Room Number:
4104
Room Block:
villa 4
Arrival:
approx 50 minutes from samana airport plus 10 minutes by boat to Cayo Levantado Island. checked into Junior Suite #315…had view of back hillside and employee lodgings , in other words horrible…we complained and for additional $120 ( I had already thought the one week package was over priced) we moved to Villa 4, #4104…Holas Tours advised everyone on the bus from airport not to drink the tap water…this always seems strange to me that a country that does not have sanitation facilities to provide clean water for everyone ( including the resort) but all the natives have cell phones and satelite dishes on their roofs….
Rooms: Rooms are quite large compared to other Caribbean resorts. There is a bar fridge with local beer, soft drinks and bottled water all free of charge. All Villas are perched on the top of the hill…so you are either walking up or down the hill every where you go.The concrete on the pathways gets slippery when wet. The air conditioning and electricity is controlled by a room key pad at the front door …not a problem but the only clock in the room shuts off when you pull the room key out of the pad…so you are constantly resetting the correct time…
Found two rather large bugs during our one week stay…you can look them up on internet like I did, after I killed them that is…one is called: Giant Vinegaroon and the other a flying cockroach…
Restaurants and Bars: Buffet supper only starts at 7 PM which is a tad late from some. Always a good selection but like most buffets always cold. House wines are a Spanish red and a Spanish white…so not very good. This also surprises me that an island so close to some great South American vineyards would push poor Spanish wines. Also rare on the menu was shrimp or lobster. There are 3 a la carte restaurants and they open at 6.30 PM (don’t go early, they won’t let you in)…only one is worth while attending .The Don Pablo is on top of the hill…beware, the Prince and Princess ( steak and lobster)…the steak is as tough as shoe leather and the lobster tail is the size of a shrimp and not even a jumbo shrimp…the Agnus beef fillet is much better and the red Mouton Cadet wine also a much better choice… there are bars at the pools ( two) and one bar in the main lobby …the plastics glasses they serve are small so bring your own.
Remember English is not their second or sometimes even third language so do not order a decaf coffee because what you get wil keep you awake.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: Considering this resort is an island I was surprised at the size and character of the beach.Very small in contrast to the number of guests but very clean. There are 2 1/2 pools…one pool on top of the hill, one pool at bottom of hill and a Jacuzzi pool on the top. Although they do not allow saving of lounge chairs by the pools it is a problem here as well. The pool water temperature was about 5 degrees cooler than it should be, it took a good 2 minutes to adjust your internal thermometer…the ocean water temperature was warmer than the pools’ . I mentioned a 1/2 pool called the Jacuzzi pool…it had 3 large Jacuzzis in the centre , the water was 2 feet deep, the water was as cold as the other pools, the water jets were controlled by a timer that no one knew how to work so no one used this pool at all…
Grounds are very well kept .
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
There are very few activities as you must leave the island to partake.
Other Comments:
All said I’m glad we went to Samana…beautiful weather, friendly people etc…would I go again, No…there are much nicer resorts at a much better prices.
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