BookIt.com Verified Traveler Girls Trip from Boston, Massachusetts

"room was very old, but clean: tiny old TV from the 80s. Bathtub looked like the paint peeled off and was painted over. very
cheap decor. But clean.
The power went out at least 5 times a night. usually for 5-10 minutes, a few times for 30 minutes to an hour. There was no
back up generator, so no emergency lighting or exit signs or any illumination at all. It was pitch black in the room and
throughout the resort. When the sky was cloudy and the stars and moon could not shine through, you literally felt like you
were in a cave or completely blind when standing out in the open, could not tell where to go.
The food was awful. Worse than any cheap buffet I've ever tried in the states. Very poor selection, almost no veriety at
all.
The buffet:

- for salad bar only dehydrated iceburg latice, tastless unrippened tomatoes, cucumbers, only 1 kind of dressing at lunch
and dinner and no dressing at all in the morning.
- the meat had a rubber texture and was impossible to bite into
- the same food every day, no verity
- rice, boiled potatoes, heavily overcooked vegetables, canned overcooked beans, pizza and pasta.
one day we had to navigate through very thick cloud of smoke in the buffet to get food because their exaust fans broke in
the kitchen.

The restaurants:

we went to Italian, Mexican and Seafood and every entree we ordered was exactly the same. All salads came from the buffet
and always consisted of dehydrated iceburg latice, tastless unrippened tomatoes, cucumbers. All the vegetables were cut the
same way. Sometimes they would throw a piece of avacado on it an call it an avacado salad.
Every time we ordered fish no matter what it said on the menu: salmon, sea bass, mahi-mahi or anything else, it actually was just the local fish (called dorado i think) with a different sauce on top! In every restaurant.
When we ordered calamari they brought out shrimp using an excuse that calamari was not good, but one of us was allergic to shrimp, so they gave her canned mushrooms instead!
All the pastries had a strong smell and taste of baking soda. The cake we ordered was stale and dry, at least 2 weeks old.

the beach:

was dirty, seaweed, wood debris and garbage wash up on the shore. The sand was rock hard and very dark color.

One of our rooms got flooded during the rain.

One day there were no clean/dry beach towels because the laundry was not working -- due to power outage.

We paid for wi-fi and could never get it to work. The signal was either not there or very weak, kept logging you out.

the shows:
very very much on a budget in terms of props and costumes. The dancers tried their best.

Highlights:

cheap
close to airport 20 min
staff, especially the animation crew were very nice, entertaining and accomodating.
Honestly, if it was not for the animation/show guys our vacation would probably be ruined. They saved the day by always making us laugh, recommending things to do and providing information on the local attractions if you are a seasoned traveler looking for a good deal it is better to get a nice non-all inclusive hotel near the beach in Cabarete. great beach, lots of restaurants on the beach with bars, DJs, rooftop and beach front dining, cheap massage on the beach. I think that's what we'll do if we ever go back to DR.




"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler A Recent Traveler

"Stayed there with my wife and kids and my brother and his wife and kids the hotel was nice and the staff was great.The front desk staff on the other hand tried to keep us on the resort by tell us the only way to get anywhere was to take the more expensive shuttles the hotel had to offer they never told us about the cheaper taxi stands at the back side of the hotel,the guys over there would take us anywhere we wanted to go and wait for us to finish and we only had to pay one price they even took us to the best places to eat.There is one other reason why we will never stay at the resort again beware of the locals they allow on the resort so are rude and others we cought trying to steal our stuff while we were at the beach and then by the pool alot of them are very disrepectful as my wife got into an argument with one lady not the kind of thing you want to happen on your vacation.I to had to have words with a couple of guys as we were relaxing by the pool the starting yelling and splashing us and other guess some of them jumped into the pool with jeans and t shirts the water got cloudy form the clothes and the pool had to be closed for cleaning so we went to the other pool they came to that pool and started drinking and spilling drinks in the pool so they closed that pool rto for cleaning again not what you want to happen on your vacation we will return to puerto plata again as we love the dominican republic but we will never stay at that resort again and thats sad because the staff was great....."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler A Recent Traveler

"Very Poor Customer service . Just got back April 26 2012> Stayed for two weeks . Customer service very very poor! Beach very Dirty! Do not recomend this hotel to any one. I stayed allover in Barcelos! They were very good ! Not this one no one cares unless you tip them!! Not recomommeded.!!!!!!!!!"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Jason&Jessica from Gorham, Maine

"This is was our first trip to the Domician and we found it to be wonderful. The staff the was very friendly. Our room was great (we did not have the club premium). Room was clean, no issues with hot water or AC at all. Beach was nice, but probably not the best. When the water got rough a lot of trash would wash up but it was eventually cleaned up. Lots of vendors on the beach but if you just said no thank you a couple times they leave you alone. The pool area was awesome, just had to make sure and get up early to get a good chair under one of the huts. We ate mostly at the main buffet area which was different every day. There was a huge variety of all kinds. The waitstaff was wonderful, by the 3rd day they remembered our drink orders everytime. We ate one night at the seafood restaurant by the beach and that was really good. The Seabass was excellent. Would highly recommend SeaPro Divers for the snorkeling excursion. Not only was it a great experience our dive master was super friendly and helpful, but the price was unbeatable. You book it right on the resort. The only thing that was a little frustrating was the lack of places that accept credit cards. The front desk takes them and one gift shop. Every other place on the resort, including the 'fotographo' people only take cash. There are ATMs near by just make sure you have figured out the conversion rate before you start because they time out quickly and you have to start over. Overall this was great first vacation to the Dominican, and we really can't say enough about how wonderful and friendly the staff here is. We are already planning to go back in 2013. If you are looking for a 5 star resort this is not the place to go, but if you are just looking for a nice vacation resort with friendly staff and a beautiful place to relax then this is it!"

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"this hotel gave me a really bad experience, and it all started from the front desk the day I arrived and tried to check in. The lady at the front desk who took care of me was not helpful, I arrived at 11:15 am and did not get to check in until after 3pm, my son was hungry, and I wish for him to able to eat in the hotel, but the lady at the front desk insisted that he can't until we fully checked in. Yet she took care of other customers while she was still working with us, and it pro-long my wait. After all that, she finally assigned me a room which was very noisy, with a broken air-conditioner and a broken sink. I requested to changed my room the next day, and wish she was not the one who will help me, but she jumped right in to declined my request; therefore, i had to wait till afternoon to find someone else to be able to changed my room."

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