We had great weather for our trip but I was a little underwhelmed by the resort. We went there for our honeymoon and were told we would be upgraded and we would get some kind of welcome gift. The "gift" which showed up after we arrived was a cheese plate. And the room wasn't upgraded but we were told if we wanted to pay 20$ each a day we could be upgraded in a couple days. We had a "gardenview" room which faced a tree and the back of another group of rooms, not really much of a garden. The food [... read more]was bland and nothing special. We spent most of our time on the sister resort connected to ours because we found it to be a lot nicer and more relaxing.
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Jules123 -
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Bahia Principe Grand San Juan: Very nice and clean resort
Lots of good food,great people, and entertainment! Love the Pina Coladas and Banana Mammas :) We had a very nice stay here! The only bad experience was the satalite kept going out and our ride to the airport did not show up, other than that we'd be happy to visit again! :)
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QH100 -
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IFA Bavaro Village: Hotel room is not up to standard
As another customer review had pointed out, there were also bug issues with our hotel room (namely bed bug). My husband came back with severe bug bites. The resort itself needs renovation work as the hotel room facility is old and some are not functioning well.
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Ruth -
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Emotions by Hodelpa Puerto Plata: -10 rating
100% misleading advertising on-line about this hotel & some examples are: it states 4 restaurants, there is one buffet place to eat called Yatch Club (not sure if they meant Yacht), 3 days in a row broccoli, carrots, spaghetti. One nite they had a bbq outdoors, the burger I chose was infested with ants .. yes ants - the chef's reply? He shrugged his shoulders as to say oh well. In the Yatch dining room birds took a dinner roll right out of the basket that ppl wud eat out of, took a couple of nib[... read more]bles & went on his way leaving the rest of the roll for ppl like me. His brother or sister bird decided he needed a sugar fix so promptly went to a sugar bowl & took a packet of sugar. As for water in the bar fridge (forget ginger ale or cola) one day I had left a bottle from the day before, when I got to my room I had not one bottle....none. I asked repeatedly to fix the phone as when I wud call to the main desk to have water delivered I could hear them they couldn't hear me..was never fixed even tho they said they made a note of it to fix it. The phone repeatedly made noises all nite so I unplugged it to get a restful nites sleep. I ventured into the Juanto's Mexican Restaurant one evening for a change with some friends from Ontario I had made, we all sat down anxious to have something different only to be told it was the VIP restaurant & if we wanted to est we wud have to pay, thank goodness we hadn't ordered..the place had 2 other parties awaiting to eat, one of which a group of 6 more friends I had made, I told them not to eat there as they would have to pay, they left along with us. As for KOKOMOS GRILL or the Italian Restaurant ... non existent. The jaccuzi was another problem, if the water was 65 degrees that wud be saying a lot. Mini Market stated their hours fro 9 a.m. to 11 pm. if you were lucky you found them open on their own hours as in 1/.2 an hour here or 15 minutes.there 7 definately never anyone around after 5 pm. I became deathly ill Dec 21 (no not from touching their water), I couldn't get a thing fro the store cuz they were closed. Ended up having to get a friend walk to the plaza next door (5 min walk) for me as I was bed ridden with some parasite. GYMNASIUM? no such thing, looked like in the midst of remodelling (just not recently, appeared to be ongoing but ran out of money & it wasn't a priority). Laundry Service..supposedly price lists & bags in the room .. no one I knew had these. The tv's in the room came out of the ark (yes..they dd) old, small with no remote control even. I am into day 10 of still being deathly ill, on meds from the mall I had to walk to in a foreign country (travelling solo) plus meds from my family doc here due to the fact the.so called Mini Mart store was always closed. One couple I met from Ontario actually had a beautiful fruit platter waiting them in their room .. nice jesture but should be for everyone on their arrival. Bar fridge was very old, rusty inside as well. Bed sheets were the same ones for at least 4 days..never changed because I made a mark on one to prove it. Cockroach in room .. another story in itself but those critters are to be expected. As for the peddlars on the beach? Sure they can be annoying but that is how they make their living & in just one word NO or shake your head NO they will not bother you. Furthermore, pretend you are sleeping works as well. Unfathomable to think this is rated a 3.5 star .. I have stayed in 5 star facilities which should be a 10 compared to Playa Dorado Beach Resort, Puerto Plato, DR. Would I ever go back? Definately not, the best part was the ocean & the sun..yes the beach area was okay & considerably clean all things considered. On Thurs Dec 24 I was supposed to attempt a day trip (non refundable) feeling the way I did it was either go & try to make the best of it or throw more money away, I asked for a wake up call @ 7 a.m. never received a call, luckily I had hardly slept all nite in fer this would happen, just as I got to the lobby the bus was pulling away but I yelled loud enough for him to wait. On my departure date I asked for a wake up call for 8:30 a.m. in fact saw the fellow at the counter write it down with my room number, I was calked at 6:30 ....yes SIX THIRTY, as long as the person on the front desk called me back we cud talk on the phone otherwise it didn't work, I told him to call me back at 8:30 as I had originally asked for, what time did he call me back? 9 a.m. This was my 3rd trip to the DR & my last very sadly to say.
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AnnaVPbilan13942015 -
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Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Great vacation
I had perfect fun vacation. I would like to go back! Some people had problems with room but my room was fantastic. Alcohol and parties were great. The only thing I didn't like is animation team but overall I enjoyed my experience.
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Blue eyes -
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Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: resort is way too big
You can't walk around to see everything you need a trolley to get around. The food was terrible and unless you speak Spanish good luck on getting someone who really understand English I would not go back and a lot of people I spoke to said the same very disappointed
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Meena -
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Paradise Playa Dorada: Great resort!
This is a resort with great food and a beautiful beach. The kids club is very well run as well. Lots of vegetarian options everyday at the buffet and the a la carte Italian restaurant was outstanding.
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Fan of Puerto Plata -
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Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Be Live Puerto Plata is beautiful!
Our Christmas week family vacation at Be Live Puerto Plata was wonderful! Our rooms in block 3 were very nice, and clean thanks to our housekeeper Clara. Blondie, Danny Boy, Mosquito (Luis) and others kept us delightfully entertained. The wide variety of food was fresh, well prepared, and delicious. Our egg chef cheerfully made delicious omelettes and eggs to order. The Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals were extra special. The pool and grounds were nicely decorated for Christmas and well mai[... read more]ntained. All the staff, including Norvin the Sunwing representative, were very friendly and helpful. A bell boy arranged for a local taxi to take us the cathedral for Christmas Day Mass and we were well served by driver Jose Vasquez, who stayed with us for 3 three hours and gave us a great tour of Puerto Plata. Junior and Ramon from Outback Safari did a great job on our excursion into the countryside. We finished up with an excellent massage at the hotel spa. All in all, we were very satisfied with everything.
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Family travel -
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Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Huge resort!
Most lush and green grounds we have ever seen at a sun resort. Impeccably clean also. Shuttles run every few minutes but a short walk if you prefer to wear off the food and drink! Beautiful beach area.
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Valentina -
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Grand Sirenis Tropical Suites: Ok, family vacation.
The hotel needs serious remodeling. It's very run down.
The staff was great. That's the only good thing.
The food was ok. Nothing great.
The rooms were terrible. 2 star at best.
Drinks had hardly any alcohol it them.
Desserts not good at all.
Entertainers were good.
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Gabi555 -
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Tropical Deluxe Princess: Beautifully done gardens and great beach!
I start with what I love about this hotel, this is our second time to this hotel, I love the colorful outside walls of the hotel also the hotel grounds are huge so there is a good long walk to the lobby with curvy roads and ponds and wild birds and turtles along the path. The beach is perfect shallow and warm and turquoise color. The rooms are spacious and have free bottle water and soft drinks in mini fridge. There is a safe in the room and free with sunwing , otherwise they said you have to pa[... read more]y to use it. The beds are hard to sleep on and the bed cover is a sheet and blanket and a thin bed cover so I was missing a fluffy feel of a comforter, also pillow is flat did not support my head . We had good AC in the room, but no water pressure or hot water , kind of useless to install a HUGE shower head in each bathroom if there is only dripping water coming out of some of its holes of the shower head. Our room was big and clean, we got 2 rooms with 2 bathrooms , one room had 2 queen size bed and the other 1 queen size bed with a door separating them. Now lets talk about the food, we ate buffet every day as with this hotel you can only choose 2 other restaurants out of the 5. So there are a lot of variety of food to eat but the taste is usually disappointing, there is not much taste to anything, fish was good and the fried eggplant , my kids ate a lot of pasta and fries and we tried almost everything. Desserts were boring , only the vanilla custard was good and one of the coconut desert and the round brownies. Close to the beach there is a place to eat crepes, they have also ice cappuccino and other desserts, the crepes are hard tasteless and thick, could not eat it. Needs to change the recipes for the crepes, the internet is full of good recipes, should not be that hard to make it right. So over all, the hotel grounds are like paradise and the beach is perfect, everything is clean, but food and bed and the cold shower needs big improvement otherwise this Hotel will not able to maintain its 4 starts.
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Bob68 -
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Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: wonderful
I can say that this resort met or exceeded all my expectations. There were a few issues however. 1. It took 3 days to get our air conditiong repaired. 2. The advertised christmas mass at midnight christmas eve. When we arrived we were informed it was cancelled with no prior notice. 3. We bought tickets on christmas day to attemd the Carabana party that eas advertised all over. Once again on arrival we were informed it was cancelled. Frustrating that at the very least they could have informed us.[... read more] And last. All nee arrivals recieved a gift bag. We did not. When ee enquired about it they said they were all out. This was on our 6th day there. If thede situations did not happen. I would have given 5 star review.
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Caro24 -
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Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Amazing resort
Exceptional hotel. Food was great, the rooms were clean, there was lots of activities for kids and adult. My kids really enjoyed the teen club. The staff are reliable, friendly, always available, etc.
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Davy Vieira -
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Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Be live collection. Puerto plata
The overall location and common areas are well laid out. Good number of activities. Great food. The staff are very courteous particularly Andre or fondly called Chihuahua who went out of the way to make our stay pleasant.
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Freedson -
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Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: ok value for money but not great for families
Good value for money. Not great amenities for families. No activities for teenagers especially in the evening. Room ok. Service ok but need to tip heavily. Beach right next to sewer canal that empties into the ocean so don't recommend swimming at the beach.
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Yogi -
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Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Punta Cana: Best resort we've been to
Spa was awesome. Many pools and places to eat. Food was ok, better than average for a resort, but nothing too amazing. Rooms were very nice, spacious and very clean. Overall great resort, would definitely recommend.
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Mickeycarrr -
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Bahia Principe Grand San Juan: Nice staff, had fun, but beware the sand fleas!
Stayed at the resort from 12/12/2015 for a week, I was advised the place was recently renovated. I couldn't really tell, I believe they just painted everything white?
My room:
-It was very close to the main lobby and buffet restaurant. A nice room on the 2nd level with a few palm trees blocking my view from the ocean.
-shower pressure weaker than a drinking fountain horrible unless you shower at 3am (this is pressure is normal apparently when conversing with my friends in 4 other separate rooms [... read more]across the resort). When the staff called to ask me about how the room was, I advised them the shower pressure was horrible. They advised me it will be looked at in the future. (probably just working out the kinks after the renovation)
-FYI. Toilets get easily clogged. so flush constantly :)
-TV works but has only 1 channel, you have to do a channel scan and maybe you'll get about 10 channels. (i learned this from some random people at the resort I spoke with)
-mini fridge was stacked with beer, pop, and 1 large bottle of water daily. this was very useful.
Restaurants:
The main buffet - open during the normal meal times. Becomes the late night snack bar at 11pm. Note: my flight arrived at 9:30pm, takes 1 hr to get from POP airport to this resort. We arrived at 10:30pm starving, apparently no food was open, no one at the snack bar restaurant spoke any English, the reception kept pointing us that way and not telling me that it wont open until 11pm (which they actually opened late at around 11:30pm that Saturday night) leaving us frustrated and annoyed. Late night snack bar only had burgers, hot dogs and nachos. only later to find out in the week, they can fry you some bacon, make grilled cheese and ham sandwiches only if you ask.
Mediterranean restaurant - A very nice indoor restaurant, tiny portioned food, but very good in quality. No complaints here (Although I went to the buffet to eat a little more afterwards as I was not full.)
Japanese Restaurant - The food menu was okay, Sushi quality was about the "all you can eat standard", the duck was the same taste as the Mediterranean restaurant, nothing really stood out here. This restaurant is outdoors, so beware the bugs at night
Italian restaurant - I have to recommend the lasagna as your entree and have some pizzas to share as an appetizers as I was in a large group. The pizza quality is definitely better than the buffet pizzas. the mini appetizer buffet there was good quality as well. I wish we could go there twice.
Daytime Snack bar - This place is very far on the west side of the resort. (where all the some of the sand fleas are) and where all the flies land on the open food. this is the only place you are allowed to get food if you are still wet from the pool. Otherwise you have to change into dry clothing to get into the buffet.
Amenities:
Tennis/basketball courts/Mini golf - TONS of tiny micro sized SAND FLEAS, stay away. On top of that, the staff in that area always wants to play basketball with you (more than do his job). Which was nice if we had an odd number of players, but I felt bad for the families trying to get equipment for mini putt or tennis.
Gym - No treadmill surprisingly. Just weights, bikes and ellipticals, very old and run down, smells like B.O. I just went for a run around the resort instead. I don't think they renovated that area yet as there were some construction guys just outside as I was working out.
Pools - The main pool is very big no issues there, the two small pools have a good amount of sand fleas but once you're in the pool, they wont bother you.
Casino - Get an air-conditioner in there please. The room was hotter than outdoors due to all the slot machines. No one played in there because of the heat. (Bad move as I went in there to play, won money, and left within 5 mins due to the heat) Otherwise I would have stayed and probably lost my winnings.
Shows - The magic show and the dancing group from the city were good. All the other shows I had no idea what was going on. The lip syncing parts every day just hurt until it became funny as how bad they were. (their dancing skills are top notch on all the shows though)
WiFi - I paid $70USD for the week, it works everywhere except the disco and karaoke. Speeds were about 300kbs, not spectacular, but good enough for video calling through we-chat or face time/google hangout. main lobby has free wifi for 1 hour
Beach - stacked with sand fleas. they get bloodthirsty around 6am to 9am, and 4pm to 6pm, so stay away during those times. otherwise they are manageable throughout the day. The Ocean water is greyish green, not clear anywhere unless you drive out on a tour. the beach is tough and dirty, the ocean water is nice and warm during the day. they definitely need to spray something on the beach to kill these fleas, my legs have about 50 bites a leg. the mosquitoes didn't even bite me more than 10 times all over.
Drinks:
-The only place to get liquor after 11pm is the disco and karaoke area (side by side)
-after about 2:30am, the only place to get wine or beer only is the late night buffet snack bar area.
All in all this is a nice place to meet and mingle with strangers and was very relaxing. if that is all that you are looking for. Excursions are too far away, maybe the only excursion which I heard mixed reviews on was the $75 jungle bus tour. Most of them good, some bad.
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Geneous -
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Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Very beautiful resort
The beach and grounds at this resort was very clean and well maintained !! Very friendly staff and dining areas were clean and food was delicious !! Rooms were very comfortable and clean !! Room service and housekeeping was well organized and polite
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Lisa22 -
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Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Awesome Family Vacation!
Stayed at the resort from December 13-20, 2015. Check in was quick and easy, and our rooms were perfect! (5232, 5233). Quite happy with positioning as far as resort location, and view! The service was awesome... Found the staff friendly and accommodating. Food was good.. I really did feel that there was always something you could find that was good... Lunch seemed like the best selection to me? The best a la carte in our opinion was the Steak house.. we went 3 times! We also tried Italian and Me[... read more]xican.. I would give it Fair... but we spoke to others who totally loved it! Vincente, our server in the Steak house was exceptional! We did find it a little challenging to find chairs where we wanted them, but we managed :) Rooms were clean, and our fridge was always well stocked. I would definitely recommend this resort. The only thing is if you are looking for a small resort, this is not for you...this resort is huge! It never felt too busy or crowded...but it is definitely large!
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Happily return -
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Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: amazing resort
i really like the grounds plenty of shade,very clean,great food ,lots of entertainment both day and night . I would recommend this resort to any age.I guess I am a bit biest i have been to this resort 5 times .