I've seen several folks asking for comments about these apts., but so far, no one has responded. Has NO ONE EVER stayed there? Or possibly knows of someone who has and could share their comments? Or maybe a local could offer a review? I've gone online and seen the photos, but those don't always tell the whole story. They could have been taken years ago. Is the place clean? Fairly roomy? I figure it's pretty Spartan, but as long as there is a decent-sized and comfortable bed, an adequate kitchen, a couch to sit on in the living room, a tv and room enough to turn around in after the luggage is stashed, I can handle it. If anyone could make any comments--positive or negative--I'd REALLY appreciate it! THANKS!

Actually, I took those photos, Larry, probably about two years ago :-) The apartments looked pretty reasonable especially for the price. Location is such that you can walk to Sand Dollar and neighboring resorts, but I'd really recommend a car. I've not been in them in the last two years those, so hopefully someone with first hand experience staying in the apartments can post a response.

Jake

PS I almost forgot to mention - there's a Supermarket going in below those apartments in the next month or two, or so I hear - Deepak, the guy who owns a number of the gift shops downtown is supposed to be opening it.

Thanks so much, Jake! Maybe someone else who's been there more recently will also make a comment or two. From the description on the web, I thought these apts. were located on the end of the island near Happy Holiday Homes. Glad to hear they're on the Sand Dollar end.

We just returned from two weeks on Bonaire, staying at the Kaya Amsterdam apartments. I will list first what was great, then what was not quite what we had expected:

They were very clean and nice. There is air conditioning in each bedroom as well as the living/dining/kitchen area. It worked very well. The appliances were very nice (although the instructions were in Dutch so we were on our own to figure out how to work the oven) and new and everything worked. There were dishes for four and cooking pots -- all in nice condition. There was not much in the way of knives, etc. We felt very secure and had no worries about anyone breaking in or taking anything. We had maid service once while we were there and they came just 5 days before we left (8 days into our stay).
What we did not expect:
The web site says there is laundry service there and that is a flat out lie -- we told them they had better change their web page. We asked about access to the common area and were told that they could give us a key but we didn't get one and never saw anyone us it the entire time we were there. As divers, the biggest draw back was having no place to put our stuff to let it drip out (and we did know beforehand that was going to be a problem as we had asked if they had any facilities for that and were told no but that we could use the bathroom if we wanted). It wouldn't have been as big a problem as it was if there had been any sort of cleaning stuff (broom and mop) available to clean up the puddles we created and the sand we tracked in. Our biggest surprise was that we had NO hot water!! When we told them we didn't have hot water it seemed to shock them that we would want hot water to shower and were told that no one else had wanted it. The only other thing that we found to be different from what they advertised was that there were no kitchen linens.
There is a very nice market in the building next to the apartments.
Hope this helps someone -- it is what I would have wanted to know before we went!

Surprisingly, no hot water isn't that big a deal on Bonaire. The water tanks in Hato sit in the sun all day, and they do absorb quite a bit of warmth. We've taken "cold" showers on the island quite frequently, and other than the initial hit of the water, they're actually comfortable. The later in the day, the better -- first thing in the morning can be a bit cool. But late afternoon after diving, a "cold" Bonaire shower feels great...

And that's from someone who NEVER NEVER NEVER takes anything other than a scalding hot shower at home, even on 95 degree days!

Faith

Thanks for adding the reviews/comments. It's always good to hear someone else's experiences.

We'd arranged to stay in these apartments (Kaya Amsterdam) before reading the postings. Not been there yet -arrive 28th March - but been told that new boilers are going in so should be OK for hot water.Anyone else staying there? Max

Back home now in the UK - we stayed at the apartments, ours was fine and good value, hot water, air-con in the bedrooms and the kitchen/living room. Now there are knives and teatowels (do you call them that? - kitchen towels). It is about 5-7 minutes to walk to Sand Dollar, we started off walking into town at night but it takes about 35 minutes each way so soon did what everyone else seems to do and drove everywhere!

It would have been nice to have had a terrace to sit out but otherwise I'd recommend the apartments for facilities and value (and we did find Bonaire a bit expensive for food and drink, much of the accommodation seemed very pricey too!).

Contact for the apartments - Bert at KAB@Bonairelive.com

Missing the sun and the fish already. Max