Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Horrible room customer service.

Starting off with the positive aspect of this resort; the staff was terrific they always greeted us warmly since we were there for my brothers wedding (which was beautiful). We met a baby sitter, named Yelena I believe, who took care of my niece and even decorated my brother in law's room for his birthday! The major complaint I had, which certainly ruined the rest of out stay, was the customer service (or lack thereof). We came back to our rooms after a night at the disco (third day in) and as  [... read more]we go to take showers the water completely stops so we called guest services to get it fixed. 2 hours later, it turns on and when it does a foul sewage smell was coming out of the bathtub. We called guest services again the next day because we couldn't stand the smell and it took them 2.5 hours for someone to come in, they sent someone to pour fragrance down the tub and spray cologne all over the room. This made it smell incredibly worse since the smell was still there. I repeatedly told them that the smell was coming due to the water draining from the pipe that needs to be injected back in. I filled up the tub in order to stop the smell. Another 3 hours later I was able to speak to the manager who told me the solution "wasn't that easy" when it was. After complaining further she sent someone to fix it (IT ONLY TOOK THEM 20 MIN TO FIX). We recieved no compensation for this until we went to guest services and they gave us a bottle of rum... Which was no where near what we deserved for a whole day wasted battling this smell. It is very unfortunate to have experienced this because the rest of the resort and trip was delightful. I would strongly suggest Esmeralda updates their customer service protocol. Because if you ever run into any problems regarding your room, good luck.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: OMG You gotta stay here!

We are returning fans of the Iberostar Costa Dorada. Cannot say enough about how well you are treated. From the front desk, cooking, cleaning, grounds keepers, bartenders, meal servers... THEY ARE ALL THE BEST! The entertainers are amazingly wonderful. Wow, these guys and girls make sure you have an enjoyable and memorable trip. Chocolate, Chocolaka, Pepsi Cola, Blackie...(cannot remember everyones names:() There was always something to do. Great for all ages, the activities had something for ev [... read more]eryone. The pool was clean, thank you cleaning staff!! Food was AMAZING!! So much variety hard to choose & always available. Very clean & always well kept. Food 24/7, the late night snack is a full on buffet. Pool buffet is huge, gotta try the guac! Loved the local musicians every night, lots of room to dance. The Star Band is spot on. The beach is beautiful, the trees are welcoming in the hot sun. Hats off to the beach groomers that keep the beach a wonderful sight. The beach party was a blast. The orchid garden is wonderfully beautiful and great for pictures. They grow their own mint and aloe vera for use on the resort! Live flamingos & peacocks roaming around. Very cool, got a chance to see the babies this year. Will be returning with a larger group next year. Thank you Julian, my private guide for chocolate and honey :)) Check out the Del Oro organic chocolate factory, finest you will every indulge in. See you soon!!!

Punta Cana Princess: Great Time!

This was our first time south and we were not disappointed. the food and service was great. The animation team was fantastic and always entertaining. We were always able to find chairs by the pool and beach no matter what time we went. The beach beds were amazing! The only negatives I had was the merchant by the pool bothered you every time you walked passed. I requested a top floor room and was given a room on the bottom floor. The sunwing rep recommended that we visit a shop 'Nicole' down the  [... read more]road and it was a complete waste of time unless you want to buy cigars and expensive jelwery.

Occidental Caribe: Would not go back ever!!!!!

My group and I were at this hotel about five years ago and it was great, but this hotel has become poorly run causing sickness in two of the six people I travelled with. My wife became so sick she had to spend four days in intensive care at the hospitan Punta Cana and another four days in emergency care back home, and a total of two weeks in the hospital. The rooms were nice, hot water was not consistant, the bars all smelled bad, alot of the plumbing in the common areas did not work, most of th [... read more]e staff could only speak Spanish. If they were to put in some new staff and elbow grease cleaning and fixing the place up it may be worth visiting, but I will never go back not even if you paid me.

Barcelo Bavaro Beach: Wonderful time

We had a wonderful and relaxing time. The staff are friendly without being in your face all the time. I noticed that they did not chat and visit a lot among themselves while working and this is class! They had the best smiles ever. My husband has dementia. ALL the staff and the guests were helpful, kind, considerate and friendly to us. The rooms were quiet,spacious and clean. They had the best pillows ever!

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Terrific Location

lush grounds, cleaner rooms, energetic and polite personnel, delicious dining, people flocked to the rocky part of the beach, enjoyed the nonstop activities on the pool, and of course gazed at the beautiful surrounding hills. Also had a private cable car excursion, visited E&F mountain park, market, castle, museum ..etc All for a very reasonable price ,Sure, it is one of the places I would return to.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Great resort

Excellent stay at the Ocean Blue. The food, room and amenities are all top notch. The staff was friendly and went out of their way to ensure we had a great stay. I had to call the front desk on arrival due to a safe issue. The issue was promptly fixed max 10 min before the repairman showed up. I have nothing but good things to say about this place.

Zel Punta Cana - All Suites: What a wonderful, luxurious place to stay!

We could not have had a better holiday than we did! Our room was spectacular, service was one of the best, and the food was delicious! I would highly recommend this resort to friends, and we will definitely be back!

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Perfect for all ages!

we loved the pools, water park, restaurants, shows and beach! Everyone was friendly and it was very family oriented. We felt safe and comfortable and enjoyed all the meals. Shops were located right outside for souvenirs and a medical centre on the resort. Hotel rooms were updated and clean. Would go there again!

Iberostar Waves Dominicana: Staff went above and beyond for us!

This was a beautiful resort, the grounds were gorgeous. Well maintained rooms with a balcony. The staff were exceptional. Every wish was their pleasure to provide for us. We travelled as a group of 5 woman. We felt safe, the staff took exceptional care of us. The food was excellent. Lobster and grilled lamb at lunches. Breakfasts were everything you could wish for. Dinners awesome as well. The nightly shows were fun. The staff were always happy and dancing and ready to make you laugh. We were ev [... read more]en lucky in the casino!! I highly recommend this resort. Jose and Maria were lots of fun....and Chocolate...what can I say....excellent dancer. Thanks everyone. We will see you again...soon. Kathy from Canada.

Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Resort was a dream!

Would definitely go here again. The rooms were wonderful the bed was huge we got a Jacuzzi tub. The pools were great it was hardly occupied because we went in off-season. Weather said it was going to rain every day but it only rained for five minutes one day. All the lounging areas around the resort looked like they came out of a magazine. We got to dine outside all the time at the regular buffet which was surrounded by a pond filled with flamingos and white herons. Wildlife was amazing, turtles [... read more], birds, and there was a closed in area where they kept iguanas. The main bar was excellent. the beach was filled with seaweed but they cleared it by 10 every morning. Staff was very friendly, landscaping staff cut out down fresh coconuts for is when we asked, please tip them! We did two excursions recommended to us by our tripcentral trip advisor that we booked before coming, guaranteed to be cheaper or on par. I would not recommend doing this. It's way too much stress, and lots of fine print that will void your excursion, like it said transportation included and we specified where to pick us up but if you read further after you paid and confirmed you would see you needed to arrange transportation 48 hours in advance, and the number they left couldn't be reached and the local rep they gave us was no where to be found and hotel staff didn't speak enough English to help. Eventually we figured it out and all was amazing, but I would just recomemd booking with your local rep when you get there so you know for sure what's happening.

Occidental Caribe: Great

Great hotel with a lot of activities for all ages. Amazing, clean beach area with lots of shade and sun. A lot of choices for A La Cartes and always a delicious selection at the buffet. Friendly staff and Night entertainment at the theater was excellent - however, for late late night fun only 1-2 bars are open and not a lot to do besides the disco which was just okay. Complaints - pools closed earlier (530 pm) and I unfortunately encountered an emergency situation where the front desk/night-staf [... read more]f was extremely uninformative/helpful - did not mention or call on-site doctor for an emergency situation.

Royalton Punta Cana Resort: Amazing resort!

The resort was renovated approximately 1.5 years ago. Looks modern and stylish. The accommodation, food, service, the beach and atmosphere was great! Had an amazing time! We would definitely recommend it to family and friends.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: So so average

This place is nothing like it claims to be. The only saving grace is that the staff are incredible. I have traveled a lot i've never encountered staff like this. Every employee was willing to help you or direct you to what you needed. If you're a couple, this would be really chill place to hang for a week.

Sunscape Dominican Beach: Amazing resort!

Ill keep it simple, the hotel room was clean and everything worked as it should. the food was great, I didn't get any upset stomach nor nausea after meals (its always a concern when travelling). The people were so friendly whether tipped or not, and I appreciated that they took the time to answer our concerns! The only thing is that, I went in the down season (end of may)where there is less travelers, so the on site club was pretty boring lool. Overall, I loved going to Dominican and ill probabl [... read more]y go back in the future!

Zel Punta Cana - All Suites: This is THE RESORT you should stay at.

I had the BEST week at the Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real. Going in, I wasn’t convinced that the upgrade to the Reserve section would be worthwhile but after experiencing it I can say it’s the ONLY way to go! The resort was beautiful (both the Paradisus and Reserve), the food was great (I think I gained about 10 lbs), but what made this trip for me was the service. If you like a nice spot to lounge, this is the resort for you. It’s a huge and spacious resort yet you can’t walk more tha [... read more]n five steps without passing a nice lounge/hangout spot by the pool, by the bar, at the beach, in the lobby. It’s as though every spot to sit is the “best” spot so you never need to stake out a good spot like at some resorts. The Reserve is the ideal spot to relax. There’s lots happening in the kiddie area for young families and the rest of the areas on the reserve tend to be quiet and relaxing. There is always plenty of staff around and they go out of their way to get anything you want, all you have to do is ask – at times you don’t even need to ask! If you’re looking for something a little more lively, just head to the main part of the Paradisus – the open air bar is beautiful and there’s lots of live entertainment/dancing. The lobby bar has a really impressive cocktails, and the disco goes strong. Buffet on the Paradisus side was awesome, buffet at the reserve side was good for a quick stop, restaurants were awesome, grill by the pool on the reserve was great (the cooks there are really fantastic). Room service is included – don’t be shy to ask for champagne with your room service breakfast! Service – VIP all the way! We arrived in the evening without any dinner reservations and the hostess, Angela, took care of us. The concierge service at the beach was amazing, big thanks to Ornando and Wilken who not only kept our drinks filled but also accommodated beach seating for our group and continued to move chairs over as needed. At no point in our stay did we need to carry around a towel card – the staff always made sure there were towels available to us. Thanks again to all the staff who really made our stay a vacation to remember.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Great Times!

Beautiful hotel! Loved the adults only. Great service, clean facility and good food. Would have liked more activity and music around the Ambar 1 pool during the day. It was a little dead. The entertainment is geared towards an older crowd than my husband and I in our thirties. Overall wonderful vacation and would definitely return.

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Way better than Expected

We booked a Last Minute trip - (booked Wed evening, left Sat), and selected Memories Splash from our available choices. Boy were we surprised! From the speedy check in, to the check out a week later, and many visits to the Front Desk because we'd lost or deactivated our room keys, the Front Desk team were amazing. We were in Building 7, as requested at the time of our booking, no issues, rooms were plenty big, beds comfy, linens clean and crisp. Housekeeping does an amazing job of keeping the ro [... read more]oms clean, and in a timely fashion. The food was the best I've ever had in the Dominican and I'm there about 2-3 times in a year. The choices, the quality, the freshness left absolutely nothing to be desired. The A La Carte restaurants were equally as good, and we ventured over to the Royalton one evening for Japanese ($15/person) which was also very good. Best restaurant for me at least was Under the Sea - but only by a slim margin as the Italian and Mexican were equally as good. Service was perfect at all of them, as it was at the Buffett. Not a problem finding a beach chair, palappa, or lounger at the pool the entire week. the fact that you had to walk through the Royalton to get to the beach was probably my biggest issue of the week (and only issue). Usually I go to Adults Only resorts, however at this one you hardly ever heard crying children, I think they were all too busy doing activities! Would definitely go back, and highly recommend it to families, singles. There is just so much to do, and such a nice resort and excellent staff to do it with!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Beautiful resort, excellent service!

The room was very spacious and cleaned twice a day, the food was excellent (several restaurants and buffets available), and the staff were amazing! All in all, a wonderful stay at Ambar. Highly recommend!

Zel Punta Cana - All Suites: Absolutely beautiful!

The hotel itself was amazing! It was clean & comfortable. The beach needed to be raked a few more times because there was a lot of seaweed. The food was good. I wouldn't recommend the extra restaurant called Passion. Wasn't worth the money. Staff was friendly & very helpful. If you're coming with a big group expect to be split up at the restaurants. They ca not accommodate over 15 people.