The holiday started off slow as Sunwing had a four hour delay for us in Toronto even though the online confirmation said we were on time. We were very nervous as so many reviews were poor but we had already booked before we read these.We arrived at the airport at 12:30am dominican time, lots of paperwork at the airport and so many people trying to take your luggage.The Sunwing rep was right outside the airport and got us right on the bus and within 20 mins we were at our resort check-in desk.Check-in was fast and we were on our way to our room.There are no elevators so three flights up(but since I am female mine got carried up by the resort staff who I tipped for their effort.The room was basic but clean and the air conditioning got turned on for us and boy did it work well but we could not adjust the temperature it was on or off so we usually left it off overnight and we spent very little time during the day in it other than changing our cloths.We left $10.00 U.S. tip for Maria our maid and she was exceptional for the week and she starts @ 5:30am till 5:00pm six days a week for crappy pay and she is always very polite and happy.When we got up we had the most beautiful view from our balcony we had a superior garden room and we overlooked the pool on the beach side and could see the ocean in the backgroun over the roof of the buffet building.
Room Number:
935
Room Block:
beachside
Rooms:
on our ammenities sheet it stated there were hairdryers but there were not any in the room.The second day I asked Maria(our maid) for a hair blower and it was in the room when I came back from the beach to shower for supper.I had just finished drying my hair when a knock came to the door and it was the head of housekeeping who did not speak much english and she wanted the blowdryer back and said I could get it again the next day a 9:30am but it never showed and for three days after that I asked the front desk and the head of housekeeping and our sunwing rep and still no hairdryer so I then dropped it and went with the flat just been swimming look no big deal and certainly not enough to spoil a great holiday!No dresser so we lived out of suitcases and closets no problem, easier to pack for the return trip home.Patio door latch would not close for us so we let the desk know and the guy came to repair it before we had a chance to get changed into our swimsuits and then it was great.the safe key must be rented from the front desk for a cost of $15.00 U.S. We had warm water for showers in the evening and really hot water in the mornings.It was a new thing to put all toilet paper in a waste bucket instead of flushing but its the lifestlye there.
Restaurants and Bars: buffet was good with a very nice selection breakfast and luch have many repetative items evry day but most buffets do. Supper buffet had a different theme night for food selections every night and was well done. There is a snack bar in the italian restaurant during the day and it serves fries and burgers and dogs and pizza and salads so even the piciest eater should be able to find something(I know this as I am the pickiest of the picky)the a la cartes were fine but we had reserved them when we got up the first morning but next time I would not really mind if we did not use them and only had buffet as yor time is more flexible if you want to do something the buffet timing is flexible to your schedule. Bars were all great most drinks were well made and staff was always dancing and singingand happy to serve. In some reviews people complained about staff not serving you drinks in the buffet but the premise of the buffet is to serve yourself and there is a manned bar in every dining room and al carts you are waited on and the is a cash a la carte menu and a all inclusive menu and the are marked at the top of the sections as to inclusive and the cash ones have prices marked on them
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Beach and sand are amazing pools are clean and a little on the cool side but very refreshing. there are three cool water jacuzzis built into the reef overlooking the ocean and plenty of lounging area with lounge chairs there are several lounge chairs on the beach and in the jacuzzi area that have the bars for height adjustment broke off the chairs. We found that the chairs around the pool were in good shape so I guess the keep the best ones for the pool areas.The grounds were gorgeous and well kept the scenery is beautiful and there are several kodak moment spots in this resort.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: there are several activities on the resort and there are boards posted with these activities from dance lessons to water aerobics and spanish lessons beach parties and water balloon contests on the beach and drinking games etc… nobody should have a dull time unless they choose to. we did two tours off the resort both were through Mel tours in the beachway plaza booked through Linda who can be reached on her website to pre-book tours but if you speak with her or contact her please note she is not in the office right outside the hotel she is in the beachway plaza office about a six minute walk from the hotel.The mels reps are on a 10% commission so if you barter a price with them it is the rep who takes the loss of commission not mel himself.
The paradise island tour was really nice and the other tour was a puerto plata tour interesting but the phrase time for shopping means in the gift shops at the sights you are toured through.The town of Sosua is right outside the hotel front door and really worth a wander but not for the faint of heart you will be hounded to buy from the vendors in every shop but they are polite and do barter and start lowball.there are some interesting bars The Jolly Rogers is owned by a Canadian named Mick and he is fun to chat with a a great story teller.Rum is dirt cheap(less than 10.00U.S.)a bottle and vanilla is also cheap for you bakers and can be bought in the local supermarket in a big bottle for about a buck.
Other Comments:
We enjoyed this vacation and will possibly return to this resort next year with our children. There are time share guys wandering by the buffet restaurant and the will be very persistant but we even got to have fun with that and treated it like a game how many time share guys can we duck by before we get busted.we could not get a late check out on our last day but they had an area to store our luggage and a room to let us shower in at no charge. all in all agreat holiday lots of sun fun great temperatures
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