For family-friendly beach vacations where even weather isn’t left to chance (due to a near-perfect year-round climate with little humidity and even less rain), there’s no better bet than Aruba. This Dutch island in the Antilles has been a classic for generations, but the secret’s out: it’s also a high-end barefoot luxury destination, if you know how to craft it correctly.

For example, rent a yacht and cruise around the island. Explore the off-road wilds of its desert landscape with a guide. Just ask your Luxe concierge to point you in the right direction for exclusive excursions.

Here are some of the other brightest ideas on experiencing the finer side of Aruba.

Luxe Stays

Not all destinations have hotels that meet the ALG Vacations® parameters for Luxe designation, but Aruba has two of them: the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa & Casino and The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba. Bookings at either one of these properties gives advisors and their customers access to the Luxe Concierge Desk, special amenities as available, and more, automatically, as well as sets the expectation for higher standards for service, comfort, design, and other hospitality aspects.

For example, the Hyatt Regency offers the privacy of cabanas in a pool area away from the resort’s central courtyard (additional cost), wildlife ambassador and caretaker program, tennis clinics with the Aruba Tennis School founder himself, and yoga with premier instructor Maria Pucci. And at The Ritz-Carlton, where every room has a balcony, there’s the Club Level lounge and resources, a VIP desk at the large casino, and a prime location on the island’s best beach. Of course, that’s par for the course as the first-ever Ritz-Carlton resort in the Dutch Caribbean and the first five-star resort on the island (per Conde Nast Traveler).

Finally, the newly opened St. Regis Aruba is set to be a contender for this program, raising the already high bar for their brand with 252 luxurious rooms, suites with direct beach access, an on-site casino, tiers of pools that drop down onto the beach, and, of course, exquisite service by their signature Hosts.

Designer Shopping

Did you know that Aruba is a designer brand shopper’s paradise? The Renaissance Mall in downtown Orangestad offers two levels of global retailers, and it’s duty-free as with any international destination. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada bring high fashion European style to the Caribbean, and Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors broaden the options. For jewelry and watches, Rolex, Cartier, Tag Heuer, and Tiffany & Co. goods make great gifts for those visiting Aruba for a special occasion or anniversary.

For something even more unique, consider shopping the independent art galleries on the island. Aruba’s art scene has been growing and the talent has collectors on notice as it seeks to establish itself as an emerging hub of art in the Caribbean. Aruba’s mural tours are a great showcase for artists, but taking a work home lets high end visitors get in on the ground floor of owning a piece of emerging history.

Upscale Dining

There are few things finer than fine dining, and Aruba has plenty of options for the discerning palate. Many resorts can arrange private or semi-private dining on the beach, and one such experience with a brand like The Ritz-Carlton is sure to impress. There are also independent gourmet restaurants that will offer it – for example, the popular Flying Fishbone goes beyond its standard waterfront dining to offer in-water dining, for literal barefoot luxury with a menu of continental cuisine. A wide menu includes flown-in ingredients, such as Maple Leaf duck breast, escargot, Angus beef, and salmon. For dessert, don’t miss specialties like warm chocolate ravioli with poached pears and the baked Alaska, flambeed tableside.

More worldly diners will want to challenge their palates at Infini Aruba, an eight-course tasting menu restaurant by chef Urvin Croes, who has worked at Michelin-starred Grand Hotel Karel V abroad as well as many of the highest-rated hotel restaurants in Aruba. Dishes are meant to be part of a cohesive story, served personally by the chef, and can include anything from tandoori-cooked sirloin with maitakes, kingfish with soursop and mango, a savory cheese and oyster mushroom bread pudding, and treasured ingredients from the island.

THE JOURNEY – To Culinary Excellence, next to Old Mill, is a newcomer that also specializes in chef’s table experiences, providing a more intimate experience of individual tables rather than bar seating as chef Patrick van der Donk, another Michelin-starred restaurant veteran, prepares “5 ½ courses” for no more than 20 guests at a time. Past dishes have included Wagyu with pickled pumpkin and lobster hollandaise sauce, scallops mousseline, and chocolate cake with red wine ice cream.

CAYA House Aruba also makes the top of the list for exceptional cuisine in Aruba, a hidden gem off a side street from the Palm Beach strip offering contemporary Latin and Caribbean island cuisine with modern techniques. Prix fixe menus, even inclusive of a glass of sparkling wine, are frequent specials, but a luxe diner will know to add on extra courses for a custom tasting. Orange-glazed octopus, pan-fried snapper, and beautifully composed desserts are oft-photographed.

Spas to Experience

There are few experiences as luxurious as a spa day, and with as many as are on Aruba, you can easily make it a whole spa stay if you so please. Hopping from hotel spa to hotel spa is one way to spend a vacation here, exploring what makes each of them special.

ZoiA – which means balance and poise in the local Papiamento language – Spa at Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino’s treatments are designed to highlight the energy of the sun, purity of the sand, serenity of the sea, and devotion to love, while the one at and Spa del Sol at Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa is built into a vibrant garden where private thatched cabanas, furnished with Indonesian touches and teakwood and just off Eagle Beach blurs the lines between Bali and Aruba. Marriott’s Aruba Ocean Club’s Mandara Spa is also influenced by Balinese traditions, but anchored in European methods and accented by local touches that show up best in aromatherapy, with scents like frangipani and Caribbean coffee dominant.

Other sumptuous spas work Aruban aloe into their treatments for their nod to locale, such as the Ritz-Carlton, Aruba, whose beachfront spa has 15,000 square feet devoted to wellness and that of the new St. Regis Aruba. Other newly built hotels that have invested quite a bit into their spa facilities is JOIA Aruba by Iberostar, where floor to ceiling glass provides hydrotherapy guests with ocean views and seven relaxation areas provide a medley of ambiance to suit the mood, and Secrets® Baby Beach, who bring cenote style to Aruba with a reflecting pool and offers ocean views from a bird’s eye with a relaxation area that overlooks a pool that ends at the glass wall and the horizon beyond.