Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Excellent amazing resort

We love Bahia principe fantasy top to bottom! Everything is amazing from staff to food amazing areas beautiful gardens is a 5 stars plus I’ll highly recommend this place to everyone is well though for kids as well as for adults

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Awesome Vacation & Resort

The VH Gran Ventana is a beautiful resort. We stayed there from Jan 27 to Feb 2 and have not one negative thing to say about our stay. From the moment we arrived and checked in to the moment we left our stay was filled with delicious food, friendly staff and lively entertainment. The hotel lobby is fresh, airy and elegantly decorated. Our room was on the 2nd floor of the Soana building. Ours was an inner room facing the wedding gazebo and a small ocean view. The palm trees and dune obscure  [... read more]the ocean view somewhat but you can hear it and we were treated to a couple of wedding events so that was cool. The room was quiet - far enough away from the entertainment area but close to the pool and a short walk to the beach. The room was well appointed with a king bed, a flat screen, chair and private balcony facing the wedding gazebo. The bathroom was quite big and had a full tub/shower - a nice size sink to put your stuff on and plenty of room to move around. The AC was cold and everything was clean and tidy. There was a small water line break that happened while we were there but the staff managed it well I thought. I heard lots of moaning and groaning over it but that sort of thing could happen anywhere and the staff got things sorted and up and running as quickly as they could. That did not at all damper my experience at the VH and I am only adding it here because undoubtedly someone will base their review on that one thing - and a person needs to get the whole picture...so read on.... 😉 The food was DELICIOUS! I honestly was worried because I had read reviews of other places in the DR where the food was not so great, but I am happy to say that is not the case at the VH! We ate mostly at the Buffet for our meals simply out of convenience, but the food was always really good and there was lots of variety. We ate at 2 a la carts: the Italian and the ocean grill - both were fantastic! The beach and pool are really nice. There are 2 pools - one is the quiet pool and if you go there, the bar is great - Juan will hook you up with something yummy! We mostly stayed at the main pool though because it was close to our room. It’s big and with a swim up bar, why leave? LOL The staff at all the bars were excellent and I have to say they have fantastic memories because they just knew what we wanted. The beach is so nice and so clean. There are many coral reefs on the Playa Dorada stretch and snorkelling is a must. The fish are a delight to see and the swimming is spectacular! There was something to do EVERYDAY! From the fun stuff the staff did at the pool to Zumba at the pool and at the beach, to the evening entertainment of dancers and the human dragon (peaked your interest there didn’t I?) I feel like I have left something out but this review is probably long enough already, so I will sum it up by simply saying that I absolutely LOVED my experience at the VH Gran Ventana and I cannot wait to go again next year!

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Really great resort

Could not say enough nice things about staff. Friendly, obliging and always courteous. Very clean, washrooms, restaurant and especially rooms. Resort was just lovely, pool areas and beaches. Only 2 things a bit of a nuisance, towels were unavailable by 10.30 in am, and has to wait a few hours to get any, also areas surrounding accommodations were very dimly lit and you had to be cautious when following the lanes. However I would certainly recommend this resort to friends etc. And would consid [... read more]er returning in the future.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: Beautiful resort, but needs tweaking

This isn a beautiful resort with all of the cool pools overlook the water,all the mature plants etc. The food was good, nothing great, but you always find something to eat. Loved to go to Eddy ‘s section in buffet, he was always smiling and ready to serve us. Actually all the people who work there were always smiling. They were overbooked, so we were put in the “Select” section, which is newly opened. We were not allowed to use any of the services in this section, like the pool( just o [... read more]utside our room along with the hot up). Thrift bar or restaurant, or coffee shop. Up until the last day we were at least allowed to walk through the section, until a security guard, who didn’t know the rules. Stopped us from passing through. Said that we had to walk around and up the stairs and down again to get to buffet. They need to figure out exactly what it means to have the yellow wrist band and what it i titles you to. Of course we could have paid $700 USD to use these facilities and walk through the area to get to our room. Apparently the Russians have bought out part of the resort, therefore they were arriving by the bus,aid. By the time we left I’d say that over half of the people on resort were Russians. It was our experience plus from talking to others on the resort, that most of these people were very pushy and arrogant people. Certainly changed the atmosphere. The location of the resort is great 15 minutes from airport, and right I. The town of Sosua, which is a safe little town with lots of shops and bars and grocery stores. Even though it was a beautiful resort, I would never go back there. But I would return to the area.

Playabachata Hotel: Outstanding Location and hotel infrastructure.

We had a great holiday. In fact we discussed the resort with one of the managers while sipping our 'presidentes'. I guess 'Rio' sold it two years ago and the new management kept the same staff. There were teething problems but the new owners must be reluctant to invest and maybe feel stuck with the old staff. Nothing that a good overall staff manager couldn't fix. We had a great holiday - I do not want to focus on minor hotel management issues - but It was a major omission that the front  [... read more]desk staff did not always have change for 100 usd. (it had change once) I arrived with 6 100 usd bills and not even the 'adjacent' playabachata could change 100. A front desk at a hotel should always be able to do this. Some of the broken up money goes to staff tips! Some of it on the hotel gift shop! not even the gift shop could oblige. The #1 outstanding item I discovered while at the hotel? The quality of the ground beef! All the restaurant food I believe is grown on the island. Here the beef is even grazing in an adjacent field. You can see the grass probably grows all year round so feeding a beef calf is easy. They probably do not use much fertilizer so the beef would be 'orgainc'. Organic grass fed beef from single suckler herds! - my what a great taste. The animals spend their whole life in a field under the sun. Much better than the barley fed feedlot beef we probably eat at home. There are 13 million Dominicans, so probably no excess production for export - but they should think about export! #1 outstanding staff member - the beach guy who handed out the canoes.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo – Excellent Vacation

We stayed at the resort from Jan 27th to Feb 2nd 2020. Overall, it was a great experience and one of the most enjoyable Caribbean all-inclusive vacations I have had. Resort: The entire resort is a good size and very walkable. The layout is well planned and the main buffet/pool/lobby bar is all in close proximity. Everything is walkable. The nighttime shows are held in one of two areas depending upon the activity: either near the nightclub/disco (#46 on Map – Publeo Principe near main en [... read more]trance) or in the area west of the lobby (#24) and lobby bar (#25). We had standard rooms and stayed in buildings #13 and #14. These are excellent locations to stay in as they are in close proximity to the beach/buffet/pool/lobby and are quiet at night. Rooms In building #13 and #14 the rooms are of average size and are in stacked townhouse-type 2-story configuration. Two units are on the 2nd floor and require a short climb of stairs and 2 are on the ground floor. The rooms are a little dated and nothing great but nothing to complain about either. There are very few available wall outlets in the rooms, so if you have many devices to plug in to charge, you are advised to bring a multi-outlet splitter or power bar. The rooms require that you insert your room key into a slot before power and A/C is enabled, so sometimes the room gets warm when unoccupied. Each room has an ironing board and room safe in the closet to store your valuables. The room was also provisioned with a robe and slippers. Service to clean the room was good. The only issue for us was that the rooms were not serviced until late afternoon (4PM or later). We would have preferred the rooms were cleaned mid-morning. Beach The orientation of the resort means that the beach is facing north. In January, this means that the sun rises in the South-east and sets in the South-west. If you are facing the water, the sun will be pretty much at your back the entire day. The beach is not hugely wide and is densely packed with multiple rows of beach loungers. I always got to the beach early and so never had a problem getting a lounger. There are palapas available but they get reserved early. Slightly away from the beach, there are shady areas where palapas are not necessary. When the resort is crowded, if you show up after 9:30am you will need to hunt to find a free lounger. The sand is soft, powdery, and pleasant on the feet. The water is shallow gradually gets deeper. It is warm enough to be pleasant and yet cool enough to be refreshing after a hot day in the sun. There are many corral formations close to the beach and further out toward the ocean. There are few waves as the corral formations and the shallow water disperse the waves before reaching shore. Snorkeling was not great immediately in front of the resort but was much better if you walked west along the beach outside the resort. Outside the resort, the beach extends for miles and miles. We did an hour walk along the beach toward Las Terranas. It is a very pleasant walk and is sparsely populated. It is a recommended activity for those who like beach walks. Buffet The main buffet (#27) is close to the lobby. A smaller buffet (#38) is also available. In front of each buffet is also an area for near beach dining. The buffet is well stocked and the food was delicious. The staff service in the buffets was good. Servers are quick to offer you coffee at breakfast time or to fill your water glass in the afternoon. The buffet selection and food quality was as good as or better than any other resort that I have been to. A-la-carte Restaurants We had opportunity to try all four a-la-carte restaurants. They were all excellent. We were a group of 9 and could not agree on which was the best. Service was excellent. I had red wine with dinner each night. While the wine was somewhere between terrible and not great, I kept drinking more anyway. Tip: At the seafood restaurant, the seafood stew was excellent and included some large pieces of lobster. Overall, even though the buffet was good, I very much preferred the restaurant-type experience and excellent food at the a-la-carte restaurants. Activities The Animation staff coordinates a variety of activities during the day. They encourage visitors to participate and are very upbeat. If you like activities, there is no shortage of activities (e.g. ring toss, horse shoes, bean-bag toss, volleyball, dance lessons, yoga, etc.). My only disappointment was there was no archery activity during the week I was there even though there was a range on the resort. Cons: Lighting – the overhead lobby lights are turned off later in the evening so the lobby is pretty much in the dark. I you like playing cards at night or sitting around with friends in the lobby expect it to be dimply lit. Bar Closings – the lobby bar closes at 11PM. After that, the only drinks available are in the mini bar in your room or at the nightclub near the main entrance. Wi-fi – the free wi-fi is a pain to register. It is very slow and the signal strength is intermittent. 15 min of internet access are provided after registration until the email address entered at registration is validated, however some devices are unable to access email during those 15 min. In this day and age, easy and fast email access should be a given.

Viva Heavens by Wyndham: Beautiful friendly resort!

Grounds are immaculate, rooms are spotless. Staff are so friendly and helpful. Nice small resort. Loved that you don't have to make reservations for the restaurants. The room safe is included and they even include room service but I didn't try it. Fabulous resort!

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Construction!

This hotel is right beside a huge, multi year construction project. So if you find jackhammers in concrete relaxing, please stay here. Resort was clean, but seemed understaffed. Our first room didn’t have linens. Towels were changed twice in the week, but once was just by leaving a bag of towels outside everyone’s door. I didn’t hang them up since it was very late, and the next day they had rehung my obviously dirty towels and taken the bag of clean ones. Bar service by the pool was terr [... read more]ible, beach was better. Speaking of the beach, the 7 cabanas with beds were always gone by 6:30am, and the cabanas with chairs gone by 7:30, so get up early if you want shade at the beach. The only espresso machine is at the cash bar, and isn’t available til 3pm. Some days there was a server with a coffee pot at breakfast, but generally it’s an instant vending type machine like at gas stations. Other than the pool bar, all the staff seemed very friendly.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Beautiful resort

Great hotel very clean good food and service. Always somewhere to eat or drink . Resort never seemed overcrowded Clean beach Would definitely go back Butler service was great Customer service was great and all staff was happy to help and make your vacation special

Excellence Punta Cana: A 5-star experience!

Positives - Superior to excellent staff. Food choices & quality first-rate. Very good evening entertainment - don't miss the Queen tribute! Worthwhile to upgrade to Excellence Club - pools, beach service, exclusive restaurant, higher quality booze & amenities. Downsides - Most of the beach not swimable because of nasty surf & undertow.

Playabachata Hotel: Outstanding resort

This was my 6th resort in the DR and 20th in the Carribean. Never have i seen such quality staff and facilities. The rooms, restaurants, and staff were all outstanding. Only negative was the sea urchins in the water.

Hyatt Vivid Punta Cana: Exceeded my expectations

I have been to punta Cana before and I wasn’t to thrilled but Dreams palm beach was a nice smaller resort that was very clean and the staff were amazing. Highly recommend this resort if you like smaller resorts. No reservations required for any of the 5 restaurants. Sea side grill had very good steak and seafood. Transportation to and from resort was very good. Only thing I didn’t like was no live entertainment in the main lobby and the pressure to sit through a time share presentation. F [... read more]ront lobby could use a coffee bar instead of going to the cafe. Rooms need updating

Emotions by Hodelpa Puerto Plata: Luxury, family friendly, hospitality and beauty

This resort is picturesque. Not a huge resort, but definitely all the amenities required. Staff are extremely courteous and genuine. Food was excellent, top notch. We cannot wait to rebook at this resort. Simply the best. Thank you to Andre, Juan Pablo, Tiffany, Paul and all of the Elite Club team. We could not have asked for better hosts.

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Clean resort with horrible food.

If you're looking for a modern resort with clean rooms and updated facilities. This is the place. If you by chance happen to enjoy food and are looking for a culinary par to north america. Don't go here. I'll start with the good - rooms are all nice we stayed in a non luxury room and it was clean well kept and comfortable. Turn down service and bar re stocked every day. The resort itself is recently updated beautiful pool with a total lack of chair and umbrellas. (you had to wake up at 5am to sa [... read more]ve a spot) staying here gives you access to two other resorts that are attached. They aren't as nice but offer a different more DR feel. Were Senator falls apart is the food. Breakfast buffet is fine if you enjoy eggs and bacon. The rest of the food is a 4/10 at best. Buffet has a strange selection of food that is 95% sub par. Sports bar a snack hut have slightly better food. Sandwich and fries are okay but generally cold and take 30+ minutes to serve. La carte restaurants.... We had 3 allowed. We were only able to book one - hotel would not help us on this or offer anything else. Sunwing rep was also no help told us we didn't understand how restaurants worked (meanwhile I'm a restaurant owner/operator) Service from staff wasnt terrible a hand full of staff really helped us out and would treat us well but most staff had no sense of urgency and are happy to have you wait 20+ minutes too take your order. So to sum up - if you don't care at all about food and are happy with pizza and fries this place is good. If you like eating good food you won't like Senator.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: 5 star food !

Nice beach but there is a lot of sharp corral you have to watch out for. The layout at the beach is excellent with everything close by. The Bazillian BBQ restaurant was a hit and everyone liked the buffet especially the never ending bacon in the morning and the fresh fruit. Not really suitable for the party crowd but great for families, retired and relaxers! The only thing I would add is a swim up bar but for the money you can’t go wrong. I give it a solid 4.5 stars

Impressive Punta Cana: Amazing Resort

The grounds, rooms, were awesome!!! Pizza bar was sooooo good!! My only complaint is they closed down all the pools at 6pm and all the bars except for one—The Lobby Bar! Which unfortunately always had a huge lineup and only 2 bartenders! Other than that we loved it! Def would book again

Excellence Punta Cana: Awesome Resort

We just returned from our 3rd trip to Excellence Punta Cana and they did not disappoint. Everything is just kept so clean inside and out. The staff is very friendly and helpful.Special thanks for Reyue in the office for her help with getting our boarding passes and to Melanie who kept our room impeccable.

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Nice Resort

Just got back from Sun Scape Resort in Domenican Republic. We upgraded to the Sun Club which we where glad we did very nice and private treated great. Totally recommend doing that well worth the money. We found the food was ok nothing great, not much seafood which we where both surprised about. We found they needed to play music at the beach, and also need to change up music in the evening. They have the same Duo playing would be nice if they played more Domenican music and change up acts nightl [... read more]y. Also the vendors on the beach after awhile become very annoying. I payed 30 US per person also to get VIP for the Super Bowl party slash game. Which only got to watch not even two quarters of the game because the streaming stopped. I would rank this place maybe a 4 out of 5 not sure if i would go back again overall was great weather. Thank you Rick

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Good value for the $$'s if you're looking to just relax

Our 1st all inclusive resort (other than a cruise). Rooms were large and kept clean, altho' a bit tired (sliding doors to closet and especially to the patio were very stiff; shower floor not well sloped to the drain). Brought my golf shoes as the resort offered one free round per day at their adjacent course (club rental & carts extra), but was not able to book until after 11:30 on any day so we did not due to afternoon temps. I had emailed the company about 2 weeks prior to arriving to inq [... read more]uire on golf but had not received a reply, and therefore had not pre-booked prior to arriving. So if you're looking to golf, make sure you have this pre-arranged. Very disappointing to me on this issue. Staff are friendly (we made sure to bring a large # of $1 bills to keep the tips flowing) and those doing the bar tending and evening activities were engaging. Beach activities included Hobie's (only 2 of the 4 were in operation and we used them a fair bit), kayaks and apparently snorkelling, altho' I'd not waste too much time on the latter at that location - nothing to see. I'd recommend they get some paddle boards as the location had a few very calm days on the water. I also saw some persons doing scuba, but again, this is not a great location for that. So we enjoyed the beach which was well raked daily by staff to keep the weeds at bay. Two pools, one with a swim up bar that was active in the afternoons - dance lessons, etc. Food was fine, and I'd steer more towards Thalassa than any other of the restaurants there. Sushi at the beach was a nice offering, the Japanese restaurant was disappointing (weak showmanship and very salty), steakhouse was satisfactory. Casino was small and not anything to get worked up about. All in all it was a good stay for the $$'s, and a good winter get-away, but I'd have preferred a bit more to do other than sit my butt on a much sought after lounger - I got thru 5 books while there.

Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort: Love this resort will go back a third time

I know there is many mixed reviews about this resort but don’t listen to them. It was my second time and I will go back again, the entertainment is always great and if you want to just relax there’s many areas for that as well. Also this resort is a party, and has kid friendly areas as well as adult only area’s. The welcome party is absolutely crazy had the best time and the best food that night. I definitely recommend this resort if you’re planning on visiting puerto plata