Super Clean, Super Easy

Small group winter get away in a Very clean resort, a little classic but well maintained and a great deal at this price point. One of the easiest check-in/checkouts ever. Food was great, drinks were plentiful and staff everywhere were just so nice and skilled. This is one of the best beaches we have seen. So clean and easy to get in and out.

Disappointed

this resort is very dated and in bad need of a lot of Repair. The beds were super hard. They had three pools at the resort and only one umbrella. The tiles around the pools were all loose the lounge chairs at the pool majority were ripped and stained. We were out of hot water for two days others were out for more than seven the staff, for the exception of two did not seem to want to be there would never speak They ran out of white wine on two days that I know of at the buffet. There was one toas [... read more]ter for the whole resort. It seems like this place is going down. I definitely would not recommend it. Other others that we talk to were the same very disappointed.

Great resort

Good hotel staff very nice and helpful front desk good but dont take the time to explain things eg if your key stops working you have to have both keys changed at the same time or your roomates wont work ours had to be chamged three times rooms in the 2100 building are very noisy at might right across from the entertainment area if you like to stay up late youll be fine if not bring earplugs food is good plenty to choose from you wont go hungry for the price it is a good hotel finding chairs and [... read more] tables outside can be trying as some guest put towels on beach chairs and pool chaisr for the entire day and only use one set but that happens at most all inclusives had a nice time a few extra charges for some meals and premium drinks like baileys 400 dollars a drink oh and my freinds said the wine is not good all in all I would give this hotel a 8/ 10 rating

Wonderful holiday!

We really enjoyed Blue Bay. Our room on the main floor was clean and comfortable. The grounds are very well maintained. The beach was great. The coffee, drinks and food were abundant and good. All staff were really nice and friendly. Liliana and her front desk team and the guest services ladies were absolutely fantastic. Carlos, Pablo and the ladies at the Black and White Bar were also fabulous. The bar by the entertainment area did not serve wine….having to walk 50 ft to another bar was n [... read more]ot a problem, so no complaints here. The housekeeping staff had a supply room by our room so we met each morning, they were extremely friendly and attended to our every request. It is easy to see why so many of the guests return every year. We will!

Not what expected

Great location Close to ocean, food average, rooms terrible, old run down and nothing worked. 2 little beers and 2 cokes in fridge, you had to pay if you wanted anymore. Spoke with front desk about plugged toilets, no water for 2 days, radio did not work, ceiling fan broke, needed to replace door key 3 times. Cleaning staff great Hard to find a place to sit at beach not enough chairs and NO umbrellas Smoking EVERYWHERE, except . A nice little pool in the spa area, with quiet music and no  [... read more]smoking Would not recommend this resort

Lovely resort

Awesome resort, perfect size and very clean. The staff was absolutely amazing and accommodating, and the amenities were never lacking, as can sometimes be the case at smaller resorts, but not here!! The buffet offered a wide selection, with themed dinners each night, and as a picky eater myself I never went without and was always satisfied and full. Excellent and safe location (being within a larger gated resort community) and close to the airport and historical Puerto Plata. Less than a 2 minut [... read more]e walk from the mall, which had very cheap souvenirs. The shows were fantastic, and there was usually something to watch on stage as well as in the lobby. The 24 hour snack bar was very convenient and tasty. Shoutout to Caesar and his excursion company, who got us a great deal for a city tour, you can find him on the beach! It’s always best to support local companies when on vacation. I would definitely come back to this resort again!

Never got to see it

We had our flights cancelled by west jet because of plane issues and made us not make connection. There were no other flights for a week. West jet cancelled our flights telling us to contact tripcentral for refund. They did not refund us on hotels and we were unable to get refunded or stay in the hotels. Still fighting WestJet for refund. Tough when everything is online and told to submit it online. Only giving the one star because we never got to go see it. It won’t let me it put any

Exceeded Expectations!

This was an over Christmas trip… this was one of the cheapest late booking places available that we could afford when we discovered we didn’t have to work over Christmas. Kids are older, we didn’t have to wait for Santa before travelling. After reading reviews, I had low expectations. But after 2 years of not travelling and cancelled trips due to family situations and work…. we just needed to get away. Both kids had been to the DR before…. my wife and I had been to Haiti… we sort of knew wha [... read more]t we were getting into. We just wanted a beach. Flew AirTransat and will say they’ve up’d their game a bit. Good flight, nice people. Getting luggage was a bit dicey in the POP airport. Thanks to trackers in all the bags we rounded them up. A booth outside had airtransat on it, the gent there directed us to the bus. A ‘porter’ suddenly showed up and grabbed our bag. Seems ok until he holds it hostage for $5 US lol. The gent at the desk arranged that one so know they are in cahoots. If you don’t want it, just get directions and shoo the rest away. Was too tired after being up at 1am for the flight to care. The shuttle bus was a large tour bus. We were missing a person so we waited an extra 45 min in aircon. Good thing about the Blue Bay Villas…. you are the first stop and of course close to the airport, a mini mall (which sells all the stuff they sell on the beach plus coke - important info to know, snacks and fairly cheap booze… with a sports bar set up for Canadians… they posted the Canadians and Leafs Schedule), tennis and walking paths which appeared fairly safe even at dark. Check-in was made simple. Hand your passport, sign in, get a wrist band, a refreshing cool drink and another porter to your room. Now you’re down $25 in tips lol. We booked a superior room. In honesty I was immediately disappointed. Cheap looking furniture, no carpet as seen in the pictures, slightly moldy bathroom, No working lock on door, safe locked and no way in, bad lighting from ceiling fan that didn’t work. Room was very cool though. We checked out the kids room… much better in appearance with a lock, better lighting and working fan. My son did say “This is much nicer than the last place i stayed”. Stepping back, those were MY initial impressions…. the sheets were clean (well, not the warm blanket in the closet with the big stain), the bed hard but nice enough, fridge with some presidente, water and ….pepsi. (Why was everything pepsi and even worse… diet lol. Now you understand the coke comment from before. Rum and diet pepsi… tastes like a Dr.pepper knockoff). Bedside table held our stuff, just needed outlets. If i had a c-pap or something i would’ve been in trouble without an adapter. Nice decor on the bed and room. Guess what… By the end of the week I was sitting on the balcony enjoying the room, the birds and the noise from the resort next door…. just learned to not use the room coffee maker…. has not been cleaned for a while. Just go to the bar for the coffee machine. Oh and the shower is a tinkle of water. You’re in there for a bit longer getting the soap off. Potable water in the sink… remember that brushing your teeth. Food - I think if you complain about it your expectations were waaaay too high. The food was perfect! Omelette bar in the morning, extra things I wouldn’t normally eat, lots of fruit and juices, coffee, breads and oatmeal/cereals. Lunch we usually ate at the beach bar for a snack still being full from breaky but the Main buffet was loaded for lunch while the beach bar had hot dogs, burgers, rice/beans and the best coated fried chicken I’ve had since KFC changed their recipe. Dinner/Supper in the buffet always had a theme and a special meat and food items. The a-la-cart three restaurants… everyone raved about the Italian restaurant as you waited in the line starting at 9am to book. We honestly liked the Asian best, italian then Seafood. Nothing wrong with the Seafood but the selection was a bit thin. But they did offer Chicken! The resort… well kept. They painted all the paths (which are quite narrow and hard to pass some ignorant folk who walk side by side), kept the grounds clean, some broken and loose tiles. Three pools - one with morning exercise and afternoon festivities which are loud; second pool right beside with afternoon volleyball and loud. Third pool near the gym and spa… small, peaceful and quiet. The bars kept the drinks flowing. The Gym….. well never mind. They have a bike, elliptical, weight bench and weights up to 50lbs. oh… and a scale so you can scare yourself after each meal. More than two people… just wait your turn. For the weights… not the scale. The beach. Had a chair everyday. The cabana folk were up way too early for me to want to grab one. In the summer the water is clear, on our trip, sand was murking it up. couldn’t snorkel there. But…. it was sooo warm and wonderful. I hate the ocean. I scuba and that’s it. This, this was awesome just to float and enjoy the tranquility of no jelly fish, sea snakes or something else nibbling my toes. Hate to say i enjoyed it but i did! Activity wise on the beach…. Felix is the man. He makes it flow down there and kept us entertained. He is a great guy and if we ever go back I’m bringing him the biggest tip of anyone. He deserves it for the work he does and the effort he puts into it! You can kayak, sail on the small catamaran, volleyball… get sunny. If it wasn’t for the land sharks walking around selling the wares (same ones in the mall), massages, hair braiding, ‘Today only buy one cigar, nothing for free…’ and Mamawanna Mamawanna… it would be the perfect time at the beach. At night always a show. They put a lot of effort into it. Only prob is if you’re exhausted, it goes until around 2300 so can be loud in your room. The Christmas Eve buffet was fantastic. A roast beast (piggy) was being sliced up, amazing foods and treats and the decor was from a nutcrackers nightmare. They did good! If you are looking for an adult only resort, feel safe at this one. Many people expressed their surprise at the quality of the facility. There is some shady stuff in the background. Won’t get into it, Don’t look for trouble. But do tip. We didn’t do a great job but every meal 2-5$ plus a 20$ for the a-la-cart. The omelette bar always got at least a $1 per plate. And every time we filled our yetis at the bar, we tipped $1/drink. Others did more, some did nothing. Once you learn the wages, you will want to tip more! They have some amazing people working there. Take the time to talk and get to learn about them… you’ll have friends for life! You could have the best resort but if the people don’t match, it’s not the same. Blue Bay has some good ones who will make you laugh as they enjoy life! There are better resorts in the DR. I’m confident they are also more $$. I do honestly believe we got our moneys worth. But don’t drink the offered wine, buy the better bottle. Try a glass of each red and white. You’ll understand… but don’t look it up online. Sometimes leaving the wizard behind the curtain is best.

Think Twice

This hotel was not at all what I expected. I chose an adult resort because I wanted peace and a little maturity, but that was not at all what I experienced. The most irksome issue was the smoking (both cigarettes and cigars), which people partook in recklessly and ubiquitously- perhaps because it was an adult resort and they felt it fine to inundate adults with second-hand smoke. We would be in the dining room and smell cigar smoke (there was a gentleman who sold cigars right outside the dining  [... read more]hall and constantly smoked his product- advertising it, perhaps?) as well as cigarette smoke. As a result of the unceasing second-hand smoke, I could not participate in any of the entertainment events as the smoke chased me away. When I finally complained on the last night as I wanted to catch at least one show before leaving, I was told that there were non-smoking areas. When I asked where these areas were, they said "any indoor space." I replied that it was a resort and that there weren't any real indoor spaces except the bedrooms. The dining hall, though roofed, was an open area. I felt very limited in what I could do and enjoy and opted just for walking on the beach, which was nice but not worth the price I paid for this trip.

So so. 3.5 out of 5.

Having stayed at Blue Bay's resort in Mexico and at both VH Gran Ventana and Viva Heavens, this is a tired resort. Stayed in the 8000 building block in late May, being the shoulder season, it was very quiet; about less than 100 guests, thus not all the facilities wasn't available. Besides the above average service as disclosed on previous reviews, allow me to go over the small cons: 1) from the previous reviews, the lauded Asian restaurant was closed for renovations, but the food was available  [... read more]once a la carte and once at the buffet. 2) that in mind, besides your room, there's no air conditioning, except for the Italian restaurant. 3) showed up for the scheduled bicycle tour and asking 2 staff what happened, left after an hour. 4) difficult to get toiletries, shower gel. 5) service at reception for both checking in and especially checking out was with poor attitudes and frowns.

Great Staff, great food & fun!

The BlueBay Villas Dorada is smaller resort with a great set-up. It is easy to find your way around. The food is great with so many options and varieties each day. The staff is friendly and fun. The Entertainment crew were the highlight of our two week stay, getting to see them for games on the beach in the morning and games at the pool each afternoon. Then the evening shows were always so much fun and entertaining. Sure, the resort could use some updates, which they are in the process of doin [... read more]g. If your room has a problem and you let them know, it gets fix quickly. I have been twice already with plans to go back :)

Never Again Resort!

Let me first say, our travel agent is and always will be our go to person. This resort was our choice. There were six of us, hoping to visit this resort thinking.. WOW, it is going to be the awsome. Friends, family, new friends added a positive to our trip. Arriving April 12th, we moved rice. First room AC was not working. Second room..after complaining of the toilet leaking at the water shutoff valve..wrnhad lakes every day. Talked to the same people from the front desk, maintenence (who l [... read more]aughed at us) God forbid a woman knows about plumbing. Saturday to Thursday we put up with a room soaked with water. It was Thursday afternoon we were moved to our third room. Food..average, drinks..plenty to forget about the rooms. Staff, depends where you were in the resort and what color braclet you wore. Be your own judge.We will never go back. I rate this resort a 2

Clean and Cozy!

We wanted something low-key and relaxing, and Blue Bay was just that. From the very accomodating staff, to the delicious and varied food, and clean grounds, we could not have asked for more. Even though it rained most of the time we were there, we made the most of our weather app and made do with what sunshine we did have. Our last full day there the sun did not disappoint, and we were able to spend most of the day at the beach. Majority of the people were older couples, and no rowdy large group [... read more]s. The a la cart food was delicious and varied, but we even found the buffet to be fresh and varied too. If you are looking for a place to relax and unwind, stay here! And if you have any issues, the staff at Blue Bay will go out of their way to make sure you are happy! We will definitely go back to this resort!

Not impressed

The resort itself is outdated in a whole. Electrical outlets are sketchy and loose and not fitting correctly. The staff seemed unhappy in their jobs. No smiles most of the time. The time share people were hounds and were not happy if you didn't go to their 2 hour session. Most of the staff while working were on their phones if they were not helping? someone. The food was the same for breakfast and lunch but some foods were changed for dinner. Dinner buffet you seemed rushed to hurry and e [... read more]at. You leave your table to get 2nds and come back with your table already cleared. I found the staff very unaccomidating. No willingness to make a person feel welcome at all. Would not go back and will not recommend this resort

Underwhelming

Rooms were a big disappointment. Standard rooms are well below standard. I suspect this is because they want your upgrade dollars. The upgraded room ($’s) were better though the bathrooms are tiny and badly maintained. Both sink and especially the shower did not drain. Nice if you want water puddling around your feet…eew! Front desk people are sullen and uninviting. Food was great. The staff at the buffet were inviting, smiling and courteous (Special mention to Anelyina & Antonio who were esp [... read more]ecially attentive and helpful) Nice pools though not enough umbrellas for shade. Grounds were immaculately maintained. Entertainment was ok. Beach area is nice. A la carte were ok.

Splendid resort!

Spent 7 days here and I would for sure go back. Staff were great, did their very best to accommodate my mobility issues. Rooms were dated but clean and extremely comfortable. Guest Services Yuliana was a sweetheart and was there to help with whatever we needed, pool was clean,drinks were yummy, try the Superman it was my favourite drink, the VIP salesmen were not pushy, say no and they left you alone. Buffet had such a variety of food, no way you would go hungry ! Beach was small but also very c [... read more]lean. Vendors were a pain, just say NO loudly lol. Entertainment was the usual, karaoke was really enjoyable.

Nice Vacation

My wife and I had a nice 7 day vacation and really enjoyed ourselves. Rooms are old and would need better upkeep but they were cleaned everyday and ultimately we weren't there to stay in our room. The grounds were for the most part well maintained. The pool and surrounding area would need need some additional TLC with loose and missing tiles here and there. The staff was great, the food was good and the beach was beautiful.

Lovely well kept small resort

Blue Bay Doradas in Puerto Plata D.R. is a lovely, small resort that still has 3 pools, entertainment every night and a beautiful large well kept beach. It is an older resort but very well maintained. The grounds are groomed and are very attractive. Our room was kept very clean and when they changed the sheets they changed the mattress cover too! No problem getting towels, face cloths etc and plumbing worked fine. Lots of hot water and good water pressure. The food was over cooked most times a [... read more]nd after a few days it all tasted the same. They did get 2 new chefs in there for 2 days near the end of our vacation and boy what an improvement! So the only thing not up to par was the food. Specialty restaurants were better. But only 3 of them. We were there for 14 days and I was bored. Ten days and I was ready for home. The Playa Dorada mall is only a five minute, safe walk but very lacking and run down after covid. If you are looking for a quiet vacation this is the place. People were all very friendly and mostly Canadians. You can book excursions right at the resort. Our flight was with Air Transat and very good other than my video player didn't work so they gave me extra snacks etc on the trip down. Bus rides were good to and from the resort. Good vacation and glad to be home again.

Such a great resort

Recently spent 10 days at this resort Our original room was upon the third floor, which was hard for us to get to. They changed it for us right away. We had a beautiful room on the first floor with a nice little patio. The staff was wonderful everybody so happy so much fun pools were great. Food was great. I would have no trouble recommending this resort to anyone.

Good resort

This resort was good. The food , the pools, the beach, the cleanliness of the grounds and the entertainment was all very nice. The only disappointment was the room. It was so underpar. If the room was representative of the resort you would be very afraid. Good thing we had great weather so really only showered and slept in the room. I won't go back because of the room and it too bad because the rest of our vacation was really good. One other small complaint was twice a day you have to get out of [... read more] the main pool for them to play volleyball unless your playing.