Be Live Experience Hamaca Garden: Not what i expected
This resort was truly disappointing experience. The service was extremely poor. Some rooms had major issues however when guest complained nothing got done. the constant approaches by men in motorcycles was annoying and sometimes confrontational. On a better note the grounds, pool, and beach was well kept.
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Dawn -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: Terrible Resort
This is the worst hotel we’ve ever had the misfortune to attend. We are pretty easygoing traveller and expect to run into some concerns when travelling to another country but this was an unimaginable horror story. Staff is rude and ignorant, they will only go out of their way for anyone speaking Spanish. The food is barely passable. The alcohol is sub-par and watered down. They have 3 public pools that are never cleaned. Three days before we left the sides of the pool were green and slimy. Eve[... read more]n when someone told them the pool was disgusting they didn’t clean it. Someone put a hose and a vacuum in the pool, walked away and two hours later came back and removed everything and left. I suppose that was their idea of cleaning the pool. Paid for a Steak and lobster dinner only to be told they had run out of lobster. Paid for an Essentia package with a swim out only to arrive and be told they had given our room to someone else and no others were available. No offers to return our money. Nothing you can do about it because no one there speaks a word of English. There is No main lobby. There’s a covered area with one couch that 300 people all try to congregate around to use the WIFI because that’s the only area it works. There’s a road that runs between the main lobby and the essentia rooms that require a crossing guard because there are trucks, cars, vans and motorcycles constantly running through. The smell of gas and exhaust is nauseating. Do not waste your money. I’m sickened by the amount of money we spent to go to this resort to be let down so miserably. If there are any good reviews of an Emotions resort I would presume it’s not the Emotions located in juan dolio. There are two resorts and unfortunately we got stuck at this crappy place. There are also ants, cock roaches and other bugs in the rooms. I could write another page of complaints but will leave it at this.
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Private -
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Be Live Experience Hamaca Garden: Overall good for the area
This area is good for having a real local experience and comfortable leaving the resort . This is the best overall hotel in the area ; it is close to Santa Domingo and is a good spot as a "home" location for traveling off the resort , close to car rentals, grocery stores .
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Gina02 -
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BelleVue Dominican Bay: Nice resort
Hotel was older but very clean, grounds are very well kept, food was very good and staff were excellent.
Downside to this resort it was right in the middle of town, and the beach was further away than was stated. also lots of stairs both in the complex and getting down to the beach, which is not good for some people.
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Private -
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Be Live Experience Hamaca Garden: Disorganized
I would never dream of going back to this hotel again. Two hours drive from airport then check in was kaotic waited 40 mins to check in only to get in a room that was so filthy I could not bear to stay in it. Bad experience overall.
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Bigrab -
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Whala Boca Chica: Rotten Resort
after a long delay at Toronto airport,We left on our holiday. On arrival at Punta Cana we were directed to our transportation.
We had been advised the trip to the Hotel would take 20 minutes but it turned out to
be a two hour trip, On arrival at the hotel we were lodged on the third floor no elevators, are view from the balcony was looking at a run down hotel.
the hotel staff were friendly but the dining room was something else at lot of guests
had no control of their children and let [... read more]them run wild among the tables.
The beach was a disaster you could not have a minutes peace without some one
trying to sell you some thing..
That was first and last visit from now on I will spend my money in Cuba,,,,,,,,
Bob Fulton
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Sarah Garcia -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: Beautiful resort, country and all inclusive vacation
The rooms were very clean and updated, the staff was absolutely fantastic. The food was 9/10 and there was lots of variety in the buffets. The grounds were constantly being maintained and there was plenty of beautiful areas to sit and enjoy the scenery. We traveled with our 9month old son and we were accommodated perfectly with a crib in the room and a first floor room. I highly reccomend booking through trip central and staying at emotions. The only negative I can say was that they tried hard t[... read more]o sell us on the time share/VIP section of the resort....and that since we stayed on the Dominican labour day there were lots of locals at the resort and it did get pretty busy over their long weekend. One of my favourite things was the cafe that served specialty coffees and my husband loved the sports bar that played American basketball games! I highly reccomend this resort!
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Capot -
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Coral Costa Caribe: great resort not to big just perfect
The place was always super clean the workers there were great the rooms were nice a little problem with plumbing sometimes.the beach was clean pools were also great service excellent a la carte were very good food was good overall a great place to go we would go back.
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Lesley71 -
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BelleVue Dominican Bay: Very Nice resort
We were very surprised for the price that way paid the resort was clean and the food was very good. The Italian restaurant was amazing. We were not as happy with the beach as the beach area is public. We would go back for sure
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Private -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: Small, but it has everything
The resort was small and a town road cut the "beach side" off from the "main side" where the lobby, pool and shops were. However, it was easy to cross and really didn't notice it. There were 10 people in our group - two arrived the day before the rest and were situated in the adult only section - which is what we paid for. However, when the remainder came the next night, we were "upgraded" to the beach building. However, the surprise was - it was a family building, so turned out not to be much o[... read more]f an upgrade other than we have a roped section on the beach and our pool was on the beach. HOWEVER, this also meant that the two people from our group weren't able to sit at the pool with us (had to have a special bracelet or you were kicked out). We had all paid for the exact same package and there was no reasoning with the staff.
The food was fine and the a la cartes were fairly easy to get into and accommodating.
The maid service was slow - we were trying to get ready for a 6pm dinner reservation and housekeeping came in at 5:30 and wouldn't leave (didn't speak English) - we had said not to worry, clean tomorrow - but she stayed to sweep - was awkward.
The one negative was the location of the resort - it was in a little town and it was a bit sketchy. Workers told us not to EVER walk to the left of the resort and only to go down the street to the right during the day. There were prostitutes (husband was propositioned twice) and locals were about. Also, this resort has no money exchange - and we were advised not to go to the back as tourists were told not to walk in that direction (15 minute walk).
There wasn't anything uber special or bad about this place. We had a relaxing vacation - which is what we went for.
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Private -
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BelleVue Dominican Bay: Not what we expected!
We were very surprised that the bus ride from the airport was about four hours instead of the 1.5 hrs as advertised. The grounds of the hotel were nice and well maintained. However, we were again surprised with the condition of the bathroom. We could only use the toilet sitting sideways because water was dripping from the ceiling. We also had trouble with lack of water pressures and intermittent warm water.
The beach and swimming area were most disappointing because of the amount of garbage a[... read more]ccumulating on the beach and in the water. The beach was also VERY noisy with motorbikes and overly loud and persistent vendors.
On the positive side, the food was good and varied. The staff was friendly.
Overall, this is not a resort we would visit again.
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Private -
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BelleVue Dominican Bay: 2 Stars at Best
The hotel rooms were not ready for our arrival at 2:30. Check in is 3PM. This made for a very long day already including the lengthy bus trip from the airport. It's not too far an expectation that the restroom area at reception would have been clean. Of the 3 stalls available in the ladies bathroom, only one was clean. The men's bathroom was closed.
Our room was in block 7. The kitchen area was dirty, the television didn't work, one of two beds were broken, there was no safe and no towe[... read more]ls. We called reception and told the front desk employee our issues and asked for a new room. We were told we didn't have to use the kitchen. We asked for a new room anyway. He called us back and we proceeded to the reception. The front desk employee asked if we were alright with a ground floor room and we were. We received a room in block 17. The room was much better but it did have its issues; the main one being the middle patio door could be pulled open from the outside even in the locked position. We didn't say anything because this room was much better than the last.
The dining room was exceptionally clean however the tables needed to be cleared and re-dressed quicker. It was often difficult to find a clear table with fresh utensils and glassware. Ended up sitting at a dirty table and asked a female server for 2 glasses. She went to the nearest uncleared table and held 2 glasses up to the light to see if they were "clean". She then brought the two "clean" glasses over. We refused them. A male server later brought 2 glasses over.
Although water coolers are available, bottled water should be available for purchase 24 hours a day. As we don't drink alcohol, we drink a lot of water and was at the mercy of the retails store's opening and closing hours to quench our thirst.
Hotel guests should have been informed prior to confirmation of stay, that local residents would have taken over the pool and snack bar areas on Friday, Saturday and Sunday making it difficult to get drinks, find chairs or get a quick snack.
We travel to the Caribbean for the beach. We were disappointed at the beach here. It was dirty with garbage everywhere, no evidence of grooming at all. The local food area on the right side of the hotel - empty their cooking oils and refuse into the sea. The sales people on the beach were relentless - worst we've seen in the Caribbean.
We spoke to other Canadian guests who were also disappointed. We all seemed to be having the same experiences with our rooms and vowed that we would all speak up.
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Judy Maxwell -
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Coral Costa Caribe: Coral Costa Caribe
Beautiful place. Nice and clean, it even smelled clean. Good food, beautiful beach, lots of shade and loungers. Superior rooms are a fair distance from the main area, but if your healthy they are worth the walk. Casino is closed down but I think there is a casino $30 dollars by cab away. I enjoyed this resort.
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Private -
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Be Live Experience Hamaca Beach: very bad
are stay at the be live resort was one of the worst stay we have ever had there was mold in are rooms, the rooms were not cleaned every day the drains were not draining in the tub, had to ask for towels daily, front desk were not very interested in helping us with this situation,there was a lot more but we will never go back to this resort and we will never recommend this resort to anyone
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Private -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: RESORT DELIVERS
OVERALL THE EMOTIONS RESORT IS A TRADIONAL DOMINICAN RESORT ON A SMALLER SCALE WITH EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE STAFF,AVERAGE BUFFET AND A LA CARTE RESTAURANTS AND A FEELING OF SAFETY WHILE YOUR ARE WALKING AROUND THE SURROUNDING BEACH FRONT PROPERTIES.
BEACH HAS SOME ISSUES WITH CLOUDY WATER AND SEAWEED THAT ACCUMULATES ON THE SHORELINE(STAFF CLEAN IT UP AS BEST THEY CAN) BUT THE RESORT HAS PLENTY OF LOUNGE CHAIRS AND A NICE FULL SERVICE SNACK BAR CLOSE TO THE BEACH.
ENTERTANMENT AT NIGHT IS AVE[... read more]RAGE ND ENDS AT 11:00 P.M.
OVERALL I WOULD RATE THIS RESORT A "B plus"
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BobEvans24/7 -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: Amazing People beautiful resort
This resort is beautiful. We stayed on the Essentia side which is the highest end they offer. The rooms are nice and the views and free things added in are a really nice add-on. However you must make sure you have the things you are suppose to have. Alot of little things were missing but when we addressed with guest services they were amazingly gracious and understanding. They went above and beyond our expectations on making things right. Every single person you encounter are truly happy and fri[... read more]endly. I could spend hours naming off all the people I have met there that made our vacation special. Honestly the people make the difference and these are the best people. The food in the buffets repeat regularly however this is not a bad thing. everything is better then expected and I'm a picky person. The a la carte's are exceptional in every aspect! Jose Antonio is truly wonderful.
The bad is not in anyway shape or form fault of the hotel but the beach area is very rocky beach shoes are a must. The resort is kept sparkling at all hours. They have a very small road (more like an alley way) that is not very busy at all and they have security at the road at all times. (Don't be alarmed it's not needed) we walked up and down the roads and felt very safe. Even the locals are polite. If your looking for a nice quiet place for the family or even by yourselves you can't go wrong. I hope this helps and have a great trip! As far as trip Central.ca goes... They got us everything we wanted cheaper than any other providers. We saved 600$ total on our vacation just by booking here rather than sunwing.
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Private -
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Be Live Experience Hamaca Garden: Overall a good hotel
My week long experience at the Hamaca was satisfactory. I can't rave too much of it as I did not fully use all of what it had to offer..such as the a la carte restaurants, VIP services, etc. I only stayed there because there were no more deals available that week at some other 3 star hotel nearby. My only beef really was a leaky toilet that also took a long time for the water tank to refill. I would also say that my room seemed more like of a 3 star quality, but since it was only a garden ro[... read more]om, maybe that's why...though at least I had a nice view of the pool grounds. I know that this hotel seems to have it's share of very negative reviews, which I had read before booking myself there, but my overall experience that week was not bad at all, from my perspective. So on that note, and for the price I got for it, yes I would return.
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Private -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: Winter get away
The beach was very poor--weedy and sharp stones. The pools were good but the hot tub lacked entry and exit rails. I liked the set up of the resort. The rooms were great. The food mediocre. The main street set around the pools was nice. Service was good.
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Gweny -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: A most relaxing holiday
The beach, food and service were all very good
My excursion was wonderful
I just wish some of the staff understood english better
The excursion I took was wonderful Really got to see how the local people live
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Sharrie -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio: Pretty Resort
This resort is about 1 hour and 40 minutes from the Punta Cana Airport. I prefer smaller resorts, so this resort suited me well in that regard. The resort itself is pretty, could use some touch ups, rooms are clean and spacious. We were "upgraded" once we arrived. I booked the Adult only building that had its own gated pool. I was moved to the Essentia Building that faces the beach. It also has its own pool, this is for families that are in the Essentia building. I did not consider this an upgra[... read more]de. I chose the adult building for the quiet adult pool and room. This building was noisy at all hours. The pools at times was taken over by kids, as it should be if you paid for that.
The beach and pools are nice. The beach does have vendors, but a friendly no thank you usually sent them on their way.
The food was ok. The buffet never changed, making it hard by day 5 to find something appealing to eat. The 3 other restaurants were good. We really enjoyed the mexican and Italian.
The staff and service are great.
Overall, I wont return to this resort, but i would go back to the Dominican. The Saona Island tour and the Santo Domingo tour are fantastic.