitely enjoyed out short stay at Breezes Curacao.  Would we recommend it to other travelers?  You bet -- without any reservations -- no pun intended!

Will we return for another stay at Breezes?  I honestly don't know -- but I can safely say that isn't out of the realm of probability.  However, as I told a new friend we met on the island, the lovely "Benny P" who has been so supportive of Curacao and especially of Breezes on some Internet message boards, we just aren't yet sure.
 
 

Benny and Nina at Entrance

Benny and Nina Enjoying Lunch

I sent Benny an e-mail in which I told her we might not be returning to the ABCs.  I said that it was in no way intended as a criticism of the ABCs, the resorts, or the people -- but that we just tend to enjoy a tropical island location, more than a desert destination.  It's also due to the fact that the location of the ABCs is much farther -- and the airfares tend to be much higher -- than other island destinations in the Caribbean.  However, as I indicated above, I won't have any reservation about passing along our plaudits about the three islands and the resorts at which we stayed whenever I am asked.  And, I will definitely recommend Breezes to anybody -- and everybody -- I can!

And, it is not impossible that Yours Truly will return to Breezes Curacao again!  Stranger things have been known to happen -- and I have been known to pop up in a lot of improbable places around the Caribe Basin!

Jamaica Jim Jordan
June, 2002

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