Playabachata Hotel: Waste of Money - We were Lied To

I didn't expect a palace but I did expect: 1. To be placed in the resort I booked. We were booked in the Playabachata resort but upon arrival we were put in the Coral resort - oldest of the 3 resorts. Not cool. 2. To be treated with respect. Upon arrival, my father was given a room on the second floor. We had booked a first floor room as he can't climb stairs. This was arranged with TripCentral and we were told none were available. This was 11pm and I had to wait until 1am (with my [... read more] 85 year old father sitting in the dark with all the luggage on cement steps) when everyone else had checked in (they wouldn't speak to me until then). After much forceful discussion, they finally took a room from another couple and gave us a first floor room. By the way, the couple they took the keys from checked in after us so there definitely WAS first floor rooms available. 3. Attention to important repair - The phone in my fathers room was no working. This was brought to their attention Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, several times every day and nothing was ever done to repair it. If my father needed help/assistance, he would never have been able to contact me. This continued for our entire 14 days. No one even came to investigate. 4. Dietary Restrictions - we both have dietary restrictions which were relayed to Tripcentral/Sunwing, and also communicated to the resort guest relations staff. Several hours were spent putting everything in place for this upon arrival. At every meal, we had to fight to get food. No one knew anything about it. Most of the Chefs didn't know what we were talking about and most nights we didn't get any meals. We had to to eat basically tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce off the salad bar only. I can't imagine how this is acceptable anywhere! We finally picked up our bags and left the resort moving to another one at our expense. This had to be the WORST vacation and worst group of staff to deal with that I've ever been on. The only positives were that the beach and the weather were both lovely. Shame on all of you for passing this type of resort off as a 4star. It would barely qualify as a 2. Shame, Shame, Shame.

Punta Cana Princess: Punta Cana Princess is showing her age

Sorry Punta Cana Princess (PCP), but you have dropped the ball. The renovations done over the Covid shut down no where near justifies the significant increase in what you are charging now. If you don't upgrade to their VIP, you will be disappointed. And even if you do upgrade, it is NOT worth the extra $$$. I am currently in the market for another adults only resort.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Disappointing

Rating is not accurate. I would say this is a 2.5- 3 star hotel now. 1hr wait to check in 10 people. Lobby staff either poorly trained or managed. We stayed in a basic room. Room keys didn’t work. No AC, balcony door handle broken off, fan didn’t work and windows screwed shut. TV remote didn’t work. Buttons on the TV didn’t work. Only volume up/not down Bedside Outlet box laying on the floor. Nervous about electrical issues Shower is handheld wand hanging down, not mounted at shower hei [... read more]ght Beach- lots of seaweed and strong smell of sewage at beach and various places around grounds. Food at buffet- fair/poor. 2 of our party got sick and needed medical attention. Insurance company said we were the 3rd call from the hotel that day. Grounds- lush and well kept. Staff- friendly but not always helpful Entertainment- fair Most pools with cracked concrete, dirty They don’t seem concerned to make repairs/maintenance. I’m sure it was an amazing resort at one point, but we were ripped off. It was not worth the money we payed.

Princess Family Club Bavaro: Good vacation

We enjoyed this resort with our two young girls (8 and 10). Resort is large but we used the trolley and the walk to beach from Family club area was only about 10 minutes. Food was good, buffet is as usual - after a few days it all looks the same. Beach was beautiful. Staff were hit and miss, some were very helpful and engaging, others not so much. Beware of the long lineups at the airport on way home, we waited in several different lines for a total of almost 2.5hrs, not fun with tired and  [... read more]hot kids. Overall good vacation.

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Perfect Vacation!

Husband and I go every year for vacation to the same resort because we love it here! Beautifullly maintained landscaping, excellent food and drinks with many options for everyone, clean and spacious rooms! Only issue this year was that it was an extremely busy week and people were leaving towels on chairs at the pool and the beach for many hours and not using them while some couldn’t find a chair.

Viva Heavens by Wyndham: Party Resort

The hotel is very clean, rooms are comfortable with large Smart flatscreen tv. A few English channels. If you like loud music playing until 11:00, foam pool party, white night and silent night parties then this is the place for you. If you want to wind down with some peace, go somewhere else. Block 4 and 5 hotel rooms are very noisy, it sounds like the party is in your room. Buffet is ok. A la cartes are much better with excellent service and tasty food and nice wines or beer. Beach is nice when [... read more] the wind blows from left to right, otherwise there's a lot of seaweed. I recommend this hotel for party goers.

Viva Dominicus Palace by Wyndham: 5 star Beach & Beautiful property

This property has the most wonderful beaches! You can snorkel by just walking into the ocean and looking down into the crystal clear water :) great combination of soft sand vs. coral areas with lots of fish. We brought our own goggles and snorkels. They also have several great pools between the Palace and Beach properties. The oceanside infinity pool was lovely. Also great options for catamaran rides, kayaks and paddle boards. There are interactive ducks, various birds, Geese and lizards [... read more] on site. Our daughters loved feeding them daily. The Palace buffet was our favourite, we tried several a la carte’s - the Mexican one was the best. La Creperie and smoothies from the Tiki bar were delicious. La Trattoria was great for late night, wood-fired, fresh pizza. We had a top floor, ocean front room in Building 59 - perfect location to access the sister resorts & so close to the beach we could hear the waves…

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: WOW! The customer service is top shelf!

We stayed at the Iberostar Costa Dorada from Feb. 11 - 18, 2024. The resort itself is a bit on the small side, older and a bit dated. That is pretty much it for the negatives. The Costa Dorada is a beautifully landscaped and clean resort, situated well on a beautiful stretch of beach. The ocean was rough the week we were there which limited the time on the beach and in the ocean, but the sand was always clean during the day. If you are staying 7 or more nights you are guaranteed 3 to 4 reservati [... read more]ons at one of their 3 a la carte restaurants. After you use your guaranteed reservations you can make additional reservations after noon the day of (this was not well communicated so we didn't find out until our last day). We ate at the Japanese restaurant twice (teppanyaki) the first time was great and very high energy, the second was not high energy and a bit disappointing. The Italian restaurant was also very good, my wife went back a second time just for the risotto. The best part of the resort was the staff! The concierge were amazingly helpful and friendly. George was our primary concierge and helped make reservations and provided information about the resort and the area and some pointers on excursions. When George wasn't there Lis and the rest of the team were equally helpful. The service staff at the restaurants take obvious pride in their jobs and were so help and friendly. The staff at the buffet were very friendly and attentive and really helped get the morning off to a good start. I wish I knew the name of the cook at the omelet station for our first 4 days, he was great and entertaining :). The resort is nice and the weather can't be beat but it is the people of the Costa Dorada that really made our vacation! We would definitely go back.

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Ok, Resort

Unfortunately, because our flight got delayed we ended up arriving at the Resort at around 1:00 in the morning so we couldn't really see how good the Resort was until morning. We just wanted to take a quick shower and go to bed. As one of my son's were taking a shower I noticed that the bed sheets were not clean and then my son said that water in the shower was boiling hot and there was no cold water. At this point I called someone at the reception tell them about the sheets and the problem with [... read more] hot water. They sent someone to change the bedsheets and to see about the hot water in the shower. They weren't able to fix the water problem in the room so they said to go back to the reception in the morning to see if they can change our room.The next morning we went to change our room ,but we had to wait until 5:00pm to switch rooms. Finally, we went to our new room, we made sure that the shower was working properly and that everything was ok including the pull out couch since my other son was going to use it. As my son pulled out the pull out couch there was a dead big insect on the mattress. I couldn't believe it and even my son. We took a picture of the insect and went back to the reception and showed them the picture of the insect. We no apologies they gave us another room and told us to make sure the room was ok before moving our luggage there. At this point I was upset and tried. Lucky, the room was nice and clean with the swim up pool. My son's and I wasted one whole day just changing rooms which was frustrating because it felt like we lost one vacation day to relax and have fun. The Resort itself is beautiful ,but the housekeeping needs improvement. So many times we didn't have enough towels and there wasn't enough shampoo ,etc The beach area was nice and the entertainment was good, but hardly any of the waiters would ask us if we wanted a drink in the stage/theater area. The buffet was ok, but half the time the table was not set properly and sometimes we had trouble finding plates for the buffet. I hardly doubt that will come back here again.

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Good resort

Overall we enjoyed our stay, The food was great, drinks were good. The only issue I had was with cleanness of rooms which was ok but not great. My other complaint is the check in process. We got there tired and thirsty and we didn’t even get a water, also nobody showed us around. Over all I would recommend the resort 8/10

Whala Boca Chica: Our review of Whala Boca Chica

Entrance to hotel and lobby not great but OK. Our main take away was inconsistency! Beach was great due to breakwater which made it very calm and warm. Great for families & non swimmers & just relaxing in the water. The 2 pools were good. The one a la carte restaurant was only open 2-3 days a week & was definitely sub par. Buffet was adequate, inconsistent, but we never went hungry. Wait staff poorly trained & didn't seem to know what to do. Most never smiled & were not friendly Activities were  [... read more]held on an inconsistent basis & not as per posted schedule. Evening entertainment very unprofessional & mostly not worth watching. Service was lacking & we were often blatantly ignored. There is a definite language barrier here. Speaking Spanish would be very helpful. It was nice to be able to walk in the small town that surrounded the resort. There were numerous vendors on the beach selling products & massage. Most did not force themselves on us. The massage was very professional. There was no representative from the airline but there was a representative from a local company in the hotel at all times. Very good to deal with but you needed USD or pesos, no credit card. But you could get cash on your credit card from the local bank with an extra charge. We would consider going back here for a strictly beach vacation provided the price was really good as we now know what to expect. Go there with low expectations.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Awesome place!

Had a great time at this resort! The place is very clean and the food is really good.i like how it's not massive so it's not a long walk to the beach no matter where your room is. The paper cups at the bars are a bit disappointing, but we had travel mugs anyway. 5 min walk to the golf course is nice and if you're into golf it's worth playing. Will definitely go back to this resort.

Secrets Tides Punta Cana: Wonderful resort

Secrets tides have very good room service, clean. Food was amazing. Pools were very clean. I love the service I like the pool classes. Instructor was very nice. Coco bar was amazing . Breakfast and lunch buffet was wonderful

Ocean Blue and Sand: Great Resort and Staff!

We really enjoyed the resort and amenities. The property was in great condition, very clean and well maintained. The grounds were impeccable. The staff was always friendly, available and helpful. The food was plentiful, sufficiently varied and good, with about 10-15% of dishes being downright delicious (as per our subjective taste). The wait staff were very observant and pro-active for the majority. The entertainment crew deserves an ovation for their stamina and happy disposition. The [... read more]y were on site, keeping us entertained all day....mornings at the beach, afternoons by the pool and evenings by the lobby, theater or disco....they never ran out of energy and humor! The beach was clean, well maintained and there were plenty of loungers. There were always clean beach towels available and again the staff were very helpful. Unfortunately, the hurricane last year really decimated the beach, which is now half of the width it used to be (compared to the picture above). Of course this is out of their control, but unfortunately there were repercussions on how crowded the beach was, how close the loungers were to one another and on the available shade. Despite it all, the ocean was splendid! One negative aspect I have to mention is the insistence of the H10/Privilege Club staff to get you to buy into their travel membership and the misrepresentation of the duration of said presentation. We were roped in because we were curious to hear of the possibility to travel for less by dealing with them directly, which has its merit, but were mislead on the never-ending 2.5 hours long pitch.

Viva Heavens by Wyndham: Mostly a great experience

Hotel grounds, beach, pool and rooms were well maintained. The only issues we ran into were around the reception staff. We booked a king size bed and we’re forced into a room with 3 double beds. We arrived at 1pm and were told we could check in at 3 we came back at 3 and they said our room wasn’t ready. They told us 5-10 minutes. We waited 45 then they took us to a room we didn’t book. When we tried to correct it at the desk, the manager said they couldn’t make it work and was visibly annoyed we [... read more] asked to have our room changed. Entertainment, bar staff and maids were exceptional! We used Hector the Protector to book our excursions and we saved so much and had an amazing time!

Zel Punta Cana - All Suites: I really enjoyed my time there.

I just returned from a week at Garden Suites by Melia. The tropical feel at this resort was so important to me before I booked and it exceeded my expectations. I see a lot of resorts with a sleek modern style that feel more like an airport than a resort. This resort wowed me with the room size. I had a swim out and the outdoor space was so large which made my vacation even better. I couldn't stop staring at the expansive grounds and the beach was just beautiful. The staff which this resort has e [... read more]mployed are so professional and kind. Leonardo and the many who work there were always so genuinely happy and made us feel comfortable. The food, layout, beach, grounds, staff and accommodations are exactly what a vacation should be. Enjoy yourself!

Occidental Caribe: not What we expected

The Room was small, smelled Musty, Had to get the safe fixed twice. the bed was comfortable but it was too small, we wanted to sleep together so the two double beds didn't work for us. The coffee pot did not work, I reported it but it was not resolved. I got food poisoning from the Japanese Resturant the Pool was great. The buffet was good most of the time. The staff were polite and very helpful. The drinks were very good. My Husband got eaten alive with Bug bites.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Good resort !

The resort is quite large ! The grounds were well maintained. But the room was just ok . When we got in we had no TV remote and the safe box was not working. Got it resolved the next morning. The beach is amazing ! One big problem were chair availability. If you got to beach or pool after 8 a:m , you had no chair ! We had to be there before 7 a:m to reserve one with shade , like everyone else . Even though there are signs everywhere saying-no reserving chairs . I think there should be better man [... read more]agement with that . We noticed people reserved chairs near the beach and didn’t show up till afternoon . Not right ! No complaints with the food . Overall a good experience.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Nice resort

First time to the Dominican, so can't compare to other resorts, but this was a nice clean resort , large selections of food . Always entertainment happening ,friendly staff. Biggest negative for us was that as a senior ,unless you were tech savvy and had a smart phone there was no info available at the resort all info was available on their app.

Grand Bavaro Princess: Exceeded Expectations

This resort met or exceeded expectations for a 4.5 rating. Many dining options, wonderful beach and updated rooms. Only downside was spotty internet. Service was attentive and always readily available.