Name: The Strand of Curacao
Address: Penstraat Z/N, Willemstad, Curaçao, Willemstad, Willemstad, Willemstad, Curacao
Rating: 8.2

Location

Curacao International Airport

The Strand of Curacao

We stayed on the 3rd floor of the Strand in a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom condo.  Really ideal location for walking to Punda, night or day. Our family of 5 was very comfortable in our condo overlooking the ocean yet within walking distance to so many downtown locations.  The weather was beautiful in January with the trade wind breeze cooling down our condo so that we only used the air at night.  I would highly recommend this location.

We were not originally booked into the Strand. As fate would have it we arrived in Curaçao and found our original VRBO apartment was flooded, our second under construction but then lucky for us we arrived at the Strand. Great location and spectacular ocean views from our new home in apartment 2C. Never could we have dreamed we would have our own beach and water access so close to Willemstad. The apartment kitchen was beautifully equipped with Bosch appliances. The bedrooms were comfortable and spacious and with 3.5 baths, no waiting for the facilities. We were thrilled with these accommodations. We can’t wait to return!  Thanks to Sarah for all her help in finding us the dream!



Great place, great for kids, great access, first floor but private....entire island easily accessible!  Clean with everything needed.  Well managed near restaurants.  Diving school was great - Relaxed Guides.

We stayed here for a week at the end of September. Found a third floor apartment on Airbnb. This place is the PERFECT LOCATION!! You’re 10 min, easy straight walk to the center of town, 10 min easy walk to supermarket, 5 min walk from some of the best restaurants on the island!!

The balconies are incredible, we spent so much time watching the sunset and laughing. 

The private beach is perfect. Otherwise you have to drive far to find a beach in town!

We will definitely come back here!!!

The Strand is located next to two other condo/resorts and within walking distance to town.  We did have a hiccup upon arrival.  We were given the wrong phone number hence showed up at the condo without a way to get in or someone to contact.  After about 1.5 hours and contacting VRBO, our escort arrived and everything turned out fine. The condo is spacious and updated with a great balcony.  The pool and beach areas are very nice but were getting quite windy when we were there in April/May.  A wedding took place at the venue beside us which was fun to watch but went well into the night (2am) with fireworks at 11:30 pm.  We went to the bar at the Avila Resort, one property down and there are a few cute restaurants within a 5 mnute walk.  Just and FYI, you will see lots of barbed wire between all properties on the island. Last note, you will be hearing roosters and dogs barking in the distance every day.

Willemstad

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Perfect Location in Willemstad

Absolutely Stunning Strand Apartments

Exceptional Property on a Diverse Island

Perfect location!!!

1st floor in the corner......

So, it's difficult for me to write this review because there are two pieces - the property & the amenities of the property.  The unit is beautiful, the location is perfect, but there are quite a few negatives.  You have a private beach/lagoon with plenty of chairs/umbrellas always available for use - walkable to town with some great restaurants nearby.  

Beware of hidden charges for "overage in electricity & water".  What really got to me was after leaving, we received a high charge for overusage even though we were hardly in the unit and turned all lights / AC off unless we were inside.  We were SIX people and when i reminded the property manager of that, it did not factor into our allowance.  What bothered me MORE was not even the extra charge but the fact that the property manager said we were conservative in usage when taking the readings upon check-out, meanwhile we return and receive a charge from the Europe booking office that manages the listing.  We booked through a woman who was in Europe and the communication between her and the property manager was a challenge because we received different communication - the extra charge is one example of it. Another example was Jo (booking office) recommending us a gentleman for food delivery and stated we can leave the money for groceries with the property manager.  When we arrived (after a horrible travel day), she said she will not assist and paying him would be our problem.

o	Basic amenities not available in this particular unit while I know they are in others – soap bar or shower gel for shower (there is a dispenser in each shower and empty in each shower), NAPKINS or PAPER TOWELS (NONE AVAILABLE! This is a basic essential), toilet paper (we were provided 2 rolls, I had to request additional and it was brought next day), sponge for washing dishes (necessity also not available and had to be purchased).  When factoring in all these “amenities”, cost of staying in a hotel would be much cheaper.  Everything here was just very “basic” and not as considerate of guests compared to other airbnb’s we have stayed in.
o	Extra amenities that are nice to have and am confident available in other units of The Strand from reviews and friends that stayed – there were no comforters on beds (simply a sheet & fleece blanket), coffee, oil / spray for cooking, salt/pepper, cooler for beach drinks, extra beach towels
	I had to ASK for LAUNDRY DETERGENT because it was not in the unit.
	I had to ASK for extra towels because they did not think we would need ONE PER PERSON for both beach/pool.  When asking for a spare bath towel and pillow, the property manager looked at me like I was crazy.
o	Cleaning service mid week -  I would not call it a service.  The floor was still dirty and had pieces of paper in random parts, sheets were changed and towels replaced but they replaced with less towels.  So if I had 4 large towels for my family and 4 small, now I had just 4 towels total, cleaning job done was very poor.  They did not even turn on the dish washer or clean one bowl in sink.
o	Security – I never felt unsafe but really the “security” at this gated development is laughable.  One security guard asked US to open the gate for him because he couldn’t get in.  There was a guard there maybe 30% of the time.  
o	A property manager can make or break a stay.  In this case, she truly was not pleasurable.  Anything we asked for was a No.  She looked at me like I had 12 heads when I asked for a spare towel.  She also was feeling very rushed in telling me about the place that I had no instructions for use of washer – “Just hit this button and it’s on” – everything was not in English so we did not know what to hit or what cycle to use or which compartment was for detergent (there were 3).
o	Wi-fi is only available in the living room.  If you sit at the dining room table on the balcony, it does not work.  If you are in the front bedroom, it does not work.
o	The safe did not work during our stay
o	The washer / dryer are absolutely horrible.  Settings on the washing machine are 2 hours 30 minutes for one load of laundry for a good wash.  The dryer is even worse – I had to dry my son’s swaddle and blanket because he got it dirty and it was drying for 4 hours and still not dry.  Ended up hanging it outside but needed it for his nap and ended up hanging outside instead and having him nap in stroller

Overall, despite the nice unit and beautiful location, I would never stay here again.  I would opt for Avila next door or another condo simply because of the lack of basic amenities.  Also, check out is at 11.  I asked if i could check out at 12 instead because our flight was not until 4, they would not accommodate even a one hour extension.  

Oh and one more thing, our unit was dirty! My son isn't walking yet so he would crawl around.  Anytime he crawled on the floor, he would have grease stains from various areas on the floor and from the doorway from balcony to living room.

The Strand of Curacao

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