Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach: Loved it!

The room is NOT beautifull, but all the rest is! Wounderfull beach. excellent restaurants. great staff. And it took only 45 minutes both ways to travel from airport/hotel. I was travelling with a baby, and she love it too!

Occidental Punta Cana: Bad resort

I was very disappointed with this resort .the maids did a bad job cleaning .the coffee pot was never cleaned . Had to fight to get water coffee beer and facecloths . I tip every day with money gifts and candy and still that didn't work . A la carte restaurants were not good . But the food at the buffet was good .I found a huge cock roach in my room .I will never go back .

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Punta cana ba princepal

Lenny was fantastic the resort was perfect this was our second time their and we loved it food was great room was clean beaches where clean people was fantastic when we had problems the host was their to help

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Good resort for families

The hotel was quite nice. The rooms need updating but the beach and pool area are really great. The food is OK but the house wine is well ... not good at all unless you like grape juice. The staff were wonderful and we really appreciated the service in the main buffet area. The a la carte weren't really worth it but the chicken on the beach was scrumptious. We did a tour to Monkeyland and loved it. Overall, we were happy with our experience. The water park was a hit with our kids and the shows w [... read more]ere impressive.

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Good value for money

The hotel was quite nice. The rooms need updating but the beach and pool area are really great. The food is OK but the house wine is well ... not good at all unless you like grape juice. The staff were wonderful and we really appreciated the service in the main buffet area. The a la carte weren't really worth it but the chicken on the beach was scrumptious. We did a tour to Monkeyland and loved it. Overall, we were happy with our experience.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: Older but still a nice place

We spent a week at this resort. The grounds are beautiful and the beach is very nice. Staff are nice and food was good. Rooms are dated but they are working on upgrades. Would recommend this hotel. We did have a few issues. We could only get hot water around 5pm. Any other time the water was cold. There also was no phone cord on our phone in the room. We asked for one several times and none ever showed up. We did have one event that was a little disturbing. On our last night the r [... read more]esort was doing a towel inventory. We were asked to have our towels in our rooms or a towel card between 5 and 9pm. We were changing in our room when the 2 staff doing the towel counts barged in. My wife was changing at the time and was seen by a male staff member. I went to the front desk and asked to speak to a manager but was told that the managers only work from 9am to 5pm. We asked to be contacted in the morning by a manager but no call came. The event was disturbing enough but not being able to speak to a manager made it even worse.

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Love love loved

From the moment we stepped onto the property we were treated amazing. Our room was beautiful, the grounds and pools were so nice, the beach was very clean and lots of lounge chairs to relax on. The food at buffet and All restaurants were very good, we had the romantic dinner on the beach and it was amazing.....from the beautiful table setting to the wine to the food!!!! The staff at this resort go above and beyond to make sure your stay is amazing!!! The spa was so nice, I had a aromatherap [... read more]y massage, so relaxing. The shows at night were very well done and kudos to the entertainment staff. I would Recommend this resort To couples, singles and families!!!!

Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Super clean awesome for kids

Perfect place to take your kids there are lots of options for them. There was a great selection of food for every taste and the staff worked really hard to ensure our stay was perfect. I would definetly recommend this to families

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: very nice reort

We are coming regularly, this was our fifth stay. We are always satisfied. We like the place and the very friendly service. I like that there is a shadow on the beach. Entertainment in the evenings could be better but there are many competitions during the day.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Not the best resort

This resort is a one time only resort! Staff here where very unfriendly, not there fault but it rained for 5 days out of 7 and Water was all over our room floor in the morning I payed for a ocean view and couldn't enjoy it because the water was ankle deep on balcony. But sunwing was amazing! And the food was very good the restaurants where amazing all in all I would give this resort a 3

Bahia Principe Grand San Juan: Just awful

The hotel grounds were lovely however, we only found out once we arrived that the hotel books group vacations for teen grad trips, in the hundreds. To be specific, during our weeks vacation (Mar 9-16) there were 756 teenagers. They were horribly disrespectful, drunk, violent and inappropriate. This is completely the hotels right, however, families should be made aware of this when booking a vacation with young children. During our week, 8 were sent home (that we know of), there were multiple fig [... read more]hts and a young woman was found passed out, drunk and had been sexually assaulted (told to us by hotel security). There were countless complaints made to hotel staff, by our group and many others and nothing was done about this. In fact, hotel staff and the Air Canada rep assumed we knew that this was the party destination for graduation trips. These children were underage & drinking nonstop. The trip was hosted by a group called S-Trip, which was young twenty-something college students that couldn't control a thing. It was a terrible week and we will never travel back to the Dominican Republic because of this experience. Our vacation was ruined. We are extremely disappointed.

Riu Bambu: Bambu-zled

Rooms: We chose the standard room as they are close to the lobby. Upon arrival (March 2/17) we were told that the room had been upgraded to deluxe room only to find out that the room was the last building at the back of the resort. The patio backed onto a construction site for the RIU next door. We had a black construction screened fence about 3 feet from the patio with a muddy clay against it to keep it standing. We insisted on having the room we paid for and were placed in 2306 right besi [... read more]de the lobby by 2:00 the next day. What can go wrong right? This room had no hot water which took three days to fix, a toilet that barely flushed and we did not get bottled water until the next evening. We resorted to taking cold showers, using the public washrooms for shaving and toilets and getting glasses of drinking water from the bar until we had some. We were also told that the sports bar (no coffee or ice buckets in rooms) would provide ice and coffee for the room if needed and when we asked for ice, they tied off a green garbage bag, filled it half way, tied it off again and sent us on our way. The one time we asked for coffee, we were told the machine was broken. We arrived Thursday evening and were finally settled into our room with everything working by Monday evening. We had a wonderful maid and she made sure we had everything we needed from Monday onward. Our room was spotless everyday. Her service level was impeccable and we looked forward to coming back to our room every day. Grounds: The grounds were well-maintained and there was a boardwalk on the beach that connected you to all of the surrounding RIUs. Great place for walking and running as the breeze from the ocean kept you cool. Pools: Pools were adequate UNTIL...the springbreakers arrival on Sunday (two bus loads) and trust me they were rested. We realized by supper that evening that our little heaven would never be the same until our departure March 16/17. BTW RIU policy website states that they do not accept SPRINGBREAKERS. Here are what all of us endured: 1. lineups in the washrooms due to toilets no longer flushing or girls locked in the stall because they were sick. 2. inaccessible poolbar from 10:00 to closing everyday. The springbreakers used this area as their public washroom and spent the day drinking shots, spilling drinks in the pool and vomiting poolside. 3. we witnessed five of them go out in wheelchairs the first day. They would come out of the pool and just fall over into their lounger and vomiting off to the side of their chair. Not once did we see any staff come and clean up afterwards. We actually watched some of them walking into it and they jumping back into the pool. 4. our nights were filled with screaming, slamming doors, stumbling people on the walkways, parties in the rooms and balconies and staff talking loudly to try and settle them down for the other guest. We slept with two hour intervals at best. 5. the final straw for us (our last full day) was the poolside fight. We watched two young men arguing in and out of the pool with girls and guys trying to keep them apart. The foul language back and forth was not acceptable. I went to the poolside entertainment staff and asked if security was called and they told me "it is not our problem". I then went to the front desk and told them security was needed poolside and again nothing. Finally the springbreakers managed to get the fight under control and diffuse the situation and things returned to normal chaos. All this to say, this is a family resort and there were plenty of children witnessing the events. I also felt terrible for those families as I heard them pleading with the spring breakers that they had children trying to sleep in the adjacent rooms.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: RESTING VACATION

I thought the food was very good as all amenities were near by which was ideal less walking than other large resorts . The staff were very nice and the service was great. I think for a relaxing peaceful holiday this place is great I would go back again

Riu Merengue: Older resort with some hiccups

Food was great and lots of shady spots by the ocean. Al la carte restaurants good except that you cannot reserve ahead of time Towels and lawn chairs always available Clean resort Older resort so many things tend to break down such as water taps fridges. Toilets and a/c Didn't look at our requests for same building for all 5 female travellers and 2nd floor rooms.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: TERRIBLE WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TO ANY ONE

Rooms had good space but bath tubs are rusted, along with door knobs. Occasionally, you couldn't twist open the doorknobs. The bathroom showers were old also add there was plenty of rust visible. Air conditioners were very loud and didn't allow you to sleep in peace. This resort is 4 properties combined to make it one huge resort.To eat for example, you were to go all the way to another area of the resort. Similarly, there were different places to go for breakfast, dinner and lunch. These place [... read more]s were so far from each other, and not walking distance. There were many ramps and many, many stairs. Although the food was absolutely amazing, we thought the resort was way too big. You have to pay seperately for internet $25, for locker $20 etc. To get to one place to another, you needed to grab a ride, either a shuttle or a golf cart. The golf cart was only available for VIPs, but occasionally, non VIPs could go. The drivers there also excepted a tip each and every ride. The resort had 2 main types of members: VIPs and Non-VIPs. The non VIPs had 3rd class treatment. The beaches were shabby, and treatment in general was bad. There were only some places you could go to eat, whereas VIPs had a variety of styles to try out that they could eat at whenever they pleased, such as Indian, Brazilian and more. Non VIPs had to make reservations days before, and hope that the areas were not booked out. VIPs could go and eat whenever they wanted. Pools and Beaches were badly maintained. The VIP beaches were beautiful, with beds and hammocks and many other luxury items. They also had staff waking around ready to serve you. This again, was only in the reach of a VIP member whereas a Non VIP had to walk around to the other side of the beach for food. How do we know this as Non- VIPs, Out side the different eating areas, were a number of staff members who were waiting to force you into buying VIP service. This was given to people who just came to the resort the day before. They will butter you into their office and then take you on a tour and then try to convince you to get the VIP service and the time share. It was of ALL THE VIP SPOTS, to convince you to buy this VIP package. Although it was appealing, it also had many catches. The inequality faced by the non VIP members was unfair. Entertainment was poor and consisted of badly choreographed moves and no hardworking dancers. Props were amazing, and could make an amazing show if used properly which they weren't. You pay for a resort for a relaxing trip, to get rid of stress. This resort treated us differently, and we didn't get the treatment we paid for. In conclusion, we will not be visiting this resort again. This also left a bad impression of the whole Island of Dominican THINK TWICE BEFORE BOOKING. IF YOUR NOT VIP, GOOD LUCK.

Sunscape Bavaro Beach: Did not live up to expectations

I would like to preface this review of the Sunscape Bavaro Beach Resort in Punta Cana by saying that we had an OK stay at the resort; however, it did not live up to our expectations. I believe that the next time we travel, we will be holding the travel agent's feet to the fire a little more than we did this time before selecting a final resort destination. This was a very easy sale for our agent - in hindsite, we believe that we were definitely not asked enough questions by the agent to define  [... read more]what we were looking for on our vacation. As they say, the devil is in the details. This is how our stay started. At the check-in, we were well greeted with the promise of some type of tropical drink, which came much later, but while we were doing the check-in, the phone rang and the check-in attendant picked up the phone and tried to service us and the person on the phone at the same time, which lead to confusion for all three parties involved. Once the check-in was sorted out, we were greeted by our special "Concierge" who was assigned to us for the week. Little did we know at the time that this was not the "real Concierge", but a salesperson for some type of "time share" that Sunscape is trying to sell to all families that visit this resort. He tried to have us sign a contract on the first night (after we had been travelling for over 16 hours) in exchange for $200 dollars worth of "resort" coupons to be mainly used for the on-site spa. After we refused, since it was now dark and there was not enough light to view the small print on the contract, he asked us to stop by again the following morning to read and sign the contract. We did not stop by the next morning to sign the contract, but to tell him that we were not interested. Meanwhile, every day afterwards (even on our last morning at the resort), we had these "special" Concierges soliciting us to go to a VIP breakfast for the "time share" sales pitch. For us, this was very very very unpleasant, as we were on vacation, not a sales convention. On day two of our stay, our toilet started leaking from the base and we would end up with a puddle of water where both of your feet are situated when going to the lew. Making a long story short, we complained and they sent different people to look at the problem, but it was not until we went to see the "real" Concierge (Maria) later at night who solved the issue for us by having us switch rooms (two rooms, as there was four of us travelling and we needed the two to be close to each other). She even came with us to help with the room switch. This somewhat reconcilliated us with the place. We are forever fans of Maria the Concierge. Airport - two hours wait to get into the country - two and a half hours wait to get out of the country - completely disorganized at all levels, including Air Transat, and very frustrating Rooms - needed to call to have the fridge restocked with water and pop, regardless of tip - needed to call to have beer in the fridge - hot water was nowhere to be found - if we had hot water three times in one week, we were lucky Buffet - always having to pursue the server to have a glass of water with your meal - even if leaving a tip - same issue with coffee at breakfast Specialty Restaurants - needed to also pursue server to have a glass of water with your meal - excellent service after ordering your first drink, as when they saw that it was getting empty, they would bring you another one. If, in the meantime, you felt like trying something else, too bad. Pool - incident in pool on our first full day at the resort - guest threw-up in the pool - at the corner of the stairs heading inside the pool - guest was attended to discreetly by "lifeguard" but swimmers remained unaware of incident - pool was never evacuated or cleaned for the rest of the week - guests in the pool were never aware of what took place and this was the swim-up bar pool - we never went back Beach - nice sandy beach - a lot of litter coming in from the ocean - very unpleasant - plenty of interesting and fun activities that are lead by the staff - that was a highlight - waitresses are very busy, they did a fairly decent job bringing drinks - they work hard - constantly solicited by tour operators close to the beach in the Resort section Food - general - the food was good, although a bit lacking in flavour, there was plenty of it and a great variety - there was a good choice of specialty restaurants - the fact that we did not have to reserve restaurants à la carte was a good thing - the pizza bar was much appreciated by all - the bartenders were always attentive and courteous Theatre & Entertainment - some great shows were lined-up at the theatre and we thoroughly enjoyed the variety and the pool table - excellent music was played in the Lobby - the atmosphere was quite festive and relaxed - the free Wifi in the lobby did not meet our needs - it was intermittent and weak - the coffee shop was great, had some neat desserts and mini sandwiches Air Transat Rep - our Air Transat Rep was not there the first morning that we were scheduled to see him - a replacement rep from another airline had stepped-in to help - this replacement rep turned out to be very helpful and we booked our only excursion (Bavaro Runners) through him - we finally met our Air Transat Rep by chance on the 4th day and he was very aloof and standoffish - not the kind that gives you confidence if you need a friend Excursion - the Bavaro Runners excursion was the best that we have ever made in the Carribean All this to say that we come back with some mixed memories, mostly happy, but with some which left a sour taste. Needless to say, the Dominican Republic will not be a choice destination in our near future.

Zel Punta Cana - All Suites: Beautiful resort but...

The resort was beautiful and immaculately maintained. The rooms were beautifully appointed. The food was quite good on the whole although probably not the island you want to have steak on. I would recommend sticking with fish as its fresh! We have a 2 year old and they have so much for kids to do. Very kid friendly. This is why we chose this resort. One huge caveat though and I think the resort didn't address properly. They're too afraid to offend guests. There were a couple of people in the k [... read more]ids area and even in the kids pool smoking!!! Staff did ask them to stop but they continued. I understand that the resort is not a non smoking resort but they NEED. To make kids area and pools non smoking. Anything less is an insult to parents with young kids that can't swim in other pools. Frankly this is a deal breaker and as much as I liked the resort I won't be back. Frankly I may not return to DR if they are so smoker friendly. This is beneath our standards.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Never Again!!!

Hotel: First impressions of the hotel were good but during our stay that impression continued to disintegrate. During registration, we reminded the clerk that we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary (the tripcentral.ca agent was supposed to inform them in advance) and we even provided a copy of our wedding certificate - which they kept. This was in response to the information included in the hotel description at tripcentral.ca. This was supposed to entitle us to a 1) welcome lett [... read more]er, 2) bottle of sparkling wine plus fruit basket in our room upon arrival, 3) One breakfast in bed incl. mimosas, 4) a room upgrade, 5) a free 55 min. massage for both of us, plus a few other privileges. Although the clerk said she would provide us with a "superior" room, it turned out that it was no different than any other room in the resort. We received none of the advertised benefits, in fact, in talking with a supervisor later in the week, she clearly stated that the hotel DOES NOT provide any of these services! Later in our first week, we encountered a leak from the ceiling in our bathroom. I called the desk and they said someone would be there 'right away'. I waited 1 1/2 hours and no one arrived. I informed the maid and she called for maintenance again. While waiting, I happened to notice that the small canopy over the bed was coming loose from the wall and sagging at a 70 degree angle and could easily fall and injure us I waited another 1/2 hour and finally went to the beach. The leak was slowed but never properly fixed that afternoon. 2 days into our second week, I awoke early to find water on the floor in our entrance as well as the bathroom floor. I reported it to the office and again they said someone would be there ‘right a way’. No one came and after breakfast, my wife went to the office and requested another room. Well that pretty much screwed up the whole day as we were unable to have another room before 3:30 p.m. It was after four before they finally assigned a room and only then could we transfer our repacked luggage and than unpack again. That evening when I my wife went to take a bath, the door handles came off the bathroom door. The wood was rotten and the screw just fell out unto the floor. Although we called the office the next morning, no one came to repair or replace the door and it remained hanging as long as we were there. And if that wasn’t enough, we were unable to even get warm water in the second room and my wife called the office at least 4 times. After 2 or 3 efforts on the Hotel’s part to rectify he situation, nothing improved. The patio door was so far out of adjustment that it was unable to be fully closed (one half inch gap at the bottom), never mind locked! Grounds: The resort area was nicely landscaped and quite attractive although there were a lot of fallen and falling leaves from Lariata and Ficus trees that littered the lawns and sidewalks. They were occasionally raked during the two-week stay – but not regularly. Not a serious problem but looked untidy. Public Areas: The public areas were neat and clean. There appeared to be adequate numbers of lounges at the pool and at the beach, however, at least 25% of the ones at the beach were broken, i.e., the backs were missing braces to hold them in the upright position. The beach as well as the pools were very good. We were quite taken aback when one day a pig from the adjacent farm strolled among the lounges rooting for morsels that may have been left behind by bathers. Fortunately, she did not stay long, although she did stay long enough for photo ops with the tourists. Electronics: The ‘free’ Wifi was at best, hit and miss. It was out in the designated area at least 3 nights and my wife ended up having to purchase internet time (at $7.00 US for an hour) to contact family back home. Television service too, was out a for a couple of days although on one of them we did receive a few channels but with a very snowy picture. Food: One of the highlights of our stay was the food. The buffet, snack bar and specialty restaurants always had a good variety of foods. They were flavorful, hot when they were supposed to be, and nicely presented. Beverages were average and lacked the flavor that one tends to expect from cocktails. Beer was good! Service in the bars and restaurants were very good. The weakest part of the food services was the ‘bouncing’ floor boards in one of the wings of the buffet. When ever someone walked by, your chair or table (or both) bounced up and down. Very annoying! We soon learned to sit in a different section.

Occidental Caribe: Amazing Resort-Great Value

Met all of our expectations-4 years in a row to the same resort. Great food choices, very friendly and accommodating staff and you cannot beat the beach! A la carte restaurants also great with exception of the French restaurant which had slower service and not as good food as the other a la cartes

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Nice Resort, Nice Amenities, Nice Staff...But Still needs work

Well kept grounds , no mosquitos. Kids clubs, family/teen centre, pools, and beach were great. Staff were nice. Food ok, but too much pork. Rooms clean, but too small. All of us got travellers diarrhrea.