When people in Aruba started to realize in the early 1950s that a tourist hotel was needed on Palm Beach, the then Aruban Tourist Commission (predecessor of the Tourist Bureau and ATA) held a competition to come up with a concept for a tourist hotel. The winner was the secretary of the commission, Ernst Bartels, who came up with a project called ‘Basiroeti’ (after the name of the coast there). The underlying idea was that it should be financed with government funds. Initially, this idea was rejected as not feasible. But in 1953, businessman Chaiben Neme took on the project and construction started in December 1954.

In the prospectus of the Basi-Ruti hotel that was under construction and was intended to attract potential investors, we read that the founding capital was 250,000 Antillean florins, issued in 100 preference shares of Fl. 2,500 and 500 ordinary shares of Fl. 500 each. The hotel was also established as a club for residents, who were also shareholders and were given special privileges. The hotel was equipped with a restaurant with a terrace, locker rooms, showers, a casino room (although no permission was obtained for a casino), three bungalows with three rooms each and 6 rooms on the upper floor of the main building.

Construction began at the end of 1954 and the hotel was opened by Governor Kwartsz on 15 February 1957. Jos van der Schoot, secretary of the club at the time, was able to report that the number of members had increased from 24 to a maximum of 500. At the opening there was of course the necessary show: Chaiben Neme had brought over an orchestra with flamenco dancers from Costa Rica and the inevitable limbo dancer!

In the 1950s, before the Aruba Caribbean Hotel was built, Basi Ruti was the first and only tourist hotel, however small it was. It had a total of only 15 rooms. Initially, there were plans for three more bungalows, but that never happened. Basi Ruti also had no swimming pool, actually an absolute requirement for a tourist hotel. Many parties, receptions and the like were held there. The restaurant specialized in Italian cuisine. When Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard or the princesses visited Aruba in the late 1950s and 1960s, they stayed at Basi Ruti. In order to guarantee their privacy, the beach in front of the hotel was fenced off for that occasion with a sturdy fence that extended all the way to the waterline. It was removed afterwards.

In the late 1970s, Basi Ruti was acquired by the Playa Linda Development Company, which invested $22 million in 1981 to build a 260-room timeshare resort on the site of the outdated Basi Ruti.

At the Playa Linda Resort, the name Basi Ruti Beach Bar is a reminder of the original occupant of this location. The name alone evokes memories of the charm of a small-scale tourist accommodation and a club for local members and their guests.