Riu Republica: Nice resort with amazing food

The rooms were okay, nothing too fancy. The food was amazing. A lot of variety every meal and very savoury. The beaches were nice. There was staff always cleaning and picking up the cups. The entertainment team was very energetic and fun. Although not all shows were fun to watch.

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Very disappointing - look at other options

Resort is rundown and under staffed. This is my 23rd all-inclusive and this was the worst! Front desk and Guest Service - total useless and could not care less. They hang up when you call and the person who answers were rude. Rooms - general issues: toilets don’t work, safe broken, tv missing remote, phone wasn’t working. Others at the pool and beach all complained of the same or similar issue. Buffet - in the Caribbean resort and NO fruit. Food station were general empty and me [... read more]ssy. Under staffed and plates and mess everywhere. Specialist restaurant - service and food quality was also disappointing. We and others ended up walking out. Look at other vacation options then Be Live Property - see my Instagram, google, tripadvisor posts.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Many small irritants

Our complaints started on the first day. They did respond promptly. The thermostat did not work properly, the ceiling light would not turn on, the safe was locked, the mini fridge was empty, there were no bed table lights. Our room was surrounded by rooms occupied by high school students on their graduation trip. They had loud music all night, played ball in the room, banged doors at all times of the day, knocked on our door during nap time by mistake. Many times we had to go to the bar to get o [... read more]ur own drinks as the drinks we had ordered at the beginning of the meal did not arrive by the time we were finished. At the beach they have placed enormous sand bags that ruin the view. On the other hand, the food was superb and the service in general was acceptable, although not consistent. We enjoyed the entertainment team. There are lots of things to do for people of all ages.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Comfortable and Friendly

We enjoyed our stay. The staff were very helpful and friendly. The rooms although not elegant were clean and adequate. We found the grounds and pool very nice and the beach clean with nice sand. The banquet for Christmas Eve was just beautiful... so much effort put into it. What a lovely surprise.

Excellence El Carmen: Exemplary Resort

Simply put this five star resort has to be experienced to appreciate. From its Champagne welcome to its impeccable beach, it truly is a wonder. Privacy, an exceptional suite with private pool, immaculate grounds it has all of the amenities you could imagine. The professionals that work within are there for every whim of your vacation. Graciousness.and a genuine concern for your holiday while staying within are embedded with the staff .Great food and refreshments of any kind are always available [... read more]. Never open a door and or await anything you may desire, the staff is always their to accommodate you. Smiling faces everywhere and pools and hot tubs at every corner. The rooms themselves are wonderful. new and clean and kept. The ocean and beach are the best around and once again maintained and attended too. You will never go without at this amazing resort and it truly was a wonderful experience and holiday. Thankyou.....

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Excellent food and service

Hotel and grounds were very clean. Food and drinks were excellent. It exceeded our expectations. Since it was a family resort, it was busy with lots of young kids. The beach was always full but there was always shade and chairs to be found. So no complaints.

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Nice resort, needs some improvement

Grounds were nicely kept, plenty of bars but not enough spaces in the buffet. Spent too much time in line waiting to get to food. Also would appreciate not being hounded for joining a time share or " getting your welcome gift" every time I entered or left my building. Cleanliness could be improved as well. Utensils and dishes were dirty.

Paradise Playa Dorada: DR Vacation for Dummies

About Us: Canadian couple, straddling 70’s, smart, active. Enjoy people, culture, history, food, dance, entertainment. Priority: comfort at reasonable cost. Experience: cruising rivers and oceans, guided and self-vacationing and all-inclusive resorts, around the world. … Our winter vacation in the Dominican Republic at the Grand Paradise Playa Dorada Resort is declared a success. Inevitably, vacations are subject to uncontrollable factors like airlines, hotels and weather. That's why “ [... read more]vacation,” your time there, is a different word from “holiday,” your dates away. The Grand Paradise is a mid-sized resort (400+ rooms) located on the very nice sandy Dorada Beach adjacent to similar properties, less than half hour drive from the airport and the bustling small city of Puerto Plata (pop. 120,000). Five minute walk from the resort you’ll find a convenient 2-story strip mall and the vendors there need your shopping pesos. Please spend to help. Our room on the third floor was spacious and clean, and the bed was comfortable. We like to have the room made-up after breakfast while taking our daily walk on the beach, so I requested the maid to adopt this schedule and I tipped her occasionally. Also tipped vendors on the beach. First thing: the beach (playa). It’s very nice. There’s also a large fresh water pool as a backup, with a swim-up bar. Meals in the airy buffet building (right on the beach) were very satisfying, with ample variety for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now this is not gourmet food, but tasty and well-seasoned, meaning quite salty. At breakfast there’s a grill station for eggs and omelettes. Rise early or saunter in late to avoid the queue. I liked the omelette chef’s style and sprinkled a couple of US$1 bills his way. We really enjoy fresh tropical fruits, salad and vegetables like beans, cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant, yucca at every meal. Two different styles of pasta are available for meals after noon, and a fresh sizzling pasta station for personal requests. At lunch and dinner the grill is used for meats; prepared meat dishes may be enjoyed with some selectivity. These are subject to the proficiency of the chef, and for the first week I was impressed with the taste and tenderness of the beefs, porks, chickens and fishes presented. I was reminded that chefs are individuals. With a change of shift, vacationers were now offered a new, different taste, evident also in the seasoning of the dishes and even the desserts and fruit salad. We savoured last week's salad which included passion fruit; this week's salad tasted bland by comparison because it did not include passion fruit. All this is highly personal of course. All day pizza is available in a separate pizza hut (right on the beach). Gathering and exchanging information, I chat with many guests. Visitants will encounter breakdowns and complain of hardship experiences. Statistically, you should expect an occurrence of a key mechanical failure with air-conditioning, phones, warm water supply, etc. We were lucky this time, but heard from luckless others: this will generate bad reviews of this (any) property. But wait, if this were a 5 star resort, the problem would be instantly repaired and remedied along with a placatory bottle of champagne. Sadly, this being only a 4 star, the problem could (did) take many days to fix, and gifting would not remedy the injury to the vacation. It's a cruel world. The resort offers an abundance of free activities for the busy-body vacationer. By this I mean free as “included,” but not free of effort. Few hardy vacationers seem willing or able to take advantage. Of course there's water sports (right on the beach), bicycling, volleyball, and the like. Mostly they do not like. Still popular with some are the simple pleasures of smoking (DR manufactures cigars,) vaping, and surfing: I mean surfing the net, even here on the beach. Well, probably, it’s urgent family business. Speaking of the net, wi-fi is pricy in the resort, but you can buy cheaper country wide sim-cards at the mall, or elsewhere. Evening show events are simple, fun, and the music and dance shows are relatively entertaining for this island. The performers are very serious, and for ¾ of hour please provide a little respectful applause. The disco opens at 11 pm for the desperate dancer. Musically, DR is known for the popular musical genres and dances called Merengue and Bachata. Tourists hail from Quebec, Ontario, Germany, Nordic countries. People are very approachable and happy to opine of their feelings about the resort of their choice. I like observing. Many large and extended families come to this resort, with kids and babies slung on buggies and shoulders. Families are welcome, in case you're considering. When dining, tables are joined to accommodate the multitude, and fathers remain seated with the kids while the women gather up a glut of plates of food from the buffet. Families are vociferous and rambunctious, naturally, and with voices having to be heard over the loud musica, you imagine what that’s like. Next door is the adult-only resort. Just saying. I confide that nabobs get nasty when not served their nespresso or beer within their tolerable time limit. This time a German visitor made a strident scene and the manager came to his table and asked his room number; I sure hope he was not rewarded for such behaviour. This German characteristic was confirmed by one of the Dominican staff. So why them? It's cultural. Some nationalities are just not as patient and easy-going as others, even on vaca... As mentioned, there's a lot to do, if you’re up to it, and the animation team leads with exercises, games, lessons in windsurfing, dancing and Spanish, and entertainment. There's always one guy on the animation team who is the “complete sandwich”; this guy here is Martin. In this role you must have stamina, skill and subtlety to achieve customer satisfaction. Give me 5! (smack my palm). At a right-on-the-beach resort, all is exposed. I mean bodies... the naked gamut... hair, guts, chests, tattoos. Oh Dios Mio! so much skin is inked, men and women, you never imagined clothed in the office. The tattooed person exposes a staggering billboard of his and her loves, beliefs and history. (I don’t blame the resort for this.) You will not escape this review without an admonition regarding waste and environment. As a tourist, it's our new responsibility to keep our beach footprint to minimum. Do not discard garbage inappropriately; go beyond to pick up other people's garbage. Don't waste food on your plate as you see others doing. Keep your beach towels for another day. Spend locally for souvenirs and services. Collect gifts of needed items from home to give to poor locals: children’s clothes, otc meds, baseball gloves. Escape the resort and find playgounds or streets where you can give stuff away. Excursions are great for exploring, and there’s lot of choice, including exotic downtown Puerto Plata and a ride up the teleferico. This first cable car of the Caribbean will whisk you up to the Pico Isabel de Torres, at 800 meters the second highest point in DR. At the peak is an arm stretched statue of Jesus similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro. Enjoy pleasant hiking trails amidst botanical gardens, a lake replete with fish, caves and a model Dominican home. Purchase an excursion from your official tour agent, or much cheaper from an independent agent on the beach or at the mall; many to choose. We bought 2 interesting excursions from Antonio (anthonyinfotours.com). The second excursion was the Safari and Waterfalls (www.27charcos.com). The safari takes you deep into the interior of Hispaniola on the northern cordillera to pass by country towns and plantations to the 27 Waterfalls of Rio Damajagua (www.27charcos.com), the best adventure tourism site in the Dominican Republic! It’s a fairly strenuous outing, so be prepared to hike, jump and slide in a serious stream. Please accept my comments with a wink and a pinch of salt; the chef at this resort certainly added a pinch. Also, don’t search my review for my comment on the check-in process; not an important issue for me. I stated at the start we had a successful vacation here. If you read this to this end, thank you and let me ask the bartender for a free cocktail for you. Shouldn’t be long. You deserve it. Tibor & Megan Kaldor, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Bahia Principe Grand Samana Roulette: Great time

Hotel is located in the great place. The views of the city, mountains and ocean are very nice. Rooms are very nice and clean. Cleaning staff are great. There are 2 beaches, one is ok, another one is not too good. Entertainment on the beach and on the pool is very nice. Pool is closed at 6 pm, and a beach at 7 pm. Food is good. Evening entertainment wasn't too great. Night club is open from 11pm to 2 am. It wasn't any people there. Overall vacation was great. A lots of sun and swimming.

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Amazing resort

Grounds and rooms impeccable food was good staff friendly and charming overall we loved it beach was amazing and clean .................................................................................

Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: Juste

Les chambres sont propres d'une valeur 3 étoiles, les personnels comme Maiki au restaurant très sympa gentil. L'hôtel doit avoir d'autre équipe d'animation les show sont désastreux. La plage n'est pas

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: all good except!

the hotel was as expected, clean rooms, good food, good bar service, nice beach, good room service, cold AC in room. room smelled must at first but got dehumidifier and it cleared it out. transport back to airport was problematic and chaos at punta cana airport was to much to bear. excellent vacation overshadowed by very poorly run airport check in. and because of that my party of five will not return to DR.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Not that great... More like a 2 star

It's really run down Vendors on the beach are constantly coming up to you to try and sell you something. On one day I counted and in a time span of 15 minutes, I was approached 8 times by 8 different people. Good luck getting a drink here, coffee, alcohol and yes, even water seems like such a struggle. The Beach was horrible. You couldn't even swim because there were so many rocks and seaweed! The only thing that was good about this place was the food but then again, you are standing and w [... read more]aiting in line for at least 15 minutes just for a plate of pasta or for an omelette. Also please listen to this... No matter what time you get there and even if your room is ready, they will NOT check you in until 3 pm. That is really annoying because after a flight, you just want to freshen up and drop your stuff off and start off your vacation! We arrived at 12 and they would not give us the room until 3. The worst part was when we finally got to our room, it was clean but has not had anyone in there for awhile. There were cobwebs everywhere. It was really gross and the room was really old. Also, if you have to deal with Luis as your representative, good luck! He will definitely take up hours of your vacation because he is just so terrible at his job!

Dreams Dominicus La Romana: Repeat guest , great resort

Repeat guest was our third time Enjoyed our stay once again As usual Friendly, professional and clean well maintained resort Enjoyed very much the preferred restaurant at night, best food !!! Best service!

Cayo Levantado Resort: Just ok, definitely not a 5 star resort

Enjoyed a week away but not what I expected, talked to couples who returned for another getaway and they confirmed food quality and selection has dropped considerably, can’t complain too much about mother nature regarding the beaches ( cloudy and rocky), but I do travel for the water, I was hoping to find a diamond in the rough but this is not it, I will stick with Aruba and Curaçao.

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Wonderful Resort

The resort is so nice and wonderful....the room is spacious, clean....restaurants and bars offer a good variety of food and beverages The beach and pools are kept in a very good condition. The staff is nice and friendly. The team of Sunwing and tripcentral were so helpful......

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Amazing resort.

Not a huge resort but everything is centrally located. Grounds and rooms are kept impeccably clean but rooms are dated - could use a refresh. Mini fridges restocked daily. Beach is beautiful and there is lots of shade and chairs - no problem getting a spot at any time. No complaints about the food and all staff very friendly and helpful. Only complaint is that when you ask for something to drink in the buffet, most of the time you wouldn’t get it - not enough staff for amount of tables.  [... read more]Mall located within 5 min walking distance with souvenirs and liquor. Would recommend and will be returning.

Riu Republica: Enjoyable resort

Room was comfortable and clean. Selection of specialty Restuarant would recommend the Spanish.All in all had a fabulous time. Adults resort with younger crowds. We are in our sixties and still had enjoyable time.

Riu Bambu: Good value for the money!

Clean and well maintained. Pretty grounds with lots of palm trees and wide white sand beaches. A good variety of sun and shaded areas. Lots of lounge chairs for everyone. We loved the quieter pool by the beach surrounded with palm trees😍 We had an amazing room with sofa and chair and balcony that faced the ocean and pool surrounded by beautiful palms. Loved it. Great variety of food choices that were tasty. Never hit the other restaurants because enjoyed the main one so much. We enjoyed sitt [... read more]ing out in open part the most. William was amazing server and treated us like family. Enjoyed the live entertainment in the beach bar after dinner. Ideal family vacation👍🏻

Excellence Punta Cana: Extraordinary Resort

An adult only resort built parallel to the beach. Many lounge chairs at the beach and pool. No need to reserve early in the morning. Food was delicious. Red wine finally served at room temperature! No weeds at the beach!