Would grow up and act like the resort they profess to be.
No face cloths at all, skipped house keeping 3 of 7 days, skipped fridge service, beach towels were available first come first served and they ran out early every day. Staff were outside your doors before 7 am every day cleaning, so sleeping in and relaxing is not an option.service and necessities are lacking here, otherwise, for the eye, it is a nice resort.I would return to the D.R. again for the beach only, the resorts are mammoth and there is no personal touch whatsoever, the staff do their best yet I believe they are overwhelmed and understaffed at the best of times.
Room Number:
4106
Room Block:
2
Arrival: As has become the norm with Air Transat, after we booked our vacation and of course paid for it, they called to tell us that our flight, because of labor unrest would be leaving Toronto at 4pm, instead of 8 am, thus completely cutting an entire day off our already abbreviated vacation. We arrived at the airport at 8:10 pm and were hustled across a parking lot to sit in a hot musty bus while we waited for all the other guests to make their way to the buses, this took app. 1/2 hour or so. Air Transat, rather than posting in plain view, the bus numbers and resorts, made everyone wait in a line up, one at a time, to make this enquiry. Huge waste of time and lack of planning.After everyone was finally on board, the milk run through the resorts began and eventually, one would end up at their destination.The drivers , if you can call them that, are completely devoid of any safe driving habits and speeding and unsafe passing and lane changes are the norm here, I personally would have preferred a cab.
Checkin was pretty quick, one fella led us about, gave us his cell and said he was available 24-7, this was the only time I saw this person and the two times I requested him, he was not available. Laughable and a disappointment.
Rooms: The room was a pleasant surprise, amazing in all aspects, jacuzzi, stone and tile throughout, well appointed and beautifully decorated, a-one top notch here.
The only downfall was the ever present musty smell and the ac, preset to what I deemed 78-82, and the wall gauge read 20.5 c. I live and work in Alberta and we maintain 20c year round, it was much warmer in the rooms. We had friends from Vegas , they brought temperature gauge which showed room temp at 77F while room gauge maintained 20.5C.
Restaurants and Bars: The buffets, first come best served, the food was good when early, dried up and not kept full. There is no protection from insects so one would always have to face the unsightly fly assault on all the food. At home , for barberques, we have screened domes to prevent the bugs. I am sure they are available in the Dominican. The Italian restaurant, was more seafood than anything else, if you want Italian, pass on this one. Food we had was good though, but very small portions. Highlight was staff, all good here.
The steak house, by far the best I’ve saw, bar none south of the US border, great cuts of meat, done the way you request and appetizers and desserts did not disappoint. We ate there every evening.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: The draw for us in the D.R. and what brought us back the second time is the beach, nicest I have ever saw and if nothing else brought us back, this would be the draw. Stunning , well groomed and kept.
The grounds are like all resorts, beautiful, lush and well maintained, the pools are well set up and inviting. There was a dead rat in one of the fountains early one morning, but I guess you can’t get away from that, the following day, coincidentally, there were three of natures great mouse hunters patrolling the grounds. Everything in this aspect was above and beyond, two thumbs up!
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Plenty to do and see, same o same o though and repetitive. We did a speedboat and catamaran tour, first beach , everyone was chewed by sand fleas, bring bug spray until they figure out spraying would make it more enjoyable. I find the excursions and attractions do not vary from resort to resort and once you have done it once, better to enjoy the resort.
Other Comments:
We were on the resort for 8 days, three days our room did not get made up, two days we had to call and request a fridge refill. We did not over the entire vacation have a facecloth in our room, we requested then day after day after day and were finally told, they did not have face cloths, annoyed now, I made 8 out of two hand towels.On three occasions, there were also no beach towels available , so the day before laundry had to suffice and in the D.R. nothing dries out, period! Careful with room selection as well, as nice as our room was, the patio was set on the staff walkway around the resort backed by jungle and 12 foot chain link fence. The atmosphere was continually interrupted by speeding garbage trucks, laundry and supply vehicles and an exodus of staff to and from the beach area. Better to leave the blinds closed.