Weare Cadaques Bayahibe: Beautiful beach, poor service

As we arrived, they sent us to a room which is wet, musty and dark. The window and door both without net. There is also no secure box, no cloth hanger, no chair. The water in toilet keep flow and noisy. It was totally different with that we booked. I complained to the manager. Second day, they changed a much better room to us. but the window without net too. The beach is beautiful, pool and beach are wonderful for swimming.

Weare Cadaques Bayahibe: Great resort!

This hotel is beautiful. It has a stunning beach (much better than the other hotels in the area). The rooms differ quite a bit from the pictures but they are clean although have a lot of mold in them. The food is good and the dining area is stunning. They do not do shows at night or have a nightlife at all. I’d say this resort is perfect for families. It was hard to find a beach chair or a chair on the pier as people claim them and then leave - so they should really consider adding more chairs [... read more]. Overall it was a great resort and I would visit here again!

Grand Bavaro Princess: it is great resort

the rooms was clean and big the food was cold not to good but the service was very very nice the resort was very nice to walk the garden the pool the beach was clean but was windy the service in the bar area was friendly and good service

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: remains top choice

I've done a pantload of these, what I refer to as "cheap and cheerful sun vacations" all over the carribe and Bahia is my top choice. The grounds are beautiful, the food is pretty darn good, and the beach is spectacular. The rooms are, fresh, large and clean. Not everyone might appreciate the size but I personally enjoy it-it is vast. My only complaint is the same this time as last--some male crew really take liberties. I don't think it's appropriate to be catcalled by staff. Is it cultural? If  [... read more]a bartender in Insert Large North American City fully assesed me with a leering eye I'd laugh in his face and take it up with management. Otherwise great bang for your buck!!

Cayo Levantado Resort: Amazing resort

Thank you for a wonderful week long experience. 1. We found the all Staff & happy to look after us through out our vacation. 2. The Animation Team especially Paulina & Jesus encouraged us to participate in the activities throughout the day and evening. eg Bocce Ball, Stretch, Aerobics, Spanish lessons, Bean Bag toss, Bingo and the Coconut demonstration with Monkey Boy climbing, The Acrobatic agility at both evening entertainment was amazing. 3. We appreciated the wide se [... read more]lection of food offered in main Grill restaurant. The Brazilian dining experience was #1. Pool side restaurant was handy throughout the day. 4. Nice touch with the evening essential oil lamps, beverages and chips in the mini bar, comfortable Bed and great view of the bay. 5. Great Birthday cake and staff singing Happy Birthday at Don Pablo restaurant for daughter's birthday. 6. A wonderful and enjoyable experience. Sincerely, Corry and Edwin Chow

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Very Satisified

This resort is beautiful with great services. There are very friendly employees , great food, as well as a large variety of foods. There is also good entertainment available, big pools and most importantly the resort is very close to the beach.I enjoyed everything this resort had to offer and I would definitely recommend it to a friend and would want to come back again! It was truly an enjoyable stay where many memories were made.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Nice resort

this resort is very beautiful. Entertainment was really good. Restaurants were good. The staff needs to be friendlier to their guests. This is the biggest negativity they really need to work on being more courteous. There were many times that I didn't feel like I was welcome. Don't get me wrong there were some staff that were great but more that weren't. Yes I would recommend this resort.

Casa Marina Reef Resort: Great Resort With Very Poor Service from Front Desk Staff.

Resort is very conveniently located in the town of Sosua. Beach and pools are are nice and clean. All three Ala Carte Restaurant are not worth the time you have to spend lining up to get reservations. Food is lousy and tastes no where close to the type of restaurant they are named for. During our stay there was no telephone service in the room and the excuse was that there was problem with the network in the area but their own phone system was working well. These guys take their guests for fo [... read more]ols who have pre-paid their stay and are stuck there. So if you want to get something fixed or attended to in the room you are forced to walk to the front desk which sometimes is hard to do due to weather and the size of resort and location of your room. Even then consider yourself lucky if you get any service. We had a slow draining bath tub and we complained about it every day for 5 days but it never got fixed. There people at the front desk take down your room number on a loose piece of paper and want you to believe that they are serious and will get the thing fixed. But it never happened. I reported it to 3 different staff members on 5 different days and finally gave up when one of them told me that it was fixed in last one hour whereas I was in my room for an hour before I walked to the front desk. Only good thing at this place is the one restaurant where you go for breakfast lunch and dinner. Place is clean ,service is good, view is excellent and food is not bad. If you have a choice avoid going to this resort spend some more money and stay at some other resort. Believe me nothing will be worse than this resort.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Service was bad

I would never go back to this resort. Rooms dared. House keeping bad, customer service overall need to be better. Had to call every day regarding house keeping. Workers at the customer service desk not helping with issues.

Excellence El Carmen: An Excellence experience

The hotel is a series of (about) 17 units, spread out over spacious grounds and located on a beautiful beach. The grounds were immaculate and an enjoyable feature was a pond that had photogenic Flamingos, Swans and Ducks. The beachfront covered miles of sandy beach that allowed walkout in turquoise water (quite wavy, but minimal undertow). As delightful feature is that (unlike Riu properties) washrooms were plentiful. There were 12 a-la-carte restaurants (too many to sample in a week; no reserva [... read more]tions required except for the 'performance' table at the Asian restaurant) and 16 bars (probably couldn't visit too many more), all of which provided high quality food and drink. The rooms were extremely large and well laid-out, and featured a huge walk-in closet and shower / sink / toilet areas. Wi-Fi was strong over most of the property. Only one pool was heated, although all had appended 'hot-tubs'. We were a little disappointed that a number of the lounges were in need of repair, but there were sufficient functional lounges available for all guests. In the restaurants for the first 3 days, every table was wobbly, and the wait-staff mixed up some part of our orders on more than 50% of the occasions. Generally, we felt that at least initially, the staff w3as not up to the standards we expected from the Excellence brand. probably not coincidentally, as we mentioned this at a Managers cocktail party on our 3rd night, in the latter portion of the week, we noticed a lot more care and cordiality from the staff. The weather was OK at best (not the fault of the hotel!!!), with more rain and cloud than expected, and very windy. Several days we were unwilling to lounge beachfront as the 'sand-blasting' effect was to painful. We love the 4 other times we experienced an Excellence vacation, and will return again, but to other sites, as we are likely not to go to this spot again, at least in mid-February

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Good Value

This is an older resort (circa 2005) and it shows but it is well maintained. Everything regarding the resort was great except the nightly entertainment. The overall rating of 4+ is appropriate. Getting through the Punta Cana airport is pure hell. We won't go back because of it.

Casa Marina Reef Resort: Better than I expected for a 3 star!

Very clean resort, friendly helpful staff, great food. The nightly entertainment was great too! The beaches were clean with lots of lounge chairs. Plenty of excursions for those who wanted them. Easy access to local shopping and never hassled like in some places.

Bahia Principe Grand San Juan: Resort gone down hill

We where at this resort 4 years ago and it was excellent. This time not so much a few days we didn't receive towels in our room and friends didn't get their mini bar restocked. Friends called to get bags taken to lobby but did not show up. It seemed like there is less staff working.

Dreams Dominicus La Romana: Nice Resort with Issues

Resort sits on the main road to Bayahibe, with a constant flow of traffic. It is a gated resort and requires security posted at all entrances and exits. Lobby is very small with no evening entertainment whatsoever and one small bar and one bartender that has difficulty keeping up at times. We saw one waitress and she very rarely checked to see if we needed anything. The resort is long and narrow with very few 'alternate' paths that can be taken. There are 3 pools along the main strip to the be [... read more]ach, all well kept but had very few people at them. Never an issue getting a chair. Bar service was hard to find. The buffet and 'a la carte' restaurants were mediocre at best. The buffet offered the same selection everyday and there was rarely any type of potato to be found. The unlimted a la carte's were poor with the exception of The Seaside Grill, which was very good. All the others organized chaos with poor service. Anything other than wine to drink and you are in for a wait as they must go to one of the bars to get your beverage. Majority of the food was so heavily salted that you could not eat it. This was a recurring theme all week long. We were preferred club so our room was across the street in a 5 story brand new building, very clean and immaculate but did not feel Caribbean. It had a pool and a bar and the Flying Fish restaurant that was open for breakfast and lunch. The beach was amazing, crystal clear turquoise water and powdery white sand. Service at the preferred club section of the beach was good with it's own bar and snack area. BBQ everyday with burgers, dogs, chicken and salmon....all was very good and a welcome alternative to the buffet. Some evening entertainment at the beach, but really for the younger crowd. There was karaoke on Friday evening which was quite entertaining but was over by 10:30pm. So.....would we return.......not a chance. For the Dreams brand we expected better......everything.

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Great resort

The hotel was a very good size and everything was in good proximity. The buffet was also a very good size. Sometimes service was on the slow side but overall good. The pool was a good size and the bar in the pool was a lot of fun!

TRS Turquesa: Grand Palladium - Such Poor Service, You Won't Even Realize You're At A 5 Star Resort!!

If we said that our honeymoon at the Grand Palladium Turquesa Punta Cana was anything short of terrible would be kind. We bought an all inclusive package that cost over $6,100Cdn for a 5 star, adults only resort. It was our honeymoon so we opted to spend more for what we presumed to be a better resort. I had been to Punta Cana a handful of times, and the Dominican Republic approximately a dozen times. I have stayed at 3 star, 4 star, and 5 star resorts. Sadly, the service we received at thi [... read more]s 5 star resort on what is supposed to be your most memorable vacation was worse than any other resort I have stayed at in the Dominican, or otherwise. The nice thing about the resort is that we had our own concierge, but that's where the good service ended. First, most people we interacted with did not speak English. My husband only speaks English, I spent the majority of our trip being his own private interpreter. Second, despite speaking Spanish fluently (it is my first language) I would ask questions in Spanish and not get answers to my question. For example, "que es este ingrediente?" Respuesta "Es un ingrediente". Or in English, when asking "what is this ingredient?" Response "It's an ingredient". This was actually a conversation I had with one of the servers. Thirdly, I have dietary restrictions that only allow me to have all natural drinks. I would ask for a "banana con leche" or Banana milkshake and was told I was unable to get what I was requesting. Having been to a dozen all inclusives before I had never encountered being told they could not mix milk, with banana for me. At no point in the first week was it explained to us that only one bar in the entire resort could meet my requests which is upsetting because I paid for an all inclusive experience and I could not for the first week get the drink I was ordering. Fourth, I found out the only way I could have a drink my way was to go to the spa bar, which we did not know was included in our package. So if I have a dietary need, obviously the only solution was to tell me to go elsewhere rather than finding a better solution that would allow me to drink at the bar closest to me. Fifth, we were not informed by Air Transat or the staff at Grand Palladium that we had an orientation to attend the first morning of our visit that could have clarified some of our miscommunications about the resort. Sixth, scents (perfumes, or strong odours) affect my health. Unfortunately, the lobby had such a strong smell to it, that I could not go in. Same is true for the disco. The difficulty with the lobby however, was that apparently that was the connection to the ocean. I constantly had to walk through the lobby just to get to the pool and ocean, until we found other ways around it. Thereby flaring up health issues for myself. Seven, upon our arrival they tried to up-sell us, disguising it as an upgrade for this being our honeymoon. It was not apparent from the conversation at first that they meant we would have to pay for the upgrade. It originally sounded like they were upgrading us because it was our honeymoon. Eight, there was a distinctive treatment between us and others at the same resort who looked older. This was especially true at bars and restaurants. Most of the time we were ignored. Waiters often overlooked us. Did not give us water, coffee, and when I asked in Spanish politely was given attitude. Nine, we were often forgotten about. This was clear when we went to the steakhouse. A few of us were seated at the same time. Everyone else seated at the same time as us were given menus. I had to ask our waiter for menus. He realized we were the only ones without one, so he brought us one. Everyone else got their own menus, but we were made to share, which is quite difficult when you are seated across your partner. Thankfully the menu was in Spanish on one side, and English the other, so we were able to manage. That same night, since it had been quite a while since speaking to our server we got up to go get appetizers from the buffet a few feet from our table. Our invisibility to staff was clearly solidified when we turned around to see our table being picked up and moved to make a table for a bigger group. When we approached the staff they laughed it off and said it was their mistake. This would have been more so an excuse had we not been the table each staff member had to pass by to get to their section of tables. Ten, our orders were either suggestions or just plain forgotten. There was more than one occasion where we did not receive what we ordered, but rather what we can only anticipate they believed we should have. It is unclear why they wrote our orders down at all, if everything we told them was made wrong, or not given to us at all. Eleven, it got to the point where the sit down, 5 star restaurant associated with our hotel would just plain ignore us. So much so that we started timing how long it would take the waiter to give us water (which often did not occur even when we asked for it) and take our order. We sat down, took out a timer after a while of waiting and noticing the waiters assisting the tables all around us but not us. Interestingly, it took at least 10 minutes before a waiter came to take our order. When we pointed this out politely, the waiter was extremely rude to us. So much so we started going to the buffet at the 4 star hotel next door because at least there we could serve ourselves. Twelve, often our water and/or coffee we ordered at the beginning of the meal (when we managed to get a waiter's attention) would not arrive until the end of our meal. Thirteen, no one could answer questions about ingredients in the food. We went to the French restaurant one night, and it took asking 3 people before we got an answer. Thankfully, that night the manager took it upon himself to ensure there was something I could eat. I was sick more than half the trip and apparently trying to get anything I could eat was a feat. All I wanted was rice and bread and mint tea but this was apparently unavailable for some reason. The manager at this restaurant was the first and almost only person the entire trip that tried to work with me to have something I could eat. He even summoned the chef to speak with us. Fourteen, we tried to do room service a few times because of how ill I was. The food was really unappetizing and the quality was terrible. Fifteen, there was a butler door in our room for room service. Now being on our honeymoon (highlighted by a sash on our door) and having a swim up room meant that the idea is that with the butler door when you order room service they are supposed to leave it in the little area, and light up the red light to let us know it arrived. Instead room service would only bang on the door incessantly, and if you didn't answer they would call us, even though the light worked perfectly fine. They proceeded to wake me up one of the days I hadn't slept all night and had finally just fallen asleep despite being in severe pain. We can only assume that this was their way of trying to get a tip. Sixteen, room service would mess up our entire order. For example, there was one day where I hadn't slept all night because I was in excruciating pain. My husband ordered room service for breakfast. He asked for toasted bread and mint tea with hot water. What was given to us was rolls of bread. Not toasted, not heated, no mint tea. For this however they knocked down our door. For lunch we told the concierge our problems with room service so they ordered for us. We asked for myself who could barely walk, hot water (we gave up asking for mint tea), bread (we gave up on asking it be toasted), rice, and the concierge suggested chicken broth. What came with our order was no bread, no rice, no hot water, and some sort of tomato soup with veggies and such in it. They pounded our door for a tip on that delivery too. Seventeen, from the beginning of our stay our toilet acted up. It continued to do so for the entirety of our trip. We told them the first day, it seemed they had fixed it but alas that was not the case. Over the course of the time we spent in our room our sink wouldn't drain, our jacuzzi tub was loose, our shower head would fall down constantly, and our tub started having a bad odour. Eighteen, we told people the entire trip it was our honeymoon. The only person who did anything was a waiter at the Indian restaurant whose first response was, "why didn't you tell someone, we could have done something". To which I replied with "we did". So he undertook to make it a more special evening, designing a very pretty table with flowers and champagne. Nineteen, despite being sick and telling people at each restaurant or buffet almost no accommodations were made to ensure that I could eat the food. Instead most of the time my needs were ignored and instead my orders were suggestion. It was amazing how difficult it was to get plain rice to help me get better faster. Twenty, despite asking several different servers different questions about the menu or food items. Most of them were rude or had no idea what was on their menus. This made it difficult to eat for the two weeks were at this hotel. Twenty one, the excursion we bought off the Hotels Extra guy selling in the hotel lobby was very misleading. Twenty two, the first day we were left a gift tag at our door stating that they had a gift for us in the lobby. We went to the lobby, despite the smell, to try and pick it up. Apparently it was a sales pitch because we spoke to an agent that set up an appointment for us the next day. So the next day we went to see him, he had told us that we should not speak to anyone else, but we could not find him. After waiting for him for quite a while, someone offered to take his place. We were in our swimsuits because it was the middle of the day and we were at a beach resort. The person taking his place told me that she was going to take us on a tour of the resort, but that I had to go put on clothes before she could do so. We then found out that the gift that we had shown up to claim was only provided after completing the entire resort tour. Twenty three, about four days before our departure I was finally able better enough to make a complaint to the resort staff. Up until then we couldn't complain because of my condition and the fact that my husband does not speak Spanish. We asked to speak to a manager. The manager, Ronny Avila, Gerente Habitaciones Royal "Room Division Manager" came to speak to us, and after we gave him our list of complaints he said he had to talk to his supervisor to see what he could do for us to compensate us for all our troubles. He promised to have an answer for us by evening, or morning at the latest. The next afternoon my husband went to investigate (as I couldn't be in the lobby) and there still was not a reply. The next evening when we returned from the horrible excursion we had purchased through the hotel the concierge told us what we were being offered. Either we could have a couple's massage or a candlelight dinner on the beach to compensate. We were not interested in either option but suggested the dinner would be the better of the two options. Twenty four, when we chose between the two options presented to us they tried to get us sign a contract that did not make any sense. My husband and I are both lawyers, we understood what the contract was trying to accomplish, it was trying to get us to take this compensation to waive any liability the resort had for its less than 5 star service while engaging us in a gag clause. We are ethical people and despite knowing that it was an unenforceable contract, we did not wish to sign anything for a dinner that we didn't want in the first place. When we told this to the concierge, he told us that that would mean we would get no compensation. To which we replied that we knew this, because a dinner on the beach really is not much in the way of compensation when the entire two week experience had been so terrible. Twenty five, the next day we found a trip advisor agent, Charlie, and told him our difficulties. Later that day we were contacted by the Manager's superior Almudena Mosteiro Mun/oz, Asistente Director Adjunto Habitaciones "Assistant Director". When we told her everything we had been put through at her hotel she was shocked. She had also not been contacted by Ronny about how to compensate us, and indicated to us that what was offered to us is normal any time there is a complaint, that Ronny did not need her permission to take such a step, and that she was glad we did not take the compensation. As she put it, it was not compensation enough for everything we had been put through. All in all, we couldn't eat almost anything at the resort without getting sick. Anything we ordered was a suggestion and rarely did we get what we asked for. We couldn't get vital information to help us get better. It appears we were lied to by the Manager, Ronny. Air Transat almost forgot us at the hotel. Nothing about this experience screams 5 star. Had we paid half the price and gone to another lower star resort we probably would have gotten better service. All in all, between Air Transat, the Grand Palladium, and the Hotel Extras excursion no part of the honeymoon was a positive memory. We spent so much money to go here for a pleasant experience and we couldn't wait to come back home so I could get bread, rice, and people who at least didn't scoff or give me attitude each time we ordered. All that to say that there are a few employees that were extremely nice, reasonable and helped make our most memorable trip at least tolerable. We cannot under good conscience ever recommend this hotel to anyone, and in fact did not sign the gag clause for just that reason. Thank you for ruining the trip we've looked forward to our entire lives!!!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: A Great Huge Resort!!

This resort is no shortage of food, drinks, pools, restaurants, shops....you may need more than seven days to see it all. The grounds were very well maintained, the staff were helpful and polite, always smiling and greeting you. We had one small problem with our room and that was the shower that sprayed water all over. I had contacted the manager to show him the problem and within that day it was replaced and worked wonderful. If you don't like big resorts, this resort is not for you. T [... read more]his resort is a 'Complex' of smaller resorts within it that makes it feel like a complex. This resort has a shuttle carts that run up and down the main artery with people to go to the beach and different locations within the resort. We like to walk and there was no shortage of places that we discovered along our walks. However, even thou this was a huge resort we always felt safe no matter where we were. They had staff on the beach making sure that the vendors were not hounding the sun bathers, making sure that the resorts patrons were at their designated areas (Ambar Blue & Ambar Green adults only) no families with kids were allowed in this area. All in all its' a lovely resort and if we go again we will certainly stay for more than seven days. :O)

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Food poisoning....

This resort has a huge problem with people being sick! Its not a question of if, it's when, someone in your group eats something unsafe. We stayed Feb 13 to 20, 2018. My son got food poisoning on day 3 and was really scared to eat after that. I got sick on day 5 and am still unwell 7 days later. Awaiting test results to see what the hell I contracted. I would seriously consider changing my plans if you booked here! Ended up in the clinic with high fever and an iv to rehydrate. It is truly unsaf [... read more]e. No air conditioning for 3 days, water running out of the overhead bathroom light flooding our room, etc., but these things are pale in comparison to your health. Change your plans!!!

Riu Merengue: Disappointed this year.

The physical features of the resort were all quite satisfactory. Problems were due to some sort of reorganization ie facilities on our end of the resort were either closed or curtailed for all or part of the week. Our main restaurant was closed all week. Our second but much smaller restaurant was open only for lunch from Monday through Thursday but then on Friday it started to serve all three meals. Besides the beach bar which which always closed early, our only other bar opened at 10 a.m.but  [... read more]closed at 5:30 pm until Friday, when hours were extended to midnight. Due to the closures and short hours we were forced to use the facilities in other parts of the resort which meant fairly long walks and crowded restaurants and bars when we got there. Because of overcrowding at these other facilities we encountered long waits, a lack of seating, no dishes or cutlery,etc. We even had to walk to the other area for beach towels/hair dryer. Not a good experience! Last year we attended the same resort and everything was very good overall.

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Nice resort for first all inclusive vacation

The vacation was great. Only issues which cannot be changed are weather and location Food was great and so was the service. Entertainment could be better however we had a wonderful vacation. I will be returning in the future.