A wonderful quiet hotel. If you're looking for plenty to do day and night, go elsewhere. If you want a hotel with helpful, friendly staff and the opportunity to meet people of all ages looking for a relaxing holiday then we really don't think you can do better than the Victoria.
All the staff are really great, but special mentions for Ezequiel behind the bar - always smiling, and Anna at the small pool. The animation team headed by Alex with Eddy, Winston and He Man are really entertaining and hard working - once you've seen their comedy show, Witney Houston's "I will always love you" will never be the same again. In the restaurant the head waiters Miguel, Gregorio and Martin will make sure you want for nothing. The rest of the staff are always smiling and always have the time to talk to the guests but these deserved that special mention. That is what makes this hotel so special and ensures that so many guests come back here, it's all down to the staff.
Something new for this year is that any Victoria guests can go down to the Gran Ventana for a drink, but only upgraded or return guests can eat there - I would recommend the small pool bar there with Jaquie.
We've been a few times and will be returning again - the staff always remember you and will make your holiday really special.
We Had our anniversary whilst we were there and my wife asked Ezequiel if they could do something for us. He asked the maid if she could decorate the room - a wonderful surprise for me when we came back from the pool.
There have been a lot of comments about the aircrew, and yes some of them can be a bit boisterous at times, but they were generally ok - even the obviously drunk ones weren't unpleasant whilst we were there. They tend to keep themselves to themselves in a big group, but sometimes you'll find one or two that are quite happy to sit and chat - those ones are just like any oher guest here. If they weren't there, some of the karaoke nights would just be the animation team singing. Generally it's the Dutch ones that are rude to the staff, but we didn't see this very often during our stay.
Everything else about the hotel has been said already.
The staff and this hotel gets five stars from us.

Having just got back from our two week honeymoon at the Victoria Hotel, Playa Dorada, we wish we were still there! Both of us agree that this was the best holiday we have ever had.

The Victoria Hotel is without a shadow of a doubt the best hotel in the area. Set on a professional golf course, the surrounding views are breath taking, and its only 10 minutes away from the beach.

We booked the honeymoon suite which was huge, and the jacuzzi on the terrace was a nice touch. The food was a great deal better than I had imagined, and the three restaurants in the hotel cater for all tastes.

The best part of the hotel has to be the staff. They are awesome and really take the time to get to know you. I've never met such lovely people. A huge big thank you to Alex and the boys on the Entertainments team, namely Eddy Murphy, Winston Churchill and He-Man who really did make our honeymoon amazing. The boys realy do work flat out to keep you entertained.

We're hoping to return there soon, and we will definately be going back to Victoria. Although we paid slightly more for the suite, the other accomodation is just as good. I can't wait to go back........

Booked through 1st choice and flew "Premier class" which was a joke to be honest but the hotel more than made up for the disappointment.

Lovely attentive staff who could not do enough for you and always with a smile. Hotel was spotless and the staff were constantly cleaning things.

Food was great with a wide selection of theme nights, pizza restaurant and al la carte.

The "Entertainment Team" were the friendliest bunch of guys that you could ever wish to meet, constantly chatty and fun. They even went clubbing with you after hours if you wanted!

I highly recommend the massages as well that are on site - well worth it.

Will definatley visit this hotel again in the future - the quietest and low key of all the hotels in Playa Dorada

We just got back from a wonderful honeymoon in the Dominican Republic – staying at the Victoria Golf & Beach Resort, Playa Dorada, Puerto Plata. This was booked through Thomas Cook.

FLIGHTS
It was a 9-hour flight from London Gatwick. Thomas Cook have recently improved their planes slightly and have increased the seat pitch to match that of Virgin/BA/etc. However, there’s still just something lacking in their service. For one, you have to pay for any drinks outside of tea/coffee offered after meals. Two, the ‘entertainment’ offered is minimal compared with other transatlantic flights I’ve taken and fairly low quality. Our flight out had interactive movies/TV but the flight home was the pre-programmed kind where you can’t stop & start. Also, even though you have more legroom, the seats are VERY narrow. I’m not super-slim, no, but I’m not wide either and I felt squashed the entire time – especially my shoulders! The whole plane just feels small and cramped. The attendants generally made the best of it and provided a decent service, but I guess they can only do so much with a budget airline.

Upon arrival, there was a Thomas Cook rep standing right outside, just as we were told. It was really easy to find the coach transfer, as they have everyone sorted by what hotel they’re staying in. Kindly, they also provided some bottle water, since we landed in the middle of a hot Dominican afternoon! On the way in, the rep gave some tips over the PA but they were same stuff you find in TC’s literature about the DR.

LOCATION
The Victoria was the 2nd stop on the coach from the airport. Only us & another couple got off, so lucky there was no queue to check into our room. We knew we had wanted to upgrade when we got there, and the receptionist/manager was very helpful in changing our room. It take some time while he organised payment & stuff, but they were really nice and let us freshen up in our original room while our new suite was being prepared. 30 minutes later we were escorted to the honeymoon suite!

ROOM
We did catch a glimpse at one of the regular rooms, like I said above, so I hope my review of the hotel is still objective. The rooms were clean and well-laid out. The mini-fridges (part of all-inclusive) are stocked daily & if you leave a nice note + tip for the maid, she will put in whatever you ask for!(for instance, I asked for “mucho agua” and got 6 bottles everyday!)

As for the honeymoon suite specifically, here are the additional items the room offered: suite-set up of 2 wicker chairs + mini table, much larger and better-decorated bathroom with luxurious walk-in double shower with ‘rain’ style of shower head, significantly larger terrace with 2 sun loungers (instead of plastic chairs) and private Jacuzzi/spa bath, super king-sized 4 poster bed (I think the regular rooms were about a king sized bed), mini kitchenette with sink (regular rooms just had the coffee maker on a shelf somewhere). All rooms offer the mini-fridge, TV with cable channels, telephone, walk-in closet with shelves, hanging rail, iron and luggage rack.

I know it’s common in a lot of hotels, but I didn’t like that the air conditioning would turn off when the terrace door was open. Our door was very heavy and sticky and a bit difficult to close. One night, our A/C stopped working completely, but a guy came instantly to fix it and after fiddling for a few minutes, it was fine.

PUBLIC SPACES
The Victoria is immacutely kept. The grounds are stunning and all the spaces are very, very clean. Every morning we’d see tons of employees sweeping and cleaning constantly. They really do keep a very high standard, so you won’t be disappointed.

The ‘main’ pool is a bit boring and was never very busy. The adults-only pool is much nicer and has a waterfall feature and private little pool attached to it (like a Jacuzzi but not hot). It’s very popular, so get your towels down early. The only drawback is it’s adjacent to the golf course and I actually got hit by a stray ball! I’m sure this rarely happens, so don’t let it put you off (only gave me a small bruise). The bar will keep you supplied with cocktails all day long and it's a very peaceful place to lay.

FOOD
The main dining room is your traditional all-inclusive hotel buffet. The food isn’t super-awesome cordon bleu, no, but it’s perfectly fine too. Some meals were better than others. For lunch/dinner, there is always some sort of roasted/cooked meat from the ‘carvery’ (ham, roast beef, baked fish, etc.). For lunch there was always hamburgers & hot dogs offered if you didn’t like the dishes served. The service provided during meals was very attentive and pleasant. We did use the pizzeria one night as a nice alternative (again, nothing special, but perfectly serviceable). The best food is at the á la carte restaurant which much be pre-booked by 3pm on the day. The ‘free’ food offered is absolutely delicious and presented with flair & those who want can purchase nicer dinners like steak and lobster. We didn’t pay an extra penny and still received immaculate service by the waiters. The “Tex-Mex” (not really…) restaurant on the beach is nice as well. They offered sandwiches, burgers, chips and tacos but are only open for lunch.

BEACH
The beach really is about 10 minutes away, but you will need to take the free shuttle the first time you go, as it can be hard to find if you don’t know where you are going. The hotel’s beach is private so no invasion by outsiders. The only “invasion” is the incessant beach vendors that sometimes come by every few minutes. Just pretend to sleep and they won’t generally bother you! Usually a simple no will make them go away, but be careful of the more persistent. Some do have some really good deals, so don’t be afraid to barter (we got a bracelet down from 500 pesos to 200 just by pretending to not have enough money). This might be a bit obvious, but the cigar sellers are NOT selling real Cohibas – nice cigars, just not authentic! There are lots of umbrellas if you need some shade and a hotel employee will put out loungers for you. There's also kayaking offered for free and other water sports for a price - the booth is on the Victoria's patch of beach, so it's convenient if you want to water-ski, windsurf, etc.

The sand is golden and soft and the water was very calm. The beach can get windy at times, but this never bothered us. Be really careful of the sun, as it’s a lot more intense than you might think! I grew up in a hot and sunny climate and still got really sunburned.

STAFF
Generally very friendly. Always say hi as you are passing and very quick with offering drinks/clearing plates/etc. Anytime we needed something, they were always prompt and courteous. Their English is generally good, so I don’t know what people complain about.

EXTRAS
There’s a little gift shop on the hotel premises that sells essentials like sunscreen and potato chips. The other little shop has daily newspapers and magazines. The prices are a tiny bit higher than the nearby shopping plaza, but not much more. There’s a small internet center that offers computers for 700 pesos per 30 minutes. I think there’s free Wifi in the lobby.

Entertainment is pretty mainstream and low-key. We rarely participated and weren’t really interested. The staff do try, but it’s a hard job as the Victoria is never very full and the type of people staying aren’t too interested in that sort of thing. We purposefully picked this hotel because it is peaceful…so if you want raucous entertainment, go somewhere else. We made our fun. Conveniently, if you upgrade to the junior or honeymoon suites, you get privileges at their sister hotel, the Gran Ventana. The GV is generally much livelier and so you can easily go there for your evening entertainment.

The weather actually wasn't as hot as I was expecting (90F, average), but the sun is INTENSE. It only rained one afternoon the week we stayed.

OVERALL
An absolutely exceptional hotel that provided a wonderful holiday. Like other reviewers have said, the Victoria is a quiet, adult-oriented hotel. I think being attached to a golf course keeps it that way. We never had anything to complain about and the staff work hard for you. We tipped where necessary (porter, maid and table-service in the á la carte restaurant) but received excellent service in EVERY part of the hotel. It’s conveniently located both near the airport (15 minute drive) and 5 minutes from its private beach section. Also, the Playa Dorada shopping plaza (with cash points, cinema, food, gifts, excursion-booking, etc.) is about 5-10 minutes away. We would go back to this hotel most definitely, the next time we are looking at a Caribbean holiday. Excellent value for money. All those booking with TC, our rep was on-site at least every other day and EXTREMELY helpful. For times he wasn’t around, we got our questions answered at hotel reception.

(P.S. If you upgrade, it’s definitely worth going to the Gran Ventana for time to time. We would’ve been perfectly happy had we not upgraded, but it was nice to have the chance to visit somewhere. The GV is much bigger and so the meals do offer a bit more selection & choice. Also, their pool is HUGE with a swim-up bar under a large canopy, so is useful when you want to swim but not get any sun.)

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions – I can’t praise the Victoria or Playa Dorada enough.