The least I could say... it is total chaos out there ! While all the staff is nice, smiling, doing the extra mille to acomodate, it seems there are no rules in this resort, no standard, and you can get various answers to the same question depending to whom you ask! As an exemple, I got borrowed an umbrella free of charge at the front desk and the lady told me I could keep it up to my departure time... Nice... my friend did the same and had to leave a deposit exactly 15 minutes after me... at the same front desk!?! I got as many internet coupon as I wanted, my friend had to do the line every morning to get hers.

It is almost impossible to make a reservation for the A la Carte restaurants. You show up at the designated desk in the morning, thinking you would have a reservation... Nope... You are on a waiting list and you have no choice for the time you wish to have dinner. You will find a coupon slipped under your door... it's like buying a lottery ticket! Food at the buffet is good but not a great selection. You can always find something you like but it is very basic. Not what you would think of for a 4,5* hotel. Plenty of bars and the drinks are excellent! Ask for the bartender special, they will be so happy to impress you with their secret receipe.

I was never able to get a blanket for my bed! Basic you say... I have spent the week with no blanket no matter to whom I asked. I only had one thin white sheet... They all said they would take care of it immediately. The week went by and never got the blanket... I ended up with my beach towel one night as I was freezing. The ceiling fan couldn't be stopped. No button... no switch... But I got all the water I wanted while my friend had to beg to have one bottle of water every other day...

It was a rainy week! Not their fault... But there were no plan B for animation! We were left to ourselves while they could have organized games or bingo (not that I like) I don't know what in the Theater... Nope! Sweet nothing!

The shows!!! Average to good but the abuse of stroboscope light drove everybody crazy so people where leaving because they couldn't stand the light no more! Too bad for the performers that really tried hard to put together some nice choreographies!

Beach is nice! Plenty of chairs no need to wake up in the middle of the night to get some... and beautiful beach beds for which you have to show up before 7h00 to get one! But if you like the style it is worth it!

This resort is definitely not for families with young children, neither for older people with walking problems. Full of stairs and hills. Up and down and here we go again! There are some karts but don't hold your breath...They pass by without even looking at you... Not very convenient! I must admit that as a middle age woman... alone... I peak people's interest and was able to have a better service... OK, I tip a lot!

The main problem: Time Sharing!!!
If you are not a VIP guest or a time share holder, you are treated as a second class citizen and this is really not cool! From this comes the problem at the restaurants. There are some "white shirts" that would harass you until you bleed. I was lucky, as a female traveling alone, they were looking for the man of the family to do business! So they left me alone!

Not our first all inclusive resort, but first in Dominican Republic. We found the grounds to be gorgeous. The food was good to very good and had nice variety. The room was old, but clean and comfortable with a stocked mini-fridge. The buildings are indeed scattered over acres on a hillside which means LOTS of stairs unless you call for a golf cart shuttle and wait. The beach is not white sand but was okay and the VIP area with food and beverage service was great. The 7 pools are clean and each is unique in design. The vacation club sales pitch became high pressure so we just stood up, shook hands and said goodbye.
All in all a very nice winter break and for a super price through cheapvacations.com.
We may return, but the step climbing did get painful and tiresome.

The only people that have positive reviews about this place are obviously the time share owners. This place is based on "exclusivity" if you're not a member you will not get any of the so called "perks" of this place.
The only thing I have nice to say about his place is that the grounds are nice, but you constantly have people pulling at you wanting you to go on their high pressured time share tour. The rooms were average, no bugs. It was just the food that was so horrible. The only way to get a reservation at one of the many restaurants is to stand in line at nine o'clock and get your name on a list, and still we didn't make the cut, and they won't let you know that until around 4 p.m. The food the serve everyone is just disgusting, my husband got food poisoning because of it, we spent $250 for them to feed us diseased food, and he's not the only one that got sick MANY PEOPLE were ill. I had only 2 warm showers while I was there power went out many times, the spa was really nice great massage. Its a beautiful place, a little cold in Jan, the beach was seaweedy and rocky. don't go unless you are a full fledged VIP member that has access to all the cool places and restaurants.

Sorry, I don't usually go to a resort in a foreign country with a magnifying glass and bad attitude........hard pressed to find something wrong with my junior suite in the "40" building. OK....my refrigerator occasionally froze the unlimited stocked beer, water and soda.....why does this place have so many rotten reviews? Went with two other couples and this place has something for everyone. It isn't perfect but neither is my house! My house doesn't have a drop dead bathroom with travatine(sp) stone floors and walls.....separate room for the toilet...the spa tub complete with bath gel/bubble bath was great with perfect water pressure and LOTS of hot water on demand! We had two double beds, very large room with a terrific deck overlooking nothing which meant it was quiet. Never heard our neighbors. Flat screen TV, EXCELLENT A/C system. Mattress too thin for my taste but I still slept great every night.
Lifestyles marketing and branding is genius. The mega dinner and show for thousands of guests was amazing and very well executed with excellent talent. Nothing cheesy about it! Missed the Ocean World show but friends loved it.
The resort complex is built into a hillside but there is a shuttle service that can take you virtually anywhere. There are no elevators with the exception of the Lifestyle Tower where Azul is. Buildings are maybe 3 stories. I had no problem but will have to consider what rooms to book WHEN I bring my elderly father.
There are a million restaurants and if there was a problem it was not paying attention to the reservation system for dinner. JAZZ, VIP Gourmet, Skewers, Indochine were terrific and don't miss the Tapas bar! The outside bar at AZUL was just like being in South Beach. Bellini was fine but I only had the white pizza.....friends loved their lasagne.....didn't eat at half the restaurants...no time!
The VIP Bars had superior wine to CHEERS. At Serenity Beach the wine and champagne were perfectly acceptible. It was weird that ACQUA the (in-water) vodka bar had only low level vodka.......now that is a mistake!
Pools were cold.....when more people are out of a pool than in that's a problem. Pools were beautiful and CLEAN. In fact everything everywhere is SPOTLESS. Service was EXCELLENT everywhere and we did tip because we wanted to not because we had to. NO ONE had their hand out.
One night or two there was a sewage smell that cleared itself up.
We ate EVERYTHING including salad. The salad at Serenity Beach with grilled chicken was delish. We don't drink tap water in foreign countries as a rule and I would only recommend bottled water which was plentiful everywhere.
Highly recommend horseback riding with the Treasure Cove Ranch. They were very professional, speak perfect english (like nearly everyone), had well-kept horses and were very good to a neophyte like me. Loved my experience.
No hawkers on the beach to speak of.
NO hassle with beach towels!!!!
Don't expect the beach to be like St. John or the Cayman's but very nice and clean.
Never felt uncomfortable or not safe but purchased the lock for the safe anyway...was only $3/day (funny thing to charge for!)
Traded in my timeshare and upgraded to Lifestyles. They have a great concept.......
I thought my room was nice until I saw the others.....WOW.
We met great people everywhere of all ages.
Got to go back!