This being our second visit to this resort, we were pleased to notice that it was just as rewarding as on our first visit. We visited for the first 2 wks of february and as usual during that period of the winter, no rain during the day, some nice downpours during the evening or night, however, this did us no harm as we were busy at our nightly activities.
Room Number:
1564
Room Block:
56
Arrival: Despite some snow the day before our departure, after de-icing, we were 20 minutes late for our departure, we arrived PC 20 minutes late, very quick through the airport, we arrived our resort around 2:15pm, our check-in went very quickly and our room was ready on arrival.
The staff at the registry counter were very pleasant, spoke English, French to whoever needed help.
Rooms: Being with Air Transat, we were given a deluxe room in block 5, upon entering the room, we were not satisfied with the set-up, we went back to the check-in counter to enquire about a jr suite and what would the upgrade cost, lucky as we were, we were told that if we could move within 30 minutes, it would be free to us, for being repeat customers.
Unfortunately as it may be, the room in block 43 was lovely but the A/C unit did not work very well and leaked on the floor making the situation hazardous, after 2 days, of trying to repair to no avail, we were offered to again move to another jr suite in block 56, this suite was excellent, everything went very nicely for the remainder of our 14 day stay.
Restaurants and Bars:
We did the Italian, the Japanese twice, the Gourmet, the Bamboo and El Arrecife twice during our stay, need I mention that all of them were excellent, the food was to our liking, the service very nice. We had absolutely nothing to complain about for all our visits to the a la carte restaurants. The reservation system worked very well, unfortunately, you can only book for 6-8 or 10pm, which is quite difficult for us North Americans used to eat before 8pm. My only complain would be that if you get to breakfast after 8:30am, the variety and quantity of dishes diminishes quite drasticly and they are in no hurry to replenish, of course being the busiest time of the morning for breakfast, the buffet is quite busy with patrons and tables are hard to find. The Green/Red markers on the tables is a very good method of keeping your table and well respected by other guests. The remainder of our late meals were taken at the various buffets which were quite good, with multiple choices of menus.Absolutely no complaints about the food or drinks on this resort. For a quick snack, the sports bar has superb choices and all excellent. After discovering Hemmingway’s bar, our evenings were pretty well spent there in a quiet atmosphere with all sorts of International Liqueurs.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
What can I say about the PC beach, been there so many times before and still great to walk in either direction. The only draw-back is the towel play to reserve a hut, when we got there on the 3rd, around 7am the beach was empty and lots of place to choose from, by the time our second week rolled around, you had better be there by 6:30 otherwise, it would be a day in the full sun. Did not go to the pool except around 4pm for a couple drinks to close the afternoon. The beach bar closest to our position was manned by a bartender named Luiz, not very friendly and always expecting something in his right hand. If you were of spanish descent, service was the promptest, otherwise, hurry up and wait.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Did only one excursion, Bavaro Runners VIP with a lobster lunch, very poor experience, we were driven around for 3 hours with little or nothing to drink before the first bottle of water came out, the trip was way too long and the river cruise was on the Chavon River, almost at Bayahibe, to get there on the back of a 6 wheeler, with very uncomfortable seats, well, I will pass thank you, had we been informed that the cruise was so far away, I would not have purchased. We left at 8am and never returned before 7pm. An experience to forget.
Other Comments:
We noticed that the overall maintenance seems to be on the decline, as for all resorts, when the customer base is well established, everything seems to be taken for granted. All and all, Again we loved the place and would go back in a flash. A great place and hopefully it will stay that way.