For the first week we stayed at Scubalodge, which is a group of historic houses converted into a hotel. It's right on the water and within easy walking distance of downtown Willemstad, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I wanted to like the hotel, but I don't think I'd stay there again. The surroundings were just too noisy. All day there was construction noise (jackhammers, etc.) from all the neighboring construction sites. At night there was the thumping music from the restaurant and the next-door open-air nightclub. Just when that finally ended in the middle of the night, the street racing motorcycles would start up on the road out front. I guess this is what you would call a "vibrant" neighborhood, but for an old person like me, it was maybe too vibrant.
In the North end of the island, we stayed at the Marazul Dive Resort. Like with "Scuba"lodge, there were no dive facilities on site so the "Dive" and "Scuba" in their names seems kind of random. This was a complex of individually-owned units (mostly 2-storey duplexes) that are rented out by the owners as vacation rentals. It sits on top of a cliff dropping down to the water. We really liked this place. It was quiet and private with great views and easy access to great snorkeling and diving (steps lead down the cliff to the water). Most of the best beaches on the island are within a short drive. The only drawback was that the closest grocery store, if you needed to pick something up, was about a 20 minute drive away.
