Arrival Arrived just before midnight, a short wait at the reception area, however this is nothing new, things move at a slower pace in other parts of the world, especially in Carribbean resorts.
Rooms
Having read some of the reviews posted, my expectations were not high, so I was thrilled with the room – although the age of the room showed, it was clean and large with everything operational. We did not experience any problems with water, electricity or air conditioning. The only issue that we had was that the safe was left closed by the previous occupants, so we needed to request maintenance to have the safe opened in order to store our passports and cash. With our late arrival I was told that someone would come by to fix it first thing in the morning, so to ensure that they had not forgotten I called again and was very pleased when a maintenance employee showed up in less than 5 minutes.
Restaurants and Bars
Buffet restaurants were identical to other resorts in the DR (I have stayed at approximately 10 hotels in DR), however I thought that the Beach Grill was outstanding and much better than anything that I have experienced before, including 5 star resorts on other Islands and in Mexico. The Beach Grill offers a selection of fresh meats, fish and seafood on a daily basis along with a salad bar, paella, french fries and pizza slices. You choose the food item and wait while it is grilled, this takes a bit longer but the beef tenderloin steaks are incredible as is the selection of fish, of which I tried the salmon, red snapper and shrimp, just have a glass of wine or a drink while you are waiting. Italian and Mexican restaurants were fabulous (located at the Caribe and Beach resorts). I had read that there were long waits at the bars, however I did not find them long, I viewed the wait time as an opportunity to look at the spectacular views of the ocean or have a quick conversation with another vacationer.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach was spectacular and kept very clean, you can walk for hours in one direction and about 30 minutes in the other direction. The groundskeepers are always at work in the mornings, sweeping and washing away the sand around the pool area. The seaweed on the beach is also being constantly raked up.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We did not leave the resort as we are beach/pool bunnies, but we did hear from many that the Saona catamaran trip was very enjoyable. You can participate in the usual activites organized by the Animacion team such as Pool and Beach aerobics, dance lessons, bocce ball, darts, etc., or you can sit and observe others participating.
Other Comments
A great resort, employees are friendly, resort is clean and well maintained, I would definitely vacation at this resort again.
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