Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Best Staff Ever

The grounds are kept immaculate and the hotel staff from lobby to restaurants to maid service were very friendly and accommodating. The a la carte's had a variety of options to choose from. The beach was kept clean and the Orange Market down the beach was a great place to get gifts.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: wonderful time

Nicely laid out resort with comfortable rooms. Great friendly staff with lots of entertainment. Plenty of lounge chairs and large beach and pool area. Food was not five star but we did not go hungry. Lots of seafood options. I really liked the tourist mix here. There were people from Canada USA South America and Europe.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Great time in DR!

I had never been to DR, my wife had been there apx 20 years ago, and at different done. Overall, this was a lovely week in the sun, and yes it was sunny, and hot as well. I had heard that going off the resort was not a good idea for safety reasons, but being a runner I did so every day and found nothing but friendly locals and I got to see the wonderful countryside. As for the resort itself, it was wonderful and the staff helpful in every way. I spent each day as well using the resort gym/spa. A [... read more]s it was partly open air, it was like working out in a steam room!, but it was enjoyable all the same, with good equipment. The beach and pool areas were excellent, with staff always on hand to help and/or set up fun games in which the winners were given a medal etc every night before the evening shows, which were also first class and well everyday! One day before we left, a large group came in for what appeared to be a wedding party, they were young and set up a boombox pool side and blasted hip hop music for "all to enjoy", I thought the staff could have made an effort to tone them down as it was very loud and took away from the nice island music playing on the hotel system, but that aside, it was a small issue and otherwise a great resort we would go back to any time with friends!

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Fantastic Resort

This was our second time to this resort (first time was 10 years ago). The resort is lovely. The rooms are clean and beds comfortable. Food was delicious. Beach was nice but too many vendors on the beach. A simple no thank you and they continue on their way but that happens a dozen times a day. This place is very well managed and efficient and friendly work staff.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: 2nd time there and loved it!

This is my second time at Casa Marina. I heard they have changed management and I was very impressed with the food this time! I remember the food being sub par... but those tacos were by far the best I've had. We will be back!

Bahia Principe Grand San Juan: Great resort awesome people

The hotel was neat clean, very friendly people, no language barrier, the pools were very clean and the staff when they knew what you were having would bring you more without even asking them. The grounds were very well kept and the front desk was very very helpful!!!

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Loved everything

We have been to a number of all inclusives and i had a great time at the Gran Ventana,good food,good weather,good clean rooms and great service in all areas.only advice would be to bring lots of single dollar bills [us] can onky get dr dllars at the resort.

Sunscape Puerto Plata: I keep returning over and over again!

This resort is beautiful, with amenities of all sorts, so convenient but most of all, it is the wonderful staff, whom I now consider my friends, that keep me coming back. They go above and beyond to ensure that each guest feels like royalty!! While there, I litterally have a "Perma-Smile". Can't wait until my next visit to what I consider to be my 2nd home..

Sunscape Puerto Plata: FANTASTIC BARCELO VACATION!

The hotel was the cleanest all-inclusive resort I have ever been to. The food was phenomenal and extremely varied making all vacationers in the family very happy. The people were extraordinary, going out of their way to ensure everyone in teh family had the vacation of their dreams (relaxing for the parents, active for the children, exciting for the teenagers). The pool is very accessible, beautiful, clean. The beach was very easy to access and the activities offered such as parasailing, snorkel [... read more]ing and tubing were awesome. Our Westjet orientation guide was great, and the off resort adventures also offered a good variety of activities to choose from that were all fairly reasonably priced. I felt very safe and comfortable, while getting a really good touch of the local culture.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Average Resort

The taste of drinks and food could use some improvement- entertainers need to be more mindful of all audiences/guest and not just favor guests from certain 'backgrounds' more than others - entertainment could be longer and better - facility was kept clean at all times and reception staff/maid service were efficient.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Beautiful resort!!

All of the grounds are very well cared for, all of the main areas, and washrooms were always clean. The food was very good and the staff very helpful. The entertainment at night was enjoyable, the lighting and sound were good as well.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: overall a great resort

First time to DR and this resort was lovely, grounds and rooms clean and well decorated, everything close together, felt very safe on resort. Being a slow season, there were no lineups for anything but that also meant the buffet and grill bar were not on top of their game. The outdoor grill cooked all the food at noon and just reheated the burgers, chicken, fries, etc.. when you ordered and the food sat out on the counters. Buffet had everything we wanted, but was a little repetitive. Smoothie b [... read more]ar for breakfast was awesome. Day trip to Puerto Plata and Cable Car ride up the local mountain was amazing - booked with James at the little shopping plaza for a better deal. Overall a great holiday, met some other guests that all felt the same way.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: Very Nice Resort

Casa Marina beach resort was a amazing experience. The grounds, pools, resturants, bathrooms etc were always clean. The food was delicious but different varieties would make it better. Our room was perfect very clean and comfortable. People were really friendly and helpful. We met alot of new people. The drinks were great! Overall I would go here again the only thing I didnt really like was everywhere we went someone was trying to sell us something their very persistant too so it was hard to enj [... read more]oy and relax sometimes. The calypso dances were fun it would be nice to see better shows and more entertainment on the resort.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Blue Bay - Puerto Plata

First time to Adults only resort and loved it! The vacation was excellent value for money. The room was large and adequate. Quiet for sleeping and relaxing. The beach was very nice and great for long walks and swimming. One day we walked the beach and came back along the main road. This took 2 hours and we felt very safe. The food was excellent. We only booked one restaurant because the food was so delicious at the buffet we continued eating here at our leisure. There are two pools; one with a s [... read more]wim up bar and the other pool for volleyball and quiet relaxation. They had games by the pool for everyone to join in around 4 p.m. everyday. It was a great way to meet people. We created our own excursions since we have traveled to the D.R. extensively. One day we went into Puerto Plata, walked the malecon and several streets and finally into the central square. I was really impressed with how much work they've done in this big city (approx. 140K people). We took the local transit shuttle (gua gua) from the central square to the main road and then on to our complex. Another day we took the gua gua out to Cabarete and relaxed on the beach in front of the restaurants for $6. for beach chair rentals and washroom availability. If you want an inexpensive vacation getaway to the D.R. I would highly recommend the Blue Bay. Plus, you have the beauty of all the rolling hills and local action if you take an excursion off the property.

Paradise Playa Dorada: needed some updates

the grounds were nice, the public areas needs to be updated like the washrooms and the guests rooms more ample lighting, screens on the patio doors, better bedding and pillows for sure, air conditioning in the rooms that actually worked. The food was very bland so at lease have some additional herbs and spices available for guests to add to the food. A variety of coffee should be at the buffet each morning for those who do like a change from regular, we had to wait til 10am for the pool coffee t [... read more]o be available. the Beach for the resort needs to have more activities there, we found all activities were at the pool area and not on the beach, shade umbrellas were only at the pool and none at all on the beach, all the other resorts offered them to their guest. It was nice having the events posted on the wall each day but no one offered any information to the guest on the day of arrival, we didn't even know the kayaks and other items were available free with our package. Better info sessions should be organized to tell everyone what is available. Better drink selections, like something made with coconut run or pineapple or baileys. meeting room was so bad and very hot have sessions outside around where we had our check in. Staff was friendly, but maybe you should have an event every day for an half an hour for anyone to pick up some Spanish lessons not much just basic words that would be a nice touch.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: 5 star resort? I don't think so...

This resort was recommended to me by a friends of mine who claimed that it was the best place she had ever been at. I on the other hand was not impressed at all. On first impression, the location was nice, there were flamingos in the lobby area which was a nice touch. For a 5 star resort, it was lacking... if you compare it to a 5 star resort in Punta Cana. However putting aside comparing the two locations, these were some positives and negatives about this resort from my experience. Good: - ni [... read more]ghtly shows were entertaining and excellent performances. - introduction to scuba diving lessons Bad: - food was decent, but mostly too salty or too sweet, lack of veggie options at the buffet and restaurants - a/c broke down in our room one night - shower ran out of water while showering - pool was small and dirty (dead bugs, twigs and leaves) - medical health was questionable, unprofessional, and not tourist friendly - staff were half and half on being professional and not very pleasant - the bracelet given to us did not last the week stay, the ink rubbed off on us (took forever to wash off) and thankfully not our clothes In conclusion, I would not recommend this resort to my friends and family. Maybe it was the bad luck or the lack of "wow" factor. This is only my second time being in Dominican Rupublic, and after this experience I will likely to not return to this resort or country.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: So nice.

This resort was very nice ! Really close to the airport , great ocean with no seaweed. Pools were kept very clean , food was really good !! Night shows were really budget but they are everywhere !! lol. Nice staff and good clean rooms!! Would totally go back.

Paradise Playa Dorada: Grand Paradise Playa Dorada, Puerto Plata, DR

Spent Sept. 22-29, 2014 at Grand Paradise. It was a great resort for the money. Our room was a superior garden view, it was large, clean - we noticed the lock on the glass door was broken as well as the blow dryer in the batherroom. I called guest services and both were fixed within a hour. Staff very friendly. Nice pool and beach area. The food was good, we ate in the buffet for all meals.

Emotions by Hodelpa Puerto Plata: Worst vaction ever

I love travelling to Dominican Republic, and have travelled to Playa Dorado 4 times. I have stayed at this resort before, and I became friends with many of the entertainment and bar staff, and it was for this reason that I returned for this trip. However this trip was a disaster. The staff that we had enjoyed speaking with were no longer working there, due to the fact that the hotel was not paying them in a timely manner. We stayed at the resort for two weeks, and throughout that time there was [... read more] only one a la carte restaurant that was open, and the menu only slightly changed every night. The salad bar was constantly the same items, and everynight the food would come to the table cold. The bar was constantly running out of beer, juice and vodka. We complained to the manager about this and we were offered one night in the VIP dining room. This seemed like a compromise so we agreed. The night we went to the VIP dining, we walked in and the waiter looked at our bands and said "oh ya, I was told about you". He then proceeded to give us the worst service of my life. He didn't offer us soup, and when I asked about it he said they didn't have any. I responded by asking why the couple next to us was eating soup and he responded "that's not soup, it's a warm mushroom cream", talk about splitting hairs. The breakfast buffet was by far the worst. They didn't serve bacon, and when we asked about it they promised us that they would have it the next day, they didn't. every day they would tell us that they would have it tomorrow, yet they didn't. The one and only day that they did have bacon on the buffet was when there was a Spanish baseball team staying at the hotel, and they had a scheduled breakfast for 830, a tray of bacon was brought out a 835, and the baseball team, along with all the supervisory and management staff filled their plates. When we came to the buffet the kitchen brought us a plate with one piece of bacon and the bacon crumble from the pan. It was insulting. Everytime we made a complaint the manager completely ignored us. I suggest that this hotel be removed from sunwings website. Darren Smart

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Amazing Birthday get away!

My boyfriend and I spent a week at Be Live Grand Marien to celebrate my birthday. From the moment we approached the check in counter we felt welcomed. We arrived at the resort around 3pm and we were invited to have lunch at the buffet restaurant while they finished getting our room ready. The food was delicious and when we returned to reception 30 minutes later our room was ready. We had a room on the 1st floor of the 4th block which is one of the non-renovated blocks, nonetheless the room was n [... read more]ice and spacious and very well decorated. The bed was massive and very comfortable. We enjoyed breakfast at the buffett almost every morning and they had a great selection of hot and cold food options, fresh blended on the spot fruit juices, fresh fruit, breads, and hot and cold cereal. The same buffett restaurant offers lunch and dinner, again great options during both food services with great staff taking care of you. We had the opportunity to enjoy 2 of the 3 a la carte restaurants as depending on the occupancy of the resort only 1 or 2 of the a la carte restaurants may be open on any given night. There is a rotating schedule which determines which restaurant will be open on which night, so I suggest you make your dinner reservations sooner rather than later. We enjoyed the Mexican restaurant which offered delicious food, I high recomment the Beef Salpicon appetizer...I could eat that and only that for the rest of my life! We had my birthday dinner at the Brazilian restaurant and what a treat it was. 7 different meats skewered and they come to your table and they tell you "say when" as they pile beef, chicken, pork, sausage, turkey, and 2 others onto your plate...absolutely amazing! We didn't get a chance to try the Gourmet restaurant but from what I was told it they offer an intimate candle lit 3 course dinner, it sounded lovely. The resort grounds were beautiful, very very clean, well maintained, everything looked picture perfect. The pool was excellet with a pool bar and great bartenders looking after your every need. The beach was just what we needed. Plenty of beach beds and lots of canopys to lay under. A little more seaweed than I liked close to the beach but it's all part of the experience. I didn't see any vendors on the beach which was very very nice. All in all, a great resort, not too big so it's easy to get around and all the staff if great. The entertainment staff are true artists ensuring you are enjoying every moment of your stay. Hector with the entertainment crew is a jack of all trades, truly wonderful to see how happy he is at all times ensuring you are always having a good time. It was our first vacation together and we enjoyed every single moment, I would go back in a heart beat!