Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Large Resort

Too Large lots of walking to beach, pools, room, meals. Food is good, lots to choose from. Drinks are good so is the service. Did not have to wait too long for shuttels. We had a standard room which was kept clean a little out dated. Over all we enjoyed our stay.

Majestic Elegance Punta Cana: amazing resort

Wicked staff and very hard workers! They also make sure you have the best time! Fun entertainment crew. Awesome bartenders.. dope dis. ..and that burger shack dude is da bomb...serving all the drunks fries and burgers which completed each day/night for me. TILL NEXT TIME CHEERS. Punta Canada

Sunscape Dominicus La Romana: Good spot, good times!

We stayed in this hotel from Jan 9/15 to Jan 16/15, and had a good time. This is only my second Caribbean vacation, my first to Dominican. Pros: - The grounds were decent enough - Rooms are spacious and clean - The food was EXCELLENT with selections from every corner of the world - Despite English being probably the least spoken language, they never refused to try (Their staff is multilingual for the most part: German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, some English) - The location is nice - The  [... read more]staff don't expect tips or treat you poorly if you don't. Folks are eager to please you and are attentive! - Snorkelling at the rear end of the roped off swimming area is great! they have placed several artificial underwater structures that are now inhabited by fish, urchins, ect. - You can walk along the beach eastward towards the nature reserve for HOURS..lots to see, lots of exposed rock, shells - Gym is well equippped and features a boxing ring, MMA kick bags, treadmills, ellipticals, free weights, benches, machines, water, towel service, scales, smith machine. - No real cons (nothing that negative). Improvements they could make. keep in mind these are MINOR and in the grand scheme of things didn't really impact us negatively to any significant degree: - Better air conditioning. it DID work, but it struggled and often would let the temps rise to uncomfy levels at night, then gradually cool the room again - Better organized at check-in. I got a nice cocktail handed to me, but they could find my reservation - ended up getting shuffled after some searching to the other side of the lobby to a different desk. why have two check-in desks with no indication of which I need to go to? Why have two at all? - More consistency in how drinks are made. Some bars have all drinks, some don't - which isn't that bad, however even how a Mojito is made differs between bars - some crush the lime and mint in front of you, some scoop a big ladle full of pre-made liquid of sorts from a bucket in the freezer as an example - Shops could be more consistent and honest with real pricing. A box of slender medium cigars (8 in the box) started at 50$ USD which is ridiculous, I negotiated to less than half of that price. why not just have fair market? I'm on vacation to relax :) - On excursions, focus on providing trip value to the folks who paid to go, and less on chauffeuring potential buyers around to empty their pockets. despite the tour guides being very nice and accommodating, every stop we made was an opportunity to try and get us to buy something - ANYTHING. Things to note: - They do allow limited nudity on the beach. Several Europeans of varying ages did tan topless, but it wasn't made strange at all which was just fine. - You can smoke almost everywhere in this resort, however at no time are you choking on it which is great since I'm a non smoker. - There is a rock shelf of sorts a couple feet into the water off the beach. it can catch you by surprise and send you for a small harmless tumble, but i did see some elderly folks have an issue getting in and out of the water with the waves coming in. This resort is an hours drive from the Airport in Punta Cana, however the drivers are happy to oblige you with the 45 minute version at 130 Km/h :) In summary, despite the improvement areas I listed above, the overall experience at this resort, and with the entire trip was pleasant enough that i would not hesitate to return again. ~ Happy Trails!

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Great deal!

Folks working the resort were nothing short of WONDERFUL. We hung out at the different pools (from active to quiet) as well as visited the beach area. Food was very good at the three ala cartes whereas the buffet (as far as buffets go) was excellent. Grouper every day in every way! Rooms were fine and comfortable but definitely request the section looking over the pools and water vs just the water. Free shuttle into town is worth the experience and certainly makes you appreciate how fortunate we [... read more] are! Would give this a five star if they had one of those amazing Cuban beaches!

Grand Palladium Palace: Amazing Vacation

This resort was excellent. We enjoyed how close we were to the beach, Reception area and eating options. Although not an "adults only" resort, we had access to this new pool that is for "adults only", which gave us the quiet and relaxing time all adults enjoy every once in a while.

Iberostar Waves Punta Cana: Excellent Resort

This is an amazing resort, the grounds are beautiful. We stayed in the Romantic Suites which are close to the lobby and buffet restaurants. The beach is awesome with white sand and blue water. The bartenders (Leo and Francisco) in the lobby bar are top notch, they will remember you every time you sit down and are always smiling. My only complaint is the a la carte restaurants, we went to the steakhouse, seafood and mexican. Our last night was at the mexican restaurant and after waiting one hour  [... read more]for our meal we ended up walking out and went to the buffet.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Great Family Vacation Spot

The food was fantastic, definitely something for everyone at the main buffet. There are about 5 or 6 a la carte restaurants, would have been nice to be told that reservations weren't required. This is a nice feature, however, it created some long wait times to get in. The Casino was fun! You can use both American and DR peso's. Loved the live music in the lobby at night, great musicians. The staff was always willing to help, very quick to lend a hand in any way and we were always greeted with a  [... read more]smile. Our room was nice, very basic. We found there to be a bit of a bad smell in the washroom. And our toilet and tub was reacting loudly everytime one of our neighbors flushed or drained the tub. But it was cleaned everyday very nicely and the mini fridge and bar was totally restocked everyday without us having to ask. The shows at night are very children based. If you have kids, this place is wonderful. There's a castle for them to play in and lots to keep them busy in the day.

Majestic Elegance Punta Cana: Great resort!

Absolutely loved the resort lots of entertainment food was great people were sooooo friendly, room was large with a jacuzzi and a balcony with a great view! The beach was stunning great swimming no weeds like previous resorts I've stayed at! Will defently be coming back :)

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: A divers review

The resort is nice, we got the trip for a good price. Could not find reviews of the dive shop before leaving. There dive shop is by the beach at the Cofresi resort. 2 tank dive $100 they drive you to Sosua Bay 45 min. very small dive boat viz. 40 ft. Reef has come back to life, (last time dove there 2005) good dives lots of small fish.Then 45 min. Drive Back to Cofresi. The dive shop at Sosua Bay has lots of rental gear which looked to be in good shape. ( I brought my own gear) I left the resort [... read more] at 8am was back at Cofresi 2pm.

Punta Cana Princess: Very very good

A well cared for property with very nice rooms and caring staff. Flat and small enough to be easily walk-able without a shuttle. Food was consistently very good as were the bars and service. The beach was typical of DR... fabulous.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Not what we were looking for...

After 2 room changes and two cockroaches found in 2 of three rooms, and water seaping through the floor of one, we are not returning. We can overlook room problems for the most part, but this resort is for the young and healthy, not for those who require any assistance at all. 51 stairs upwards (no ramp) to get to breakfast from juniorsuites. 79 stairs upwards to lobby. Staff were very very nice. Food was great - except nothing is salted at all. Very bland, so just salt it yourself. Also, the VI [... read more]P bracelet system is so confusing you give up trying to figure it out. VIP bracelets saw during the week: black rubber, yellow rubber, blue rubber, blue plastic, blue sparkly plastic, yellow sparkly plastic, beige, ... Ask anyone with a bracelet whats hey all mean and no straight answer can be given. Very ineffective system. Oh well. Great if you want to drink and party and you are young to enjoy the resort.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Very Relaxing Atmosphere and Great Day Trips

Everything was wonderful, however the only lacking in our eyes was the daytime entertainment staff. Our section of the resort didn't seem to have Salsa or Bachata dance lessons. We would have like to have more cultural experiences on the resort, and fun inspiring staff.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Good resort

Was there during New Year's Eve week, lots of people. Huge complex, grounds well kept, rooms a little tired. Good selection at the buffet, one negative comment, still have to make reservations for a la carte restaurants, frankly, this is very passé.

Riu Merengue: Rooms need updating

Rui Merengue offers a typical all-inclusive resort experience. The rooms and grounds are kept clean, the food was good, the staff was friendly and helpful (for the most part). There are a few things that could be done to improve the experience: 1. Updating the rooms - the beds were old and uncomfortable, the bedding was clean but dated. The pillows were as flat as pancakes! 2. We booked a "family room" for 2 adults and 3 kids (ages 1, 4 and 6). We were told there would be 2 double beds and a twi [... read more]n bed. In reality there were only 3 single beds in the room! How do they expect us to sleep a family of 5 with that arrangement??? I was very disappointed ad were told that we already have the biggest room. Yes, the room is larger than most, but useless unless we have enough beds! Although we booked a crib for our 1 year old, we had to make many trips to the front desk to enquire about it and after a big fight a crib was eventually delivered to our room (after one of the front desk staff offered that we could buy a crib! Really!!) Aside from these issues, we had a great time, the beach was awesome and I would consider booking with this resort again if the configuration of beds could be improved.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Quiet and Relaxing Stay

This resort is a nice size - not too big and not too small. Restaurants were nice, good selection and quality of food. Rooms were spacious, clean and close to everything. Plenty of seating areas to relax in the lobby and around the courtyards. Pool area is small and seating very limited. Beach was nice soft sand, great for snorkeling and walking, lots of shade, chairs hard to find. Piano bar/Lobby entertainment was good. Resort entertainment/nightly shows were poor - setting in Pueblo Principe s [... read more]quare not ideal. The Theatre was not used once during our week stay?

Paradise Playa Dorada: Amazing vacation

The hotel was ok. The chairs must be replaced and some should be added. The food was good. My husband and I always found something to eat and none of us was sick. Our room was a little small but everything was functionnal. I was disappointed that the mini fridge didn't have a few beers.

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Great Resort!

Gardens and grounds where pretty. Pools amazing. Nice and clean. Fun atmosphere. Swim up pool was simply perfect. Beach had a bit of seaweed and a fishy smell, so was a little disappointed with that. Vendors on the beach can be a little pushy. Staff at resort was friendly and helpful. We received an upgraded room for our honeymoon and it was much nicer than our original room. Breakfast in bed, champagne, a fruit basket and rum!!!

Grand Palladium Palace: Third visit and still loving it! :)

This was my third to Grand Palladium in Punta Cana, it was five years since my last visit. I have noticed a lot of changes, mostly good ones but some not as good. I found there was less choices of food at the buffet, and not because I now have a lot of food allergies and sensitivities that I didn't have before , but also from my husband's point of view. We do want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Jose Miguel and also Frankelly both managers at the Bavaro buffet and also so them and they saved me at s [... read more]ome of the a la cartes as well. As I said I have ALOT of food allergies and so took a letter along translated into Spanish to help me out on things I could and could not eat. These two amazing men along with a third man whom I didn't get his name saved my soul as they were the few individuals that only spoke English and related to the chefs, omelette guys, the amazing girl blending fresh fruit shakes and juices in the morning at the Bavaro buffet, for me. Also Frankelly went to the Mexican and also the Gourmet Steak house and explained things for me, and also I had one of my BEST meals at the Japanese restaurant in Palace. Thank you all for finding some items that were not only safe but tasty for me to eat. I do have to say I was totally disappointed with the help we received at the Palace PR girl . Very young and I don't know if she was new at her job, but not understanding and upset both myself and my husband. Lastly I am soooo glad to say we found our great old friend William , who this time worked at the Palace Pool bar, but the last two times were at the Punta Cana Pool bar. This was even better as this time we actually stayed in the Palace area. Also Clara at the Palace Swim up , it was a pleasure to meet you for the first time and spend time with you. We loved our room which was on the side of the first block on the beach . Block 8100 it was on the side so the cool breeze we experienced the first few days were blocked but we still had oceanview as well as gardenview and that breeze in the coconut limbs that hung over our balcony giving you that soothing sound. I believe I will return again, if I have the funds to go back. I think you definitely need at least 10 days to 2 weeks to experience all the great areas and restaraunts at the is resort as well as the 6 pools and the awesome beach.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Best of the Best!!

This resort was simply "perfect". The people were the nicest on the planet, food was great and the grounds were spotless. Night life was always very entertaining and a good variety. The weather was 28 during the day, light rainfall at night. Flight was good, service on the plane was ample.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Fabulous Holiday

Resort: Although, as you will see our overall review of this resort is great, there were a few glitches when we arrived. First our room was not ready until very late in the day so we had to go on the beach in our travel clothes. When we booked our room we requested a balcony. Our ticket indicted we were to get a room with a gardenview, these rooms have balconies. When we arrived and finally got our room we had to walk up 3 flights of stairs to a room with no balcony. My husband has bad legs an [... read more]d it was very painful for him. We were told at the front desk that they didn't have a balcony room and were told to come back the next day, we did this two more days. Finally, three days later a gardenview room became available but at this point we had unpacked all our belongings and were not interested in moving everything. We also had an issue with our safe and had to return to the front desk 3 days in a row before they finally understood that it was the key card for the safe to enter our password that wasn't working. It was not our room door key that wasn't working. They kept giving us a new card but it wasn't for the safe, it was for the room door. We therefore had to bring all our money and passports with us to the beach for 3 days because we didn't have a safe. Finally they sent someone to come check our problem and it was then that they realized we were not talking about our room key card it was our safe that wasn`t working. On our second last day at the resort, we were approached by a recruiter for Blue Bay Hotels and other Hotels. We agreed to meet with the representative at 10:00 am. the next day. We were told it would last no more than 15-20 minutes but on the day of we were told no more than 1 hour. We were told to bring identification and that we would receive a gift just for attending, we chose a bag with two towels, t-shirts and hats. When we arrived, we were asked for identification and I showed our passports, we were asked for a credit card and we advised that we did not have one. Our representative was late, when he finally approached us we were put through a 15 minute (if not more) display of pictures of his family and a long chat about him personally, his family, sports he played, jobs he had. Why? We don't know. It was our last day at the resort we were just anxious to get out to the beach. We made this quite clear to him. When he finally went into his selling pitch, about what this was really all about it was to get some sort of membership to allow us to get cheaper rates for various vacations. He explained this a number of ways, showed us pictures, re-explained it but would not tell us the answers to the one question that we continued asking him, how much it would cost us. He then led us to a screen on the wall again to show us the same pictures of various resorts, which we had already seen and began to repeat what he already told us about resorts, savings etc. Again we demanded to know how much and he again refused to tell us. We had told him numerous times, this was our last day, we wanted to be out on the beach, and that we were told it would take an hour at most...he kept refusing to tell us the dollar amount. We finally told him that if he didn't tell us now how much it was going to cost, we were leaving. He would not tell us so we left. As we were leaving I asked for our gift bag and was told that because we didn't give them a credit card we could not get the bag with the beach towels, just hats and t-shirts. I walked out and my husband waited for the bag. The rep followed us and continued to hound us about his promotion; again my husband asked how much, he then said he couldn't tell us it was up to his boss. We left very very upset and frustrated. It was a big smirch in what had been a beautiful holiday. On a very happy note, we were more than pleased with the staff in the dining room, in particular Pedro Hernandez who went over and above the call of duty to make our holiday, dinners and evenings stand out. Always a smile, always accommodating. He is an exceptional person who made our stay most enjoyable!!! Thank you Pedro, we are happy to call you friend. We also like to thank Carlos for his attentiveness. As well as all the other staff. The food was always very good and a wide variety to choose from. We were very impressed with the selection and freshness. We really enjoyed our A La Carte dining experience at the Chinese Restaurant. The entertainment staff was very very friendly and entertaining as well. We enjoyed their enthusiasm and presentation of various activities. The New Year's Eve dinner, show and music was amazing as were the fireworks, we danced the night away on the beach until 3:00 am. Thank you for such a wonderful evening. The bar staff was always very accommodating and most were very friendly as well. The swim up bar and beach bar staff were especially friendly. The beach was wonderful as was the water. Every day we went for a walk along the beach visiting neighbouring resorts and noticed that ours', Blue Bay, was the nicest beach of all. The staff on the beach were always accommodating, always finding us chairs if we couldn't find one. The only drawback was the constant popping up of peddlers on the beach selling things, we would be approached at least 10 times a day. The resort itself was very clean and well maintained. The pool area was very nice and the pool was always kept clean. The rooms were neat and tidied daily. On a few days however we did not get fresh face cloths or fresh soap and shampoo. Overall, we would definitely recommend this resort to our friends and we would like to come back ourselves. We are thinking however that we would like to look at a Villa, if not a Villa definitely insist on a room with a balcony with less stairs. We enjoyed our stay, enjoyed the staff and met some wonderful people. ******************************************************************************************* Travel: As for travel, unfortunately our departure flight with Air Transat was delayed on January 5th. We had been told to be in the lobby for 12 noon. At 12:50 one of the other passengers noticed a paper at the lobby desk saying our flight was delayed, we wouldn`t be leaving the hotel until 3:00 p.m. There was a representative from Air Transat at the hotel, he should have told us we were being delayed. It was quite obvious we were all waiting in the lobby to be picked up. When we were told about the delay we requested our hotel room back in order that we could change and enjoy the time that we had to stay because of the delay. We were told we couldn`t have our room back. Fortunately for us some of the people we met allowed us to put our suitcases in their Villa and change in their rooms. We had to keep going back to the lobby to check on our flight. Our flight was again delayed and we were now not leaving the hotel until 6:00p .m. Our flight was now arriving in Ottawa @ 1:00 a.m. on January 6th rather than at 6:40 p.m. on January 5th. As a gesture of goodwill to apparently compensate us for the delay, we were given a $15 food voucher for a restaurant at the Dominican Airport. When we arrived, it took over an hour to get our food because everyone on that flight had the voucher for the same restaurant which was essentially more or less a cafeteria style restaurant. There was only one cook and people were screaming they got the wrong order and some even left without their food because they were so frustrated. At one point we were told by airport staff that the plane was ready to leave, that they would wait for us to get our food but that we would have to bring our food on the plane. When we arrived at Ottawa, we had to wait again because we did not have a gate to pull up to. My husband was supposed to work on January 6th @ 6:00 am. but because we didn't get home from the airport until 3:30 a.m. he had to call work to say he couldn`t make it in (he drives City transit and could not be driving with not even 3 hours sleep). I also had to miss 1/2 a day on the 6th because we arrived so late. Due to this delay we both missed work and feel that we should be compensated by Air Transat over and above the $15 food voucher.