The price we paid was a steal, and we thought that going over Easter would be fun as we would all miss very little work. Wrong. Easter in Sosua sees armed military on the beach with machine guns on Friday at supper time. What a surprise!
Your Arrival:
Flew from Halifax direct, no problems. Luggage came quickly, bus waiting to take us to resort. Big line up at desk for room assignment. Wanted water view, cost us $20.00 US that we slipped the front desk clerk. Took all day to get room, lucky we had bathing suits in carry on. Luggage set by pool for the entire day. They never figured out we wanted two beds (for two girls) so shared king. Reservations for group were all mixed up, as they had the wrong people assigned together, so our room key didn’t work for the first two days (they thought I was in another room).
Rooms:
Clean, but shabby. No working bedside lights. Lots of towels. Nice maid service, we always left a tip on our pillows and got fresh sheets every day. Had small balcony so we could see the ocean. There are five or six different levels in the resort and there are more stairs (no elevator) then I ever want to walk again.
Restaurants and Bars: Buffet was great, nice breakfast, amazing amount of bacon! Loved the fresh fruit smoothies. Enjoyed the a la carte restaurants, but we did have some trouble with the greeter at one of the restaurants who had a rude comment (and we all left, not worth the grief).
Bar by the reception desk if fabulous, lovely lady bartender, one at the pool is the pits! They forgot to put liquor in our drinks! Imagine!
Beach/Pools/Grounds: There is no beach in front of the resort, you must walk along a stretch of rocks to get to the public beach. As we were there on the Easter weekend, we got off the beach when the army showed up to clear the beach with machine guns drawn. Scary. It seems the Hell’s Angels were in town for the weekend. Hotel staff told us to stay on the resort as it was a dangerous time to be out in the town, and to stay off the public beach because there is alot of drinking (and people drown). Two pools, one nice and clean and has beautiful view, other not so nice. Swim up bar was closed.
At the foot of the resort is a concrete slab with steps down to the water that are very slippery and the ocean in front is populated by sea urchins so bring water shoes and keep your feet up.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: We were a brave lot and went out to the clubs one of our first nights there. While waiting in the lobby we were not entertained to see men bring prostitutes in with them (payment was exchanged in front of us). Club was also full of hookers! I am no prude, but we saw the guys who paid for sex with their families the next day (you can rent a room on the resort by the night).
During the day I walked to the market alone and enjoyed seeing the pretty town. I didn’t like the sellers on the beach, they could be really pushy and rude. I only went once, the second time I went with a group and stayed with them.
Other Comments:
I loved the sun and my friends companionship, it could make even the worst place seem great, and that sums it up. After having stayed in Punta Cana at several resorts, I would never go back to Sosua. I never want to see a prostitute doing business again.
Departure: One the day we were to leave we were all up early, had breakfast and headed to reception early. Plane delayed 9 hours. Went for a swim, had a drink. They had taken our bracelets so no one ate the rest of the day. After a long day of waiting in the heat we were all dehydrated and tired. When we got to the airport the check in agent wanted to charge us $400.00 for having overweight baggage. He wanted us to not only put our luggage on the scale but also our carry on, our purses, my camera case and anything else he could think of. My friend was so pissed off she dumped her luggage out and threw it all in the garbage. They wouldn’t let us pass our alcohol purchase through the gate, so they included that in our total weight. It was so stressful, we almost missed our flight home, and all the others in the group were so worried about where we were and what had happened to us. We were held up for over an hour. You have to walk miles through the airport to get to the departure section, and we had to run to catch the plane, the stress of the baggage problems, and dehydration, I had a cardiac episode on the way home and came off the plane in a wheelchair.
Make sure you weight your luggage, as this is a great money making scam, and they did it to three other couples that were leaving with us.