Never Again

It is a cheaply run, understaffed resort that requires a lot of attention. It was so bad that we asked the Sunwing Rep to check for availability at the neighbouring resort The Gran Ventana. I think that Sunscapes was over capacity while we were there as the service in dining and bars were horrible. Repeatedly, there were not enough dishes to serve the guests. We always had to wait for something: plates, glasses, cutlery, napkins and/or beach towels. We had to wave to the coffee and water wai [... read more]ters to be served. Wifi was horrible. They served Classico Liquor not Brugale. Always long waits at any bar as usually only one bartender. It RAINED for 3 days and the resort had flooded rooms in multiple buildings. We were on the second floor and needed to be evacuated at 10:30 PM because our ceiling was leaking from the flooded room above us. Sewer smell was profound. Surface water up to mid calfs in many areas. There is a bridge that you walk on over dead water en route to the beach area. The dam there washed out and created a deep crevice in the sand 50’wide X 200’ long. The food was the same slop repeated every day at all three buffet locations. We were very disappointed with the coffee shop. It was always packed due to lack of employees and the desserts we the same as the buffets. The pool was disgustingly dirty. There was an orangey scum ring all around it. The entertainment consisted of two aerobic classes daily and the evening show. It would have been nice to have an animation team to run fun activities during the travellers’ 3 rainy days. We certainly did not get what we paid for at $1905/person. We travel a lot and we are just average folks. This is an honest and accurate review of our experience. Seriously, I caution you about the lack of service at this resort.

Excellent resort, would recommend it without hesitation

We stayed here from Feb 24 to Mar 2, 2020. The staff are fabulous, the resort grounds are impeccable. If you go I highly recommend the sunclub upgrade, it was well worth it. The beach is beautiful and very well maintained, the staff was up cleaning the seaweed and grounds before sun-up. Restaurant staff and bar staff were extremely friendly, the hotel maids were exceptional

Delicious Food

The food was truly amazing at this resort. The presentation, flavour and quality were top notch. The beach was lovely! Lots of shade and places to enjoy the sunshine. Lack of beach chairs was a concern most days. The resort needs to purchase more!! Staff very friendly although the male staff around the pool were much too friendly with our university girls. Way too flirtatious and one actually followed one of our girls to a washroom waiting for her to come out and acknowledge his attention. Not  [... read more]acceptable at all. She was very uncomfortable and even afraid. Service at the restaurants was pretty decent. The only a la carte that we have a complaint about is the Asian Restaurant. We lined up before 6pm to have dinner. Probably 20 people got in before us and we were then told we’d have to wait an hour and a half to get a table. We could see there were empty tables so my guess is they didn’t have enough staff to accommodate the size of their restaurant. Disappointing. Never returned to that one. Rooms were decent although the shower leaked onto the floor each time we used it. Poor design. Overall this was a nice place but the best part was the food!

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

Resort was ok

Should improve service for internet connection in the room lobby very hard to connect. Food was not good too salted and should not repeat the same food everyday more fruits7 days no shrimp at all more bbq foods

Awesome beach!

We were very happy with the resort. Rooms were clean as was the entire resort. Beautifully kept grounds. The beach was the best, you could walk for miles in both directions. The vendors on the beach were relentless which was annoying. Also the chair vultures which made finding a place to sit difficult if you didn't get there really early in the morning. Many restaurants with lots of choices as long as you don't have any food allergies. I am a celiac and had a hard time eating safely but never we [... read more]nt hungry. The staff is so friendly and welcoming.

7th visit!

Beautiful grounds. Friendly staff. Love the beach in this area. We get the suite everytime. Love having breakfast with Norberto and crew. After dinner drinks with Luis. All the staff are wonderful. We like that it is 15 minutes from airport.

Excellent vacation destination in the Dominican Republic

Excellent resort with very friendly staff.Excellent buffet with a varied selection of food plus 3 other restaurants offering Asian,Italian and Argentinian menus.Pool and beach bars for great lunches and snacks and drinks. 2 pools and a great beach.Can not stress how wonderful and helpful the staff are at this resort!

Amazing Resort

Stayed from Dec. 30-January 6-20, went to celebrate New Years with the family, we were a group of 24 adults with 2 children under 12. The Hotel is clean is immaculately clean, from the lobby, bathrooms and grounds, the rooms have been updated they are spacious and clean. The mattress are comfortable as well. The check-in went smoothly so did the check-out. The food is okay at the buffet I think their breakfast buffet was the one I was not that keen on. The restaurant in the pool are is very good [... read more], the pizza spot is amazing and the café is fabulous. The staff is very friendly and always made us feel very comfortable. Juan de Jesus & Jairo from the entertainment team are just amazing they made our stay a very enjoyable one. A big shout out to the girls in the café coco truly friendly ladies. We did 2 excursions they were fun and well organized. The massage offered in the beach are well worth the money. I really can't say anything bad of this resort. This was our second time in Dominican but our first time at this resort. Would definitely consider going back.

Well worth the money!

Overall, this resort was great. Highlights were the beach (beautiful sand, beautiful blue water, no seaweed, and very safe the kids - 8 and 12 - to play on the sand and in the water), the staff, the layout (we loved that it's a small resort and that everything is so easily accessible), the cleanliness, and the grounds (beautiful and so well maintained). The food was ok - the à la carte restaurants were a bit disappointing (service was a bit lacking, the wait times can be very long as there ar [... read more]e no reservations, and the food was just ok) BUT there were pockets of awesomeness!! The Asian restaurant was amazing, make sure to ask for the chicken wings at the restaurant above the pool (to die for), don't miss out on the wood-fired pizza on the rooftop (couldn't get enough of it), and the beach grill had great and yummy lunch options. Also, a stop at Coco's Cafe is a MUST...the best caramel coffee and pastries! It's an older resort, so some of the buildings need to have things replaced but I think they're working on that. Ground floor level rooms are ideal - we had a third floor room the first night (but knew upon check in that we were changing rooms the next day). It was clean, spacious and nicely renovated, but with the vaulted ceilings...we were awoken during the night with chirping and scratching sounds in the roof. Didn't get any sleep that night. Our next room was ground level, clean, quiet, pool side, near the beach and nicely renovated - couldn't have asked for better! It's worth the upgrade to the Sunclub - you can have a more privated breakfast at the Sunclub area, premium booze, wait service at the beach and at the pool - it was great. We had such an amazing time at this resort, had plenty of food options for us to all eat really, really well (kids as well as adults), LOVED the beach, has a blast at the pool...Overall, I would recommend this resort - for the price point compared to other resorts, it was well worth it.

Wasn’t amazing but wasn’t terrible

The grounds were very well kept. Our rooms were cleaned beautifully everyday. Unfortunately our room shower leaked all over the bathroom floor leading into the room and soaked our luggage’s. 3 other people in our group had the same problem. Staff all looked overly miserable. Food was okay, we ate more burgers and fries then we did the buffet food. We noticed there was more locals at the resort then when I’ve travelled other places. Also the resort does not give out wrist band [... read more]s, literally anyone can walk into the resort from the beach. The night light was pretty boring. Although I know this is not the resorts issue, the beach is CROWDED with sellers. Every few minutes someone would walk up to us asking to sell something, it got quite annoying. I’ve never experienced this much annoyance on vacation before.

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......

Great vacation!

The resort was clean. Staff very friendly and great service. It wasn’t a busy week which was fine so we had no problem getting a chair by the pool or the beach. Much busier on the weekend with the local people and much noisier. Pool music got way too loud and a lot of drunk noisy people at 3am. Food was very plentiful and tasted wonderful. No complaints there. Enjoyed the popcorn at the theatre bar each night. The a la carte restaurants served very delicious meals. The wait staff were all so [... read more] friendly and gave us good service. The pool snack area served good good for lunch. Service a bit to be desired until the bosses were around and then top notch. Our room was a lovely size and kept clean. We lacked towels every day and had to call for more. Overall we enjoyed the resort!

Nice resort

Just got back from sunscape puerto plata beautiful resort variety of good food entertainment was excellent. The staff at this resort was awesome except for the staff that there uniforms were navy and light blue they try every way to con people that are on vacation into time share which I think is wrong. I was also disappointed in some activities that they advertise and didn’t do them cause that didn’t have enough people and at the same time I recommend it cause other people also recommend w [... read more]hich was the foam pool party

Second time around and still great

The staff at this resort is stellar! They are so genuinely happy and a pleasure to be around. The facilities are very clean and comfortable and the beach and ocean are spectacular. The beach vendors are kind very respectful but the on site vendors were sometimes a little aggressive. It was a slow time so I am sure that they were really hoping for more sales. We are thinking of returning next year and trying the sunclub. Many thanks to all!

Sunscape Puerto Plata

We've just returned from 2 weeks here. It's a pretty resort with a small beach. No problems finding chairs or shade. The menu was repetitious but always good. I was impressed with its cleanliness and wonderful staff who were willing to make your stay as pleasant as possible. The pools were always clean and inviting. We would return in the future.

Not the one expected according to the reviews!

Pros: 1-Service in the buffet was generally good, very good memories for the service and the food in the restaurants in the second floor both sides before going to Coco Caffee. 2-Grounds were well maintained. 3-Quiet resort during the week days, it was a low season. 4-Rooms were clean and spacious. 5-Fair distance form the rooms to the beach. Cons: 1-Beach not as expected, water not crystal clear and a bad smell through out the beach. 2-Uncovered sewing stream crossing the resort, [... read more] very close to the beach, one restaurant and the buildings. Not acceptable for a touristic resort. 3-Anoying and load vendors all day long in the beach, smth. should be done to stop them. 4-Air conditioning service was interrupted during the day, even when the temperatures were over 30C. 5-Lack of food in the buffet, we haven't tried fish almost at all, even though sea was so close. 6-Noisy vendors that came inside the resort during the weekend.

A Budget Friendly Vacation

Disclaimer: Staying during a “low” season, my experience might be different from when the “high” season kicks in. ----- Sunscape Puerto Plata is a solid 3.5-star hotel, on its way to becoming a 4-star resource. Overall, I had a pleasant stay; though there were some opportunities for improvement. THE GOOD 1) The beach is a selling point for this resort. The coast line is long, providing a good walking/jogging distance. The sandy beach is regularly cleaned and well-maintained. Ve [... read more]ry few seaweeds during my stay. The sunbeds are plenty, but no parasols, so seek shade under the trees (which is also plenty of). The water is crystal-clear. The entrance to the ocean is shallow with gradually deepening. There are several places for snorkeling (both pros and amateurs will find something suitable), with plenty of common fishes to spot on. Beware of sea urchins though, and please avoid stepping/walking on the coral/reef. 2) The room was spacious, with a modern touch. Cleaned well, not a single bug/insect spotted even once. Accommodations included in-room deposit box/safe, TV, an iron and ironing desk, hair dryer, and a mini-bar. 3) Most of the personnel is friendly enough, but I wanted to give special kudos to the bartender Dennis for going above and beyond to make sure our group had a pleasant stay. In all honesty, he deserves a bonus. THE NEUTRAL 1) The food was OK; though little variety. Often the main buffet was closed due to insufficient number of guests, so the breakfast and dinner would be relocated to another places (i.e. the theater). The à la carte restaurants did not require a reservation. Have been to jut one (the Argentina cuisine place), and it wasn’t anything more than a typical grill bar. Also, worth mentioning that all alcohol comes from the local producers. 2) Very little to do with the hotel itself, the weather was a mix. In the morning it was hot and calm, but approaching 2-3pm a wind would pick up, dropping the temperature down significantly. Since Puerto Plata is known to be the windiest side, there was no big surprise here. 3) When arriving at the hotel and during the stay, I have mentioned (casually) a few times it was my Birthday coming up. The lady at the registration desk made a note, but nothing came out of it. Yet, the next few days after my own Birthday passed, at least two other people’s Birthdays were celebrated with a cake and a song at the buffet. Perhaps, special accommodations had to be made upfront, but I found it inconsistent. THE BAD 1) While the hotel staff is friendly, they need training, especially the waiters. When ordering the drink, half of the time you will receive not what you have ordered, and another half of the time the order will never arrive. There was also an instance when a soup was spilled on the floor (I hope it was soup) and a few people slipped on it. The waiters, clearly seeing this, did not make any effort clean up the mess, nor to put up a “Wet Floor” sign. They just waited for the puddle to dry out naturally instead. 2) Being to many other places in Dominican Republic, including a hot-spot Punta Cana, I can honestly say that the vendors on the beach are the pushiest in Puerto Plana. They just don’t take “No” for an answer, and will continue bugging you over and over you several times a day every day. One guy went so far as asking for my Adidas slippers as a “free gift to his little son who has always dreamed of exact such slippers” (spoil alert: those were lady’s slippers :) ). He got rather aggressive when I declined, but staying firm is my best advice. ----- Lastly, a side note: dear parents of infants, if your child has crapped itself, it is NOT enough to take off the dirty diaper and set it on a dining table. Trying to enjoy a meal nearby while smelling child’s poop is DISGUSTING! Please, show some respect to other guests and take your kid away to clean him/her up properly. (Yes, those were Canadian parents).

Not bad for the price

Hotel was outdated however it was clean. Air conditioning kept shutting off in our room. It was slow season and I understand that . What I don’t understand is opening the doors to the locals and they just move in and it’s now crazy land . No longer a relaxing holiday. As for the nice roped in area on the beach that the sun club up grade provides. We couldn’t sit or even stay to enjoy the beach. We were constantly approached to buy from locals on the beach we had to leave . Nice beach but  [... read more]couldn’t stay . Oh yes one more the food .., lack of or not eatable ...

Great staff, clean pools

I enjoyed the resort, it was very relaxing. The rooms were cleaned on a daily basis and the staff was very hospitable. I would definitely return. The only thing i did not like was the amount of people ON the resort that approached me to sell goods and were very persistent to the point of me feeling harassed. Other than that it was a nice trip