Arrival: February 3 – 10:
We arrived at approximately 6:00 a.m. There were only two representatives working at the check-in counter which was not surprising at that hour. The representatives had very little english which did make checking in a little difficult. The one serving us took us outside and sort of pointed to where our room was. Luckily, they do not allow you to take your own luggage so we waited and followed our bags to our room.
Rooms:
Our room was definitely not a 4 star room. When we arrived, the air conditioning was not on and the room was extremely hot and humid. The bell hop turned it on and some lights. It was a bit of a shock due to it’s condition, it was fairly clean but very old looking. We were on the first floor and anyone could have easily climbed onto our balcony. Thankfully the balcony door did lock at both ends. The curtain, however, did not come all the way across. There were no washcloths or handtowels in the room. In our room, the bathroom was divided – the toilet and tub in one area with a door and the sink on the other side of the door. There was only a small ceiling light in the toilet area and this made for very dark showers. We did not have a problem with hot water, but there was no water pressure. There was a sign on the lid of the toilet not to flush toilet paper but to put it in a waste basket beside the toilet. This was something we had not run into before, and I must confess we did not always follow this request, because the thought of not flushing the paper after a bowel movement wasn’t something we could do. The low water pressure caused you to have to flush two or three times to clear the waste. The lady who cleaned our room was very pleasant but did not speak any english at all, so we had difficulty getting the linens we needed. She also made beds differently than usual. Many times, we would find the sheets on sideways and nothing covering the mattress at our feet. The resort seems to have a shortage of bathroom linens because many days we were not supplied with any washcloths or two towels. One day we didn’t get a bath mat. We travelled with four other family members and they encountered the same problems in their rooms. On the positive side, we saw only one bug in our room and it was sprayed while we were there. Other problems we encountered: there was no refrigerator and when we enquired at the front desk, we were advised that we would only get one if one of us had a medical condition that required keeping medication cool. There were light fixtures in our room with no bulbs which made it very dim. Our television set did not work. We talked with the front desk about these problems two times with no results, so finally mentioned them to the representative of our Travel Company. We then got one light fixed, a refrigerator and a new television which did not work much better and had no hand control. The other thing we found annoying was the safe. It was probably 50 years old or older and you had to pay $24.00 to get the lock and key for it. So all in all, we found the room just passable but not what we expected in a four star resort.
Restaurants and Bars:
The buffet was very limited in choices. We ate breakfast there every morning. The omelettes or eggs were an everyday staple. No one went hungry but it was not what we expected of a four star resort. We tried lunch there one day, but there really was nothing we found palatable and, therefore, got in the habit of eating hot dogs and pizza at Mangoes (on the beach) everyday. The three specialty restaurants were great. We ate at all three (Mexican, Italian and Dominican) and enjoyed the food very much.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The beach was very clean and the water clear. We took advantage of the one hour a day free snorkeling equipment and found fish and sea urchins to watch everytime. There was a shortage of umbrellas and unless you lined up at 7:00 a.m. and fought the crowd you would not get one. There was an older man who worked the beach all day cleaning up garbage left behind by inconsiderate tourists. He would find you a lounge chair and drag it to where you wanted it and if he found a small table to hold you water or drinks he would also bring you one of them. We tipped him $1.00 and he tried really hard to make sure we had enough chairs for our group and two days even managed to get us an umbrella. The beach vendors are the same as other resorts I have been on. If you show no interest, they leave, but there are lots of them, so be prepared for some interruptions. If you purchase anything from one of them, I think they pass on the information and lots more will come to see you. The prices for the articles they were selling was cheaper than those same items sold on the beach in Punta Cana. We made friends with a few of them and they came just to visit us and gave us small gifts our last day there. I have no problem with vendors, this is how they make their meager living and anyone who travels to these resorts should be ready to be approached. A polite no is all they really need to hear.
Pools: There are three of them. The main one is the newest and has a swimup bar. It has a beautiful waterfall feature and behind this is the jacuzzi. The pool was always clean and fallen leaves, glasses left by inconsiderate guests and any other debris were frequently removed. The jacuzzi was quite large and clean but too warm for my liking. There is a second pool a short distance away with a small bridge over it and another waterfall feature. It also has two small islands with palm trees and other vegetation decorating it- this pool is older than the main pool and has some cracks starting around the edges. There is a third pool across the road from the main lobby. There was no-one else there either of the two times we visited it. It was clean but very old and crumbly at the edges. Nice though to have a private pool and lounges.
The grounds were nothing special. There were some flowering bushes, and everything appeared well maintained. Not the breath taking beauty I have experienced at other resorts though.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: We went on a snorkeling tour offered by the hotel. They took us about 20 minutes down the beach and landed the boat. There was a coral reef only a brief swim out and the number of fish and sea creatures we saw was great for only $20.00 US per person. We swam for over an hour and the guide did not rush us to return to the boat. He did swim out with us at first to show us the best spots and brought a couple of baby star fish to the surface for us to see and hold.
Two members of our party went on a horseback riding tour through a couple of small towns and along the beach and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Other Comments:
You know what you are getting when you enter the front lobby. Although the flooring and ceiling are beautiful, the walls need some repair. The only seating is wicker couches, with yellowed cushions and were not very comfortable.