Marlies van der Kouwe , 24, kidnapped in Bonaire 9/21/08 -(BODY FOUND)

[AES]

You're right Muffy Bee. I hope Marlies is being held somewhere and is still alive. I pray there is still a chance. But time keeps passing by. And I wonder, how many black cars can there be on the island, too?

[johan555]

Rob : she was accommodated in the same hotel as where the suspect worked
She is marlies 's mother so they stay in the vd Valk Hotel .

[Rob]

Rating
1
   
Submission date: 2006-03-12 - Date of Stay: N/A
Submitted by: Jackie - From: United Kingdom
Type of Traveller: Family Traveller - Age Group: 41 - 50
Do not stay here!
This resort is well past its prime and do not be fooled by the excellent web site this is the only thing they can do well. The valk.com web site states this "is a unique 5-star resort" no kidding it is unique in its poor service. Our trip started badly when our pre-arranged transfer simply did not appear. As we had arrived from Lima at around 2 in the morning this did not go down well and had it not been for the kindness of the bus driver who was transporting the flight crew to their hotel taking pity on us I swear we would still be at the airport. On arrival the skeleton night staff seemed to think it was funny that they had not picked us up as you can imagine this was not a good start to the trip. The next morning we found that we had to sign for the $15 dollar per person breakfast on entering the restaurant. Having signed we then found that the hotel had no milk for tea or coffee. The breakfast itself was one of the poorest displays I have ever seen and the cold food was not chilled, the bread and pastries selection was almost non-existent. The manager received a visit at this point and we were eventually refunded the breakfast money but did not receive an apology for the lack of transfer  all we were told was that things would improve during the course of our stay. Sadly they did not. The beach bar ran out of bottled water and coca cola surely staples for a beach resort. The restaurant in the evening, The Banana Tree, had many things missing off the menu  these seemed to be fish or chicken based dishes, maybe they had a problem with their refrigeration unit because having had a meal there I was taken ill for several days. The service was appalling 30 minutes before our order was even taken and then when the food finally appeared about another 30 minutes later it was not what we had ordered indeed they had come up with some concoction that was not even on the menu. The hotel makes the excuse that it is on an island and cannot always get supplies may we suggest that they visit the supermarket a mere 15 minutes walk up the road which is well stocked and indeed even had a large fish and chicken selection the day after the hotel had removed these from their menu. The suites are not suites but large rooms. The one thing I would concur with on their website is that the rooms are large the bathrooms are not luxurious and are in need of a facelift. The hotel smells of sewage in many areas and the standard accommodation block area felt depressing we were thankful to be staying in a Grand Ocean View Suite but beware some of these are on the ground floor and you will not see the ocean at all. On the plus side it is convenient for the airport and you get the pleasure of watching the flights arrive across the beach. You also get the pleasure of hearing them take off in the middle of the night. You will pay extra for everything at this hotel and honestly, it is not worth it go to the local supermarkets, go out to eat or just come to your senses and do not stay here at all. The safe (a necessity based on former reviews) is $2.25 per day. The Internet connection is $3 for 15 minutes and they block java so dont think about using this for any sites that use java applets i.e. flights, hotels, etc. In addition the lobby where the Internet access is located is full of bugs I got 19 bites in just 15 minutes. There is nothing luxurious about the resort, the staff or the food and I would concur with one of the previous reviewers that I would rather camp than stay here again.
Go to the Plaza Resort Bonaire page

http://www.travel-library.com/hotels/caribbean/bonaire/

+++

Johan - the Plaza is part of this vd Valk hotel chain and I called them already. This is the only "5 star" hotel on the island.

There are a total of 11 hotels only.

[Rob]

here are some more reviews.

+++++

“Can't wait to go back!”
Save Review
5 of 5 stars
jham058
Maryland
Aug 11, 2008
1/1 found this review helpful

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Plaza Resort from 2 Aug - 9 Aug and we had a blast. After getting off the plane there are people that great you with signs to help you get to your next destination. Most people speak English so you do not have troubles communicating. We stayed in a one bedroom villa with... more

++++

“Excellent Overall Trip”
Save Review
5 of 5 stars
tectool
Katy
Jul 28, 2008

Our Scuba Houston group had an incredibly enjoyable time staying at the Plaza Resort diving in Bonaire with Toucan Diving. The Toucan Diving staff are exceptional, the quality of service great and the Golden Eye was perfect for our needs. We also appreciate that you made two Divemasters available to be in the water with us (even though it disrupted... more

++++++

“Better than expected”
Save Review
4 of 5 stars
OU1Okc
OKC
Jul 7, 2008
1/1 found this review helpful

My wife and I stayed over Memorial into June, we took the midnight train from Houston; not sure we'd do over as you're a bit wiped out from lack of sleep the first day. Overall we were very pleased with the Plaza and our stay in a grand suite. Had a little trouble with the door not opening, dead batteries... more

++++++

“The Plaza is fine”
Save Review
4 of 5 stars
MDtraveler001
durham, NC
Jun 16, 2008
2/2 found this review helpful

Having read a lot of negative reviews on tripadvisor ( after I had already booked) re Plaza Hotel I was rather apprehensive before arriving and very pleasantly surprised thereafter ( and I am generally demanding). 1) room - we stayed in grand ocean suite. very nice, large rooms, clean, everything worked fine except the thermostat on the AC. we had... more

+++++++

“Divers Beware”
Save Review
1 of 5 stars
oncambkem
Brookfield,CT
May 24, 2008
1/1 found this review helpful

We brought a group of new divers to Bonaire and decided to stay at the Plaza, where we had been many times in the past years. This year, the service and condition of the hotel has declined to unacceptable. Greeting you in the lobby are stinging insects almost immediately. The Casino has been closed for three years now with no... more


+++++

68 total reviews here -

http://tinyurl.com/3h7r4r

[Rob]

http://vandervalkbonaire.hyves.net/

They have a Hyves  No messages in the time frame we are looking at.

Moderator:
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Description:
    Hotel / Resort Van der Valk Bonaire
    Plaza resort.

    De officiele website is te vinden onder:
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Who may join:
    Everybody

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[AES]

Rob and Johan, I also tried emailing the Plaza to ask them to get a message to Marlies' parents awhile ago, no response.

[Blue Moon]

The problem is Bastibro > contact with Bonaire and the fam is not possible .

Next saturday is it 4 weeks ago
Do you think they the will find here alive ?

The parents seem to have had instructions not to talk, especially not to any press.
I think that within a few weeks, maybe a month when they`ll realize that this strategy doesn`t work,
they`ll seek for the press and are open for the media . .

No Johan, i don`t think they will find Marlies allive.
I think she`s brutally raped, murdered and buried or dumped SAD BUT TRUE

right Bastibro - she is not alive any longer. The last two suspects are detained on suspicion of body disposal. Even the incompetent police know she is not alive - so no need to hurry this investigation. They do not act as if they are looking for a person being held against their will.

Sadly - Marlies is no longer alive.

Sadly yes, Marlies case is following the same path as Natalee's. First there is a flurry of arrests. Then nothing happens as time drags on. Almost a month now.

The perpertrators have been emboldened by Joran van der Sloot. They know that all they have to do is lie or not talk at all and nothing will happen to them. They'll eventually have to be released by the dirty Antilles judges who have probably already accepted their first round of bribes.

Marlies' parents have been hoodwinked into not talking to the press. They are trying to protect their tourism. It must be working because I haven't seen any outrage by the general Dutch populace.

I agree. Joran's extreme luck (and knowing the right people) has embolden other young men to follow his lead.  I so hoped they would do differnet and find this girl within a short period of time.  I am so sad for her family.  So sad that this is mirroring Natalee to a "T".

[Dayhiker]

You're right Muffy Bee. I hope Marlies is being held somewhere and is still alive. I pray there is still a chance. But time keeps passing by. And I wonder, how many black cars can there be on the island, too?

AES, I applaud your efforts to help the family! I really do wonder at this stage of the game whether anything can help. 48 hours after an abduction is considered critical for saving a victim's life. A week after the odds are horrendous against being alive. Now we are staring at one month? OMG.

Don't look for these law enforcement and government types to accept your aid. Other than lip service, they blocked everybody they could, including the FBI, out of Natalee's case and the ones they did let in were misled, sent on wild goose chases. They are so afraid of finding a dead white girl's body on one of their islands they prefer the case never be solved.

[Dayhiker]

Sadly yes, Marlies case is following the same path as Natalee's. First there is a flurry of arrests. Then nothing happens as time drags on. Almost a month now.

The perpertrators have been emboldened by Joran van der Sloot. They know that all they have to do is lie or not talk at all and nothing will happen to them. They'll eventually have to be released by the dirty Antilles judges who have probably already accepted their first round of bribes.

Marlies' parents have been hoodwinked into not talking to the press. They are trying to protect their tourism. It must be working because I haven't seen any outrage by the general Dutch populace.

I agree. Joran's extreme luck (and knowing the right people) has embolden other young men to follow his lead.  I so hoped they would do differnet and find this girl within a short period of time.  I am so sad for her family.  So sad that this is mirroring Natalee to a "T".

Joran and Pustus have given rapists and murders on the Netherland Antilles a road map on how to defeat the Dutch system and it apparently works quite well. Here we are a month out from Marlies being missing and the similarities between her investigation and Natalee's are disappointingly similar. The initial inaction by government and law enforcement gives the criminals a head start to cover their tracks and from that point forward all a criminal has to do is lie and he's home free.

[johan555]

stormpics today
karel's bar area

[Dayhiker]

Rating
1

Johan - the Plaza is part of this vd Valk hotel chain and I called them already. This is the only "5 star" hotel on the island.

There are a total of 11 hotels only.

If that's a 5-Star, Bro Bro, a 4-Star hotel on Aruba must be a crack house. 

[Dayhiker]

Rob and Johan, I also tried emailing the Plaza to ask them to get a message to Marlies' parents awhile ago, no response.

I fear the local authorities have the family in mental lock-down for fear of another Holloway case. In the past they have always been able to light a few candles and send the family home, escaping the publicity. Beth was the exception and they got the crapped slapped out of them. They don't want another strong mother on their hands.

[johan555]

You're right Muffy Bee. I hope Marlies is being held somewhere and is still alive. I pray there is still a chance. But time keeps passing by. And I wonder, how many black cars can there be on the island, too?

AES, I applaud your efforts to help the family! I really do wonder at this stage of the game whether anything can help. 48 hours after an abduction is considered critical for saving a victim's life. A week after the odds are horrendous against being alive. Now we are staring at one month? OMG.

Don't look for these law enforcement and government types to accept your aid. Other than lip service, they blocked everybody they could, including the FBI, out of Natalee's case and the ones they did let in were misled, sent on wild goose chases. They are so afraid of finding a dead white girl's body on one of their islands they prefer the case never be solved.

they blocked everybody they could, including the FBI

They (Police & OM )  did the same in Aruba Dayhiker ?

[Dayhiker]

You're right Muffy Bee. I hope Marlies is being held somewhere and is still alive. I pray there is still a chance. But time keeps passing by. And I wonder, how many black cars can there be on the island, too?

AES, I applaud your efforts to help the family! I really do wonder at this stage of the game whether anything can help. 48 hours after an abduction is considered critical for saving a victim's life. A week after the odds are horrendous against being alive. Now we are staring at one month? OMG.

Don't look for these law enforcement and government types to accept your aid. Other than lip service, they blocked everybody they could, including the FBI, out of Natalee's case and the ones they did let in were misled, sent on wild goose chases. They are so afraid of finding a dead white girl's body on one of their islands they prefer the case never be solved.

they blocked everybody they could, including the FBI

They (Police & OM )  did the same in Aruba Dayhiker ?

I was talking about Aruba, Johan. Doubt the FBI would be called in for a missing Dutch girl's case but our country does have plenty of intelligence going on at all times on the NA (like AWAKs planes picking up telephone conversations) due to the high level of drug smuggling and money laundering so no telling what they have.

[Buckeye]

The FBI on Aruba:

FBI playing second fiddle in Aruba
by Norman 'Gus' Thomas
Caribbean Net News Senior Regional Correspondent
E-mail: rc@caribbeannetnews.com
Wednesday, June 15, 2005

ORANJESTAD, Aruba: Top sleuths from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Miami have been slithering through the grass on Aruba for the last 14 days but the role these highly-trained agents have been forced to play is that of “second fiddle" to the Aruban police, who have been struggling to crack the case of the missing 18-year-old Natalee Holloway, whose disappearance on May 30 has drawn the international media to this Dutch Caribbean island of just over 97,000 people.

Officials at Aruba's Foreign Affairs office told Caribbean Net News that the Miami-based FBI agents were invited to the island as observers only, and the Aruban police are the ones "calling the shots."

This has annoyed FBI brass in the US, prompting one senior FBI agent to wonder aloud: "Are they having an election down there or are they looking for a missing person? What's this ******* status stuff all about?"

According to Judy Orihuela, FBI spokesperson at the Miami office, the government of Aruba has only asked for minimal FBI help from the organisation.
FBI sources told Caribbean Net News that there is one agent from Barbados, along with six from Miami, who are on the ground in Aruba and will "help" when they are asked to.

Police in Aruba confirmed to Caribbean Net News that the FBI are here as observers and were part of a team that was allowed to watch from behind a glass when Aruban police interviewed five men held in connection with Holloway's disappearance.

Limited in technology, the Aruban police have also sought the help of the FBI in analysing a DNA sample that was removed from the rear seat of a vehicle belonging to one of the suspects. Caribbean Net News has learnt the DNA tests came back negative when tested for blood.

The slow pace of the investigation has angered many, forcing Holloway's mother to make public criticism of the slow pace.
The case has caused great embarrassment for the Aruba authorities. In one instance, the Deputy Commissioner told the media that there was a confession and that one of the accused was leading the police to the scene of Police. Minutes after, that line was changed and officials had no more to say about the “confession”, saying rather that they had reached a "critical" point in their in their investigations.

[Buckeye]

June 12, 2005.
More on FBI

...An FBI spokesman in Miami, Florida, said earlier reports that bureau divers would join the search Monday were in error, as was a report that its agents assisted in Sunday's arrests.
Seven FBI agents from Miami are in Aruba, including two divers and evidence collection and analysis experts, and one agent has come from Barbados, the spokesman said...

CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/06/06/missing.teen/index.html

[johan555]

Ryan P. (27), the main suspect in the disappearance case of Marlies van der Kouwe (24) on Bonaire is 60 days longer held.
 
That the judge determined last night. The research team still has not achieved breakthrough.
Besides R.P. two suspects are still being detained. Marlies is the search for the last few days, complicated by a tropical storm on the island raasde.

The police continue to stress that tips from the population more than welcome.

D

Bonaire: Ryan P. blijft vast
Ryan P. (27), de hoofdverdachte in de verdwijningszaak van Marlies van der Kouwe (24) op Bonaire wordt nog 60 dagen langer vastgehouden.

Dat heeft de rechter commissaris gisteravond bepaald. Het onderzoeksteam heeft nog steeds geen doorbraak behaald.

Naast R.P. worden nog twee verdachten vastgehouden. De zoektocht naar Marlies is de afgelopen dagen ernstig bemoeilijkt door een tropische storm die over het eiland raasde.

De politie blijft benadruken dat tips vanuit de bevolking meer dan welkom zijn .

[Dayhiker]

Ryan P. (27), the main suspect in the disappearance case of Marlies van der Kouwe (24) on Bonaire is 60 days longer held.
 
That the judge determined last night. The research team still has not achieved breakthrough.
Besides R.P. two suspects are still being detained. Marlies is the search for the last few days, complicated by a tropical storm on the island raasde.

The police continue to stress that tips from the population more than welcome.

D

Johan, what's it going to take to open the eyes of people in Holland on Marlies' case? Where's the flashpoint where they start getting pissed about another botched investigation by the Antilles Dutchmen? Do we need to send Peter DeVries down there?

[Dayhiker]

June 12, 2005.
More on FBI

...An FBI spokesman in Miami, Florida, said earlier reports that bureau divers would join the search Monday were in error, as was a report that its agents assisted in Sunday's arrests.
Seven FBI agents from Miami are in Aruba, including two divers and evidence collection and analysis experts, and one agent has come from Barbados, the spokesman said...

CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/06/06/missing.teen/index.html

They were trying to use the FBI's good name to enhance their credibility when in fact they never let them in on the case for fear they would expose the cover-up.

[CapsLockWizard]

This Just in from Bonaire.

a Sad Exclusive news from friend in Bonaire.
 

Friday Night arounf 21:00 hours, Kralendijk confirms the news that the head that was found on a peace of terrain belongs to Marlies van der Kouwe. This is a semi closed case, becuase they still have to confirm the person or persons responsable for this case. They also found her bank card, 1 of her slippers. This saturday, the Dutch Forensic Investigators will continue their investigation and with this trying to find th rest of the girls body.

CapsLockWizard