We stayed at this lovely resort Jan 27th to Feb 3rd 2012. And I agree with other posts that this is not a 4.5 star. A good 4 star maybe. The beach is wonderful, the pool amazing, it’s relatively small in size making everything close and convenient, rooms expectable, and the food so so.
That said, we really enjoyed our stay. We loved that if I forgot to bring something to the beach, or the pool, I, or one of the kids, could just run over to the room to get it. We were in the older blocks, room 1107. From our balcony we could see the ocean and the kids club building. The beds and pillows quit comfy. Extra blankets, a dozen hangers, and iron and small board in the closet. A/c worked fine as well as the ceiling fan. Hair dryer and coffee maker in the bathroom as well. Actually, we burnt out the hairdryer and it was replaced within a few hours. The maids kept us stocked with enough bottled water, coke, sprite and beer in the mini fridge all week long. Satellite tv, lots of Spanish shows, some English, cnn, sports, movies, cartoons. Our room was very comfortable.
Tip: my son charged his ipod and ended up with a dozen or so lines thru the bottom of the screen. Apparently this may be due to an uneven current thru the socket, even tho the voltage is the same for us westerners. No adapters needed.
The beach was huge. Lots of sand and a sandy ocean floor. Gentle to moderate waves at times. Yellow flag all week. We took the kayak out for a bit – no charge. Venders on the beach weren’t pushy at all. In fact, I was only asked maybe 3 times my whole stay. The only time I found them pushy, were the ones way down the beach near the bridge...off resort. They want you to come to their shops. We never went. My guys went all the way to the Grand Paradise and back. Took some photos, quick swim, and where back in 2 hours. Ever see a cow on the beach....look west waaaay down the beach and you just may see some.
Tip: winds pick up around 11 or 12 o’clock. Only once was it too windy. And there are a dozen or so 8x10’ canvas type shelters. They’re great for getting out of the blazing sun, but they are NOT rain proof.
The pool was lovely. 3 petaled flower shaped pool, with small bridges criss crossing thru the center. There’s no swim up bar....love that...it just makes sense as there’s no swim up washrooms. ;0 But a bar up on the deck, with a tv, tables, chairs, and washrooms right there. Each petal went from inches deep to about 5 feet or so. Great for the kiddies of the youngest of ages to play and splash around in. Tons of room. Their activity team was not your typical noisy, music blaring team. They played easy listening pop music at a comfortable level. In the later part of the afternoon, they had some guest activity games, water polo, water volleyball, dance competitions etc. 2 pool tables, foes ball, 2 ping pong tables, and a book shelves.
Tip: it rained alot the first few days. Towels left on chairs where often soaked. We had no problems, or attitude when asking to replace them for clean dry towels. The pool huts were great umbrellas, kept things nice and dry. And the front desk had some big 2person umbrellas for people.
Now the food: I wasn’t so impressed. For what they served, everything was tasty enough. But there just wasn’t enough variety. I’ve always found the food in the DR to have a much larger variety. So this was disappointing to me. Still, grilled meats, potatoes, pastas, veggies, lots of breads and buns at all meals, salads, and cold cuts, and cold veggies. I did see ice cream once too. A few cereals, freshly made omelettes, pancakes, sausages, sometimes bacon. We did the Brazilian ala cart 3x and the Mexican once. Both expectable, and you always have the buffet to fall back on if you desire. Waiters were great. The snack bar and bar, washrooms, at the beach was okay too. Wooden, open deck to sit at, as well as semi inside. This is the only place to get hamburgers. I saw French fries at the main lunch buffet tho, but no hamburgers. Just at the beach.
Tip: if you have young kids, bring a large Ziploc baggie to grab some morning mini croissants, chocolate filled buns, or sugared pretzel shaped breads for the beach or bed snack. I found all the breads to be very fresh and soft. A bag of chips in the resort shops, $5, Suntan lotion $20us, rum – expensive.
The bar tenders were always happy to fill my Tupperware jug with ice, rum and diet coke. Or just ice and sprite. In fact I think they got a kick out of my asking to keep pouring the rum, with a quick glance and a wink at my husband! :)
We went to a few of the night time shows. Bit lame, except the magic show was pretty good. Ahhh....I didn’t expect a Madonna half time concert!
We saw quite a few people using the exercise room. I’ll upload a photo. The disco and bar is located in the lobby...nice jungle like decor- again woodsie.
The whole resort had a woodsie, rustic, earthy feel. As you’ll see with the photo’s I’ll submit. Which is why I feel this is not a 4.5 star....then everything would be marble/ceramic, bright and luxurious etc. Still, for us, nothing to complain about. Everything was good!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
