Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Amazing staff!!

Overall resort was very good. Food was very good and grounds/ pool were kept very clean. Entertainment staff were absolutely amazing. they always kept us entertained and laughing! We would highly recommend this resort.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Not a 4* hotel

I stayed at Cofresi Palm Beach between Jan 5- Jan 12. Definitely the standard room is very disappointing(furniture is very used ,the balcony door didn't work, room looks very old). No free Wi-fi. The food is ok but not great. Better if you go for eating at Tropical. There is no way to get a cappuccino or latte. The only coffee that I got is at breakfast ( gross taste). I got harassed by people who wanted to sell me VIP package. The weather was excellent. Never come back at Cofresi .

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Still a Nice Resort but if you pay for Luxury then it needs to always be top end!!

We have stayed at Bahia Principe Hotels on about 15 occasions ( at least 10 at what is now called Luxury Bahia Prinicpe Ambar), we have always spoken highly about this resort and the people who work here, and nothing has changed, still beautiful and the staff are amazing. We decided to come at a different time of year and this time (as always) we sent an email ahead of time to get a room in one of the buidlings that we like to stay in and book our dinners, none of this was done our room is right [... read more] next to what sounds like a night club ( as I am listening to right now) and nothing was booked as requested. I don't mind paying extra for an amazing place to stay but the new place next door ( Royalton Bavaro) looks really amazing , so maybe it is time to give it a try, we are going over for a tour tomorrow. Sorry Bahia , but upping the game is how to keep a top notch place word by word of mouth.

Riu Republica: Ok

The resort was new,large with many pools and restaurants. It was very clean and the food was good. Seems like we were there during Spring Break as majority of the people were 18-25. Several people Had to be removed from the pools in wheelchairs as they could not walk. We tried Asian and Italian restaurants, both were great. We walked out of Indian and Steak. Buffet was good.

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Excellent vacation

This was our second visit to this resort, the first visit was at the Blue and the second at the Green. The hotel was great and the food was better than good. The hotel room was clean and the grounds always tidy. The employees at this this resort were always happy and helpful. My wife and I cannot find one thing to complain about during our one week stay. We will visit this resort again and believe that the Dominican people that work so hard to keep their customers extremely happy are just one of [... read more] a kind. Truly really nice people. The weather is always hot and the ocean is fantastic. One employee named Alexander always has a smile on his face and always yells, " I Love My Job", is an honest and down to earth guy that really does love his job and the vacationers. Can't say enough about how nice a week we had.

Barcelo Bavaro Beach: Absolutely AMAZING place !!!

Everything about this resort was fantastic !! The level of service was the best we have ever had . There was always somebody asking if you needed a drink , how you were doing , and if everything was ok . The cleanliness of the resort was astonishing . Staff were always seen cleaning and tidying around the pools/bars/lounges etc . Even the pool side bathrooms were always immaculate (which is rare at resorts).The food choices at the buffets were more than ample . The food was always hot and fresh  [... read more]. The nice thing about the buffets was that the the food service was in an air conditioned sectioned off room and not in the open air seating area . The a la carte restaurants were easy to access and the food options were amazing . The adult side was very quiet and relaxing with many activities to participate in . The Palace side was just as appealing with a massive theatre and disco (bigger and more modern than we have ever seen in the islands . It was much more lively at this side , if thats what you are looking for . The fact that you could walk over to this side of the resort in 10 minutes (under a covered path the whole way ) was a great alternative . There is also a shuttle train that runs between resorts. Overall , this resort had everything we needed or wanted to have a memorable holiday . It is obviously well managed as all staff we met were more than helpful and courteous , and all parts of the facility were exceptionally clean .

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: 2 weeks in Paradise

I recently returned home from the VH Gran Ventana resort. I was one of a group of 22, ranging in age from 13 to 90, who went to celebrate our mothers 90th birthday. We were made feel right at home from check in to departure. The resort is small, compared to other resorts I've visited, but huge in atmosphere, friendliness, and as close to perfection that I can imagine. On our first day there was one little glitch.....the bathroom door wouldn't close, so we were moved next day to a more suitable r [... read more]oom. The resort is very clean, beach is excellent and the food is remarkable. The staff couldn't do enough for us. Special thanks go to Johaira and Coco Loco at the buffet and Solomon at the beach grill. Even the vendors on beach were very friendly and not pushy at all. Most of the family are planning on returning in future. My mother announced on our last night there that she'd like to have everyone go back for her 92nd birthday!! I have a feeling that a few of us will be returning sooner:)

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Awesome time!

This hotel was amazing. The staff were very nice, everywhere was very well kept and food was awesome. The pool bar was where we spent most of our time to relax as well as the beach. They have servers come up to you on the beach to take drink orders which is very convenient. I would recommend this hotel to families and couples of all ages!

Excellence El Carmen: Fantastic resort !!!

One of the best all-inclusive hotels we ever stayed in. 5 stars ratting is truly well deserved and earned. Modern, immaculate, beautifully designed grounds and rooms. Wonderful dinning options. Top notch nightly entertainment. Friendly and attentive staff. We would definitely go back for another vacation.

Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana: Amazing resort!

Resort was perfect - beautiful landscaping, pools and beach were great. Rooms and all public areas were impeccably clean. Food was excellent and all service was good. The entertainment staff were really enthusiastic and great fun. Would not hesitate to return there and recommend to friends.

Viva V Samana by Wyndham: Loved this place!

We just returned from this zen paradise and are already planning a return visit. We have travelled extensively and been to many Caribbean islands and resorts and Viva Wyndham Samaná is in our top 3 experiences of all time. Being only 20mins from the Samaná Airport makes it even better, no long transfer after the long flight(s). Despite it being so wonderful I am unfortunately prone to bug bites - sand fleas/flies - whatever. I brought deet from home (Canada) - don’t bother - buy the  [... read more]stuff from the lobby shop (Deporte). It works. The beach, food and staff are all wonderful. Wifi is good throughout the resort but can drop at the beach. Rooms are basic, but comfortable. We booked a Vibe room which had a nice patio at ground level with 2 chairs and a lounge bed. Also had a small plunge pool that we never used. There is good water pressure in shower and the AC worked great. You get a 25% off voucher for the spa with booking the vibe rooms. I had a massage at the spa and the pressure was VERY firm, almost painful. I know I have a lot of knots in my back but I stated at least twice that I wanted a relaxing treatment. Unfortunately, it was not. The ocean is beautiful but can be quite rough some days. This makes for fun boogie boarding or fun watching waves - whatever your preference. Although we are from the East Coast of Canada and are used to a vigorous surf it was still pretty rough for us to swim a couple of days. We saw green, yellow, and red flags up during our 7 day visit. We walked on the beach in both directions for 20-30 mins. There are calmer waters for swimming to the right of the resort facing the ocean, and good snorkeling about 20 mins to the right, around the bend. We spent one afternoon at the pool and although we are not “pool people” it was pretty nice. A very chill vibe with cocktail service as well. Memorable staff include Santo at the beach restaurant, Yinginfyns (sp?), Victor, Yvonne, and Sammy at the beach bar, Jordan, Choolate and Carlos from the entertainment crew, Carlos at the breakfast omelette station, all breakfast servers, Juan and Marisela at Fusion, and housekeeping was excellent. I can’t remember all the names of the staff but everyone was so helpful and friendly. Please, please, TIP for the amazing service the crew at this resort provides. They deserve it!! Bring small bills from home as it isn’t easy to get change once you’re there. There are 3 a la carte restaurants. The ones that are open each eve are posted on a sign at the Guest Services desk in the lobby. Some yummy dishes we had at the restaurants include the minestrone soup, seafood risotto, chicken entree with apples, and tiramisu at the Mediterranean. The spring roll and chow mein appetizers, plus the salmon and chicken entrees at Fusion. Carlos makes amazing omelettes at breakfast and the fresh fruit is delicious - papaya especially. The pizza and the fried chicken for lunch at the beach restaurant were awesome and they will make a pizza with your preferred toppings if you ask. We did not visit the seafood a la carte restaurant. For drinks - Caipirinhas are to die for and the pina coladas, melon balls and Cuba libres are also tasty. The white wine is horrible (IMO) but I must admit I am a bit of a wine snob. I do prefer white over red at home. At this resort, however, I drank the house red with dinner since it was much better than the white. I’m not sure if they change up the house wines or not but while we were there the brand was “Joyeux” something. Friday night entertainment in the lobby is fun. Starts off with a local jazz entertainer then proceeds into a bit of a dance fiesta with the recreation crew. It’s white night on Fridays so bring something white to wear. We didn’t realize this til we were there. Overall we would have no hesitation recommending this resort for a peaceful, adults only getaway. Please remember to tip the hard working staff.

Excellence El Carmen: An "EXCELLENT" Vacation

Having travelled to well over 30 hotels throughout the Caribbean, the Excellence El Carmen is by far on the top of my list. First of all, Candice Anger from Tripcentral was phenomenal. She answered any questions we had about the resort prior to booking the trip and even up to the date of departure. Leaving from Hamilton Ontario as so easy. The flight was uneventful and we quickly made our way through customs to a waiting mini van which took us the 30 minute drive to the hotel. The hotel wa [... read more]s amazing. The junior suite swim up (Block 4) had everything one could ask for. The location was perfect as it was mid way between the "activity" and the beach. One (of two) small disappointment was that our room was not ready until 3:00pm. We arrived at 1:00 pm but were able to grab a drink, some lunch and wonder the grounds to familiarize ourselves with the resort. Fortunately, we had shorts in our carry on luggage. Room: The room was amazing from the floor sensor light switches, oversized bathroom, fully stocked bar, walk-in closet, comfortable king size bed to the huge "L" shaped lounge couch. Rose petals were throughout the room upon our arrival The private jacuzzi was fantastic to enjoy a midnight drink. The private deck had two double loungers, two sun loungers and a table with two chairs. One could not ask for more. The pool was a perfect temperature and very relaxing. The second and last disappointment was that we needed to wait until mid afternoon on two occasions to have our room cleaned. We had to go and ask that the room be cleaned. This was not a huge problem but more of an inconvenience. When the room was cleaned it was fully restocked with everything. Food: All I can say was AMAZING!!! The New Tears Eve party was unbelievable. The pre dinner "80's" party and appetizers was so much fun. Scallops, soup, lobster steak and desert followed by an after dinner party and fire works at midnight. The Kitchen Table Restaurant buffet has everything one could ask for for breakfast and lunch. Dinner was al-a cart only (all 7 days, any restaurant with no reservations required). The food as never a disappointment and one would think you were at a major city fine dinning restaurant. Every meal was made to perfection. Room service was very quick and to the same high standards of the food which was prepared in the restaurants. SERVICE: Restaurant and bar service FANTASTIC. A huge thank you to Sergio and Elisia our "personal" bartenders for the week. We never had to wait for a drink and in fact drinks were brought to us before we could ask. "Special" request drinks were always provided. Bars throughout the resort were never busy and the staff were always friendly and attentive. Restaurant staff was very attentive. There was never a dirty dish on the table and coffee was refilled before the cup was empty. STAFF: always smiling and would go out of their way to ensure we were happy with our staff. Management was always present asking if we had any concerns. RESORT: This is a new and modern resort. Very clean and the grounds were very well maintained. If one wants the "Caribbean feel" you might be disappointed. The walls are stark and there are limited "tropical gardens" Floors are marble and the resort is "modern". Mobility throughout the resort is not an issues. Elevators are strategically located in all buildings and a shuttle cart is also available. The beach was beautiful and raked every day. The ocean was warm and all sand (no rocks in the water). There was never a time one could not find loungers on the beach or around the main pool area. OVERALL: Definitely a 5 star. The room, service and food would exceed the 5 star rating. We are already planning a return trip to this resort.

Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Amazing Resort

We stayed at the Bahia Principe Fantasia Jan. 3 -10, 2018. We travelled with my two children age 5 and 8. My children were catered to at all times. The grounds were clean. Everyone was friendly and helpful. The rooms were spacious and clean. The beach was close to resort. Everything was within walking distance. There was lots of activities for the kids to do. I would completely come back to this resort and recommend it. Trip central was great to deal with in regards to booking trip. They were [... read more] very helpful and I would book with them again.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Good Value

Hotel was clean and food was ok but not a lot of seafood or fruit. The beach restaurant was always a problem for a table and cutlery and better off to shuttle to the main buffet. Beach was fantastic as usual but had to reserve chairs in the morning as well as the main pool by the beach

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Not the Experience I was Hoping for!

As soon as we got to the resort we were assisted by the front desk and the ladies at the front. We were escorted to the hotel room which was by the sewage system and it smelt awful. We walked into our room and it smelt of mold. The bed was broken and the floors were dirty. We went back to the front lobby to switch rooms and spent over 2 hours arguing with the management. The “manager” offered us a room across from where we were (sewage again) it wasn’t until we demanded a real “manager†[... read more] that we were able to speak to someone who offered us a room at their sister resort “La Tropical.” This was about 5 hours after our arrival. Once settled in La Tropical was very nice! We got an upgrade to use the VIP pool/beach area and it was nice. Staff was pleaaant and friendly as well. Food was good but restaurant food was even better (except the Asian) overall I think the next time we plan a visit I will upgrade to the VIP experience.

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Great resort with a few things that need to be fixed.

Hotel in general: the resort in itself is beautiful. It is very large however the nice thing about the Esmeralda is that you are right on the beach regardless of how far back your room is. The grounds are immaculate and very well kept. The lobby is beautiful and open air. There is a bar right in the lobby and on the side there is a coffee machine with sweets and snacks in the afternoon. Rooms: very nice large rooms. Comfortable beds. We had 2 double beds. One for my wife and I and another for o [... read more]ur 18 year old son. Our mothers came with us. We requested ahead of time rooms in the same building on the second floor with separated beds. These requests were not met. You also won’t get your room until 3pm. Wifi did not work in one room, we complained about this multiple times to the front desk and our concierge however this was never fixed. The rooms are quite large and we never felt crowded with 3 people in the room. Beach: beach is nice, however if you’re expecting clear, calm water, you won’t get that. The beach in punta cana is rough and goes deep very quickly. The water is not clear, so forget about snorkeling. We had to get up early (8am) to get beach chairs in around the third row so that we could see the beach from our loungers. However if you wake up later, you can always find loungers further back. Lots of palapas and chairs towards the left of the beach area, close to the Fantasia area. Pool: 3 pools, 2 large pools and an adult only pool. There aren’t enough loungers in the pool area. They get reserved very early. My opinion is that there is a lot of room to add more loungers. Food: this is where I have mixed reviews. I haven’t been in punta cana in 10 years. Last trips there were in the Luxury Ambar and Riu Palace. In the past 10 years I have been going mainly to Maya Riviera and other islands. Although it seems that in all the buffets and restaurants, there is ample variety and every food you would want: seafood, meats, vegetables, etc.. The food for the most part in the buffet was cold to luck warm. The food was either salty or bland. I found the food to be much tastier in the resorts in Mexico. They need to drastically improve in this area. Also for specialty coffees, there are all machine made, no real expresso machine. The desserts were amazing, kudos to the pastry chef. But they need to improve the temperature in the buffet and hire better chefs. Having said that you won’t go hungry. Tons of restaurants and choices in the buffets. We did 3 a la carte, Italian in the Ambar (very good), Brazilian in the Esmeralda (very good), meditarrean: Bahia Punta Cana (average). On the positive side, we were a group of 5 and nobody got sick. On the topic of getting sick, I have been fighting a cold since I landed in punta cana and despite the warm weather, I got really congested towards the 6th day. I went to the pharmacy (in the ambar) and even walked to the pharmacy in the Riu complex. Very hard to find cold medicine and when I finally found it, it was US$10 for 6 pills (cold remedy). Lesson to learn, take all your medicine with you. Entertainment: aside from the standard shows in the main theatres which I never attended, I’ve seen them too many times in others resorts, there is local entertainment in every hotel lobby. There is a theme every night, Latin band, Karaoke, Tropical nights (dancers) etc… These are all held in the lobby and they rotate to the different lobbies. There is also entertainment in the main Plaza (south of the Punta cana) where they have a band at night (10:30), a night club, a bar and casino. We went to the club a couple of times, it was fun and it is oriented for the younger crowd but you would find people of all ages. One negative aspect is that it was difficult for my 18 year old son to connect with other teens except at night at the disco. They should have a pool table and a ping pong table in the main lobby or somewhere around the pool. This is great for the teens to congregate and meet. They have this in every other resort I’ve been to except here. There are also lots of daily activities led by the staff, Zumba classes, yoga, games etc…What we would do most nights is stay at our lobby until 9pm then take the trolley to the punta cana lobby, it is more lively there, then around 10:30 walk over to the main plaza. By the way, walking from the main plaza which is all the way at the end of the complex to the Esmeralda took about 15 minutes (we are fast walkers). In general, we found things to do but my teenage son found the resort too big to connect to other teens and told me he would have preferred a smaller resort. Having said that he went out every night to the club and made friends staying out until 3 am on a nightly basis. So nights were fun for him but was bored during the day. Overall impression, it was a nice resort but for they need to work on a few things. Most staff members were pretty friendly but we came across some staff with attitude and both my wife and I speak Spanish fluently. We find that in general hotel staff are much friendlier in Mexico. Wifi was spotty and never worked in our room. A pool and ping pong table in the resort is a must. Improve on the food quality. We also did one activity that we purchased in the resort. We went on a dune buddy activity that was a lot of fun.

Grand Palladium Select Bavaro: Great location and facilities, but unfortunate mishaps caused issues

Beautiful location and facilities, and most service was excellent. Bad experience on check-in with upselling of rooms that were not as promised. Then a dangerous (electrified) hot tub in the room that was never fixed (and kept us waiting on maintenance for hours. Buffet meals were passable, but the a la carte dinner restaurants were mostly just plain disappointing. Overall, 95% of our time there was really good, but the 5% that was bad was key and really frustrating so damaged our enjoymen [... read more]t of the whole trip.

Melia Caribe Beach Resort: A bit disappointing

Breakfast and lunch were a bit boring-bacon only served twice. None of the food was hot except the freshly cooked egg dishes. Getting coffee was at times very slow-waited 10 minutes once. The American Grill was a nightmare at breakfast time the only day we tried it, no juice available. There was not much communication about the updates due to the fire, we found out accidently the Italian restaurant was relocated. Some of the staff hardly spoke any English. The Air Transit rep did not give us [... read more] the time of day when we went to meet him at the appointed time. I guess he felt we weren't interested in any of the optional tours. The a la carte restaurants were pretty good.

Grand Sirenis Tropical Suites: Great resort!

The grounds were beautiful, hotel suite was newly renovated and very nice. A crib was already in the room when we got there. A few ants in the bathroom but no issues other than that. English tv stations available. Lots to do for all three kids who are 10,3 and 8 months. The buffet was excellent once we figured out the least busy times to go. A new buffet opened for us on the Sirenis side while we were there and we never waited to get in and food was great. We only got to try the Tex Mex restaura [... read more]nt -as we couldn't get a reservation at the others - and it was excellent. Waterpark was great! We would go back for sure!

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Good Resort lots of variety

All in all a very nice resort with very friendly and helpful staff. The buffets and a la carte restaurants are very good with lots of selection. The rooms, pools and beaches are all clean and well maintained. The only negative is the constant solicitation from vendors and sales people for souvenirs, photos, excursions, cigars, presentations, etc. Some won't take NO for an answer. However vacation was enjoyable and would consider going back here again