I went with my husband's family in June of 2007 and had a lovely time. The weather was beautiful at some point every day. Only rained 2 times during the day at the start of our vacation and the day we left. Otherwise sunny skies throughout.

We arrived late at night to check in and we were driven to our room on the luggage cart. We were located right by the spa by the flea market. It was quite a walk to get to the buffet and main building but quite quiet and away from the busy 'ness' of the entertainment.

The room was clean and suited out needs. No concerns about the maid service. We tipped well at the the start of our stay and never had a problem.

The beach was the best part. We went to the same area every day right by the small pool by the Mexican Restaurant and we always used the same sun beds. I highly recommend drinking the Bahama Mama's and the Coco Loco's at the Pool bar between the beach and that side pool. Yummy!! My step sister in law loved the Mamajuana shots...they reminded me of cough syrop...lol. But you have to try it at least once. Just keep another drink on hand nearby.

The buffet was very good. The food was consistently replemished. They always had some neat dish by the Pasta station. A huge selection to tempt your palate and the buffet wait staff were very helpful and courteous. My husband and I have no complaints about the buffet at all. I loved the coffee there. Even had to bring back a few bags of the Dominican coffee.

The a la carte's were good. The Mediterrean and Italian were very good. We also got the lobster dinner the night before we left and it was good value for our money. The house wine wasn't bad at any of the meals either.

The entertainment in the evening was horrible at the main stage but we made our own entertainment. We went to the strip and hit the disco, karaoke bar and the casino. We sat in the street while Jose brought us our drinks. He was an amazing waiter and bless him we never had to ask for anything. He just kept an eye on us all night and brought us a tray of drinks without us asking whenever needed. We had to get a picture with him at the end of our stay because he was such a nice man!

I would recommend the snorkeling adventure and you get a lobster lunch included. We also took out paddle boats and went wind surfing. To the right of the resort past the flea market we went to a private beach and just hung out there for a bit. It was secluded and away from the resort. We stayed there and I collected sea shells to take home with me. It was so relaxing. If you take a canoe or paddle boat, I definitely recommend going that direction. A lot of fun!

Overall I would rate this vacation 4/5 and I have told all of my friends if they are looking for a good value trip then this place is perfect.

A vacation truly is what you make it and we had a great time.

Just returned yesterday from this hotel having stayed there for two weeks with my 13yr old daughter. We had a fine time with fabulous weather. No issue with the hotel which was clean and well kept and service was (almost always!) with a smile but we all have our off days, I know I do. Most of the staff work seemingly long hours and its hard to keep smiling at one and all, particularly when faced with the attitude and behaviour of one or two of the `guests` we saw. The hotel ground were beautifully kept.
I had to complain about three `young women` who moved in to next door mid-second week due to their loud and obnoxious behaviour from moving in. They were evidently from Scotland, seemingly in their late teens/early twenties and on some mission to seen and heard wherever they went any time of day or night. Was told by Customer Services they would be sent a letter, warned and thrown out if they continued. Seemed to do the trick as they were quiet(ish) in their room after that.
There was not a vast variety of food but there is (from what we were told when out on one of the five trips from the hotel) a requirement that 85% of the food is locally produced which limits the variety (and promotes local produce, which is good for the island).
Some fellow guests had a break in and their safes were broken in to and they had understandable issue as they were only offered $50 compensation from the hotel. The breakins were on the lower floor rooms and entry was seemingly through patio doors.
The beach was sandy, clean and well kept (...if you want white sand, go to the south coast!) and the swimming was good in the gradually sloping water (so good for `needing to touch the bottom`, but like water, people (like me) and children). There was no issue with the `reported ` sand flies that I read about before going, and our rep told us to protect ourselves when it was wet or raining as that is when they tend to come out, so common sense!
This was our second visit to the Dominican Republic having stayed in Puerto Plata last year and we love the country. The `all inclusive` hotel is place to eat and sleep or relax - the country is what you see when you get out of the resort. It is exotic, hot, breathtakingly beautiful... and predominantly POOR. The vendors and children will try and make a buck if you give them the chance because they know you have more than they will ever have and they have no welfare system.
So `get out of the hotel` and see the country for where and what it is or dont complain about natural limitations because of where you are. Otherwise go to your local 5 star hotel and stick to what your used to...
My daughter sulked on the way home as she did not want to come home, she loves the island and wants to go and live there (...as do I).
Perhaps one day? But had to promise to go back next year, will probably try another part of the island for the experience.

Cannot believe there are negative reviews about this resort.
We stayed for 2 weeks at the start of july and it was fantastic.
We were booked in on the bus and our bags were taken straight to our room, there were 3 of us but only 1 bed, when we reported this to reception they had a bed delivered and made up in our room within 20 minutes.
The food is brilliant in the buffet restaurant, you have the choice of 3 al a carte restaurants as well but we didn't go to any of them as the buffet was so good, always something different each time we went plus the usual chips, bugers, steak and chicken.
The entertainment team are great, they work so hard we were tired just watching them and they aren't pushy if you don't want to join in just say a polite no and they leave you alone, there is always some type of activity going on in the main pool or beach,
water polo, volley ball and water aerobics plus bingo and poolside games all day everyday and a mini disco, merengue dancing and a show at night. When the show is over the main street opens where there are 2 bars, a nightclub and a casino all included in your all inclusive price.
We went to ocean world and were a bit disappointed with it as we found Marine world in portugal to be a lot better but our daughter (15) thought it was fantastic as she hadn't seen dolphins before. If you go to Ocean World beware of the people standing outside the restaurant, they will tell you a trip round the resort in a golf cart is included in your entrance fee but they are trying to sell time share so avoid them if possible. We loved the bird sanctuary you can go in and hold all the birds and feed them there were lovebirds, cockatoos, parrots and toucans.
We arranged our trip through the rep at our hotel but we were told later if you turn right on the beach and leave the resort you can book the same trips cheaper.
The staff at this hotel are fantastic and so friendly, they cannot do enough for you to ensure you are well fed and have plenty to drink, no matter if you are drinking water or cocktails they will keep your glass topped up all day and night if you want.
We would recommend you tip them as they have to work really hard to earn $1 for 3 hours work and they are really appreciative when they are tipped $1 which is only 50p.
all in all this is a fantastic resort and we cannot recommend it highly enough.
Be aware that you will have an upset stomach for a few days whilst your body adjusts to the heat and the food. The cleanliness of the resort has to be seen to be believed, you cannot enter an area that serves food without first using an antibacterial sanitiser. They even wash the road and pathways with disinfectant and they spray the plants with insect repellant every evening so there are very few mosquitoes about but do watch the sand fleas at night as they do bite.
We are already planning to return here next year with our extended family and we can't wait so have a great holiday and don't cry too hard when you have to return home like I did.

Hi there, me and my girlfriend arrived back from bahia san juan this morning and felt we had to let people know urgently the problems we had.

We have been reading the reviews on here for last couple of months before going and were a little worried after some of them, anyway we arrived on the 13th of july and i must say the place was fantastic, the food was fantastic, the drink was fantastic as was the entertainment.

Everything was perfect for us up until wednesday there when we went to get money for tipping while on excursion, my girlfriend opened the safe to get the money and asked me if i had moved her money $60, i said no but take money from mine as we were in a rush, she then said yours isnt here either, she then opened her purse and her bank card and driving licence was gone. I had the safe key with us at all times as we are both very security concious. We left room and went to speak to front desk who said go on your excursion and speak to us when we get back, fair enough thats what we done, my g/f got on phone to back home to try and get her bank card cancelled at a tlephone cost of £21.

Anyway, while we were on the trip we got speaking to another two couples who were there as a group and had had one of there case zips burst opened and a video camera taken, person then zipped it back as best they could, they then opened the other case to find the charger, they also took a nintendo ds before putting the cases back and clothes back folded on top, this is someone who must have access to the room for a certain amount of time.

Over the course of two days, 7 rooms were broken into, someone also tried to break into the room at 7pm while a couple were in there room and managed to scare them off.

We arrived back from our excursion and were then sent guest services to be met with the first of a good few rude people, she said it is impossible for your safe to get broken into, ha ha what a joke, her and a security guard who was constantly smirking came to the room and said there was no sign of forced entry but they would write up a report, While they were at our room our next door neighbours who we had just informed of this tried his safe and couldnt get in even after using it that morning, it took 5 people to get in, someone came with a master key and that didnt work and eventually a maintenance guy got it opened with something out his tool box, impossible to get into is it?

The next day we were meant to go to paradise island but felt we had no option but to cancel as we needed to get a crime report for our insurance.

They arranged for us to see the guest services manager, , good luck if you have to deal with him, he was no help and very rude, the two heads of security were there who knew no english and kept talking over us which was very frustrating and i had to walk out twice while my girlfriend was trying to get it sorted, they were also saying it was impossible with smirks on there faces and caliing my girlfriend darling and honey, would we seriously be wasting time lying for the sake of 80 dollars, we needed a crime report as the fact is we didnt know for sure if anything had been debited from g/fs bank card which thankfully there hasnt.

I know what your thinking why dont we go to see our First Choice rep ha ha would this be the rep that sided with the hotel, im positive they are all in cahoots with each other, maybe not to do with the Break ins but to make sure the hotel doesnt get a bad name. She also said that the safe being broken into was not possible and that the couple who had there camera and nintendo ds stolen were lying as they had been found, wrong, there was two couple with a kid each, one couple had a camera and there daughter and a nintendo ds and so did the other, security said that they were the same and hadnt been lost, almost every kid in britain has some sort of console but they dont see that there was two.

We eventually spoke to hotel manager who is spossibly on of the rudest people we has ever met, making jokes about it and laughing. Said there was no link between us paying $50 for safe (which you dont get back by the way) and items been taken from safe, is he seriously that delusional.

We asked for the police to be called and couldnt give us a number for the police, even our first choice rep couldnt and said the was no point calling the police as they will demand cash for the report as they are corrupt, i seriously wonder why first choice are sending people here as there is no security.

It makes me really dissapointed to write this review after me and g/f saying during the holiday that the reviews that had been written were a load of nonsense as we were having a great time.

I felt i had to write this as Security is a big thing to people especially families with children.

My Advice would to be please dont go here, if nothing goes wrong it is great but if you have one single problem then dont expect any shred of help from the hotel staff/ manager or the First choice rep.

I really apologise if you are leaving in next couple of days to go here but please be aware do not rent a safe, keep your belongings with you.

Thanks

Bryan