Lorraine and her husband have been going to Aruba yearly staying at the Allegro All-Inclusive Resort. Occidental Hotels & Resorts, the parent company, recently renovated and changed the Allegro, renaming it the Occidental Grand Aruba Resort.

This supposedly upgraded its luxury category. However, the Kramers were disappointed for a few reasons. Number one, the food was too spicy and there weren't enough choices. They did go to one specialty restaurant, El Gaucho, but missed the Oriental and Mexican restaurants.

As Allegro, guests were given vouchers to dine outside of the hotel at various restaurants on the island. As Occidental, guests dine only on-site. In order to get a reservation for dinner (other than the buffet), you have to get in line at 8:30am every day - not the most pleasant way to spend a vacation.

The other annoying aspect of the trip was that currently there is still construction going on at the resort. For anyone going in the next few months, the garden view (standard) rooms are the best. People who paid more for ocean view were asking to be moved to be away from the construction noise.