kathy504's Reviews

Wonderful!

We just got back after having spent a week at this lovely resort. It is just beautiful! The staff there are incredibly friendly, always smiling and greeting you everywhere you go. The only drawback about the staff is their surprising lack of English. We had a lot of difficulty communicating with them about minor issues. The phone in our friend's room didn't work and they had to report it 5 times before anyone actually came to fix it. We requested extra pillows and towels 4 times, and each time they said "OK", as if they completely understood. It would be beneficial to go down there with a short list of phrases that you would be likely to use. Especially with housekeeping and the front desk. Other than that, we had an excellent vacation here. The food was great. No problems at all with anyone in our party, or that we heard from anyone else. There are 4 a la carte restaurants to choose from - Japanese, French, Mexican and Steakhouse. Unlike other resorts that I've been to, you get a card for each of the restaurants and can only book them once during the week. The Japanese was our favourite. It was one of the ones were they cook right at your table and do the fancy knifework. The food was great and it was very entertaining. There are 2 buffets, one large one at the resort's entrance and the other by the pool. Both serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is also a snack bar by the pool that serves the standard hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken and nachos. Also available is the Creperie, which serves a variety of sweet and savoury crepes, as well as ice cream.
The pool is quite large and there is also a separate children's pool, although there were children in the large pool. A note about the pool, there are quite a few Europeans that vacation here, and they think nothing about walking around topless at the pool and on the beach. Personally, I don't think it's appropriate at a non-adults only resort where there are non-European children present, but that's just my opinion. Just a heads up for all you North Americans who are thinking about bringing your children here. You may want to pick a more family oriented resort. The swim up bar was always a laugh with the resident bartenders, especially Abrahan, whose catch phrase "I Love You Baby" could be heard regularly around the pool. He makes a mean "Especiale"! The beach is just lovely, with white soft sand and clear water. The swimming area is marked off by buoys, and is very safe. There are plenty of lounge chairs around, and several little thatched roof shelters. The sun is ridiculously hot in the DR. It is incredibly easy to fry, as was evident by the scores of foolish people who thought they didn't need any sunblock and walked around looking like sizzled lobsters most of the week.
The rooms are nice, each having a nice sized balcony with a chair and small table and a lovely hammock for spending lazy time in. There is a bar fridge which is fully stocked with pop, beer and large bottles of water. The room has a coffee maker and a television set as well, and yes, it gets quite a few American channels. The voltage is the same as N.A., 110v, so no adapter is needed unless you are European. You may have trouble with blow dryers, we blew our breaker twice!
There are nightly shows at the Theatre at 10PM, and a disco that opens at 11PM. There are pool tables and games available to sign out, and there is internet available for a cost of $3 USD for 15 mins and $5 USD for 1/2 hour. They also have calling cards at the resort for $20. I was told that will get you about a 24 minute call to Canada. There may be calling cards available in other denominations at the airport or at shops in town.
There are not too many options for shopping at the resort. They have a few gift shops, a clothing shop and a tobacco shop. All are fairly expensive and the prices are fixed. They do, however, have very reasonably priced rum and vanilla in the tobacco shop. Much cheaper than the duty free at the airport. Keep in mind thought that you would have to pack anything not bought at the airport in your luggage (alcohol wise). If you want a lovely shopping experience, ask your tour rep to book you in with Viviane at L' Torpedo in Punta Cana. She will pick you up in an air conditioned shuttle van at the resort and take you to her shop for free, as well as return you for free. She sells Rum, Coffee, Cocoa, Vanilla, Cigars (hand rolled on the premise.. bring your camera!) and beautiful jewellery featuring the island's stones, Larimar and Amber. Larimar is only found in one tiny little area of the DR and is just a beautiful blue stone. Her jewellery is of very good quality and her prices are quite fair. Bring cash (USD or DP) if you don't want to pay tax, otherwise, they take credit cards.
There is also a mall (Palma Real) with a free shuttle from the hotel, ask at the desk for the schedule. It leaves every 2 hours. The mall is lovely with lots of stores, but the prices are no better than anywhere in the States and there is no room for bargaining. It's a good place to spend a rainy few hours though, since it's mostly covered. There is also a market in Punta Cana. The taxi from the hotel is a flat rate of $20 one way, or about $12 from the mall. On Friday nights at the resort, the market comes to you! Vendors set up their wares in the front area of the resort and will do just about anything to sell you their goods. There are many lovely souvenirs available here, but you better like to bargain, as their prices are highly inflated (divide their asking price by 4 and offer them that). Chances are, one of the other vendors will let you have the item for an even lower price. It's best to pit them against one another.
There are plenty of excursions available for an extra cost, and many of them look amazing. Be very careful about which ones you choose. Several people at the resort were hobbling around with various injuries from ATV accidents. Talk to your tour rep about reputable companies.
Overall, the resort is just excellent, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a little piece of (very, very hot!!) paradise.

Reviewed on: May 15, 2007