It took two days after returning to get over being violently ill from the food. A refrigerator that didn't cool down past 60 degrees, loss of water and power a few times a day, and food you wouldn't feed a goat are my standout complaints. The Customer Service Reps couldn't be any more rude. Unless you get suckered into a membership, you are treated like unwanted guests. I wouldn't take a vacation there if they paid me to go. Stay as far away as possible and tell your best friends to do the same.

When I went to Lifestyle resort, Sammy Sosa (sales person) told me that he would add a clause to the contract giving me 3 days to review the contract as long as I signed it. He never added the clause despite of my several requests and kept avoiding me. The next day I went to the sales office with a letter asking to cancel the contract. The letter was signed and dated by one of ther representatives. Immediately our VIP gold bracelets were removed and we were moved back to the oldest Blg. were blue bracelet guests stay.and everything is falling apart.. We were not able to enjoy any of the VIP amenities. To my surprise upon my return home, Bank of America Credit Card Services called indicating that a charge of 28,000.00 dollars was made and no credit was ever processed. This credit card was opened by the resort for a 3 bedroom villa vacation club for 35 years. As part of the purchase Lifestyle included 3 weeks, however when I decided to use the first week they refused indicating that I needed to pay for it ($599.00) I was dragged into this contract against my will. I disputed the charges with Bank of America and the resort in writing with no results. Lifestyle advertises the use of all amenites to non members. This is not true. If you are not a member they give you a room in a old blg.where the bathrooms floods when you shower. If you want to eat in one of the better restaurants you have to get up early to put your name on the list just to be told that the restaurant is full. However if you walk to the restaurants these only have few guests but you will not be able to eat there unless your name shows up in the reservation list that you tried to get on before. You are not entitle to have premium drinks or use The VIP areas such as the pools or the beach. Its all a monopoly...The water is not treated and just by brushing your teeth or ordering frozen drinks will give you a stomach virus. They have many power outages throughout the day.The beach is terrible, full of rocks and residents bathing in their underwear. The sales people will not leave you alone when you are eating in the non members restaurant that serves the crappy food. I was under the impression that non members were the only ones to complain but Lifestyle has proven me wrong. .If you complain they dont do anything and will ignore you. It is a monopoly.and a cover up.They target foreigners because they are out of their jurisdiction and the laws can't protect them. I AM A MEMBER AND I DONT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE .

The customer service reps are the worst. Bad attitude and of no help at all. Food is ok at it's best but for the most part horrible. The only intrest they have is selling you a piece of this paradise and if you don't buy then good luck. I would only reccomended this place to someone I didn't like

We were at this resort before and booked through a local member. This time, because we gave no notice of dates, they were unable to book us a villa. We took a chance and tried booking through someone we found online. Last time we had blue bracelettes and this time we had gold. The blue bracelet was fine last time since VIP Beach was for members, guests and VIP only. This time VIP Beach is also used by Cheap Carribean clients, who payed $15 per day through a special promotion. Because of this the beach beds were always full there. We were not able to get a bed at all at VIP Beach during our 8 night stay. With our gold bracelet we were able to use both Serenity and Harmony beaches. Harmony is next to VIP. It has its own menu including drinks and snacks as well as a private ice cream shop where there was never a line. We were always able to get beds with shade there. We don't go on vacation to get up extra early and wait in line for beach beds, so VIP Beach would not have worked for us. With that said, at Harmony you have to leave the area to get to the water itself. It's a very small walk, but I like to go right from the bed to the water. VIP is a great swimming beach, so if you get a bed in the shade at Harmony you can swim in VIP, which is part of the same area when you're at the water. Serenity Beach is amazing. It is beautiful there. We walked down the water with a frozen drink and the waiter noticed it was empty. He brought us fresh drinks at the water's edge and took the empties away. Amazing. This beach always had beds and chairs in the shade and in the sun. The bar staff and drinks were perfect and they were always asking if there was anything at all they we wanted. Chicken sandwiches there were very good as well. The water is warm and inviting at all of the beaches, but there is something magical about Serenity Beach that the others don't have.

Villa 2c.
Our villa, like all the others, had a private pool in the backyard. This villa was closer to everything at the resort than our last one but it was not as nice. The pool was smaller and so was the villa. It was still wonderful to have our own private pool in the backyard, but since we had a golf cart it would have been nice to be a bit further away and have the amazing villa we had the last time. Next time I will request a newer villa-and there WILL be a next time! The villa had 3 beds and 3 1/2 baths like all 3 bedroom villas. It was more than enough space for 2 people and would have been fine for a family of 4, but not 6 adults. There was a king bed in the master and queen beds in the other 2 bedrooms. Like the last villa, there was no bath tub, but the shower had lots plenty of hot water and it was very clean.
Our housekeeper made omelettes with onions, peppers, potatoes and bacon in the mornings along with fresh toast and coffee. She brought French toast and pancakes as well as orange and pineapple juice each morning as well. She prepared, served and cleaned every morning and always brought extra towels. We rented a villa (just 2 of us) because we loved having the private pool and this morning breakfast service.

We used the VIP pool many times as well. VIP Pool has coverings over the areas with the beds for when it rains. We read at the pool in the pouring rain and had lunch there. This too is a very nice feature. It rained quite a bit in December, but never all day long. There was only 1 day that we could not swim in Serenity Beach because of rain and clouds, and that was spent at VIP Pool.

The Sunday welcome party, as so many have stated, is a great party. It rained through most of it and it was still so much fun. Lots of good food and drink, dancing, fireworks, and even a very good U2 cover band. It had something for every age group. On Sundays the only restaurant open for dinner is Casablanca. I think everyone is welcome at this party and it really should not be missed.

Restaurants:

Simply Gourmet-This was our favorite restaurant last time and this time was no different. We ate there 3 times this stay and were quite happy every time. There was nothing we did not like about this place.

Jazz-We at here once. We were going to have dinner there twice, but we did not like it enough to return. Like Gourmet, it is air conditioned, which is nice. We are not big fans of Creole, so perhaps the fault lies with my husband and I. I had steak, which I did not like. They brought out chicken instead, which was good, but not good enough to return.

Mexican-We both liked this restaurant. The soup and salad bar is very nice and our dinners were quite good. Ice cream is good at this resort in all of the places where it is served, but other desserts are not so good. If you like American sweets stick with the ice cream and forget the cakes. They look great but don't taste so good.

Blues-We had lunch there once. It was fine. It wasn't great and it wasn't bad. Like Jazz, it wasn't good enough to go back a second time. There are lots of places for lunch, so you can eat somewhere different every day.

Casablanca-We ate there once for lunch as well. Pasta bar was very good, but there was nothing else there that I wanted. We did not try Casablanca for dinner this time, so I can not tell you about that.

Serenity, Harmony, VIP Pool-We had lunch at each of these places and each was good. I did not like the hamburgers, but the grilled chicken was quite good. Husband did not like hot dogs, but liked other lunch foods. A step or so above snack bar sandwiches.

New resort opening at Playa Dorado (Golden Sands I think)-We went there for a day to see the beach and do some shopping. The resort is not open for guests yet, but the beach there is quite beautiful and their pool is very nice as well. It does not compare to Serenity Beach and the service, although good, does not compare to Lifestyle Crown Villas. The lunch we had there was horrible.

BBQ-Because the resort would not let us eat at Gourmet 3 times in 1 week, and we didn't like our other options, we had a BBQ in our villa. This is a very nice service, but a bit decadent for 2 people. It would be great with a group of friends or a family. They brought the BBQ and set it up. Because our villa was older, it didn't have a full table on the patio. They offered to bring the one from under the gazebo over and set that up, but we chose to eat inside instead, which was just fine. The food at the BBQ was fantastic. They made steak, chicken and a large variety of side dishes. They offered pork and fish with our meal as well, but we chose steak and chicken. They also made corn on the cob, baked potatoes, salads, etc. They brought desserts as well. It was a very nice treat. I'm not sure that everyone is entitled to this even with the gold bracelet. I think it's determined by the level of the person you rent from.

We Payed $1245 for 8 nights in the villa ($1000 per week),
$57.50 per person, per night for the all inclusive since the people we rented from booked before the prices went up and we used miles for the flights. They cost $97 per person for taxes and $10 each to enter the Domincan Republic.
We took the helicopter to and from the resort (included in the price). I think the only thing we couldn't do was eat at Azul.

This was truly an amazing trip. Make sure to bring $5 to tip the housekeeper each day and lots of singles and a couple of fives to tip others. About $100-$150 for 8 days is more than enough. This is the most decadent place I can think of. I can't wait to go back.