VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Great vacation - fantastic staff, prompt service

Overall I felt this was a great vacation experience, particularly at the price point we bought at under $1000 including flight. The hotel is a bit older and the room was a bit dated (we were across the road at the smaller pool) but was very clean. The towel rack needed some attention and the air conditioning was basically full on or full off, no middle ground. Wasn't really a huge concern but wanted to point out. The staff at this resort are great. I've been to a lot of different places an [... read more]d what I see here are happy staff who are friendly and there to help anyway they can. The entertainment was pretty basic but the entertainment crew were a fun bunch - shout outs to CoccoLoco69, Rayson and the little guy in particular. The pool is a bit aged but they were just in the process of closing it down for renovations, thankfully the same day that we left. It wouldn't have been a fun experience without the main pool area and swim up bar opened as we are pool people. When completed the pool could be 5/5 stars. The beach is nice with plenty of shady spots. The vendors can be a bit much at times but I'm a pretty big guy so they took the hint when I would tell the more aggressive to buzz off. My girlfriend got a fantastic massage - bargain hard they come in high with their prices but will come down if you haggle. Food was pretty good overall. Not 5 star food but decent and plenty of selection. The specialty restaurants could have been a bit better to raise the bar over the buffet food but no real complaints.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: Wonderful resort

This hotel beats all expectations! Beautifully styled and landscaped, pools are lovely. Beach is private and clean. Lots of options for food and bars are great too! The staff is personable and helpful and remember you and your drink order for the whole stay. Felix from bliss spa was great, and Angela gave the best relaxation massages. Felix also helped us to book a snorkel excursion as our airline rep was unavailable and sosua has the best reefs to see and right off our beach! The upgraded r [... read more]ooms are lovely and we look forward to staying in the new adults only part at Select Casa Marina when we return in 2020

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Worth Every Penny

The resort is small in size, but it makes up for it in service, and the beach. The staff are amazing, accommodating, and they make you feel like family. The beach was the best part; clean, and relaxing

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: All around good resort

The Trasnsat rep was informative and helpful. Resort staff were friendly. Small problem with the air conditioner in our room, so the hotel upgraded us to a junior suite. They were quick to respond to this. The food in all the restaurants was very good. The beach and the pools were excellent. Entertainment was good. The hotel grounds were kept clean. The only mess i saw was from the ignorant guests at the resort. I wonder if they make such a mess in there own homes. Large resort with lots of le [... read more]vels. We needed the exercise from all the good food we ate.

Paradise Playa Dorada: A mostly relaxing vacation

Hotel is only approximately 20 minutes from the airport . The grounds are kept perfectly pool also kept clean. Staff are very friendly. Food was average could always find something to eat but a small selection,always had pasta and soup as a stand by. The animation team are just ok dont go out of their way to engage guests My only complaint would be the lack of hot water most days one day was non existent, would also be convenient to have a coffee maker in room . House keepers do a fantasti [... read more]c job well at least mine did

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Sunscape Puerto Plata

We've just returned from 2 weeks here. It's a pretty resort with a small beach. No problems finding chairs or shade. The menu was repetitious but always good. I was impressed with its cleanliness and wonderful staff who were willing to make your stay as pleasant as possible. The pools were always clean and inviting. We would return in the future.

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Not the one expected according to the reviews!

Pros: 1-Service in the buffet was generally good, very good memories for the service and the food in the restaurants in the second floor both sides before going to Coco Caffee. 2-Grounds were well maintained. 3-Quiet resort during the week days, it was a low season. 4-Rooms were clean and spacious. 5-Fair distance form the rooms to the beach. Cons: 1-Beach not as expected, water not crystal clear and a bad smell through out the beach. 2-Uncovered sewing stream crossing the resort, [... read more] very close to the beach, one restaurant and the buildings. Not acceptable for a touristic resort. 3-Anoying and load vendors all day long in the beach, smth. should be done to stop them. 4-Air conditioning service was interrupted during the day, even when the temperatures were over 30C. 5-Lack of food in the buffet, we haven't tried fish almost at all, even though sea was so close. 6-Noisy vendors that came inside the resort during the weekend.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Amazing resort

First of all we would like to thank Trip Central Trivia where Carol Field (my wife) won this trip from and also Rachel Guindon who handled all of the paperwork for us flawlessly from the day we won it in February. I had notified Be Live hotels that we would be celebrating our anniversary while there and on arrival we were welcomed with a fruit basket in our room and the workers at the front desk had been notified about it as well because they congratulated us. The rooms and grounds of this resor [... read more]t were spotless. All of the workers were very pleasant and willing to help in any way possible. The pool areas were great but be careful walking in on the gradual slope when entering because it could tend to be slippery. Overall our holiday was great and would go back in a heartbeat. Not once during our stay did we run out of hot water or did our air conditioning fail as is quite normal in these areas. We also had one free consecutive hour for each device and this was more than adequate. As far as recommending this resort I would also do it anytime. We were there during a slow time and the buffet would be moved to different areas to accommodate how many guests were being served. The food was amazing and you never went away hungry from any restaurant.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Great resort

We found the resort very good the food was geat the service also. The only thing the bed rooms need refreshing for a 4.5 star place . The catch is upgrade to a better room at 50. dollars US a day which I don tthink is the way to get your clients. I stayed at other resorts in Puerto Plata and the rooms were much better. We lost two days at the beginning with the harrassement of agents after us to join the prestige club which I find is just to much. So be careful of that when getting there.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Speechless

Amazing! My boyfriend and I are beyond speechless at how wonderful this resort was. This was our first time going away together and we were blown away. The food was excellent- a lot of options at the buffet and 3 restaurants on the resort as well. The staff are just amazing. By the second day they knew our names and our orders. They treated us like family. The entertainment crew was probably the best part of the trip. They are so energetic and truly care about the relationship with the guest at  [... read more]the resort. They say “come as a guest leave as family” and that couldn’t be more true. Thank you so much Gran Ventana we will definitely be back. A special thank you to Mini me, coccoloco69, Ray Ray and Juan Carlos you guys are amazing !

Playabachata Hotel: Good until weekend chaos arrived

We arrived on a tuesday with sunwing for a 2 week holiday. We were thrilled with our room location, the long quiet beach with many shady areas and the food in general. It was a quiet resort and not crowded but had many different nationalities mingling together. But our first weekend was a dominican holiday weekend so a 3 day holiday. I watched the buses arrive and could not believe my eyes. We had over 1500 extra persons from saturday to monday. The resort was in complete chaos and so over [... read more]whelmed. The pool, bars and eating places were wall to wall dominicans. Don't get me wrong I love dominicans but there were way too many extra people. The next weekend over 500 extra visitors.....again chaos, noise etc. This time our room block had people slamming doors, banging on doors and talking loudly till 2 AM. I opened my door to see what was going on and security was there trying to calm people down and get them in their rooms....did I mention I like quiet and to sleep at night? Now to be honest the resort was trying to accommodate it's international guests with earlier meal times etc etc but it was not a pleasant experience to be so over-run with so many. I would not return if this issue is not dealt with and I need to say I am used to carribean resorts inviting local guests into their resorts on weekend during low season. I usually enjoy having interaction with locals but this was so over the top. When I did complain to sunwing and management about the situations their "we are sorry" was just not enough. It really does grieve me to leave this feedback when we did enjoy the resort the rest of the time (non weekend). BUT I must be honest as I expect that from everyone who writes here about their experiences.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Great service

Hotel needs refreshing rooms are a bit dated and worn but where this hotel really shines is the staff and their service everyone has a smile and willingness to make our stay great. I would recommend booking preferred level as you get to go to a private area and get premium alcohol. It is a great place to hang out.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Still very good resort

5th trip and still very happy with staff, food, grounds, rooms and value. We will be returning in 2020 for our 50th wedding anniversary. My wife loves everything about the resort! The staff have become Facebook friends and keep in touçh with us throughout the year.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: Great Trip

Had a great time. Food was good. Enough choice for even picky eaters to find something to eat. Some rooms not renovated yet.we had a fully renovated room. So no complaints there. Snack bar open during the afternoon in between lunch and dinner. For the price we paid I have no complaints. Thanks Trip Central

Sunscape Puerto Plata: A Budget Friendly Vacation

Disclaimer: Staying during a “low” season, my experience might be different from when the “high” season kicks in. ----- Sunscape Puerto Plata is a solid 3.5-star hotel, on its way to becoming a 4-star resource. Overall, I had a pleasant stay; though there were some opportunities for improvement. THE GOOD 1) The beach is a selling point for this resort. The coast line is long, providing a good walking/jogging distance. The sandy beach is regularly cleaned and well-maintained. Ve [... read more]ry few seaweeds during my stay. The sunbeds are plenty, but no parasols, so seek shade under the trees (which is also plenty of). The water is crystal-clear. The entrance to the ocean is shallow with gradually deepening. There are several places for snorkeling (both pros and amateurs will find something suitable), with plenty of common fishes to spot on. Beware of sea urchins though, and please avoid stepping/walking on the coral/reef. 2) The room was spacious, with a modern touch. Cleaned well, not a single bug/insect spotted even once. Accommodations included in-room deposit box/safe, TV, an iron and ironing desk, hair dryer, and a mini-bar. 3) Most of the personnel is friendly enough, but I wanted to give special kudos to the bartender Dennis for going above and beyond to make sure our group had a pleasant stay. In all honesty, he deserves a bonus. THE NEUTRAL 1) The food was OK; though little variety. Often the main buffet was closed due to insufficient number of guests, so the breakfast and dinner would be relocated to another places (i.e. the theater). The à la carte restaurants did not require a reservation. Have been to jut one (the Argentina cuisine place), and it wasn’t anything more than a typical grill bar. Also, worth mentioning that all alcohol comes from the local producers. 2) Very little to do with the hotel itself, the weather was a mix. In the morning it was hot and calm, but approaching 2-3pm a wind would pick up, dropping the temperature down significantly. Since Puerto Plata is known to be the windiest side, there was no big surprise here. 3) When arriving at the hotel and during the stay, I have mentioned (casually) a few times it was my Birthday coming up. The lady at the registration desk made a note, but nothing came out of it. Yet, the next few days after my own Birthday passed, at least two other people’s Birthdays were celebrated with a cake and a song at the buffet. Perhaps, special accommodations had to be made upfront, but I found it inconsistent. THE BAD 1) While the hotel staff is friendly, they need training, especially the waiters. When ordering the drink, half of the time you will receive not what you have ordered, and another half of the time the order will never arrive. There was also an instance when a soup was spilled on the floor (I hope it was soup) and a few people slipped on it. The waiters, clearly seeing this, did not make any effort clean up the mess, nor to put up a “Wet Floor” sign. They just waited for the puddle to dry out naturally instead. 2) Being to many other places in Dominican Republic, including a hot-spot Punta Cana, I can honestly say that the vendors on the beach are the pushiest in Puerto Plana. They just don’t take “No” for an answer, and will continue bugging you over and over you several times a day every day. One guy went so far as asking for my Adidas slippers as a “free gift to his little son who has always dreamed of exact such slippers” (spoil alert: those were lady’s slippers :) ). He got rather aggressive when I declined, but staying firm is my best advice. ----- Lastly, a side note: dear parents of infants, if your child has crapped itself, it is NOT enough to take off the dirty diaper and set it on a dining table. Trying to enjoy a meal nearby while smelling child’s poop is DISGUSTING! Please, show some respect to other guests and take your kid away to clean him/her up properly. (Yes, those were Canadian parents).

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Not bad for the price

Hotel was outdated however it was clean. Air conditioning kept shutting off in our room. It was slow season and I understand that . What I don’t understand is opening the doors to the locals and they just move in and it’s now crazy land . No longer a relaxing holiday. As for the nice roped in area on the beach that the sun club up grade provides. We couldn’t sit or even stay to enjoy the beach. We were constantly approached to buy from locals on the beach we had to leave . Nice beach but  [... read more]couldn’t stay . Oh yes one more the food .., lack of or not eatable ...

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Nice resort

The hotel was nice. In my opinion, I would rank as a 4*. Room was clean, beach was amazing and pools are large. The a la carte is a 7/10. Buffet service 6/10. Maid service 10/10 and overall bar service 9/10. We had a good stay.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Very nice resort

The rooms were clean and the good was good. The entrance to the pool was slippery and quite a few people either slipped or they fell. The resort was situated between the mountain and ocean ...very pretty. I would go there again.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Awesome resort!

The staff was amazing. Everyone was friendly. The food was delicious, with a wide variety! The beach was amazing and very clean. They had shows every evening and shopping was right around the corner. Very happy with my experience!

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Amazing resort

Good service Good entertainment Food was great Personal was very friendly Clean rooms Great beach I would definitely go back as I had a good experience. Was there for 2 weeks in October and Halloween party was really good with a outside barbecue and the Halloween decorations was awesome. This resort was on the ball and if you needed something fix in your room it was done in no time. I ask for a bedside table lamp for reading at night and got it in just a few hours. Definitely would  [... read more]recommend this resort and would definitely go back for a good time with the friendly staff.