you get more for the money

superman007 Oct 23, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

overall is very good value for the money. staff was friendly, food was good and was entertainment at all the time, they were ... some fantastic performers. the vip treatment remindes you the slogan equal but separate

VERY NICE AND RELAXING PLACE TO STAY

NANDO Oct 8, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

THE ONLY THING I DID NOT LIKE WAS THAT THEY HAUNT YOU TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THEIR VACATION CLUB. ALSO THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ... SIGHT SEEING (HISTORIC LAND MARKS, GOOD INEXPENSIVE SHOPING FOR SOURVENIR). SEEMS LIKE THESE PLACES ARE FAR AWAY FROM THE RESORT. IT'S GOOD MOSTLY FOR RELAXATION.

Nice and beautiful but LOUD

MJ Sep 30, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

We enjoyed the beach the most, because it was quiet. You can still hear the music from the pool area, but it's the quietest ... place in the resort. It was difficult to get away from the noise the entire time we were there- the pool was super loud because of the pool bar, which doesn't close till midnight. DO NOT STAY in the #1 set of rooms if you want quiet. Food was okay. The Bellini restaurant was the best. Beer was the best alcoholic drink, since the rum drinks are VERY sweet. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Would recommend VIP if you can get it (we did not but it looked nice!). We also had to request new pillows because the ones in the room smelled awful. Also some mold smell in the air vents but we were able to air out the room after the first day. Overall, this resort is not "relaxing" but def. a fun party place.

Bring all the pepto you can bring!

Paluka Aug 11, 2009

If you are looking to sit by the beach relax and take nature in his is not the place for you. From the sales-man to the ... "bachata" and "reggaeton" blasting this sure is not the place to relax. This hotel is all about selling you shares and products. You can't sit at the beach or by the pool without being harassed into buying a share. The "VIP sales representatives" will bring you to the best rooms they have to convince you of the great deal you are about to get into and offer you drinks clearly to affect your judgment. We almost fell into that trap but decided to speak to time share owners around the hotel before we went ahead with signing and paying and all of them had all sorts of bad experiences. Everywhere we went there was always someone talking about how they got scammed. We went for a wedding and we where suppose to be given 3 villas. The owner of the share got only one, by the third day she had just two. Most of the invites had problems with rooms, they got exactly what they didn't pay for. Three of my friends where in a room with a cot and didn't have space to walk around the room or open drawers. Thought my husband had luck with the fish the food is of average quality and the taste was very poor. They have around 4 restaurants where you have to make "reservations" but they where always booked even thought they always looked empty. Bring all the Alka-seltzer, Pepto and Imodium you can bring; if you are used to good food at home you will get sick here. The location smells of septic tank at times and so does the bathrooms therefore rooms too! There are no lounge chairs on the beach or umbrellas. At one point there were no clean towels to give to the guest in the rooms. They have all sorts of parties for the VIP members and the non-members are just left wondering around with cheap entertainment and no restaurants open. This is sure a place to go and just get drunk& very "fratty"! I was told that even the VIP activities where a sales pitch. There was a disco but if you are not a member or a VIP you cannot go to it!!!!!!! For the wedding party, they kept changing the locations and many other little problems kept adding up. The photographer never got there during the ceremony and the food was no different than the everyday buffet. The location where we had the wedding was beautiful but it was open to the guest and we had people in bathing suits just walking through our wedding ceremony and reception wondering if this was another VIP special activity they didn't hear about. I'm not going to say I didn't have a good time because I did. I was with friends and is the company what really makes the moment but if I went alone with my husband we probably would of asked for our money back and went to a different hotel. Who do I recommend this place to? College kids and the English!

good getaway

may Aug 11, 2009

It was Ok I had great fun in the excursions but after a while the hotel got borring. ...

the good the bad the really ugly

thea Aug 4, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

While on vacation i was able to get lots of rest. One day we went into town on a guided tour and the stores we went to we ... got some good deals. Also it was cheaper shopping at the gift at the resort than any place else. We also took a day trip to Ocean world and was told we will be picked up at 5:30pm. This trip was only good for 2hrs. However other quest were taken back early than 5:30 because the tour guide did not let us know we could leave early. The most important thing that was missing was the language barrier between us and the staff and the choice of food for young kids was poor. I have been to five different caribben isalnd before going to this one and have a nicer time.

Great Place to Stay

VivaFiesta Aug 4, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

This is a lovely resort, good for both couples and families. The dining options are good, with both buffet and a la carte ... choices. Rooms are clean and spacious. Pools are good size with volleyball, basketball and a swim-up bar. Beach is good, swim or take a stroll. Resort is close to Ocean World (you can walk there along the beach or take a free shuttle) - it's a smaller version of Sea World. Orbitz package comes with free passes. The staff are friendly and there is entertainment each night (movies, shows, dancing, or competitions). There is also a nightclub on the complex. Highly recommended.

It was a pleaser getaway

Super dad Aug 2, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The hotel was clean, quiet and good service. I enjoyed my vacation. Thank you. ...

Lovely Land, Lovely People

Ty the traveler Jul 24, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

During our visit it was a bit rainy but that didn't stop the fun. We took a safari (CocoTour) and enjoyed the jungle and the ... people. Everyone was pleasant. We also spent a day on the water (FreeStyle Catamaran Cruise) with beautiful people. The water was nice and snorkeling was great fun. OceanWorld dining and entertainment was WONDERFUL. All the prices were moderate once you learned how to bargain with the merchants. I've been to DR twice and I can't wait to go back.

Just An Avrage Resort

Frequent Traveller Jul 8, 2009

What I liked most about the hotel was the friendly staff. However, this DOES NOT apply to the VIP SALES STAFF. I noticed and ... spoke with lots of tourists from England, USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherland and some other countries that shared the same thought on how pushy were the sales people from the VIP marketting. They chase you every where you go and do not take "NO" for an answer. I found it ridiculous when you are on vacation and these people trying to promote sales of VIP villas and some other nonsense. MY suggestion to the future travellers is that to STAY AWAY from these sales people and don't waste your vacation time on these people. Next, the food is almost the same for breakfast, lunch and dinner and NOT GOOD at all... I did not try the Salad Bar at all during my 7 day of stay.. the quality of the fruits and vegetables were poor and not kept well...there were flies,mosquitos and birds bitting on the fruit and Salad bar. The main dinning room called "Casa Blanca" which is very hot, open and has no AC...Not comfortable at all..I think if you are latino you might enjoy the food more as the food menu is mostly latin style dishes, lots of rice, beans,plantanu, yocca and so on. The only night that I enjoyed the food in "Casa Blanca" was on Tuesday night which they have a "Special Buffet Dinner" for the week and the food was Excellent. So make sure you ask on which day is the "Sepcial Buffet Dinner". I was glad to see that there was not so many types of beans, rice and fried bananas..instead there were choices of Lobster, Turkey, Veal, Salmon, Shrimps and excellent appetizers and Desert. But that is only once a week...So don't miss the Special Buffet. There are two other restaurants as well, "Billini" which is Italian, and "Indochine" which is mix of Indian and Chinese type of food. You need reservation for both of these restaurants. I tried Billini restaurant and the food was ok and nothing to go crazy about. I did not go to the Indochine resataurant. The pool was nicer then I expected but there were lots of unsupervised kids diving on the pool and lots of noise...and the worst was the guards on the pool did not even care to say somthing eventhough there were signs saying " No Diving". The pool water looked more clean in the morning then after 2 in the afternoon..you probably wonder why?? If you are a Non-smoker be ready b/c there is smoke all over the place and I found it very uncomfortbale as the bars, restaurants and everywhere you go are somokers and at times I had to give up my seat to find a better spot away from smoke. The Night Showes is a joke or perhaps I should say a big lie...there is no show and no disco..the first night they had a bunch of 13-14 year kids jumping up and down and the hotel called that "Dominican Culture Show" and it was a lie and certainly no Dominican Culture...most people left after 15 minutes of the show...and then we did not go for more of the culture show..then they were playing for 1 hour at night by the bar some Cruppy thing and I think that was also called some kind of a show..and one night they had a kid play an electronic programed key board and they called that the "Piano Man" show.... Overall, this was my worst experience: the hotel is ok if you are a student with mimum budget or like to eat latino style food as I mentioned above..I will never ever go there again and believe it or not I usually don't make a big deal about minor things but with this "Life Style Hacienda" I am talking about big issues...They certainly need to have quality type of food with proper food handling and they need to have better shows and not just kids jumping back and forth and call that a show...and certainly the hotel needs to train the VIP marking staff on how to approach guests and not to be so rude or pushy...and respect when a guest says "No Thank you" and leave them alone..I was tired of how many times I had to say NO...and they wait at 7:30 in the morning in the hallway by your room a...

Puerto Plata paradise

Relaxation specialist Jul 5, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The service was exceptional at this location. I am a picky eater so there was not much that I could eat on the buffet. ... Watch out for the VIP vacation club sales pitch. Major complaint is that there is truly a lack of evening activities to choose from. The pools and beach are wonderful.

Nice resort,very friendly people,food ok

Hannastravels May 29, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The resort was great! Rooms clean, bed comfortable,staff very friendly especially the young team of guys and girls that did ... the pool activities and the evening shows. Food was kind of bland in the buffet. Great selection just not much flavor. Mexican specialty restaraunt very good however the Italian one made us both sick. Don't try the lasgna. Needed more info on area such as town and restaraunts. Beach ok but beware of vendors trying to sell their wares. Might possibly go back to the Dominican but would stay on the south coast instead of north. Price of resort was good for what you got.

No Bueno (Never again)

Ms. Boss May 27, 2009

Our first day there our room tiolet didnt flash later on in the evening when we got back to room after going out on the town, ... since there's nothing to do at the resort. We came back as my friend checked the tank to see why the water wasnt flowing only to realize it was filled with feces. So maintaince came to fix it and we could not sleep because he was trying to fix the bathroom in the middle of the night. The second day after return back to our room only to hear the carbon monoxide going off and would not stop even when maintance came, we ended up getting a new room. It was three of us and we requested additional towels and wash cloths, up until the day we left they never gave us any, we ended up taking so from the cleaning ladys cart every day. They did not replenish the water in the fridge even after we kept calling the front desk resquesting water. My sister ended up drinking the water at the resturant there and got sick. There was no place to eat other that Casa Blanc resturant because the reservation people gave you a hard time to put your name on the list of resturants. Eating at Casa Blanc (buffet style)was a nightmare, the place was swamp with flies and crows every minute of the day. My friend who's a vegeterian ended up not eating for the most part(only ate the bread) because they did not have any vegetarian dishes. One night we wanted to take our dinner to our room and we asked the supervisor for a container because we saw a couple with one and they told us they got it from the supervisor, the supervisor lied and said it was for someone sick and when I brought to his attention that the people looked fine and said it was for them, he got speechless. We knew he was being racist and just didnt want to give it to us. This hotel has nothing to do, the beach was average, the drinks are weak, the staff is not helpful and if I didnt have a friend living in DR we would have been bored and hungry our entire stay. I would never stay here again or recommend it our friends and family.

NOT AT ALL AS SHOWN!NOT VIP DO NOT GO!!

DAVID May 25, 2009

Upon arrival waited for over an hour to have room cleaned and ready when arrived in room it was dirty and small changed to ... another room where a/c did not work. Does not look like pictures as the pictures are from the VIP part that is brand new and will only set you back $7000 after a 30 min tour where we were told that we would be upgraded to that area. Never occurred. DO NOT STAY HERE

Average

single and traveling the world May 15, 2009

Upon my arrival of the room, I had to have the sheets and cover change because they were not clean. The furniture is ... outdated. A very small TV on the dresser. It appears they invest a significant portion of there revenues in curve appeal and very little to update the rooms. The bathroom is small and outdated. Also the room had a musk smell. The food was good. The nightly entertainment was awesome!

Really good and very cheap price

maggie Apr 23, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Was really a good trip, people are very friendly and happy, good food, etc ...