Good Budget Resort!

The staff was very accommodating! We asked to have an extra bed brought into the room and they had it done within an hour. Rooms were otherwise mostly fine. Our patio doors did not lock, but this turned out to be helpful since our room keys deactivated basically everyday. Food was good but repetitive. They could use more effective security on the beach. The locals selling excursions were VERY pushy; almost to the point of harassment. Pools are awesome though!

Great vacation

The resort is not new but the rooms are a good size and very clean. The bed was very comfortable. We found the staff very friendly and helpful. The food at the buffet was great and a good variety. The snack bar was also good. The grounds are well maintained. The beach is beautiful. I would definitely return to this resort. We had a great vacation

Very nice relaxing stay

Pls feed the cats, you can cut up meat & put it in the bowl (by the soup) & taje the bowl out of the buffet area. There are a few pregnant cats too! Be kind to the animal's. Staff need to be a bit more friendly, the ocean & beach is beautiful. We had an ocean view suite with the best view of the beach & ocean, be aware of the steps going down to the balcony, there really should be lights there. Pool is nice, no swim up bar. You don't need to book ala cartes or sign out beach towels which was pr [... read more]etty good. We never used the towels, sun dries you off quickly.

Possible resort

Food was excellent!! Accommodations are getting tired and need refreshing Your beach requires a great deal of work as very uneven and cramped. Lounge chairs are in short supply and many need repair Also beach needs a great deal more shade Much better enforcement is needed regarding reserving lounge chairs. Many are reserving both pool and beach for the whole day and often doing this in the middle of the night Also need better control of inappropriate behaviour in pool area.i

Nice resort... Could just use a facelift

We are frequent travelers. We have stayed at many resorts and private residences both in DR and other parts of the world. We booked this trip for a quick, cheap get-away and, after reading the reviews, we were a little hesitant. We were pleasantly surprised. The resort is quite nice. The grounds are beautiful. The beach was nice (a little small but exactly what we expected). The rooms were decent but could use some updating (furniture and a fresh coat of paint) and the food at the buffet was p [... read more]retty good most nights. The breakfast buffet had everything you need to start your day with trays being replenished frequently. We were on the main floor in Building #4 so we were close to everything (pools, snack bar - great pizza- and the beach). Our air conditioning was working great but we were a bit cold through the night so we asked for another blanket which ended up taking 3 days to obtain after asking front desk at least 6 times. SHORTFALLS.... the staff... not very pleasant -especially the front desk. I'm sure they are overworked and underpaid but they were miserable from the time we arrived until the time we left. NOT ENOUGH POOL CHAIRS... UGGGH! well aware that this is a problem in almost every resort but have not seen anything like this before.... fights breaking out at the pool most every day... get there early to reserve... like at 6:00am...We brought our own coffee maker so we were good for the morning. Would suggest this for any early morning coffee drinkers(there is a fridge in the room for cream or milk). NO NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT... they could have used a night or two of entertainment but resort is very quiet and I'm guessing most guests didn't really miss this. All in all we were pleased with the resort and agree that this is a 3+* and good value for the price we paid.

Good food , pretty beach , the rest just okay

Good family vacation 2026. This was a good hotel but not great. Definetly have many things that are just okay. I would NOT likely return to this hotel. Pros - food is great. We don't have complaints about food. We had Mexican which was fantastic , buffet always great as well. International we had was okay but not great. We didn't try Italian. Beach is beautiful. Rooms are clean and housekeeping does a very good job. Dislikes - BEACH/POOL CHAIRS. We had to set our alarm at 5 am(on vacatio [... read more]n)to reserve chairs. By 6 most shade was not available. One day we tried to do late night as we arrived back late and next day out towels taken off the chairs and my clips were never returned to us. No trying to relax on beach as Dominicans are constantly selling stuff to you. Coffee is not great. Coffee machines are not always working in lobby and we had early flight home and no coffee at all at that time. Coffee in buffet is OKAY but only have hot milk to mix which was not ideal and made me not want any. No Safe. We had 3 rooms for our family of 6 and no one had a working safe. Luckily we had no issues with housekeepers taking anything. Still felt a bit unsettling. Lots of mixed reviews on Hott water in room although we didn't have issues some others we knew did. Seems air conditioning was hit or miss , we found too cold and blanket was to thin. Others changed rooms as no air at all. Staff - I only recall a select few that were nice and would smile. Most had no smile and seems to very much be unhappy to be working at hotel. Not much good customer service in my opinion. Most bartenders were miserable and never cracked a smile. 1 at buffet was good 1 at Mexian restaurant. Entertainment crew was pretty good , 1 guy made a lot of effort to talk to me and my family. Entertainment - not enough going on especially at night. Disco that they did have was apparently closed for a year and we met people that went for that specifically. When there was dancing at night there was not much variety of music at all and short amount of time. Many of same songs too. Dance/stage shows were very short. Daytime they did try to get people involved in a few things.

Decent for a cheap vacation

The rooms were very clean but outdated and the food at the à la carts were amazing and not having to make a reservation was even better. We had a little concerns and I know we shouldn’t complain we had to turn the air conditioning off as we were to cold as there was only a sheet and a thin blanket. The shower was hit and miss mostly miss no hot water. The pools were beautiful and so was the wavy beach. The staff at the à la carts were nice and would always be around to refill your wine which was [... read more] delicious. The bar staff just worked on robot mode and not interactive it was great they had a drink list. The worst thing for our week was that the pool chairs were reserved at 5 am in the morning and someone wouldn’t show up to later in the afternoon. If I was this resort I would put a stop to this oh and the smoking everywhere is not pleasant.

Lovely Resort

Aged resort which could do with some refurbishment but very clean for the most part. We did observe garbage not always picked up, bar cups seemed to be left everywhere and not picked up at end of day. Broken chair parts around the beach area not retrieved by staff. Food was quite good and plentiful but could benefit from stronger flavour and garlic especially missing from obvious dishes . Staff very courteous and willing to serve but not very excited to do so. Common rules were not being  [... read more]enforced by management at all. No valet to take our luggage to our room when we arrived at 11:30 at night was not appreciated and more than one reception Attendant for a large group of arrivals would certainly have been beneficial. We had to wait til the next morning for a safe key. No coffee pot in our room was disappointing. Water supply was great, toilet worked well, corridors are well lit -much appreciated.

Nice resort

This is an older hotel. Very clean rooms, lobby and restaurants. They were a little slow with picking up litter on the grounds in some areas (several plastic glasses on the lawn area in front of building 2 for 3 days. The grounds themselves are well maintained. Not sure of the capacity while we were there (March 25 to April 1) but there were not enough lounge chairs around the pool or in the beach for the number of people at the resort. That being said, there was no apparent attempt to enforce [... read more] rules regarding loungers at the pool or the beach. There would be towels placed on lounge chairs and no person on those loungers all day. Impression was that people “reserved” loungers at the pool and spent most of the day in other chairs on the beach. One lounger beside ours had a towel on it all day and no one came to claim it from 9:00 am til 5:00 pm when we went back to our room. The room was very clean with sufficient towels all week and good sized. Housekeeping did a great job. The bedspreads are very thin and we found it just too cold through the night with the air conditioning on. We requested extra blankets and we got nice heavy blankets the next day. There really is inadequate storage for 2 people in a room. One and a half shelves in the closet is all you get. No kettle or coffeemaker in the rooms. Hot water was sporadic at best but we managed with mostly warm. When we checked in it was after midnight, there were people from 3 flights arriving and one person attending to register everyone. There was also no porter to help with luggage. We had two flights of stairs to our room hauling heavy suitcases. We had to return to reception in the morning after nine when the manager was there for a lock for the safe and towel card. We went in the morning and were told that we had to go to the towel shack and there were no cards. The public washrooms were very clean but every one had at least one stall with the toilet seat on the floor beside the toilet all week. Restaurants were well kept and food was plentiful and good for the most part. The food at the buffet was not hot most of the time unless it was freshly prepared for you - pasta station, eggs/omelettes, and stir fry. The à la carte restaurants were offered on alternating days only and that was not clear in the brochure provided in the rooms. Not much entertainment in evenings but we were ok with that. There seemed to be only 1 or maybe 2 people doing activities around the pool. There was only a small portion of the pool that was shallow enough for water activities. Unusual. Most of the staff were pleasant and hardworking. Beverages were good. The snack bar was good. The weather was fabulous. The beach was quite nice in spite of some erosion but we found that to be the case at several other resorts in the area when going for walks up and down the beach. Overall we had a very nice week at this resort. I would recommend this resort to someone looking for a laid back quiet vacation. If you are looking for excitement with lots of activities this is not the place for you.

Meh

Terrible service, foods okay, beach/pool good. Rooms are terrible, safe didn’t work, AC half worked, showers were hot/cold depending on time of day - resort is packed. Not really much to do at night, shows are meh. Okay value but resort is very meh

Very Relaxing Resort

This is a very nice small resort. The beach was lovely for swimming with a gentle sloping sand bottom. The pool was cleaned daily and was refreshing. The grounds were lovely with flowering plants throughout and maintained regularly. There were 2 menu type restaurants which we did not attend as my husband is a picky eater; the buffet suited us better. We found the food was good on the buffet with a good variety to choose from and something different everyday. The area in the main reception bu [... read more]ilding was a great place to relax and have a coffee or drink out of the sun. Also there is a pergola with vines overhead with flowers, also nice to relax and chat. The entertainment was geared at getting guests involved, dancing or participating in some way. The rooms need some work. Our first room had 2 double beds so we requested a King room because we were there for our anniversary. Were were given a King room and everything was good except the sliding door onto the patio was very hard to open and close and the closet doors did not work. Some rooms have been updated as we could see new sliding doors have been installed. We were provided with 2 large bottles of water daily in our room and there was a small refrigerator. The staff were generally friendly but did not speak much English, I found my Spanish translation app helpful at times. Over all I would return to Vik Arena Blanca as we had a lovely relaxing time.

A stay that escalated into a medical and ethical nightmare

I am writing this review at the request of Trip Central, following a catastrophic experience connected to my stay at VIK Arena Blanca in December 2025. What began as a long-saved, family vacation with my 4-year-old son ended in repeated hospitalizations, "ICU admission", and lasting health consequences. On the first plane ride over from Vancouver, I developed what appeared to be a minor insect bite. At the time, I believed it was not serious. On December 26, 2025, while already at the resort, [... read more] I purchased over USD $500 in excursions through Nexus Tours (including Monkeyland) because I reasonably believed the issue was insignificant and would not affect our vacation. That same morning, during a Nexus presentation required after booking through Trip Central / WestJet Vacations, I showed the infected bite to Alfredo, the Nexus tour guide who had sold me my excursions. Because of his affiliation with Canadian travel companies and the resort, I trusted his guidance when he directed me to the hotel’s on-site medical clinic. This decision proved to be devastating. At the hotel clinic, the doctor forcefully squeezed the bite despite my objections, worsening the inflammation. I was then told I needed to be sent by taxi to a nearby hospital and reassured that I would receive “a few hours of IV antibiotics” and be sent back so I could enjoy my vacation. That assurance was false. What followed was three days of hospital confinement, during which: I was repeatedly given IV antibiotics without appropriate diagnostic testing No wound culture was taken. I was told if I left against Hospiten bravaro advice I would owe thousands of dollars. I was told I could not leave unless I paid thousands USD by credit card I was warned that if I left, my insurance would not cover me. I was repeatedly told “you’ll be out soon,” while my stay was continuously extended I felt financially and medically trapped, with no advocate, while being told my treatment was at the hospital’s discretion. After being released back to the resort, my condition worsened dramatically. I became severely ill while in my hotel room with my young child. I was not completely alone only because another Canadian guest from Toronto, stepped in to help me. Thank God she was there. She assisted me during my illness and helped care for my child at moments when I was too unwell to do so myself. Without her presence, the situation could have been even more dangerous. Out of desperation, I returned to the hotel clinic, where immediately after having a blood pressure monitor attached to me I allegedly suffered a prolonged seizure despite having no neurological history. I was transported back to the same hospital and admitted to the ICU. During this ICU admission: I was separated from my 4-year-old child in a foreign country My child’s care depended on the kindness of someone I had only recently met I continued to deteriorate after excessive antibiotics Only after a doctor finally administered probiotics did I begin to improve Despite this, I was labeled with “late-onset epilepsy.” The hospital attempted to keep me admitted until January 5, 2026, but I was ultimately discharged on December 31, 2025. The representative from the Canadian consulate expressed concern that no one from the travel agency had alerted the Canadian consulate that I was admitted to hospital. Upon returning to Canada, I was taken to an emergency department, observed for several hours, and released, highlighting the stark contrast in proportionality of care. Why this concerns the resort and Canadian travelers This entire chain of events began with a hotel-affiliated medical referral. Resorts operating within systems that funnel insured tourists into external hospitals without safeguards, transparency, or advocacy should not ethically be aligned with Canadian travel companies. Based on conversations I had while hospitalized, I am not the first person this has happened to, and without change, I will not be the last. This is a serious public safety issue. My son never saw Monkeyland. My health and livelihood were deeply affected. What should have been a restorative vacation became a medical and emotional catastrophe. I am sharing this review so other families—especially parents traveling alone with children—understand the risks and can make informed decisions. Do not trust the resort clinic. I could have died.

Good place to relax.

Grounds clean and green a lots of palm trees flowers rooms clean and spacious renovation is still going in some of tthe rooms.Food good quality and fresh. Only coffee is not available early morning in the lobby. The pool is excellent with a lots of activities good music and entertainment all day long.

Great time

We liked everything about this resort! Excellent staff, all of them speaks English. Our room was clean and we never ran out of the toilet paper or shampoo. Every day we were getting 2l bottle of water. We loved the ground, lots of palm trees, ficus trees were huge. I was amazed by them and I really loved them. Food was great, pretty good selection. 2 beaches, one was short and rocky, the other long and sandy. Both fantastic for walking. We stayd there for 2 weeks and never got board. Thank yo [... read more]u! Ek.

Amazing resort

Hotel was perfect, very clean and delicious foods with a lot of choice for anyone! Employees are polite and nice! Great view to ocean and very clean pool. There was amazing animation team with a lot of fun activities every day, specially for kids

You receive exactly what you pay

It is a 3-star hotel. Don’t expect fancy dining, fancy cocktails, or top notch activities and amenities. However, it was very good considering the price we paid (almost 60% of the average price in Punta Cana). Seaweed is abundant but that’s not the hotel’s fault.

Surprisingly pleased

So I went to this resort with extremely low expectations. Not only was it the cheapest at the time of booking but the reviews were terrible. Two pools were out due to construction and apparently the seaweed was a disaster. But in fact I was met with a very lovely resort with nice grounds. The pool they did have was still very large and the noise was not even an issue. Plenty of lounge chairs and while some did reserve early, there was always somewhere to sit. Yes the seaweed starts building up i [... read more]n the evening and by morning it’s so full, but by 9 they have it all cleared up and it’s easy access to the ocean. They definitely have lost some of their beach due to this cleanup but if you walk to the left a little bit there is plenty of room in the sand. Food was decent, I had bacon every day for breakfast. But they didn’t have anyone cooking fresh eggs :( Building one had fantastic AC and I always had extremely hot water. Easy to walk around because it’s a smaller resort but still nice pathways with lovely flowered bushes and plenty of trees. Wifi was non existent in my room but accessible from my balcony and the main areas.

Quiet resort

If you are looking to really relax Vik hotel is an excellent option. It was clean and the main pool was very nice. Food was decent enough and the drinks were good. There was not much entertainment nor Latin music by the pool. All in all a nice relaxing vacation.

Clean and Quiet Resorts

Our visit to this resort was from Feb. 7 to 14 , 2025 Third floor corner unit in building #3 middle of the resort I'll start with the Pro's: Late night check in no problems Very clean, great beds pillows etc. Clean washroom, towels changed every day Resort easy to find your way around, wide pathways Good selection of food (my husband is diabetic ) no problems with the food Lots of towels , changed them every day no problem No reservations needed for the restaurants (tried the mexi [... read more]can excellent and plenty) Very casual dress code Cons: Not enough lawn chairs, taken early (7:00 - 7:30 am people placing towels on them Very little activity around the pool area(only 3-4 a bit of music chosen games ) Night shows very dated and short (Very Quiet Resort) VERY LITTLE ENGLISH spoken or understood , Spanish main language spoken A lot of French and Dutch people at the resort Check out is 12 noon a charge of 10$ an hour if you want to keep your room longer Poor lighting on pathways at night Bottled water only in mini fridges Shower head broken in our room Only the hand held shower head worked Pizza (pita bread) fries, burgers pork for lunch snack buy the pool My Opinions: Good Resort for a Quiet vacation , For Family's Wheel chair Friendly, lots of ramps, ramp in pool as well Good Variety of food in the Buffet, Lots of fruit , Variety of breads, Fresh fish, pasta, Beef, Chicken , Pork etc. Beer is Presidente mix's are sweet drinks Buffet has a red or white wine dispenser beside the keg of beer a help yourself station

Solid middle of the Road

This a tired, lack luster resort. Food is plentiful but not a great variety or flavours. Airconditioning is hit or miss, beds and pillows are hard, old. Staff are also hit and miss..so nice some dismissive..beach narrow and not enough lounge chairs for pool or beach. People were reserving chairs for hours without using them...