Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Relaxing Week

BlueBay is a small, older resort on a beautiful beach. For the size they offer a good variety of amenities. Rooms were clean. We had two beds pushed together as a ‘king’. No sitting area and one very little drawer for clothes, in the closet. Bathroom clean, new, but again, everything very small. Buffet had good selection, booked the 3 Ala Carte. Jade was our favourite. Staff consistently very warm and attentive. Several knew our names within the first day. Loved dancing to DJ musi [... read more]c at the beach restaurant. Construction noise (no fault of BB) annoying. Hard to hear the ocean waves over the sound of builders. Someone posted pics of a dirty/littered beach. Not sure where they were taken, the BB beach was cleaned daily of seaweed and debris. We loved walking along the ocean beach through the Playa Doradas complex and felt very safe. Vendors on the beach were respectful of a ‘No Gracias’, but we often had interesting conversations with the regulars. I had an amazing hour-long massage on the beach from Cecelia, for a third of the spa cost. Overall, relaxing week in the sun and sand: just what we wanted.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Great place, but.......

We had the 'superior' room and it was so lacking in storage. There was a small three drawer dresser in the closet that was maybe 24" high. No dresser in the room, nowhere to sit, no couch and worst of all two double beds in some sort of large bed joke. Even a Queen sized bed would have been ok but the two beds pushed together, fully separate sheets and blankets was a joke. Bathroom had virtually no counter space. ON a positive note, the food, grounds, pool, staff and virtually every aspect  [... read more]was great except for the room itself which was like 1 out of 10.

Casa Marina Reef Resort: Good value for the money

I must start off by saying that our requests...which had been sent in with our purchase of this trip were completely ignored. We specifically requested a ground floor room as far away from the main pool area as possible. We were put on the 3rd floor, right near the pool! They OVERBOOKED the resort by 30 rooms! Thankfully, they own a second resort and they got us a ground floor room the next day after talking with Franklin. The food was excellent at the buffet restaurant and varied. I [... read more] would not recommend eating at the Mexican restaurant....it was not worth it. The Italian and the Seafood restaurants were very good. The staff was amazing! They were extremely helpful and courteous! Several things that we were very frustrated with: Due to the extreme weather, the beaches were closed most of this trip. As a result, there were no lounges to be had. People save them overnight and you cannot get anywhere to sit during these types of days. We also were not able to get dry beach towels for the first 3 days...also due to people leaving them out overnight on the lounges....and then changing these in for the dry ones. Also, the fact that they want to CHARGE you for the internet is absurd. You do not even get it in the lobby....and the price they want to charge for it is Rediculous! If you need data and internet, take you cell phone and walk down the street to the grocery store or to the cell phone store for a sim card.....cost about $12. And lasts more than a week! (These are the reasons why I would not return again.) The staff make this place worth staying at. The rooms are nice. Being so close the town is a bonus if you like to explore.

Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort: Great Resort!

Resort was great overall. Staff are very friendly and accommodating! Rooms need updating but still it was comfortable staying there. Our rooms was cleaned everyday, towels are changed and in room drinks are refilled often. There are fun activities to do everyday in the resort which makes 7day vacation enjoyable and worthwhile.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Family friendly

Very clean, everything is so close, great food, day entertainment was good but night time could use some better events. Not crowded and staff very good and friendly, speak good English. Beautiful views of ocean from a lot of the rooms.

Playabachata Hotel: Not Amazing and less then ok!

Ok so I checked into my room. It wasn’t cleaned. I have a syringe on the night table, the so called bar was dirty, the fridge was broken and it still had another guests things in the room. THE BED WAS MADE THOUGH!! If you can get over some of the social class idiots from the Senator you’re good. They only think they are of a higher social class but trust me they are not! Restaurants were nothing special. Order the chicken at either. Buffet was good. Staff was friendly. I’m a germ freak S [... read more]o it was bad off the hop. Beach is mediocre.

Viva Tangerine by Wyndham: Great, small family friendly resort!

Exactly what we expected. Great family resort with wonderful staff. Rooms and resort in general was very clean. Staff was very friendly and accommodating. Would highly recommend here as a great low key holiday!

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Just OK

The grounds are very nice. The food was decent at the buffets. The staff work very hard serving coffee wine and water. The Ocean Grill and Octopus restaurants were very good. Had sea bass and surf and turf that was really good. Did not enjoy the Italian restaurant though. Had pork cutlets with marsala sauce and they were very hard to cut and were not tender. I guess I should have complained at the time. We had a noisy room overlooking the pool. When we stayed there before we had a quiet r [... read more]oom that overlooked the grassy area which was more suited to us. I also must say that the drinks were terrible. I don't think I had anything that I really enjoyed.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Big Resort

This is a resort made up of older and newer buildings. Get ready for a lot of up hill walking although there are shuttles. We had an ocean view room which was very nice compared to what we were told about some of the other rooms. In regards to the main buffet restaurant it is quite the uphill walk to get to. So take this into account with children and mobility issues. The staff were very friendly and the food was quit good. lots of areas where some people can go and some can't. There are differe [... read more]nt levels of VIP wrist bands - again our wrist band allowed us into one area but it was a bit of a walk to get to. These VIP areas give you complimentary WIF and better food and drink choices. But you are packed in like sardines in a very small area. There are beds in these portions of the beach but you need to get there early. The first day we arrived the beach was very dirty but it got better as the week went on. Be careful of the offer to show you around the resort on a VIP tour. It's actually a 'timeshare' tour. Has some very good things to offer you if you are looking to invest. I don't think we will return.

Presidential Suites Cabarete: An interesting experience combining all-inclusive with timeshare...

Beautiful facility half on the beach, half facing the mountains, clean, friendly service, great food (buffet, one a la carte), marvelous rooms, nice pools. Mainly a timeshare location with all-inclusive suites, so more like a nice hotel with amenities vs a traditional, immersive all-inclusive resort. Facility split by main highway, so noisy 24/7 Aggressive VIP Club/timeshare employees. Had to sneak into buffet via beach bar to avoid them at main entry

Viva Tangerine by Wyndham: Nice resort

Staff are very friendly and helpful. This resort is spotless , always being kept clean. Beautiful view from almost anywhere on the resort. We would return for sure ! Very close to town , nice walk on the beach into Cabaret . Short drive to Sosua or just stay and relax on the beach. Always a chair available .

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Amazing resort

The senator spa resort hotel is a great place to stay if you decide to go to the deminacan republic I had a awesome time & the staff we very professionally outstanding team thank you all Jackie chan .

Presidential Suites Cabarete: Wonderful place!

The grounds are directly on a main road running through Cabarete so very noisy. This is a new hotel so everything is still shiny and new and well maintained. The room we had was very spacious and up to date. The pools were very nice, clean and cool. The beach would disappear with the tide on many occasions and there were days when you could not get on the beach. The staff were all very good. Mosquito, lizbeth were especially fun and entertaining. Great fresh food at all the restaurants, great fo [... read more]od overall.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Amazing resort

Tres bon service. le personnel est a notre ecoute. L endroit tres propre n. Nouriture tres bon et beaucoup de choix. Les seveurs nous reconnaisaient apres 2 jours et encore plus apres 1 ans. Tres belle accueille.

Playabachata Hotel: Okay

The hotel is set on a beautiful location with a nice beach and clear waters. The food was okay, there was very little different items from day to day and as long as you don't mind eating the same thing over and over again for a week you will be ok. Outside of a few limit staff members that were friendly(in the buffet section) the rest were hostile when you tried to speak to them. Almost like you were wasting their time. The room was dirty from the moment we got there til we left. We asked for ne [... read more]w sheets as the ones we had were stained and had a died bug on it..still waiting on those. The white towels had stains we were never given a facecloth and the toilet was gross. Would I go back to this hotel for the view yes for two waiters that were beyond nice yes....for any other reason not a chance.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Quiet Gem

This was our first time to the Dominican Republic. The resort was clean and tidy. Staff very friendly. Food was excellent. The a la carte restaurants were excellent and offered food not availbe at the buffet which was nice. Airport was close and we were wisked off to the resort and did not have to wait around. We did an excursion (Cable car, rum tour, etc.) which was great.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Rundown Resort

The whole place was rundown. Broken and uneven tiles to walk on around the resort, landscaping was neglected. I was disappointed from our rep from Trip Central saying it was comparable to an Iberostar, Not even close. They need to be honest and direct us to a proper resort that is comparable to where she asked us where we usually go.The buffet was not good food except when they has a Gala night at the buffet. Dry buns, bread and dessert, Always the same. The Al E Carts were okay. The resort was  [... read more]not nice to walk around, they are not maintaining the buildings or resort area. The pictures online are false advertising. When we checked in at our room the door was wide open, We were all disappointed when we walked into our rooms, bare and poor looking. Our air, TV and safe did not work. Busted shower head on the floor. Our friends rooms was not even cleaned but was checked into it. It took about 3 hours of sitting and waiting for someone to come and fix, but eventually they had us switch rooms. We had to beg for clean towels, soap, clean glasses (after cleaning they would turn our dirty glasses upside down) to look clean. We had the bare minimum. The pool was always noisy The stage was surrounding a lot of the rooms so it was hard to get away from the noise at night. We were told it was a quite place. Never going back

Presidential Suites Cabarete: vacations in the city

The hotel is located in two parts separated by a very busy street, the main road east. It is located in Cabarete, a rather ugly town. My windows were on the street and I was not able to open a window or use the balcony. There is a very loud noise from the street and the pollution is terrible (trucks and motorbikes 24h). The street is so busy that hotel has security guards who help people cross the street. I asked for another room but despite promises I have not gotten it (although there were two [... read more] buildings on the pool side empty). Practically there is no beach. Most of the time I stayed (2 weeks) it was completely covered by waves. There is no common place where people could gather in the case of rain (a very small place in WW bar is open to the sea and windy rains) and we could only stay in rooms. People were allowed to use glassware in the pool and on the beach which is dangerous. The hotel asked $3/day for safe and $15/day for Wi-Fi (in all other places I visited in Dominican Rep. they were free-Wi-Fi in the lobby!). There are very many staff people trying aggressively to convince vacationers to join the Vacation Club (VIP) and pay additionally for it. I was promised to get another room if I join it. The advertisements were misleading, promising rooms with pool or sea view and it was never stated that this is not a resort but a hotel in the town. Food was ok, but in the Italian restaurant some main dished were burned and hard and impossible to eat. I understand that some people with the ocean view could like it but I prefer a resort far from the city and pollution.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Great experience,

Hotel was excellent , food best in DR yet, Very impressed by their introduction of elimination of single use plastics and water filtration system. First hotel ever to offer face clothes daily and ice machines.

Casa Marina Reef Resort: Subpar Resort

Front desk unfriendly but food/bar service and dancers were lovely. Air Transat staff helpful when around. Resort somewhat rundown but pools nice. A la cartes could’ve been better, seafood surprisingly terrible. Not many night time bar options.