We found the buffet breakfast the next day after inquiring where it was and then spent 2.5 hours of the day (Sunday) attempting to speak with Joseph to rectify the room issues. He told us that he was going to lunch and wouldn’t be available until after 3pm. I had told him the issues regarding the room and the fact that we were charged 31 dollars American for a lock and key for the safe. He blew us off and said after 3pm. After 3pm he was a no show, and we finally approached the main desk the next day and spoke with an assistant manager and complained to him. His name may have been Juan? We had met a fellow Canadian who also had been staying in an ocean front deluxe room and he told us that the same room as his, which is what we paid for, had been empty next to him for over a week. When Juan hesitated I informed him of this fact and we changed rooms. We alone had to pack our belongings and truck them there ourselves. We never had hot water on this trip and had to take freezing cold showers with no towels other than the beach towels, there were bugs crawling in the sink (which they sent out a letter to our hotel complex that they were fumigating all rooms for on Tuesday or Wednesday) the coffee machine didn’t work, and lamps didn’t work. The toilets were clogged and overflowing not just in our room but everywhere within this complex. Most importantly the lock on our room never worked unless you slammed it repeatedly and even then you had to check it. More than 3 times the maid left our room open to all and we had money missing from the safe on more than 1 occasion. The main corridor lighting didn’t work and you had to feel along the way to your room. The maid was in our room 5-8 times daily for what we don’t know because she wasn’t there to leave towels or soft drinks because I had to go the beach bar to get coca cola twice. She even came in when we were being intimate and another time when we were sound asleep naked. The pool was so cold and full of bugs, straws and plastic cups and cigarette butts no one got in it. There were ducks swimming in the pool and defecating in the water of the pool. The electrical boxes in clumps of trees in the pool were exposed which also obviously was a deterrent from swimming at risk of electrocution. I would assume the ducks were in the pool eating the bugs however they could have been there to cool off as the water was so cold.
Arrival: To Travel our way/Sun quest/Thomas Cook airline: I am writing you regarding a trip to the Grand Paradise Bavaro in Punta Cana on December 31, 2010 to January 7. 2011. This trip was a nightmare from beginning to end starting with the horrendous treatment from the flight crew on flight 3520. There was a four hour plus delay due to the original pilot being too drunk to work and a mad scramble to assemble a crew to negotiate our way to the Dominican Republic. This was discussed among the motley crew on the aircraft during our flight. These stewards and stewardesses were openly hostile to each other and definitely to the passengers. They didn’t know where anything was, they ran out of food, no duty free, no bar cart, the pilot was constantly calling the flight attendants away from their duties, no movies, no headsets, wouldn’t give you a pillow or blanket, I asked for water 5 times and never received it, another passenger had his call button on the entire flight without any response. This is after waiting 4 hours plus for this flight and everyone was hungry and tired. When it came time to land, the pilot dropped the plane so fast, our ears popped so bad that we were dizzy and disoriented after disembarking off the plane. One of the flight attendants was so openly pissed off that in my opinion, she, as well as the other attendants should be fired. After the fact, we found out that they may have come from Jazz Airline and we would never fly with Thomas Cook or Jazz ever again in our lifetimes.
Rooms:
Now let’s get to the advertised INCLUDED extras. There was no separate check in or out, no beach towels in the room or on the beach half the time, no free internet or internet card given to us, no reserved beach area, no welcome gift, and the $20 dollar coupon for the casino had to be matched with $20 American and played on one hand at a table game (black jack with 5 decks of cards) never was there a scuba lesson in the filthy pool and no one ever showed up for these lessons, no 10 bars, and definitely no 24 hour drinks and snacks.
Restaurants and Bars:
Now, let’s get to the Grand Paradise Bavaro ordeal. After being herded onto a bus from the airport to the hotel complex, we were all told to disembark in the lobby. Unbeknownst to us, there were 3 hotel complexes included on the Bavaro property. Ours of course was the farthest away, 20 minutes approximately. It was now 3:30 am Saturday morning. We had been at the Halifax airport since 2pm Friday, with no meals, no drinks and no service which ended up being the theme of our trip. We were finally checked into the proper hotel complex after 3 hours and driven at neck breaking speed in the pitch black of night, holding on to the cart for dear life while our luggage was precariously balanced on some young Frenchman who also was clinging to the cart for dear life. We arrived in the reception area for the beach front hotel where we waited for service and after bribing the front desk guy whose name was Foster with a 10 dollar American bill, my boyfriend and some bellhop and I started for the room when I was called back by Foster and told I needed to pay an additional 31 dollars American for the safe lock and key. I did this because the luggage and my boyfriend were already well ahead of me and I needed to catch up in order to find the room. Upon entering the room approximately at 6 – 6:30 am, we dropped on the bed and fell asleep and were awakened at 7am by the front desk asking if we were getting a safe key and lock. Huh!!!!!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
We were told to attend a meeting with Joseph (the biggest) Sun quest representative at 9:30am for a briefing. Exhausted from the ordeal, we dragged ourselves there in order to hear what he had to tell us. This guy began his orientation with complaining that he was the only worker for Sun quest and he would much rather be on the beach with his arms around not one but two women. Again HUH!!!!! Then we were told if we had any questions to consult a binder for Sun quest at the Sun quest station located in the upper lobby. We weren’t given any information or coupons for ala carte meals, internet, spa, and casino, not anything…… We went back to our room which had no ocean view and fell asleep and awoke around 9pm that evening and we couldn’t even get a bite to eat because there was no 24 hour service available as advertised. Our room which was to be ocean front deluxe was not deluxe or ocean front.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: However there were time share vultures that drove you insane and wouldn’t leave you alone for 5 minutes. They were everywhere, reception, pool areas, beach, EVERYWHERE. The fumigation of our room caused us both respiratory difficulties and the highlight of the trip was coming home with TOURISTA. This is day 4 being home and we have been eating Imodium every day since Friday. This resort was not a 4 star resort more like a 2 star with no standards what so ever and it has sufficiently sickened us so badly we would never return to the Dominican Republic ever again. Also the bartender at the BARCO boat called me a PUTA (C*& %) when we complained about being charged $8 for a mixed drink on an all inclusive resort. To think that this was supposed to be a dream trip for my boyfriend and me to be alone and have a romantic vacation was anything but. It caused a lot of stress and argument between us and I am just sickened by this vacation and I would strongly recommend that no one in their right mind further fund a dump like the Grand Paradise Bavaro or Thomas Cook airline. I have traveled all over the south Caribbean and I have never experienced such a horrible vacation. Yours truly, Bonita Mundo & Robert Webster
Other Comments:
Excellent beach, but approx 25% of the lounge chairs were broken. We went out at 7:30 each day to get seats by the beach, and it wasn’t always easy (even at that time). This is because the other 2 hotel complexes also came over to the beach area and the breakfast buffet. We found that many of the people who reserve at the pool also reserve at the beach, and just come back and forth. This was frustrating, as it was hard to find chairs, and often times you sitting on the ground while reserved chairs were beside us unoccupied for 95% of the day. The guys who collected the dirty glasses did so with a 5 gallon bucket, took them to the bartender, rinsed them off with local tap water and then used them to serve drinks to the clientele. When we inquired how much it was to buy our own travel mug (dollar store plastic) we were told it was 22 American dollars. I mean really isn’t the DR a third world country?