We just returned from Punta Cana last week and I was really nervous about our stay before we got there. I read through all of the bad reviews and alot of the good ones as well. We were really nervous but booked anyway. Some of the factors in booking the trip was that only 10% of the reviews were really bad. Additionally, 25% of all the reviews were negative. Based on that I knew that it is impossible to please everyone, so we went with an open mind and some of the tips we read.

On the day we arrived we took a car service to the Hotel. That worked out just fine. I do believe the cab would have been cheaper but we never checked into that. Once at the hotel, the check-in process was easy. We were given building 3. We did request building 4 or 5 as another reviewer clued us in to do. It worked out perfect. We were given a room on the pool side of building 4. I not sure building 5 is better unless you get an Ocean view. Building 4 is the most centrally located. Ask for a pool view as well. The person checking us in seemed surprised that we knew about the buildings. He asked my wife in a whisper, " How you know about 4 and 5?" (Spanish accent) The funny part was my wife didn't know why I told her to ask either and her only response was, "You know about 4 and 5." (We laughed about that the whole trip, I digress)

Let me make this easy, the rooms are NOT 5 star, but ours was very clean, no bugs, and the combination of air and a large ceiling fan worked fantastic. Additionally, we had no plumbing problems, the water was luke warm on the first day. The rest of the time the water was hot. Another thing about the rooms were that the beds are a little harder than I believe most are used to. It reminds me of most hotels that are not chains in Latin America. It wasn't the most comfortable but it wasn't agonizing. If this is important to you, find a chain style hotel or 5 star. As for the window in the bathroom door, weird but easily remedied. Hang a towel over the door or use thumb tacks. TV worked fine, with American channels but didn't watch much.

An important factor that one previous reviewer mentioned is that this particular resort, you will be out numbered by Europeans. I think that explains the "rude staff" reviews. What I mean by that is, there is a small amount of the staff that speak english fluently. They also speak German and French. I think the rudeness comes from the staff not understanding english, so they either walk away or just look at you. My wife speaks Spanish so it was not a problem for us. The point I'm trying to make is ask the appropriate staff member. Don't ask the landscaper or the cup collector because they generally don't speak english. Just find someone who does. Lastly, for those with children, I mentioned there are European's, so the beach will be complete with topless women. My 10 year old asked why once and that was the end of that. No issues.

Food, this is a big one. The food can only be gauged by who's eating it and what your eating. I don't think it was bad but the tastes were exotic for me at least. They had dishes with Dolphin, Marlin, Rabbit, and various other seafoods. But honestly, I didn't come close to starving. There were stations you could have food prepared and then there was the buffet. Some of the food in the buffet was cold, but I enjoyed the food overall. I did not get to eat at the Italian resturant. All I brought with me was shorts and long pants are needed to eat there. Men's capri's are acceptable as well. During the day they served grilled chicken,(fabulous) hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza at little stands near the pool. The meat has a different taste than American beef, but once again it wasn't bad.

Next the bugs review. I didn't see the FLIES, nor did I see the MOSQUITO's. Had everything I needed to combat the problem, (Heavy duty bug spray) Can't say anything else about that.

Lastly, the beach, pool and amenities. Both were beyond nice. We spent all day everyday at both. The water was warm in both. Towels are next to the pool in a small building with ping pong tables. I'm telling you that so you won't search like every guest that asked us. "Where's the towels?"

The shows at night were hit or miss, but after a few Pina Colada's it really didn't matter.

One issue we had was whether to tip or not. That will be up to you. Some people did and others did not. My suggestion is if you plan to tip, Break down your large bills before you ever get there. It is nearly impossible to get change. (Even for a $5) Bring plenty of ones.

Also I will reiterate what another reviewer said. Do not pay more than HALF of what the vendors offer to to sell it to you for when purchasing your trinkets and cigars. Stay firm and you'll get your price. If not walk away. Everyone sells the same stuff.

The gift shop was outrageously priced. A (small) Three Musketeers bar was $3. You get the gist. If you want snacks for the trip home bring them and pack them away for when you leave, the airport prices are just as outrageous.

Overall, it was a good, cheap vacation (we fly free), and I would have no problem booking again.

I stayed there recently with my family, 7 of us in 3 separate rooms. Each room had it's own problems, mine was electrical, went to unplug my hair dryer and the entire outlet box fell out of the wall. My sister in law and brother in laws toilet over flowed four times, and when they called the front desk they were grilled about what country they were from and accused of putting too much paper in it. Not knowing that some bathroom tissue is supposed to go in the waste basket, but is no where near the toilet. My nephew and his fiance's room had a ceiling fan being held up by it's wires only. In one of the rooms, the frame to the sliding door leading to the balcony fell off and almost landed on my niece. Each repair took place the next day. The food was Ok, but expected a little better. We were disappointed also in the fact that very few employees seemed to speak even some English.
I will say that even though the LTI is a little dated, it is clean, very pretty grounds and has a beautiful beach. We stayed in building 5 with the ocean view but in order to classify them as actual ocean views, some of the palm trees outside the balconies obstruct what
would be a breath taking view. I would not say that it's not worth the money, it's reasonable, but for an older resort if some much needed repairs were made it would be a wonderful improvement.

i will start at the beginning, collected from airport no problems at all. the roads to the hotel is crazy there are more pot holes than i have ever seen. check in was a breeze the staff were great, they gave us building 5 with a super ocean view on the second floor the baggage was brought right to the room and we were settled. the beach is the nicest one i have seen so far on my travels, spotless clean and powder white sand that just let your feet sink into. cleaned twice a day of sea weed and any debris, realy special. the room was very clean and the cleaners always did a great job, i left a dollar out a day to say thanks and always got a good morning from them.the bed was a real kingsize bed and ok the pillows were a bit hard, but if you fold up the duvet and put it under them then you will have a fine nites sleep. now to the food...breakfast was always very good, leonardo on the omlette station is a top man. ther was always lots of food and it does vary plenty to choose from, cearels,fruit,juices,fried foods aswell as selection of cold meats and breads. you have to try everything once i believe, even deep fried friut,veg,meats,and anything else that you can dip in batter and fry..lunch was very nice, a good selection once again, but if you are like me you will have more lunches in el bucannero were alesandro does the nicest b.b que chicken and hot dogs,burgers and chips... dinner is great the chinese station is always good but always busy,the pasta station also but there are plenty of options for you to choose from. the drinks are cold and plentiful, coco loco which my wife fell in love with alwayts went down a treat, the bar staff are great aswell always redy to get you a drink even if your not realy ready for one. as with all the staff a dollar to say thanks and good job will never go a miss. this hotel is excellent for anyone who like myself loves to relax when on holidays and get pampered a little. the casino was a bit of fun even it is too easy to loose a bit of money without noticing. shopping is a little difficult the venders on the beach are ok but there arent alot of pressies to buy. the big shopping centre has to be the dearest place i ever seen. if you dont own a platinum card dont go to palma villa. plaza bravaro is a little town where you can pick up a few things cheaper, and have a realy cold beer in steves corner bar, the coldest berr around. the timeshare people are not as bad as some other countries a simple no does the trick usually. as said before by other trip advisors if you try to speak even a little spanish the staff will always have a smile and a good day to you all the time. checking out was as easy as check in done in minutes and sorted as quick. our transport to the airport was on time and had us there in plenty of time. the flight was delayed by 2 hours, but the fact we had to fly to san domingo with a lay over of another 2 hours was a pain. all in all we loved it there and could not and are not able to say one bad thing about this hotel or in fact this whole holiday. if you go i hope you all have a great time. email me if you have any questions or need any more advise.

Overall we had a very nice vacation and I would go again to LTI if they change the mattresses and renovate the rooms a little! Even a few rainy days couldn’t ruin it. We travelled with 11 month old baby – see for my tips at the end. It’s a pretty old hotel (one of the first in Punta Cana) so the rooms are old, but the beach is one of the best – they had an opportunity to choose while the coast line was still half empty. As I understand, LTI is a German company – don’t be surprised that the majority of the people staying there will be from Germany. Maybe that’s why they have such a delicious pastries and grilled sausages?..

Beach: is the best! If you are not pool kind of guy – this is the place to stay. We walked around a lot and I can say that LTI beach is the best of all the hotels around it even the 5* ones. The sand is white and soft, the water is clear and has amazing colours on a sunny day; you don’t have to go a mile from your umbrella to the water . We always could find a free umbrella, but I think it depends on the season. We were there last week of May – first week of June.

Pool: looks beautiful thou we never spent time there because we are beach people. It has no swim-up bar, but bar is not far.

Buffet: is pretty good, especially pastries and desserts! They are delicious and different every day! They have one smoking and one no-smoking sitting section. We found that in the evening it’s better to go to the smoking section (closer to the ocean) because the breeze from the ocean makes it much more comfortable. It can get really uncomfortably hot at dinners in this buffet! The food is ok. I missed only cottage cheese, lox and normal oatmeal for breakfast. Oatmeal that they have reminds more of a dessert than a morning cereal – it has lots of cream, sugar and cinnamon. I loved fresh fruit cocktails, crêpes or “pick your own ingredients” omelette for breakfast. In the evenings they have Chinese food Chef (pick your own ingredients), Pasta Chef and grilled meat and fish Chefs additional to the regular buffet food. House wine was surprisingly ok. Don’t miss Thursday evening buffet – it’s the best. They have different cheeses and Hamon and lots of special stuff and live music. They create that Cornucopia sculpture of the fruits and vegetables and their chefs carve sculptures of the watermelon – quite cute!

Beach Snack Bar: grilled sausages, hamburgers and chicken are very good! We always had lunch there instead of the buffet. Nothing beats the ocean view and the ability to stay in your swimming wear!

Grounds: are beautiful. The resort has this intimate colonial atmosphere. Everything is in the walking distance and everything is accessible for strollers or wheelchairs.

Bars & Drinks: are generally good except Margarita – they got it all wrong! Never even try it there! Instead ask for Caipirinia – it reminds Margarita and it is drinkable. We liked Miami Vice – it is similar to Pina-colada, but has added strawberry flavour! They have coffee machines everywhere and this coffee is very good! We loved lobby bar in the evening: sit on the couch and enjoy some cold cocktail!

Entertainment: animation people are not as active as we saw in the other resorts. They have a few lessons like merenge, Spanish, tennis, aerobics on the beach, etc. But this is all. We never saw any of competitive games and funny stuff going on in the swimming pool or beach during the day. Nightly shows are regular Dominican All-inclusive Shows – nothing to write home about, but still fun since you have nothing else to do... Use Mosquito repellent when you go out at night! I counted 17 bites on one leg once! Since we travelled with the baby – we never went to the night disco, so I cannot tell if it was good. But I can say that our neighbours surely enjoyed it since they were very loud every time they returned from it at around 3am!

Rooms: are very old and not 4 star quality at all! I would say 2 or 3 star maximum. Everything is shabby looking and not very clean. The mattresses and pillows are awful! If you have back or neck problems you’ll be waking up with the pain every single day! AC in our room was too cold and changing the setting didn’t seem to produce any result. They have no mosquito nets on the windows! So it’s impossible to sleep with the windows open! Every balcony has concrete wall on one side and a wooden lattice wall on the other, so you can see and hear your neighbours on that side pretty well! It quiet disturbed us one night when our neighbours decided to have a smoke and a chat on their balcony when they came back from the disco at 3 am!

Baby & Rooms: the cribs that they have are very small and flimsy. They are safe for very small babies (0 to 6 month) only! If you travel with the older baby – ask for children’s bed and put it in between the wall and your bed. That’s what we did. They provide two 1.5 L bottles of water every day – it is safe for the baby, but we were still boiling it (we brought our own electric kettle).

Baby & Buffet: They have good baby chairs with trays. The food is ok. Nobody we knew got sick. I think you can give this food to the baby without hesitation. We did. She loved yogurt, fresh papaya, watermelon and pineapple, cooked broccoli, green beans, pasta and local veggie called “tayota”  - taste resembles zucchini. As I mentioned above – go to the smoking section in the evenings if your baby doesn’t like being hot. Our daughter hated dinners. She was starting to cry like crazy after 15 min in that hot place every single evening. We never could finish our dessert!

Baby & Beach: We had a small inflatable boat for the baby – it is very convenient. You put the baby in it in sitting position and swim. You hold the boat and the baby with your hands and you swim with your legs. Most of the time on the beach our baby slept on the chaise or sat in the sand and played with it. We kept her hat, t-shirt and swimming diaper on her all the time and we applied lots of Baby Sun block #55. Still she got the tan, but was never burnt (thou we never left her under the sun for longer than 15 min). She also liked when we put some water inside the boat and let her sit in it under the umbrella.

Baby & Beach Snack Bar: they have baby chairs and small choice of non-grilled food suitable for the baby: pasta, cooked broccoli, green beans, fresh fruits etc.

What to pack for the baby: sun block, small inflatable boat, hats, swimming diapers, reg. diapers, Vaseline, wet wipes, light stroller (the lighter the better – you won’t need the huge and heavy one in this resort), formula, bottles, cleaning brush, detergent and bottle drier stand, electric kettle , lots of Ziplocs and a couple of small food containers to put some snacks from the buffet for the baby to chew on during the day, baby-safe mosquito repellent, couple of beach toys, bibs, Aloe Vera gel, Infant Advil or Tempra, light baby blanket, light baby sleeping sac.

Don’t pack: baby snacks – buffet food is enough; big heavy stroller; sheets or receiving blankets; towels including beach towels - they give each person their own towel (baby included) and they change them every day, so as the beach towels.

If you run out of diapers or formula: take the free shuttle bus to the Plaza Palma Real (ask bellboy for schedule). They have small pharmacy there. We bought Nestle Baby Formula there. They also had Similac and Enfamil. Ask for mixing instructions – it’s all in Spanish...
Contact me if you have other questions.