Playabachata Hotel: Not What It Used To Be

This resort did not seem to come out of covid too well. It has gone downhill since we were there a year before covid hit. On the outside everything looked good, clean rooms and grounds, busy bars. Now we get to the poor parts. The food service was the worst part of our stay. Under staffed and struggling to set tables and replace dishes, the buffet was a disapointment. It was 7 days of the same menu with little to no variety. Some days the main course at lunch became the main course at dinner. O [... read more]nly once did bacon show up at breakfast. At times some items were gone and were either not replaced or took forever to be replaced. There was no such thing as a teaspoon. The a la carte restaurants, only two, didn't amount to much. The servers couldn't tell you anything about the menu. I guess they wanted to curtail smoking. Hardly an ashtray in the whole resort. Entertainment was as per usual. Daytime staff playing games and bass heavy music. Nightime staff were trained dancers putting on theme shows. They catered to the younger crowd while ignoring their senior guests. Kind of missed a local merengue band brought in for a show. Another noticeable part of this resort was half of it was in darkness. The older part formerly known as the Mambo was completely shut down except for the pool. From the lobby, to the buffet ,to the disco, all in mothballs. The water sports sign out area was closed until the day before we left. The best part of this trip was the weather. 7 days of very warm days and cool nights with zero rain. hardly used the a/c. Finally anyone travelling to a Puerto Plata resort should be aware of a 1 hour detour around a closed bridge which will be added to your travel time to and from the airport.

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Excellent Resort

The whole experience was great from the beds to the pillows to the duvet. Very new and comfy. All the food was great too. The buffet was delicious with wonderful staff helping. We also went to the A La Carts and they were very good as well. The staff thru out the resort were very hardworking kind and helpful. We also found the Animation staff was very energetic but not pushy. It was a real joy to be here for the week. Thanks for a GREAT week!

Casa Marina Reef Resort: Wonderful staff

This is a wonderful resort, in saying this you must remember this is a 3 star resort . So to the people who stay in select side stop bitching. If you want a 5 star then pay for it. In saying this we love it it , the staff is wonderful and always happy and pleasant. We feel safe travelling outside in the town. So much to do and see. We will be back.

Viva Heavens by Wyndham: 7 days at Viva Wyndham V Heavens hotel

7 days at Viva Wyndham V Heavens went by very fast. This was a very refreshing, relaxing and very calm vacation. I felt mentally recharged and rested at the end of it The weather cooperated and we felt our timing was right. The hotel is clean and the outside of the hotel is very well maintained. There were no Covid restrictions on us but some staff were wearing masks. And the staff were visible, friendly, very responsive and helpful. Maria at the front desk was exceptionally patient  [... read more]and efficient in assisting us with addressing any issues we had. Thank you, Maria. Most of our minor requests were resolved immediately. The staff are well-trained and work in coordination with each other! The room was kept clean and the facilities outside were clean as well. The five restaurants served freshly prepared meals and the taste was almost always to our liking. And the nature: the beach, the sand, the sun - amazing!! All in all, the time in the resort was spent very well. Very good value for the money!!

Viva Heavens by Wyndham: A True Dominican Gem!

This is a relatively small hotel. It is for now an all adult resort. It is to change shortly into a family hotel, unfortunately. It is in the Playa Dorada area which is a wonderful gated community comprised of several other resorts and private residences. It is very safe, well maintained and ultra clean. As an all adult resort it is peaceful and tranquil except for the loud dance music at night which is to be expected and part of the fun. The staff, without exception, is outstanding. From Kelvis [... read more] at the front reception, to Omer at the poolside bar to Rosanna at the Italian Restaurant on the beach they were all gracious, eager to assist and performed their duties with sincere smiles. The food was a pleasant surprise. I visited all five restaurants and found the food to be of high quality. It was abundant, diverse, fresh, well prepared and well presented. The only downside was that the food often was served lukewarm even after asking for it to be served hot. It appears that the kitchens do not have heating salamanders to keep food hot. Management please note! The facitilies and services were most satisfactory. The grounds were very clean and there was an abundance of chairs and recliners both poolside and at the beach. The beach was sandy, cleansed of sea grasses every day and perfect for long walks. The entertainment staff were brilliant with their presentations of games, dancing, singing and evening shows. A truly delightful resort.

Playabachata Hotel: Beautiful location and great staff!

Lots of fun and the geographic location is absolutely beautiful. The resort was far more fun than it's 'parent' resort Senator just up the beach. If you want a more upbeat, fun and vacationy feel go to Playabachata, if you want shiny and boring, go to Senator. Rooms a bit out dated, but clean and staff is very pleasant. Rocks and stuff in water, so be mindful of that if you only want a pristine beach, but it was very clean and no seaweed like Mexico or Punta Cana. Food is ok, nothing to write  [... read more]home about, but overall we had a truly wonderful time and will be going back!

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Outstanding as always!!!

The resort was amazing as always. The staff were amazing and friendly. The food and drinks are better then most resorts we have visited. The rooms have everything you need for a comfortable stay. We have been to this resort 4 times and will be booking again soon. :D Love Iberostar Costa Dorada

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: The resort was okay.

It was okay. Some things I was used to were coffee in the room, an iron and ironing board in the room. No such thing in the Gran Ventana The food was okay. Overall it was okay, It was clean, but there was always sand on the floor. Even though I saw the maid mopping it. They were generous, bringing us facecloths every day as we asked.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Maybe a 3 star?!

Not sure how much room there is for comments here. Last refreshed in 2006, 27 years ago. Had to bring in another safe, mini bar with 2 small beers, one Pepsi, one sprite and 2 waters - for the first day only. Thereafter, just water. Two in the party noticed a marked difference when recalling their last trip here 4 to 5 years ago. Paid extra for 3rd internet for the week. Often out sporadically.. water drip from ceiling, mtce called. Placed a towel on the floor...Really?!! Water pooling in [... read more] front of the toilet..figured out it was water leaking from shower glass not sealed to shower wall. Rarely left 2 face cloths, maybe 1 or 2 hand towels, along with bath towels..room not even made up one day. Phone in one room had no power in one room and NO instructions as to how to reach reception. Tried dialing 0 twice..nothing happened....pretty frustrating. Keys, despite being away from cell phones stopped working multiple times almost every day. Understand we are in a foreign country, but you cannot communicate with many as they know not much more than Spanish. Walls are paper thin.. Some food was passable, but all of it, except pasta bar and grill station, are maybe lukewarm...bacon is a scarcity and you have to ask someone to save some for you as it's gone first thing. Not all guests treated the same..often had to wait just to get water and coffee. A la Cartes were a disappointment. Since when is lobster bisque, just regular broth, with no lobster and maybe 1 shrimp? Nothing in the restaurants that looked anything like the promotional video in the lobby. Was I actually at the same place??!! Steak I got looked not much different than the so-called chateaubriand my sisters got! Biggest turn off is having the locals come in for the weekend and fill up the resort...not sure why anything like this is done. Have never heard of it?! The people here are friendly but they are at a real disadvantage trying to run the place..Most do try...Wonder if pool loungers ever get scrubbed...activities guy talks in Spanish...when all guests are English!! Really??!! I think they are trying, but I can tell you, I did not hear a positive review from anyone we spoke to. They all had complaints. Had to wonder when the last time anyone from Trip Central was there!! Planned renos are a paint job and paint furniture.. wow..needs way more than that...certainly disappointed with westjet website and lack of humans to speak to. No refund on baggage fees paid to and from due to a cancellation. Not happy!! Selected seats first thing Saturday morning (14th) at 9:20. Printed off confirmed seat selection. They were changed the next day...why is that done??!! Issue trying to select seats again on way home...21 DEF, tried many times..system issue...West jet techies can figure out why it did not work! My first vacation in 25 years. .Basically, the service normally provided by the airline has been dropped right into the lap of the customer....and I bet prices haven't dropped? I did not expect 5 star at all, realize this is a poor country, but the CEO of Blue Bay needs a wakeup call for this place. Bet he's never been!

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Senator

First time at Senator! We read so many different reviews so we went open minded & having stayed there for 2 weeks, we have no complaints. Our room was in building 8 close to everything. It was a King junior suite. Although it’s considered to be an older room, we thought it was great. Yes, there are upgrades if you want to newer rooms, some with swim-up pools but we were happy with where we were. Cleanest resort we’ve ever been to thanks to the hardworking cleaning staff, grounds keepe [... read more]r, housekeepers, wait/dining/restaurant/kitchen staff (special thanks to Ana Maria, Julian, Gonzalez as well as to all the attendants who kept it so clean) - this place is immaculate!! Food offered at buffet was always great, & offered a variety of fish, seafood, pork, beef, pastas, vegetables, anti pasta, breads, desserts, etc. Reservations were required at the 3 a-la-carts including Japanese, Italian & steakhouse, however you could take a chance and just show up for the sushi (without reservations at the Japanese restaurant). The sushi was our favourite. Bbq on the beach was great. No entertainment after the nightly shows. A lot of guests would find a table out by the lobby or sports bar where they would play cards or board games they would bring from home. Mokka coffee bar (special thank you to Francis, our server & “It’s not unusual”… our singer) was our go to place after dinner as well as the ice cream shop. Beach is rocky getting in some spots but, in my opinion, you really don’t need water shoes unless your not careful where you walk or swim. There’s many areas that are beautiful & sandy to wade into. The current in the water, even close to shore, was very strong a few days & you really need to be careful. We could feed the fish close to shore. Unless you are a premier guest, alcohol is not top shelf but there was never any shortage of brugal rum or presidente cerveza. We found the tours offered by the hotel to be way overpriced so we booked our own tour outside hotel & we’re very pleased. Our group had a great time & would definitely recommend it.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Fabulous resort!

I found the room and grounds to be clean and well maintained. I enjoyed all the meals I had and the wonderful service. I enjoyed the shows and activities. I had a wonderful stay and would recommend to others and may even book another stay next year at the VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Do Not Bother Paying to Upgrade

I will start with the negatives and then end on a positive note: As the title implies, there is little to no value to upgrading. Our of our party of 5 people, my husband and I were the only ones who paid to upgrade our package at the resort. We still had to wait over two hours for our room to be ready for check in, our room was the exact same size as the others in our party, and we were actually stuck with the worst room - right beside the Ocean Grill Restaurant/beach entrance, where there was  [... read more]loud music every night until at least 10 p.m., then the sound of everyone leaving for an hour. We were also woken up around 5 a.m. every morning to the sound of employees getting the beach and restaurant prepared for the day. The only "perks" we got were 5 bottles of liquor, unlimited towels at from the towel check station and access to the "private beach" (more on that shortly). Our concierge was non existent and booking reservations for any of the resort restaurants was just as much trouble for us than for our friends with the regular package. The rooms are tiny; you get a bed, a desk, a night table and a t.v. stand with a mini fridge. There are no dressers, so you are forced to live out of your suitcases the entire trip. The bathroom is also tiny, with terrible water pressure, and drains that backed up every time we took a shower or brushed our teeth. The beach is OVER RUN with vendors. Every five minutes a vendor is accosting you, and they don't take a simple no for an answer. It was so bad that no one in our group wanted to spend time on the beach, due to the constant stress of dealing with vendors approaching. Even the private beach isn't safe - the vendors are given free reign and they do not stop. If you are planning for a relaxing day at the beach, this is not the resort for you. There are not enough beach chairs or beach umbrellas at either pool (the main or the quiet pool). If you want to reserve a group of chairs together, you need to get up before sunrise and set out your towels, otherwise you won't get to sit with your entire group. And there is only one umbrella for about every 10 chairs, which everyone ends up fighting over in the heat of the sun. Smokers reign supreme here. There is nowhere to get away from smokers except for inside the restaurants. You need to walk through clouds of smoke everywhere you go, whether its the pool, the beach, the lobby, even the kids pool. Smoking is also permitted right outside of the buffet, which is open air, so anyone sitting closest to the outside gets to enjoy their meal with second hand smoke. Now, on to the positives. Most of the staff are extremely friendly (excluding the front reception, which I found odd) and very helpful. The buffet is decent and they change up the food enough that you don't get bored. There are three restaurants on the resort, all of which are decent as well and provide a nice change to the buffet. The entertainment was pretty good; we got to experience a "silent disco" and there was also karaoke, a magic show, dance lessons and more. There is a "mini disco" for kids every night at 8 p.m. that got monotonous, but it was cute to see all the kids dancing and the woman who ran it was fantastic with them. The best place to relax in the entire resort is the "Quiet Pool", which none of the reception staff (or concierge) mentioned to us but we luckily stumbled upon two days into our vacation. The bar at the Quiet Pool is the best one on site with the best drinks and friendliest bartenders. It is the one place you can truly relax in quiet at the resort, and there is a cute pond with turtles and fish to sit beside. If you are looking to unwind in peace, the Quiet Pool is the place for you! All in all, for a cheaper resort it was pretty decent. My biggest complaints are the lack of value in our upgrade and the fact that the beach is virtually unusable due to the amount of vendors.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: We had a great time

We really enjoyed our family vacation at Cofresi Palm Beach Resort. We have 3 complaints regarding this hotel. The smell in some areas was not great. And the mattress needs to be updated it was extremely hard. The third is if you have a neighbor with an adjoining room its almost like they are in the same room. The rest of the resort was amazing. Covid measures were still used as in staff had masks and hand sanitizer was offered at restaurants.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Good resort

I like the food and beach. The show at night time is excellent. The staff are friemdly.However, too many golf cart on the road and causes bad smell. Also, the drain caused bad smell near some part of beach.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Nice simple resort

Info: Room cleaning finished around 3 Can get a mojito at the beach bar, other bars said they didn't make them. Excursion to city hits main tourist points Don't expect "The Keg" quality from Steakhouse Bring a power bar for additional outlets There's a small clothesline in the bathroom to hang your bathing suit to dry Bathroom includes hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, body wash Pros: Beach towels are large Beach beds are cleaned of sand Staff usually greet you Beach vendors are n [... read more]ot pushy Variety of food at buffet Chinese restaurant was nice Standard room had two double beds, mini fridge, safe Cons: Some room towels are frayed. Nothing but a top sheet the first night, cover was added but had a hole in it. Housekeeping was spotty, sometimes they didn't bother picking up the decorative sheet from the floor or emptying the garbage. Music by the pool bar is quite loud Inconsiderate guests who talk/sing loudly late at night and slam doors.

Playabachata Hotel: Beautiful on the outside

We had a great time but was disappointed because we were lead to believe it was better then it was when looking at reviews(it is 3☆ not a 4+). Our fridge was broken, bathroom window was broken, found 2 live cockroaches in our room. Food was edible but not the greatest, and very repetitive. In order to get in the a la carts you hade to get to the lobby 50 mins before registering opened at 9. They had 1 buffet and 1 alacart restaurants that rotated between Italian and stake but was out of stake  [... read more]the day we got into the restaurant. Staff were great and beach was amazing. The resort is running at half probably due to covid but was constantly cleaned. Overall if advertised as 3 star I would be saying its amazing.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Nice Clean resort

We stayed at the lberostar Costa Dorada the middle of January most of our family came total of 13 people we booked as a group so we were hoping our rooms would be close we were all spread out between building 6, 7, 8 & 9. But we made the best of it. The hotel grounds were kept Immaculate the beach was kept clean of seaweed compared to the resort next door. Buildings were slightly dated but fully functional. Our room had 2 doubles and a single bed with a balcony.Maids did a fantastic  [... read more]job The fridge was restocked daily, and they had a water filtration system that you refilled your resuable glass bottles(they provided) Workers were friendly, although most struggled to speak english, even waiters and bartenders The food was good, the buffets offered a variety of choices. ltalian and Japanese were good service was fast. Mexican was ok, and service was not great. Payaya made on beach was fantastic Bartenders didn't know many drinks, and they were always different. They nad fountain drinks, but they were very watered-down kids didn't like them. Fruit punch was a light pink orange juice was clear (fountain drinks). The pool was clean, and they had life guards at both the beach and pool. There are lots of lounges and umbrellas at both the beach and pool. During our week stay 4 of those days they had busses of Cruise ship people come to the resort for the day So busier than normal but still fine The ice cream machine at the pool buffet was good. The only issue was people misusing it or leaving it running and making messes with it. I would make a suggestion for more garbage cans throughout the resort Entertainment was mediocre. They had things at the pool during the day, bingo, ring toss, archery, darts volleyball, etc. These were good. Nighttime shows were lacking The last night we were there, they had a silent disco as a pre show. They should have just continued that nstead of stopping it and putting on their show. Most people were having a blast and left after they stopped the disco. All in all, a nice resort, our family enjoyed our vacation, and I would recommend it to others.

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Great Resort

This is a very affordable resort with friendly staff, great food, excellent pools and grounds. Access to the beach is only steps away and there are plenty of chairs on hand. The nightly entertainment was a lot of fun over at a decent hour.

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Great Vacation

Just returned from Sunscape in Puerto Plata. We had an amazing vacation, to adults and a 9 and 14-year-old. Swimming on the beach was perfect as most of the big waves don't make it to the beach. Also good snorkeling not very far away on the beach. The food was amazing at this Resort and the staff is top-notch, very friendly and they aim to please! We would definitely recommend this place to anyone and would not hesitate returning!

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Would not recommend

My husband and I booked our most recent vacation to the Cofresi Palm Beach Resort last June as we wanted a winter getaway in January. I wanted to write this email to explain our experience and how it was not a positive one. Our dates of travel were January 10-17 2023 and we were flying out of Hamilton International Airport on the 10th at 5:35pm. Our flight was almost 2 hours late taking off. It arrived late so we were not able to board when we were suppose to and then when we finally got on b [... read more]oard we sat on the tarmac waiting for the crew to empty the waste and refill water on board. By time we took off it was after 7pm. We landed in Puerto Plata at midnight. Getting through the airport was fine and finding out transfer to the hotel was okay. We arrived to the hotel and got our keys and when we got to our room after 2am our key cards didn’t work. We are tired and hot at this point. So we trekked our long way back, up many flights of stairs to the front desk where they configured our key and we took the shuttle back to our room complex. Our room was pretty basic. The bed was like sleeping on a hard concrete slab - it was not comfortable at all. The mini fridge only had 1 bottle of water in it and we had no pool towels in the room. The next morning we were to go to our transat meeting which we didn’t since we were tired after finally getting to bed at 3am and a long travel day. We had breakfast at the buffet restaurant and then began our journey trying to find seats to sit at the pool or beach. This resort is very limited on seating anywhere you go. The beach was very small and not many seats around. We did enjoy the rest of the day at the pool and had dinner at the buffet. The next day was raining and as we were heading out of room complex the stairs were slightly wet and I did manage to slip down a stair hitting my head and back of my left arm badly. To say this was a bad start of our day would be an understatement. We went to the transat meeting that morning and learned where we can make our a La carte restaurant reservations. We also learned that our mini bar should have been fully stocked and have pools towels in the room which we did not. After the transat meeting I went to front desk and asked if we could have our mini fridge stocked and pool towels in the room and we were informed that they would let housekeeping know to do that. We went on with our day and made the most of it. When we came back to our room to have dinner our mini fridge was not stocked and still no pool towels. I called front desk from our room and they advised they will have someone do it. So we had dinner again at the buffet as we were planning on heading to the guest services office tomorrow to make reservations for the rest of our stay. After dinner we came back to the room where we still had no pool towels and our mini fridge was still not stocked. I called front desk again and tried to explain that I was getting frustrated that I have had to call this many times for these 2 things and they advised they would send someone up. A few minutes later we got a bag that had 4 cans of beer, water and 2 bottles of pop. A few minutes after that housekeeping had 2 white bath towels in her hand which is not what we had requested. She didn’t understand what I was saying so she walked off rudely saying “sorry no English” The Friday during our holiday we ended up both getting food poisoning and not able to leave our room to go anywhere as we were very sick. Another damper to put on our vacation. On Saturday we were feeling better and we headed to guest services to see if we can make restaurant reservations for the rest of our stay as we didn’t want to continue to eat at the buffet and there was a note on the door that said they were fully booked for reservations until next week and to come back Sunday morning. So after that we headed back to front desk and I asked for pool towels to be delivered to me right then and there as I had asked everyday that week and we still had not received them. The front desk reservation person gave us 2 towel cards and we were finally able to get our towels at the main pool that day. Sunday morning we headed to the guest services area in the lobby to make restaurant reservations and the line was from the door to where the main pool was. At least an hour and a half long. My husband and I didn’t want to wait in that line while we had little of our vacation left and we hadn’t had the best time up until that point so we didn’t want to waste it standing in a long line to be told there was nothing available. On our last full day at the resort we tried to see if we could get some sort of restaurant reservation for that night but by time we got to the lobby the line was as long as it had been the day before so we didn’t stand in it. All week we had buffet food which was a bit concerning since we had gotten sick from it. My husband and I don’t tend to eat things we aren’t familiar with when we stay at an all inclusive so we aren’t sure what exactly made us sick from there. The morning when we checked out the front desk man asked for our towel cards and I said we didn’t have them and that our towels were on the balcony for housekeeping to grab. He said we had to present the cards and I told him we were not advised that at all and said they were in the room for housekeeping. He checked us out no problem and we made our way to the airport. Our plane left 20 minutes prior to schedule which was great as we were tired and wanted to get home after this awful week. We had become friends with a few other people who came down the same time as us on the same package and a couple had gotten sick at the a La carte restaurants and other people had complaints about their stay such as showers not working during the stay etc. Overall we would not be coming back to this resort. I found the staff to be rude at times and it was like pulling teeth to get anything done that was so insignificant. My husband and I had stayed at a 5 star luxury resort in Punta Cana back in 2021 and the staff there were so accommodating, friendly and we had no issues there what so ever. We had high hopes coming to Puerto Plata and this vacation put a bad taste in our mouths. I am hoping with this review this gets shared with the staff of the resort so they can change their protocols and behaviours down there for future guests as I am sure we aren’t the only ones complaining about their stay at this property. Sincerely Olivia Howell Abel & Jon Bowles