4 of us stayed at Iberostar in Puerto Plata in early Feb, 2012. First off, the staff was incredible. All were incredibly friendly, warm and personable. Most spoke very good english so there wasn't any language issues. The buffets were nothing short of fantastic, great fish, leg of lamb, veal, all kinds of fresh local fruit etc., right down to the homemade donuts. They even had fresh popcorn form 4-5 in the afternoon. The gym had some very nice equipment. They had 3 speciality restaurants. One was Mexican, a toskaria (sp?), and a seafood. The first two were excellent but the seafood fell a little short of our expections. It was a easy taxi ride to Sosua which is great little town with fantastic beaches. Plenty of attractions nearby if you want to go off the property. Our favorites were the 27 waterfalls, in which you climb up with a guide, and either jump off some (up to 45 feet high or so), or slide down the natural rock formations. The other was a great go-kart place called Fun City. For $25 US, you can ride all day on any of the 3 different tracks and includes snacks, drinks, clean bathrooms ect. If you tip the guys that run each track, they will make your cart go faster. These were faster than any I ridden in the states. It's only 5 minutes from the resort. The price includes transportation. The beach at the resort was like a postcard. They had activities all day long including tennis, pingpong, archery, basketball, dancing, a massive beautiful pool plus much more. The only bad part that we ran into is that the rooms on the first floor were "musty" but within 10 minutes we got rooms on the second floor which was much better. All in all, a 5 star resort.

This hotel was excellent especially in comparison to the last one we stayed at in Sosua. The food was amazing, there were shows every night and various activities daily. Our rooms were clean and bug free with excellent maid service. Exceptional 'star friends' staff.
Shopping on site and a short walk away. Casino next door. Family oriented for those with children and wheelchair friendly.

This was our 6th visit to the Dominican Republic like most, with a couple of very good exceptions, this hotel matched up to the others. I won't go into all the good things as they are well covered elsewhere and with all holidays you could easily pick fault and end up not enjoying your holiday.

The things that you perhaps should know that may disappoint you are
1) the seaweed/seagrass that despite the efforts of the staff every morning taking truck fulls of it away (on one occasion using a JCB to pick it all up and then bury a huge mass which must have been at least 6 feet high and 10 feet square in the sand.
2) the entertainment team work really hard and long hours but the evening "show" isn't too good but I guess on a par with other similar hotels in the Dom. Rep. The best entertainment was the karaoke, some really talented guests.
3) whilst not only encountered here I must say that I do not enjoy the male restaurant staff, when they find out that you have only 2/3 days to go, suddenly becoming your best friend and never leave you alone! They would get a far bigger tip from me if they "just" gave me consistent pleasant service and didn't keep touching my back/arm etc.

The three areas that were far better than any other I have found were:-
1) the reception staff who were actually pleasant and helpful, something I have never encountered before!
2) the bar staff where you got the same very quick and pleasant service whether of not you tipped them or not.
3) the number of loungers that were available and the shades, there was no need to get up at the crack of dawn to reserve one.

I was in Puerto Plata on business to check out the area and to see what Puerto Plata has to offer. It is a great place for family travel and couples and people of all ages. The pricing is very good and it is beautiful. The beachexs might not have white sand but they are still gorgeous and I would definately return back to Puerto Plata. The only downfall is that the waves can be a little strong at time but that didn't stop me.