Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Fabulous staff and resort!

I can't find enough words to describe the staff at the resort. They were amazing, especially when my brother in law became sick. The pools were clean and the food was super. The crazy games were a blast and my family would definitely return again!

Occidental Punta Cana: Love the Occidental Grand Punta Cana

I have been to the Occidental four times now and thoroughly enjoy myself. The service is excellent and you really get to know the employees as this is a small resort and very comforting. The only thing I wish they would start doing some upgrades on the rooms. We have stayed in building 26 each visit and the rooms are really starting to show their age. We had a bath one night and no sooner did we let you the water the gentlemen from the downstairs room came running up because the water was going  [... read more]into their room. As for the Punta Cana area I have seen tremendous upgrades in the infrastructure. I am very happy to see the upgrades being done as the Dominican is a beautiful island and I will keep going back as much as I can. It feels like my second home.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Fabulous time!

This was our first time at Allegro Club and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. The resort is small, but very spread out so you never felt crowded even when the resort was full. It was windy for the first couple of days which allowed the kite surfers to do their thing and they were amazing to watch! Our room was clean, bug free, the a/c worked very well as did the hot water which came with lots of water pressure. Beds were very comfy. Food was plentiful with a lot of variety daily, we never went [... read more] hungry. As it goes in Cuba, the bread is to die for and of course, the bananas are the best in the world! The staff was very friendly, within the first day you're on a first name basis with all of them. The Hemingway Bar in the lobby serves the best coffee I've ever tasted, bar none. We only encountered two negatives during our time there. One, a minor inconvenience was that our TV didn't work and after asking for a remote control for three days I finally gave up. (Wasn't there to watch TV anyway, but some noise in the room at nighttime would have been nice.) Another was our room safe. The night we arrived, our porter showed us the safe which should have opened with our room key. The safe wouldn't open so he assumed it was the batteries to the lock with the mechanism being locked inside the safe. He reported it to front desk that night and by early afternoon the next day with no one coming by, I also reported it. Again, no one came by to fix it so I reported it again the third day. Again, nothing. Then I spoke to my Hola Sun rep who also took me to the front desk to report the problem. Four requests in four days to have it fixed got us nowhere. This in turn caused me to carry our money and passports everywhere we went. Aside from that though, it was a great trip and a great time!

Occidental Cozumel: Nice grounds and beach but annoying sale pitch

The grounds are beautiful, the buildings are surrounded by lush greenery, but my room was on first floor, so the view outside my room was not "garden view", it was tall plants blocking any view. The beach and the pool area are nice, the working stuff including the diving shop personnel are friendly and helpful. The lunch and dinner buffet were kind of boring but omelettes were great at breakfast. We had no problem in booking a la carte restaurants for 3 evenings and the food there were a bit bet [... read more]ter. The thing I didn't like (hate): The stuff took us to a concierge after check in, it turned out it was a sale pitch to get you to go to the presentation for the Occidental vacation clubs. Every morning around 8:30 AM, a group of hotel stuff would stand at the pathway, trying to get you to go to the presentation plus other off site tours. They learned to leave you alone after 3 or 4 days. I definitely will try a different hotel next time.

Allegro Cozumel: Challenged Resort

The resort itself is very well maintained, the grounds are pretty to walk through. The pools are picturesque but the water levels are way below the pool skimmers which means the water is not being filtered. We heard about this on trip advisor so decided with heavy chorination and no filtering the pool should be avoided. The buffet restaurant was a hit and miss, the lack of any breakfast meats, ham, bacon or sausage was a big disappointment. The food was mediocre, we could find enough to eat, it  [... read more]just wasn't food to rave about. Possibly because we arrived on New Years Eve, buffet was quickly depleted by sheer numbers at the resort, things seems to get much better through out the week. Service by restaurant staff usually good, excellent in the mornings. The pool buffet served up a much better spread but the lineups went out the door at noon every day. It was the only place to eat during the day. Really needed a separate nacho bar, pizza area etc to fit the needs of people wanting a quick bite, esp later at night. The bars were stocked usually by just one bartender for whole beach, again expect lineups. There seemed to be a lack of limes, cups etc so that was challenging. The beach was excellent, good swimming. Pier nice to walk out to. Vendors on beach were fun, not annoying, found some great buys. Gift shop lacked any snacks, alcohol or good supplies, internet very expensive and could be definitely overhauled. Disco alot of fun but sound system was pretty old. We opted out of nightly shows, pretty low grade unfortunately, I'm sure families enjoyed though. Likewise any pool activities were sparse and not well attended. there are no energetic pool staff teams to motivate people to do pool volleyball or salsa or zumba. The rooms are adequate but desperately need places other than an open closet to store clothing, hooks to hang up clothes etc. very ill equiped for travellers. Air conditioning works but you have to have on blast or turn off completely, no in-between. I liked the villa style of the rooms, and the walk to beach or main hall was short. Maid service was great. Brought lots of water on request. We were travelling with a group so fit our needs for this type of vacation, had it been just the 2 of us, we might have looked to upgrade to the other occidental. Great distance to airport and diving shops, there is one on beach dive shop but it is pricey, we opted for Papa Hogs in Cozumel, great prices and good instructors. Owners are ex pat Canadians, good to support them. Tours are very easy to access, excursion guys on site. There is one amazing restaurant/bar up the beach called Alberto's, don't miss the opportunity to eat there and dance.

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Disappointed

- We did not have hot water at all while at the resort. From Day 1 to Day 4, we had cold water only in our room, Day 4 we had about 3 minutes of lukewarm water. Day 7 we had warm water only. We went to the desk daily and they kept saying they would send someone to repair. At one point, we were informed the entire hotel had no hot water. - The room was full of mildew and on day 3, my Asthma made me very ill as I am allergic to mould and mildew. We had to leave our patio door open 24 hrs a day bec [... read more]ause I could not breathe in the room otherwise. We could not turn on the Air conditioning as the system was blowing nasty air into our room. I had to take my ventolin puffer more than 10 times per day as I coughed and gasped almost my entire trip. We could not do excursions after day 4 as I was too ill to attempt any physical activity. EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED!!! - The safe did not work until the second day so we had to carry our valuables with us all the time as the technician could not repair on our first day. - I expected 4 A la carte restaurant on site. They only have one A la carte available per day and if you don't book in before 9 am, the 24 seatings for the entire resort is booked. If I had known this, I would NOT have booked at this hotel. I was expecting the 4 star rating hotel I booked. - The cleaning staff were pleasant as were the bar staff. The counter staff are not helpful and shrug people off in a rude manner. - Towels were lacking and I could not rent a towel as there were none available for the first 2 days of my visit. - The public bathrooms were filthy and damaged. Sinks and toilets were only at 50% usage capacity. VERY DISAPPOINTED!!

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Beautiful resort except for the beach

The resort (surroundings) buildings, outside landscaping are all beautiful, food including restaurants a la Carte and buffet are 4 stars but the big des appointment is that there is no open beach, there is only a man made basin

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: great location

Beach, pools, interior and exterior garden, great, friendly staff ( tips needed), old but clean rooms, good cocktails, bland and not so fresh food, nice deserts. If you go for luxury, not for you, but nice for enjoying nature.

Allegro Cozumel: still needs work

It slowly got better after hours of delay at the checkin. Pool's were leaking and not the cleanest. Food was not available outside the restricted buffet hours. Rooms were well cleaned by Alfredo :). Activities poorly run and hard to get information on.

Occidental Papagayo: Wasnt amazing but wasn't horrible

This hotel was alright. The food could have been better, the rooms could have been better, but the staff was amazing! Too many stairs thow! The view out of the rooms was not nice, and when you walk out the scenery isn't nice eathier. They need grass or flowers. The shuttle service is awesome thow! To get around on the resort!

Occidental Punta Cana: Great grounds. Not so great rooms

The resort itself is beautiful. The rooms however are outdated and gross. Leaking showers , bugs are just to start. The food is a solid 2.5/5. Considering 9/11 of us got sick. Great beaches. Great weather. Great staff.

Occidental Punta Cana: Had a great time!

This is a nice resort. Beach is nice. It is a little rough at times it wasn't calm at all the week we were there. Rooms are clean and that's all I really care about. Never saw a bug!! Food was good but didn't really bother with the A la cart. Customer service sucks!!! Front desk wasn't always nice until we tipped her. Then she was nicer. Terrible service in the main dining area. Have your lunch at the beach buffets it's better and the service is great!!! Plus you can't beat the view!!

Allegro Cozumel: Amazing beaches and sunsets.

The grounds were beautifully cared for and the beach and pool were spectacular. The rooms, food and shows need lots of improvements, this aspect of the holiday was a 3 star level. The beds were very firm.

Allegro Playacar: Great Vacation

Hotel has great staff, it is an older hotel so if you can't handle all the amenities a older hotel can offer you will not have fun. Small and Peaceful. Very central on playacar. Food was good is you are ok with new things. Hard for my child to find anything acceptable to eat.

Occidental Punta Cana: Some not great things, but a fun trip!

There are some really good things about this resort and some quite bad. Our group was quite large with 11 people. PROS - The resort grounds are very nice. They keep it very clean and well manicured. - Service is awesome. Most times I never had to get up to get a drink. - The Resort entertainment is some of the best I've seen. There is something different every night and the talent is quite good. - Most of the time we didn't have trouble finding chairs for our entire group - Beach is awesome. I  [... read more]usually don't spend a lot of time in the ocean but at this resort I spent every day there. - Pools are very nice - multiple there - some quiet for families, and a party one with a swim up bar - Mexican al la Carte was awesome. Oriental was okay. Others were not great. - 24/7 available food - The disco just off the resort called Mangu is amazing..awesome music and we had so much fun there. - Very family friendly CONS - Rooms are just awful. Many people on the resort complained. I knew this going in from other reviews so I didn't expect much going in - The safes are old school. You actually have to carry a key around with you and if you lose it, you have to pay $75 to get it "smashed" open. Just ridiculous. It's also not included with your room. I think it was $25. - Other than the Mexican restaurant and the 24/7 pizza oven, the food was not good. I tried many different dishes, however there's nothing I could rave about. - The people selling stuff on the beach gets kind of annoying, they are constantly bugging you. Besides all that, I did really enjoy myself. I think the people you are with really make a trip and the cons certainly didn't keep us down!

Allegro Cozumel: Needs some improvement

Need to open another food & drink location at lunch. Long line up at snack bar and beach bar. Rooms need some TLC. Our ceiling in bathroom leaked a lot of water but we switched rooms next day so that was appreciated. Friends room had broken toilet and shower handle but fixed quickly. Food in buffet was picked over by 8pm. Need to replenish. Toilet & AC in disco broken. Always ran out of limes at bars. Concerned about water levels in pool. In the end, hotel was okay but needs simple improvements.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Resort had many issues

We traveled here with 4 other couples between Christmas an New Years 2014. Many issues with the resort. 1. No running water for hours at a time. This has a direct impact to showers and toilets. We were told the water issue was affecting other resorts on the area as well. Restaurants couldn't open on time due to no water. 2. Clean beach towels only available every 4 days. We got beach towels the day we arrived, then after that a 4 day wait. Some people were there for days before they got a towel. [... read more] BTW - the resort will charge you $20 for a lost towel. Once again we were told this issue was not isolated to our resort. 3. Bugs more specifically sand fleas. Came home with over 200 bug bites. Not sure why we didn't pack bug spray. I realize the items above are out of the control of the resort. Here is a list of items the resort can and should correct: 1. Always running out of plates in the buffet restaurant. Plus layout needs tweaking, always waiting for food. BTW - don't even bother with the Cuban a la carte restaurant, it was terrible. The Italian a la carte was good. 2. Air conditioners, phones, fridges and showers do not work in all rooms. You would be lucky if you got something fixed. 3. Be careful not to lock yourself out on the balcony. It happened to us more than once. 4. Furniture in need of repair, missing handles, etc. Our friends bed was actually missing a leg. Overall the food was good, beach was nice (very shallow), and the people were friendly. Definitely a two star resort based on so many things broken or not working. The only reason I didn't give it one star is because the food was good.

Occidental Papagayo: Nice resort

Lots of work needed at Asian rest. Poor food and lots of kitchen noise. The resort on a whole was well maintained and staff very friendly lots of stairs people should be made aware of this before booking

Occidental Punta Cana: terrible

Rooms smelled of raw sewage hotel staff were rude had too move us 3 times second room had water dripping out of light fixture over the toilet and bathroom flooded served no seafood food was good though paid ninety dollars a piece too snorkel with sharks they fed us a sandwich think was some sort of processed meat with a slice of cheese and mustard packets for that type of money we paid it should have been better I would not recommend this resort too anyone and were not the only ones that felt th [... read more]is way about the resort lots of.people had.complaints it sucks will never go there again

Occidental Punta Cana: Beautiful resort!

We traveled to this resort over New Years and it was a great vacation. As 23 year old's we were expecting a bit more of a party atmosphere, but we were barely disappointed. The entire resort was beautiful and well-kept. Staff were friendly and welcoming. The rooms were spacious and extremely well air conditioned. The weather was hot and sunny the entire trip. There was always a show, nightly and then the club on the resort was open nearly every night for late night partying which we liked. The f [... read more]ood was REALLY GOOD. When we arrived, the front desk had already booked our 5 a la carte dinners which was nice since we didn't have to go through the trouble of booking them ourselves. Each dining option we had a good experience at and the general buffet for breakfast and dinner was good. There was never an issue with the quality of food. We booked an excursion to go ziplining through the mountains which was amazing and well organized. Booking excursions through the hotel was easy and relatively fast since they had many staff there to do it. Overall, it was more of a family oriented resort... but extremely relaxing and fun when you needed it to be (depending on what you are there for). I would definitely recommend it. The beach is extremely close to the rooms and while I've (personally) seen nicer beaches before, it was still pretty decent. We just found there to be a ton of seaweed in the ocean when you'd step out into it from the beach. Either than that, the facilities (washrooms) on the resort were always kept clean. And there seemed to always be activities occurring and music playing. Staff constantly cleaned your room daily and restocked fridge and towels. No issues for us! Very enjoyable vacation. I'd give it a 4/5.