Definitely a 5 star Resort

For a recently new resort it is amazing, the grounds are kept very well with new vegetation. They have a covered promenade from the main reception area along the front of the restaurants and buffet with a small tourist/souvenir store included. this promenade runs parallel to the walkway to the pool area. There are two main pools one with swim up bar the other more relaxing and peaceful has bar service. The huge buffet has been the best that we have experienced in our previous four times to [... read more] the Dominican. There will be something that one could find to prevent one from going hungry. As for the restaurants they are quite good but the menu never changes so multiple reservations at one particular restaurant will not provide choices. The reservations for the three restaurants is not the most convenient as bookings take place for all restaurants between the hours of 7 AM to 11 AM and only take place at the Japanese restaurant. The wine lists at the restaurants are limited and you must convert from the Dominican currency to American. Make sure you acquire a receipt for these beverages as they are an additional charge and keep the receipt for checkout time as you may find the price of your wine selection may have varied on your final billing. The beach is the nicest beach that we have experienced in the Caribbean and Mexico. The sand is clean very fine and soft. The water is somewhat a different issue it is quite clear light blue no rocks nor weeds but the waves are quite rough. Our entire week we never experienced calm water and the waves were rolling in on average 3 to 4 feet in height and as I am 5'8" there would be numerous times waves would be over my head and their force can knock you down and under. Being this was an adult only resort the people enjoyed the water and there was always good numbers enjoying the surf. The waves, I would not recommend for children, as they were consistent along the entire shore and as a precaution, for my loved ones, they would be wearing life jackets. Because of the waves there was very little use of floatation devices and there are no lifeguards on duty. The water was warm clean and had a sandy bottom. Seaweed washed up on the shore in the early morning which was raked up and disposed of by the resort grounds crew. The rooms are new and quite contemporary modern and just as pictured in the brochures and travel guides which are cleaned and freshened up every day. The mini fridge in the room is restocked every other day and there is a mini bar above the fridge stocked with liquor. A note, to be aware of, is that the only beer served on the resort is El Presidente but if you happen to meet up with the beverage person who restocks the fridge he does carry on his cart Heineken and that is where you can get a choice with a little persuasion and maybe a tip. Bottled water is available in the rooms in large bottles but not available outside your room so make sure you ask for extra water if it is a favourite beverage. You cannot get bottled water at the bars. If you are to want water when you are down at the beach you will be taking the bottle of water from your room. Suggestion: Why not bring a large thermos mug from home and fill it with bottle water from your room to keep it cooler? There are only two washrooms outside of your room. One near the sports bar at the main reception area the other down at the towel Hut near the pools. I learned the hard way that the symbols we use here in Canada of the male and female images does not represent washrooms in the Dominican but rather elevators. The Resort indicate their washroom facilities with the letters WC over the doors. The Sun Wing flight was standard you are served sandwich or wrap type meal. But from the onset of the flight and then again at your orientation meeting which is misnamed, you are bombarded with sales pitches for various excursions from your resort and you learn very little about the resort itself. Having visited the Dominican several times before we had previously done most of their activities and tours but there was an all day tour to a nearby island named Somo Island that was supposed to have crystal waters and white sand beaches. Because of the rough waves at our resort we decided to take this excursion which was $94 American per person. Upon boarding the bus and picking up numerous other resort passengers the bus ride was over four hours long then you boarded a so-called speedboat and stopped at what they called the world's largest pool which was shallow calm water and held starfish (for no longer than five seconds out of the water or else they would die and had your picture taken for an additional cost) then it was on to this island. This part of the trip took another hour and a half you reached a beach that looked like it had been ravaged by a hurricane with palm branches down and some of the hut buildings were dilapidated then you were guided to the REAL beach. This beach was not as good as our resort beach. The shore had shells and fragments before you entered the water and upon entering the water there were more rough pebbles and shells and a depression/dip and the rest of the waters floor was not smooth but would have scattered shells or stones throughout. The waves were some what calmer. They did feed you a buffet lunch, nowhere near the resort's excellence then on the return trip they stopped off at a small shoppers market which was basically for you to spend more money---- bottom line--- Don't Take This Excursion. There is evening entertainment at the open Theatre/stage not far from the main reception which includes the house band who open the evening. They are good but a whole week of their playing gets very repetitious then there is a middle performance usually dancing acts followed by the house band closing the evening. I was amazed at the amount of people who still smoke and this was permitted during the evening performances and also down at the beach in close proximity to others thus it made it unenjoyable for us non-smokers - obviously the smoking rules are not as strict as they are at home. To summarize: resort five, rooms five, dining five, beach five, water three, (due to rough waves), service five, (exception: front reception not understanding or caring probably due to the lack of understanding English- hard to communicate), cleanliness five. Some useful tips: Take a long two or more multi receptacles with a single three prong plug, these you can get at the dollar store that have three receptacles with a single three prong plug at the back, as in our room and I assume in all rooms there were a total of three single socket receptacles not double receptacles like we have in Canada. This will be useful if you need to charge electronic devices at the same time or just need extra AC . There are no clock radios in the room so it is best to take a battery alarm clock so as to tell time and to set an alarm if needed. (Battery so that you do not use up a receptacle using AC). Take a long a used up gift card say a two dollar Tim Horton's gift card (do not use credit cards or debit cards) to be placed in the card slot inside your room's door this is where you would normally place your room key card in, which controls the entire room's electricity and air conditioning. This way you do not have to leave your room key card in the slot when you leave the room. You just leave the gift card in the slot and your electricity in the room remains on which includes the air-conditioning and your room will remains cool throughout the day and you can use your room's key card for re-entering your room upon your return. You may find the cleaning staff may remove your gift card by just pulling it out of the slot but usually they will leave it alone. Maybe take to spare gift card(s). Great Place, Great Price, Great Vacation. Thanks Trip Central, Thanks Martine, we will definitely be vacationing with you again, Glen

Amazing Resort, Amazing time!!

The hotel was very modern looking and very clean, hotel staff were all friendly and helpful! The beach was pristine as well. Couldn't have asked for a better vacation, I didn't want to leave! Riu Republica and Punta Cana will forever have a special place in my heart! I would love to go back.

Somewhat disappointed

staff not very organized. Not very clean. Only 1 a la carte restaurant, and hardly any selection. Two other restaurants were actually buffet style, and it was the same food you could get in the main dining room. Would not go back

Nice place

Good food, actually very good food. Liked that all of the 3 restaurants were along the same row. Quite nice beach and enjoyed the walk up pool bar. Large resort and quite nice. I didn't feel it warranted a 5 star rating, not as luxurious as what I would consider to be a 5 star. Maids did well with keeping it clean. Unusual washroom - it had a smoked glass wall in the shower so that others in the room could see outlines of the person as they took a shower! Not a good design idea. Felt very  [... read more]secure. A few of the staff did not speak English, but they did the best they could. Staff were all very nice and provided good service.

Not a resort I would reccomend

We did not make it to the RIU Republica the reviews were terrifying we made alternate arrangements and stayed at the EXCELLANCE in the Dominican and loved it. No I would not recommend the RIURE REPUBLICA to my friends.

Really good resort!

We enjoyed staying in this resort. The staff was wonderful, and tried to please everyone. You are a guess at the hotel and you need to treat everyone with respect. I have seen a few guess I would not invite in my house, rude. In my opinion, the drinks were too jenerous, too much alcohol. Even if we asked, be easy on the amount, they still gave you too much. They still need to make grounds little better, but it is still in progress. We loved the food!

Value for Money..!

First the positive points..! -Very Nicely decorated spacious and clean Rooms. -Very Nice Reception staff, specially Johan was great help..! -Bar, Restaurant and Cleaning staff were very good. Nice Services. -We are vegetarian, but found plenty of food, fruits, desserts, juices and Drinks. Cocktails were amazing..! -Night Entertainment were average. Not much guests involvement. -Pools were clean, nicely shaded and covered places available. -Bar pool and staff were great. Nice Pool Activit [... read more]ies. -Beach clean and plenty of shaded chairs available. Now the negative points..! -To climb sand Dune before reaching the beach -No beach bar or snacking facilities. -No or minimum beach activities. -No enough lights after sunset while back from the beach. -Most of the staff don't understand English, difficult to communicate for people who don't understand Spanish. -Light was off from 1 PM till about 5 PM and no proper response were available. -No plants with flowers, they are too small. -We always drink Coconuts and they were missing on all the days. Overall pleasant experience and good Value for Money..! Lot of chance to improve. hope it will be better and at par with other RIU hotels.

New Resort still needs alot of work

Room: the room was very nice, still not completely finished it was missing a lamp, desk and the shelf in the bathroom fell off of the wall when I put my makeup case on it. Service: the bartenders at the bar were good, the wait staff in the restaurants couldn't do more for you (the majority of them) and were extremely friendly. There however, was no service at the bars, pool or beach you always had to make a trip to the bar yourself, this is not like any other RIU that I have ever gone to.  [... read more] Specialty Restaurants were very poor if you are used to previous RIU standards, I as well as the other guests were completely surprised when we found out that the Asian & Italian Restaurants were buffet style, not good, the food in the Asian was ok but the Italian Restaurant was horrible to say the least, food was cold, lasagna was hard as a rock etc. Steak Restaurant was good and was also full service. Buffet Restaurant had a good selection of food and deserts and the food had flavour, there was something for every palate. I believe the largest complaint from all of the guests at the time of the opening was the huge sand dune that blocked the view of the ocean from the pool deck not to mention having to climb over it to get a drink, use the facilities. There were several guests that had disabilities and could not get to the beach because of this sand dune, the should consider putting a bridge/breezeway across it to make it easier to get to the beach for all guests. There was not enough palapas on the beach for shade, the facility has 1000 rooms x 2 people = 2000 people there were only 100 palapas, this was not good, we were getting up between 4:30 - 5:00 am to get shade on the beach, this did not make for a restful vacation they need to increase the amount of shade on the beach. I am hoping with time the issues will be taken care of and it will fit the true RIU standards.

Not even close to a 5 star

Resort is new and modern. Beach is beautiful but impossible to get a chair unless your up at 6 am. There is also no path to the beach. You must climb a giant sand hill to get there. There are 2 huge pools and only 6 bathroom stalls to accommodate over 2000 people! Half the time they weren't all working. Really only 1 alacarte restaurant. They say there are 3 but the Italian and Asian are buffet. Restaurants are the only places you will be offered drinks while sitting. You must always g [... read more]o to the bar for service. Rooms are nice but poorly laid out. We were half way between the lobby and pool but could only get to our room by walking all the way back to the lobby and then back track. Rooms were nice but odd. There's a frosted glass in the shower that faces the bed. When you go to the washroom in the middle of the night the whole room lights up. Maybe they should invest in night lights. Riu used to be about luxury, not anymore. That was my 3rd and final trip to a Riu property.

Excellent value for money

This was a brand new hotel and had a few growing pains, but responded well to make corrections, fix small items etc. A few changes still requires ( wipe down towels in the exercise room, cold water in exercise room, hot tub made operational in spa area) Food was excellent but a la carte italian and Oriental are buffet??. Too many folks claiming beach chairs, sure wish all resorts monitored a half hour vacancy rule. Only local liquor with the exception of Scotch, no wait service, so you have to  [... read more]go to a bar for a drink. No bar near the beach. The grounds are still in early stages but given 6 months should be beautiful. Given it was the first week it wasn't all that crowded, at full capacity I wonder if food and drink areas would be able to handle, without long lines or waits.