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Bogdan N
Ottawa, Canada

Overall, the Select at Casa Marina was a great value for the price we paid.

4.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed 1 Jan 2025
We stayed for 2 weeks in late December 2024. Our vacation was with Air Transat.
Overall it was a good experience.
The resort is at a short 20 minutes bus ride from Puerto Plata airport. But... A week ago there were heavy rains for 36 hours and the roads collapsed, hotels in Puerto Plata region got flooded, houses were distroyed. Samana region the same. We heard that the transport to the resort took 5 hours.
The weather this December was an unpleasant surprise, lots and lots of rain for the first week.
The resort is in the city of Sosua, you exit the resort and you are in the middle of the action: restaurants, bars, shops, supermarkets (Supermercado Playero is 600m from the hotel), banks, mobile operator Claro (cheap SIM pay-as-you-go options).
The adults section is called Select and has its own reception, pools, bar, and one a-la-carte restaurant.
The check-in was a breeze, with a welcome coctail, and very friendly personnel accomodating us (we arrived 3 hours earlier than the check-in time). The manager at Select is fluent in 5 languages, and rarely I have seen a more dedicated and efficient person in a resort.
Our room was excellent, on the first floor, with garden and partial ocean view. The room was clean, basic but very comfortable, the mattress and pillows were also very comfortable. The TV was upgraded during our stay to a 40inch AndroidTV. The WiFi in the room was 200 Mbps (yup, this is not a typo). On the beach and through the resort the WiFi is accessible via a passcode (free) and was OK-ish, from 2Mbps to 25Mbps.
Housecleaning did the job very well. The minibar was restocked daily with water, Coca Cola and 7Up, and Coors Light. The air condinioning unit worked very well, and the digital thermostat was easy to use.
There is only one buffet for the entire resort, small-ish. There is not a big variety of foods, it is repetitive, but the good news is that the cooks know how to give taste and how to grill/roast meat that will remain tender and juicy. Biggest lineups were for omelets for breakfast and pasta for the rest. We tried the Mexican (OK) and Italian (KO). Quick and easy wins would be: ice cream and pizza (non-existant), and better choices for bread.
The highlight of our vacation was Hermann, the International a-la-carte restaurant for the Select side. Excellent, excellent food and very professional, friendly service in a nice, quiet environment. Many thanks for the memorable moments and culinary experience.
The bar at Select has international drinks and a vast list of cocktails. Bartenders are extremely friendly and efficient. There is also a coffee shop, and a sports bar. I did not see many people using these two, which is kind of sad.
There are 2 pools in the adults section, one of them infinity. The chairs get occupied very fast. Most of the people smoked non-stop, and some while in the pool (outch).
The hotel has a beach, surrounded by reefs. Half of the time the beach is closed because of the big waves. When the beach is open, there are not enough chairs. The beach is NOT supervised. There is a small bar on the beach.
There is a diving shop with diverse offerings.
When the hotel beach is closed, Playa Alicia (public) is next door, 5 minutes walk. You will pay 12 USD for 2 chairs and an umbrella per day. It looked clean, fairly large, and not busy.
There is a theatre with daily shows and a disco (we did not go). Also a spa and a massage parlour, with prices higher than in Canada.
Date of stay: December 2024
Room Tip: Building #1 was closest to the infinity pool and the ocean.
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
5.0 of 5 bubblesValue
4.0 of 5 bubblesRooms
5.0 of 5 bubblesLocation
5.0 of 5 bubblesCleanliness
5.0 of 5 bubblesService
5.0 of 5 bubblesSleep Quality
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4 - 9 of 45 reviews
Reviewed 24 December 2024

Text: Scenery: 5/5
Staff and services: 5/5
Location 5/5
Food 5/5
Room 3.5/5

I had kept my expectations down since I was reading all the reviews, but to my pleasant surprise it was as fantastic as advertised. As long as you don't expect to be treated like literal kings and queens (which I suspect most reviewers do), you will have a great time. if you do want to be treated like so, then tip well! I'm sure the wonderful staff here could use them since I suspect they are way underpaid.

I was at the Select side of the resort, while I cannot say about the regular customers, the features given to select were fantastic. We had lounges, bar, as well as the buffet seats right beside the beach with a beautiful view. I made sure to taste all the premium drinks they offered.

My only real complaint is that their hot water does not work well, and when it does it only comes out in low power. and this was after I requested to get it fixed, AND find and tipping a repairman to fix it for us. we are in a hot country so I didn't make a big fuss about it. at least the air conditioning worked well at all times.

The food was fantastic, although the a la carte options were great, Imo we probably would of been happy just sticking to the buffet options. Unless we stayed for a very long time, I had no complaints about the food quality, taste and variety. as for A la Carte, the TexMex was the best out of all the options, as other reviews also mentioned.

The location, Sosua, turned out to be a great option for us. we had a lot of options of what we wanted to do. We went bit of small city exploring like browsing their supermarkets, visit restaurants, go to the main Sosua beach, and snorkel. If you are more adventurous, there are nightclubs you can visit.

my main goal of this trip was sit in a sunny beach and relax, as well as swimming with the fishes. I got that and much more in my first trip. in my snorkeling trip just at the Sosua beach, I saw most beautiful underwater scenery with reefs, school of fishes, as well as sea turtles!

Once we finished exploring the resort, we went outside to the city, and to our surprise we felt very safe, as the Transat guide told us. I have read that Sosua is bit of a dive, and while it is true, I think the government make sure no one messes with the tourists. there are decent amount of police presence, and guides and staffs may be liable if anything happens to us. The most we had to worry about was the street merchants insisting on making sales to us, and boy they are persistent. All that said, I would still keep an eye on your stuff and not follow any strangers.

as for the overall budget and value, I got it in a really good deal around september of 2024 before the crazy inflation hiked up again around november, so it may have affect on my perception and review.

To finalize, the staff was great. I feel very accommodated, and I can only hope they are paid well, since they seem to work long hours. I give kudos to the variety show staff, as they will dance for us at the theatre, and then dance along for the old people at the disco (the theatre and disco is probably the best on friday and saturday, as the locals come to visit and they know how to have fun). This was my first time in the carribeans, and I genuinely had the time of my life

Date of stay: December 2024
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
    • Value
    • Location
    • Sleep Quality
    • Rooms
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
Thank Kevin O
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 9 December 2024

It’s a beautiful view from the property. The 24 hour pool is a little sandy. But it’s still great that it stays open 24 hour.The food was not good at all. The best thing I had here was rice and beans fruit and one night they had goat that was good. Luckily there are various food options right outside the resort. Good night life too. When I arrived the balcony was flooded and the hot water never worked at all. The staff was semi friendly. I got a massage at bliss . Rosa I highly recommend . I’m unsure if I would stay here again. I did enjoy my trip to the fullest!!!!

Room tip: No hot water!!! Balconies may flood when it rains
Date of stay: December 2024
  • Trip type: Travelled solo
    • Value
    • Location
    • Sleep Quality
    • Rooms
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
Thank Same C
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 9 November 2024

The bed was hard, food is bad, they didn’t bring new towels to the room and took the used ones, almost ran out of toilet paper, the water in the toilet was brown the service is horrible it seems like the workers don’t want to work…. Some are rude and disrespectful.
WILL NEVER COME HERE AGAIN.

Date of stay: November 2024
Trip type: Travelled with family
Thank Daniela P
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 13 October 2024

Amazing great place to stay good food very clean and beautiful safe will come stay again definitely recommend ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..:…::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::///::::/

Date of stay: October 2024
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Thank Magic K
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 6 October 2024

Would definitely come back! Select section only though! Worth every penny. The beach is beautiful, just sand and no rocks. The food was excellent every day. Both the buffet and the 2 al a cartes we booked (Luigi and Continental). The staff was super nice and accommodating

Date of stay: October 2024
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
1  Thank Care W
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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