Cayo Levantado Resort: 5-star resort, 5-star staff

We had an amazing time at this beautiful resort, even with some rain a number of days. I have never been to a resort that has umbrellas in every room. Nice touch. We were part of a group of 28 Canadian friends (50+) celebrating some anniversaries, and we had lots of laughs. When it rained, we just jumped into the pool so we wouldn't get wet. The restaurants, including the buffet were very good. Don't skip seafood night at the buffet. The wine and other drinks were . . . you know. And the staff [... read more] was amazing, all of them.My wife was in a wheelchair due to a recent injury. They took care of her everywhere. Sadly she couldn't go shopping!!! We will be back.

Bahia Principe Explore Turquesa: Ok

We stayed at the Turquesa. This hotel was very nice, well cleaned, well maintained. But very large. They say beach but you have to take a shuttle to get there if you're packing your kids and all the stuff. It was a very nice 10 min walk though if I didn't have to pack stuff. Our pool snack bar was terrible.... they offered hot dogs, or hot dogs or hot dogs. At the kids water park you could get hot dogs or nacho chips with the cheese sauce. It would have been nice to have a little more v [... read more]ariety between meal times, or instead of a meal at the restaurant where you needed to be dry, no swim wear etc. It takes quite a lot of time from your day when you have to get the kids out of the pool, dry, dress and sit for meal. I also would have preferred to do supper at 5, then get the kids in the room and settle down for an early evening but there wasn't food available to eat at that time. As for the beach, it's nice. Fairly calm water, but not as calm as I would have liked having a 1 year old there. The sand was a lot of fun. The beaches were cleaned and well kept, and they were packed with people, although we didn't feel too crowded. I guess my overall disappointment began because I figured my travel agent would have known these facts. I originally was going to book a different place before I realized how large it was. I told her my concerns and she agreed that it was large, so I assumed she wasn't going to recommend another large resort.

Dreams La Romana: Great time at Dreams La Romana

We had been to the Dreams La Romana in Nov 2015 also, so we knew what to expect. The resort is the perfect size for us. The service from all staff was terrific. We stayed 14 nights. Those staff with whom we dealt most learned our preferences and anticipated them. We stayed with the preferred club this time (as opposed to 2015) and in our minds, it was worth the upgrade. Food choices were good...we always found something. The Oceana made great tenderloin steak...perfect medium rare. We we [... read more]nt for couples massage, and it was very professional. The resort itself was clean. The washrooms everywhere were clean. Staff are always doing something...there is no idle time. The beach was private so there was no hard selling by people. Water was clear. The water was calm. The staff are what really sets this place apart. I would definitely return for a third time.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Second trip to VHGV

Weather was mediocre do to all the rain issues they are having but we still managed to have a wonderful vacation! We did 3 excursions and all 3 should be highly recommended to all going to Puerto Plata! We did the City Cable Car half day tour which became a full day tour! Great value for the price! Ocean world is a must for those of all ages!! Our son was even chosen to be part of the Dolphin show!! Paradise Island VIP - (my second time doing this excursion) is another absolute must for th [... read more]ose wanting to spend a day on the ocean, snorkelling and sight seeing the country side. The resort was of course amazing! As a returning guest to the resort my family and I could not have asked for better! The resort staff are always so welcoming and friendly, making you feel like family! Food on the resort is excellent along with its cleanliness and attention to detail! I appreciated the late check out offered to us free of charge for being a returning guest.

TRS Turquesa: Beautiful resort

The resort grounds are very well maintained, lobbies are very nice, the main buffet was fabulous, the waiters are very efficient .The food was very good, great variety. Japanese al la carte was by far the best. Very disappointed in The Chanterelle this time around. We booked this trip and were to receive 1500.00 resort credits upon our arrival. The desk staff did not know anything about it. We had to go and speak with the AirTran sit rep at the resort next door. Several trips to front desk, may [... read more] emails from our travel agent and finally on the day BEFORE we came home, we got the credits. Unfortunately we did not have any time to enjoy them. I have to wonder if this was done on purpose so that the resort wouldn't be out any money?????

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Iberostar Costa Dorada

Our stay here for the third time was once again great due to the staff. Even though we had rain everyday, the staff did an amazing job keeping the place safe, dry and entertained. Grounds staff were always working hard to clear walkways only to have it rain again when they were done. Bar staff provide excellent service, always ready to serve with a smile. The hotel has lots of lounger spread out around pool and beach area that there was never a problem finding a place to relax. This resort  [... read more]has many return guests due to excellent customer service, location and atmosphere.

Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana: Disapointed

The Now Larimar was a disapointment. The food at the alacartes was mediocre,the vacation club sales reps were a pain in the ass, drinks were not very good as most were too sweet to drink more than one, prefered club room was very small with crappy view of service road and fence to next door property, no internet room so you had better bring your own,night time shows were not very good as they were just the same dancing with a different theme name. On a good note the beach was nice with little to [... read more] no seaweed, most of the staff tried very hard and the buffet was good.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Loved this resort

The hotel was great, we were lucky to have our room right by the main lobby, halfway between both pools, spent many days at both pools and the beach. Never had an issue trying to find beach or pools chairs for 4. food was good, need to have an open mind and remember they are catering to numerous cultures, always found something good and tasty to eat every time we went to the buffet. Went to a couple of the a la carte restaurants, book a couple days ahead as they book up quick. The staff are a [... read more]mazing, always smiling, happy and friendly and always quick to say hi. Looking forward to going back !!

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: My most recommended pick

Traveled with my sister/Bestfriend. We travel for Party, Beach, Fitness, and Food. They aced all our criteria. 5***** Room: standard rooms are huge and have a Jacuzzi Service: Extremely on point. This is my second time at this resort and they made it a purpose to demonstrate value to their hotel guest. Amenities: Something for everyone. Singles, couples, families, kids, Retirees... Believe me, theres a loud area, a quiet area and a kids area. Activities: Entertainers are very passionat [... read more]e about their work/job. Doris and Amy do a fantastic job with the beach Zumba class, Jeffrey is lively and facilitates a light workout in the pool (Aqua Gym/Aerobics) and Richard, the man with the big guns, holds a super effective, stretching/Yoga class in the morning. The entertainers are enthusiastic, fun and very professional. Bartenders: :) CRISTIAN! Juanchy! awesome job keeping up with us! haha FOOD: something for everyone OVERALL: I do not understand any bad review on this hotel. The staff from reception, concierges, to the housekeepers and custodial, everyone always goes above and beyond our expectations. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to unwind and forget life's woes for a little period.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Good resort

The grounds of this resort are beautiful. Our room on the Third floor was clean and spacious. Because of the downpours At night our room leaked badly. The food was ok. The staff Was friendly and helpful.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: good

This was my 1st time at this resort my parent went there to celebrate their 25th anniversary 5 years ago and thats why they said lets go back has now it has been upgraded to a 5 star compared to 5 years ago it was a 4 star and this was a special occasion has I was proposing to my girlfriend and wanted it to be very special but there were some issues has my parents had arranged for a special arrangement to be done in the room for us and NOTHING was done for us and she asked them 5 times to do som [... read more]ething but nothing was done to make our occasion even more special aside from that our room was ok...it was very cold we kept the a/c off most of the time the food was ok we did have issues at the Don Pablo where my fiance food (duck ) was raw the beach was good

Cayo Levantado Resort: Save yourself $. Go Anywhere but here!

Trip to Grand Bahia Principe Cayo Leventado in Dominican Republic Via AirTransat Vacation First let me say that I am 38 years old and consider myself a seasoned and veteran traveller. I have gone on at least one vacation a year since I was 19 years old, and I have been all over the world, from Costa Rica, to Spain, to Indonesia. I have done it all from cruises, to all inclusive, to condo rentals. I will say this… It is the first time I have never written a review on anywhere that I have e [... read more]ver been, and I’ve never been compelled to share my experiences as much as I am now after my trip to the Grand Bahia Principe Cayo Leventado in the Dominican Republic via AirTransat Vacations. I guess Looking back on most of my experiences you could say I’ve been really lucky to have gone this far without having issues like I had during my week at the Cayo Leventado. Cayo Leventado was rated a 5-star all-inclusive resort that was located on one of the most breathtakingly beautiful landscapes I’ve ever visited. Its very own private island! The price of the one week stay was $1735.00 CAN, which seems pretty high when I hear about people travelling to the Dominican for as little as $600….But this is a FIVE-STAR so it must be worth the extra $1000.00?.... Well I didn’t think so, based on my experiences. Many of the experiences I had were incredible including our dinner at the don Pablo restaurant, our Jacuzzi night, and breakfast in bed on our last day, and the wonderful server who made sure my girlfriend, had nothing to do but sip on her coffee, and reach for her grapes, and yogurt. They hit the mark on a few things, but missed it by a mile on some really important stuff. Probably only a couple of the bad things that I had to endure, would have ruined some peoples weeks completely. Because I am so easy going, I still managed to really enjoy myself, but I will never pay the money to go back to Cayo Leventado, and here is why. When we first got there my intentions were to talk to the front desk to upgrade our room to the junior deluxe room, since our travel agent was unable to upgrade us she suggested we try when we got there. I was told there were know deluxe rooms, or beach villas available, but my room had been upgraded free of charge to the junior suite superior. Well immediately I told her that I did not want the superior room, because I had checked out all the rooms online and felt that the junior suite was nicer. I was assured that this was a better room because people pay more for this room….Sorry, but that doesn’t make it nicer. Any who…we went with our butler up to the room and it was nice enough, but not what I was looking for, the view was ok. It looked over the garden and there was a small window through the trees where you could see the ocean. We decided it wasn’t what we were expecting but we would make the most of it. It gets much worse. The Butler explained a few things, I tipped him $3.00 US, and that was the last time I ever saw him again. After unpacking and getting settled in, I started wondering when our air conditioning was going to start cooling the room down, so I decided to go have a shower since I was tired and sweaty from travelling all day, and unpacking all my stuff in a hot stuffy room. When I went to open the shower, I was excited since it had a big huge shower head that is a luxury I don’t have at home. I was instantly disappointed when I went to go turn my shower on, and the water started spraying out of the shower head in about 50 different directions, none of them towards my head or body. Luckily there was a detachable sprayer, and I was able to bathe myself. After drying myself, I called down the front desk to ask them if they could send a maintenance person up to the room since my shower, and my air conditioning was not working. Someone came fairly quickly. The language barrier was great, and communication was non-existent, but he felt the air coming out of vent with his hand, and said it was ok. I work as a refrigeration mechanic and told him that “no, it is not working!” It was 35 degrees in my room and the system has been running for at least 3 hours now. Air was blowing out of the vents, but it wasn’t cold air. He took my shower head and returned half hour later and the shower worked great. My AC was still not fixed. I called back down to the front desk to ask if there was someone else that they could send to fix my AC knowing that I would not be able to sleep if we couldn’t get that AC fixed tonight. They said they would send somebody else. I asked them if they could also bring a couple more beers, since I had already long finished the two beers that were in my room fridge when we got there, and also asked if they could send a bottle of wine for my girlfriend. I was told that my bar fridge had already been stocked for the day so if I wanted more beer they would be $3.00 US per can, and would be $24.00 for the bottle of wine. Well... I was appalled! This was supposed to be an all-inclusive, and I wasn’t about to pay 3 bucks for a 50 cent can of Presidente beer, which by the way, is your only beer option on this island, and I certainly wasn’t going to pay 24 bucks for a 5 dollar bottle of wine. I expressed my dislike for this rule with the person on the phone and said surely with all the troubles we’ve had now with no air conditioning in the room this could maybe be the least that they could do for us, so I was told they would have to get a hold of a manager to find out if this could be possible. They called me back a few moments later and said that they would bring up a complimentary bottle of wine and a couple beers. Thank You! Or not… When my beer arrived it was warmer then my room. I asked the man who delivered it if he ever drinks warm beer…He said “Of course not sir!” I asked him why on earth he would bring me two warm beers. He agreed that it was ridiculous. I called back down to the office this time quite perturbed about the level of service I was receiving at this 5-star resort and reminded them that I paid and extra $2000.00 to get a 5-star experience and that this really wasn’t cutting it. I asked that I be moved. I told them I would be more than happy to pay for an upgrade to the junior deluxe, or a beach villa, or would be happy just to go back to the junior suite, that I had originally booked. I was told there was no other rooms avail. Except one junior suite but the view was terrible. I asked if the AC worked, they said yes, I said I’ll take it! I was then told to wait they would see if they had any other availability, so me and my girlfriend decided to try and get some sleep. We both struggled to sleep due to the temperature of the room, but about an hour later just as my eyes were ready to finally close. We were awoken to a knock at the door. I quickly got changed, and it was a staff member telling me he had a room to show me. It was in the same building just upstairs, and he would like to show it to me. I asked him if the AC worked and he replied “yes”. Well we got up to the room it was an identical room just one floor up. I immediately asked if we could go to the thermostat to make sure the AC worked. The employee turned the AC on and turned the temperature down low and the AC would not even kick on. It wouldn’t even blow hot air around the room like my current room. After trying a few things the staff member got frustrated with the fact that he could not get it running so he started punching the wall. I just walked away and went back to bed. The next day after an awful night of tossing and turning and sweating, we went straight to front desk and asked that somebody please fix our AC, or please move us to a room that has working AC. I was assured that this would be done. My and my girlfriend spent the entire day enjoying the beautiful beach and pools. By about 5:00 we were anxious to find out whether they managed to fix the AC in our room, at this point we were kind of hoping we wouldn’t have to move all of our stuff again. When we got back to the room I was very disappointed that my room had only cooled down to about 30 degrees C. Still very hot! I called front desk and talked to somebody different. This time Anna and she at least seemed like she wanted to help. I went down to talk to her, and she told me that the maintenance staff had been saying that the AC is fine, and that it was my fault, because I was leaving the door open. I explained to her that the door had been closed all day with the air running and still made no difference. I also informed her that I was a refrigeration mechanic, and was quite capable of determining that we were not getting proper cooling in my room. She gave me a couple of options. One room was a superior like the one we were in, and the other a junior sweet like the one that I had booked originally. She asked me to go take a look at both with a guy named Augustin who was great, although I ended up getting the island tour because they also had 4 other fares for Augustin to tend to, and he left his keys in one of the other villas. After looking at both rooms, I decided to take the junior suite. Because I like the layout of the room much better, and it was in the main building, so was closer to the bars, buffet, and any of the action. We were running extremely late for our reservations at the Mediterranean restaurant so we quickly packed our stuff, and Augustin waited patiently to move it for us into our new room. As he stood there he admittedly said it was really hot in the room, and that our AC was not working. Thanks Augustin! Our dinner was mediocre at best. The restaurant was extremely loud with some rowdy guest, and I really didn’t like the au gratin sauce they ruined my lobster with. While chocolate mousse, was more like marshmallow with some berry jam drizzled over it. After returning to our new room we were very happy to find out that the air conditioning was working, and a bubble bath had been set up with candles, and rose pedals for my girlfriend, upon my request to Anna, when I was settling up the changes it was delightful, and relaxing. The view was a disgraceful, we over looked the laundry room and employee area, and had zero view of a garden or the ocean so that was disappointing, but at least the room was nice and cool. We were there with a group of 28 people so I was able to see the spectacular views that some of our friends, had that actually paid less money to go there then we did, so that was a major disappointment. The next day we had dinner at Don Pablo’s. It was an amazing dining experience. My only complaint is that our waiter took everyone else’s order, and forgot about me and left the table. He later apologised, and no big deal right, just one more story to add to the trip. At this point in the trip some of the housekeeping habits were starting to arise, and we started to question why garbage, and dirty dishes weren’t being collected, we started a collection of wet towels under the bathroom sink. After about day four the towels were finally picked up off the floor from under the sink and folded, and placed folded beside our Jacuzzi. Thank you! Never know when I might need a wet towel from two days ago. Service around the pool and beach was slow, but I expected that. Once I asked the same server for a shot of tequila 3 times before it finally came on his tray. I was tipping these guys every time. And it seemed much more then then the people around me who still seemed to be getting better service then me. I called butler service one night to have a couple pillows from their pillow menu, and a scent from the scent menu delivered to the room, and the person on the phone gave me a bad attitude. I got “Sigh ….fine!...What time?” I said 10:00 they said “Fine….” I asked if this was ok I got more attitudes and told that he would be there. I said thank you and left a $5.00 tip on the bed. Came back and my pillows were tied tight in a bag at the end of my bed. We had booked a snorkelling excursion on a catamaran for the Friday but we were unsure about the weather. The rain had been relentless, and the Dominican had received historically high amounts of flooding during the week were there. I’m not blaming anyone for that. Nor did I even mind so much. But conditions were unfavourable for snorkelling as we could barely see 5 feet in front us because of all the bad weather. In most places I’ve been to they would have cancelled the trip but not in the Dominican. We went regardless, and cancelling, and getting money back was not optional. Snorkelling was awful. The catamaran ride was nice, and so was lunch, but I paid to go snorkelling not for the pleasure cruise. The tour guides were unhelpful not once did anyone give us any direction of what may have been a good spot to snorkel in or give us any information on the area, or even give us some safety reminders. The one girl who spoke English from the beach hut where we paid for the excursion was on the boat, and all she did was flirt with the other male staff. Not one word was spoken to any of the guest on that boat, unless it was to order a rum and coke. Our last night we had dinner at the Portofino restaurant and by chance two of our friends from our group also had reservations at the same time. We asked the girl seating us if we could put our two tables together to share dinner together, and she responded but shaking her head at us and saying “aye aye aye!’ I couldn’t believe it so we put our table together on our own…They hated that, and made it very clear. We learned at the table that our friends had also been having some pretty terrible experiences with the staff and the hotel also. In fact they had decided to forfeit their second week. They paid the extra money to get on a flight a week early and go home. I’m not sure exactly what all their issues were but I know there room was a major factor. At the end of dinner, a young waiter by the name of Pedro came to our table to ask if we wanted desert. We had already discussed that some of were interested in two desert, and since we were in an all-inclusive what the hay?! Well Pedro ask my girlfriend first what she would like and when she told him she also wanted a second dessert Pedro looked at her and shook his head and said “Really?... You’re going to eat to desserts! ... Aye Aye Aye!” Well I don’t know if he thought he was being funny but I can tell you nobody at the table thought it was funny especially Amy. She was mortified and so was I. The nightly entertainment wasn’t all that great except for the night of the beach party, and the night they did the Michael Jackson nigh. Otherwise it was just their local band that played I think in the lobby about three night. The one night I think was the Tuesday they bored everybody to death with BINGO. If you filled an entire card, you won an airplane sized bottle of wine. YIPPEE! (Sarcasm) One more small complaint about the hotel, it seems old and run down. Lots of things don’t work. Even in our new room the toilet didn’t flush properly. Every time you flush the toilet you had to take the top off and put the flapper down, or it would just keep running none stop. The water in the toilet, and out of the taps, and showers, was brown. There were various leaks in the ceiling of the lobby, and sections of it were caution taped off due to water on the floors. Water was a big concern all week because of the amount of rain we got. The outdoor dining rooms were sitting in two inches of water and staff had a hard time getting rid of the water. What can you do? That‘s nobody’s fault. When we arrived and the Samana Airport to go home we found ourselves at the very end, of a very large line. We found out from someone else in our group that did some investigating, that the airports computers were down and they were writing out boarding passes by hand. It took us 3 hours just to get our boarding passes, and almost missed our flights. People that paid extra to part of Air Transat’s preferred customer program, were not give their rights to be able to by-pass the long line up. If I had only paid to go to a 3-Star hotel, I would say that Cayo Leventado was great. How this place ever got a 5-Star rating will always be a mystery to me. I have been to 4-Star resorts that put this place to shame. Save yourself $2000.00 and go somewhere other than here. Sincerely

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Ok resort

The resort is very big . We did experience some difficulty in our room which was never resolvedid The pool was not the cleanest. Regards to the restaurant...well we week very disappointed in the Don Pablo food was not cooked properry. But stay in the blue section which is closet to the beach that was the best area.

Riu Merengue: Riu Merengue Dominican

On initial arrival to the resort I found the resort pleasant enough, room was clean and roomy for 2. As the week progressed we encountered several issues from late maid service (coming in from the beach and the maids just doing our room) to finding the room cleaned but no towels and having to literally chase down a maid to ask for towels. Each room had a stocked mini fridge and bar but the bottles were not refreshed when needed and phone calls had to be made to the front desk to have them replen [... read more]ished. The bar staff though working quickly to serve people were for the most part unfriendly to a couple of which were simply unpleasant and rude. As far as the food goes there was little change in the buffet daily. It became boring. The a la carte dinner offered was on a first come first serve basis and sat a limited number of people. One seating for a large number of people makes a very slow long dinner. It was about 45 minutes before we were offered a glass of wine. In general I was quite disappointed in the quality of the food. As I had heard very good reviews of other Riu resorts I was disappointed in this trip and will not be returning. I travel for this annual trip with a group of friends and although we do not demand 5 star resorts we do expect a pleasant atmosphere, clean accommodations and friendly staff which ensures a great vacation. There was an air of disenchantment among the staff. The main pool was often dirty and needed cleaning. This made me wonder if they were doing appropriate testing of the water. The entertainment was at times embarrassing for the people who agreed to participate in the on stage activities. Don't make you guests feel uncomfortable. Staff gyrating to music on the bridge over the pool is not entertainment. On the bus ride from the hotel on the way home the general consensus was that no one was returning to this resort and many stated they would not return to the Dominican at all. The week was quite rainy with only a couple sunny days, I think the hotel missed the opportunity to engage their guests by offering alternative activities to fill the rainy days. Not everyone wants to dance every day

Barcelo Bavaro Beach: Great golf holiday!

Just returned from a week at the Barcelo Bavaro Beach. Golfed every morning and spent every afternoon at the beach. Loved everything about this resort and the Palace next door whose amenities we shared. Pretty much every activity or sport is available there. The golf course was fantastic, the beach beautiful. Super clean. Walk to the beach from any part of the hotel is never more than a minute or two. Only negative and not bad enough to stop me from going again, was the wine in the buff [... read more]et restaurants both at lunch and dinner was undrinkable. We drank beer after the first day. Coffee service at all meals was also very slow to non existent.

Riu Republica: Horrible resort

I am writing to you to inform you that our honeymoon trip was a horrible experience. My wife and I were very sick from Wednesday and still sick from it. The hotel was dirty and there were lots of flies and ants in the hotel. The food was not cooked, like for example raw chicken. The pools were very dirty. The room was not what we were told. There were a lot of people sick that we spoke with there. Over all this place was horrible. Also the resort smelt very foul all the time. I would be ashamed  [... read more]to call this resort. Riu and a Five star resort, cause it is not even a 2 star resort.

Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro: Great stay!

The resort grounds were very clean and facilities were definitely enjoyable. Beach was great, water was warm and pleasant. Bar and drinks were great, but food was so-so. Our room was decent, could have been a bit better considering the resort itself was so nice.

Cayo Levantado Resort: Would definitely go back!

The resort was beautiful. The grounds were immaculate.The staff was outstanding. We were so impressed with how much fun they were, their positive attitude and their work ethic. I had to travel in a wheelchair because of an injury and they made sure that I was given assistance and transportation so that I could do everything the rest of the guests were doing. The food was very good. Our favourite was the Don Pablo restaurant. The service, presentation and menu made dining there a special event. W [... read more]e had some leaks in the ceiling of our room so that is one area that needed improvement.

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Dreams certainly lived up to their reputation!!

Beautiful and excellent resort with the best staff around --- typical of the Dreams resorts we have experienced so far. The one sprawling pool is really neat but could be a little of a downside if you are looking for a pool that is deeper than 3 feet. Definitely lots of quiet areas around the long, winding pool, however the activity area can get somewhat crowded and congested if that is where you choose to be. Food is fabulous at Dreams and Dreams Punta Cana certainly lived up to this rep [... read more]utation. And the staff ALL go above and beyond to engage guests and make them truly have a great time and be happy. It's a delight to go somewhere where there are actually too many staff to make shout-outs for!! :) We will definitely continue to have Dreams as our preferred chain to stay at when travelling to the Caribbean. A+ all the way!!!

BelleVue Dominican Bay: Bellevue Dominican Bay Hotel review

Overall, all was fine. No real hot water in the showers though, hot water tap also very low pressure. Also the main pool is currently under renovation, so that was a downer somewhat. These were my only minor beefs during my stay there during Nov 6-13/2016.