No thank you

I want to start by saying that my family and I are not snobby about travel. We are very patient and very forgiving. We know that you get what you pay for and we try to remember that we are on vacation and together and that is all that should matter. I can honestly say that this is the first time that I found myself nervous about safety, uncomfortable in my room, unable to communicate and worried about my children (17, 15 and 13). I will break it down by areas. I can only speak of my exper [... read more]ience but if you are looking for family travel this may not be the spot. Flight-Sunwing and Arrival Times (6:15 am flight arrived hotel 3:45) Delayed 45 minutes (its Canada what can you do). We arrived in La Romana and spent 2.5 hours in the immigration line behind all of our fellow passengers because we had additional paperwork to fill out for our minors. People on our transfer had to wait in the bus for us to come through. They were not happy. We then had about 1 hour and 45 minute drive to the hotel with 4 to 5 stops. Once we arrived at the hotel (after the 3:00 pm check-in) we waited about 40 minutes in line. Our room was not ready. They asked us to come back in 45 minutes. We came back and got one of our two rooms. Two hours later we got the second room. *Tip* Do not let them pull you out of line to fill out extra paperwork if you have children with you. Either ask for it from Sunwing or stay in line to fill it out. Beach-Pool Beach-beautiful absolutely our favourite part. Pool at Hamaca Garden with swim up bar better than the one on the beach side. Mostly clean. Towels are $20 US but keep the receipt in your safe. They will not tell you but you get cards to turn into the towel guy. You only get your money back with the return of the cards and the receipt at the end of your trip. Lots of people out that money. Service No one spoke English at all. I have a seafood allergy and a child who is vegetarian. This made everything with food very difficult. Any questions or requests could not be responded to and the staff seemed rude and uninterested because of this. The only thing they could appropriately communicate was that they liked our daughters (super creepy). One bartender gave our 15 year old a “special” drink. They tried to offer both the girls alcohol. We were told untruths many times in order to get “rid” of us because they could not understand or accommodate us. Absolutely disappointing! We would have been more vocal but it hardly seemed worth it. Accommodations-Housekeeping Rooms were large in size. They were moldy and the doors were falling apart. My husband had to tighten the bathroom door handle with nail clippers. Toilet in our room ran and we had hot water but our friends (who upgraded for 350 US dollars) had no hot water and flooding in their room. They upgraded because their first room had a cracked toilet and blood stained walls. Elevator is old and there were several power outages every day so there were a few times people were stuck in them. Main bathrooms did not have flushing toilets and the hallways felt like an asylum. The resort is very old and smelly. Bring air freshener with you. I do have to say that Andrea our maid was sweet and did the best she could with what she had to work with. Food/Beverages It was okay. Kids liked the snack bar. Beer was fine but the wine was not very good and when I ordered white I always got red. Cats and Dogs do hang around the buffet so beware. Italian was fine as an a la carte but service was awful. Mexican was great food and awesome guacamole but service was blah. Bartenders at the Beach bars were not too bad. Mr. Rogers’s bartenders get thumbs down. The best one was definitely at the swim up bar. Entertainment Hearts in the right place for sure but all instruction in French or Spanish and even Russian but no English and the games were boring. There was only one girl that I liked and she always tried to be fun. WIFI is not clear on how to get it but it’s by the pool for one hour a day and super slow. Excursion to La Hacienda My boy who is very tall was not able to do the zip line which meant I didn’t either. He was super upset. I asked before we booked if there was a weight restriction and they said no. He was so disappointed and also missed out on the horseback riding. We were told it was 1 hour 20 minutes away. It took 3 hours after all of the pickups and 2 and half back to the hotel. I will be sending something to Sunwing about this. We also went down the beach a little ways and had a beer. The restaurant tried to charge us $50 US dollars for 4 drinks. We did go to Juan Dolio beach and that was okay but everyone everywhere wants money from you. Just say no thank you. they will usually go away. Overall, very disappointed! This was our first vacation in Dominican. Not sure we would ever go back. Sunwing should really think about their partnership with the Be Live Hamaca. Normally love and trust Sunwing did not love Be Live!

Untrustworthy-sneaky business practices!

We were so excited about our vacation only to have our excitement quickly squashed. Upon arrival, it took 2 1/2 hours to receive attention at the front desk as there were a multitude of unsatisfied vacationers complaining in front of us. The problem? They overbooked their beach side (the 4 star) and were placing guests in their garden side (3 star cough cough) We too were told they would have to place us there. It was horrendous! The room was disgusting! Broken front door, no light bulbs in th [... read more]e light fixtures, broken toilet, crickets under our bed, the mini fridge was corroded and you could see through it to the inside. Cobwebs everywhere. The beds were broken and extremely outdated and uncomfortable. The pillows were shredded sheets shoved inside a pillow case. Dark, dingy, uninviting and just gross! Front desk personnel and "guest services were rude, unhelpful and simply chose to ignore the customers. Every person we met had the same problem. On a plus side for us, we did finally receive service (only after literally hunting down a manager) We were ready to return to airport and figure out a way home. Many people were forced to stay in the sub standard accommodations. The food was Good, however service was not. We were constantly being pushed to buy things, they don't take no for an answer. Snack bar was fries, burgers and hot dogs...everyday. Housekeeping was minimal, basic half assed. The same dirty drink glasses were put back on our bathroom counters. The lobby is uninviting and drab. You had to pay daily for use of your room safe and $20 deposit per person for use of towels! The resort is right beside the town and did not feel safe. You have to cross a road to get to the buffet. It was busy and scary. Constant road of motorcycles, cars beeping their horns and a bar adjacent to the resort that blasts music all day and into the night until 430 am. We were approached by security personnel for cigarettes. They did put on a nice new years eve. Because of their sketchy booking practices (read other reviews, it appears to happen consistently) I would not return to this property. I am grateful for the service received by the room manager but also believe it was only because of my persistence. Think twice before booking this resort.

Great beach

The grounds were well maintained and the staff very friendly. The beach was gorgeous and very busy. The room was well used so some updates would be nice. Overall a good vacation that I would recommend to my friends and family