Reviewers Rating: 
Fair
The Venta Club has recently opened it's doors to the general public. Previously, it was the exclusive preserve for Italian citizens. However, the Italian theme remains, a great many of the staff are Italians, the entertainment, the activities and the excursions are all in Italian. If you are seeking a holiday where you can meet new people and take advantage of a resort "culture" do not go to the Venta Club unless your Italian is fluent. If you desire a vacation where you are anonymous and no one tries to include you in Merengue lessons against your will, the Venta Club may be the place for you. The Dominican staff was extremely friendly and some would make an effort to practice their english with us. (Your nationality is identified by the color of your wrist band) However, the Venta Club has placed their own Italian staff in the supervisory positions as well as in the more visible positions such as the restaurant, entertainment and dive staff. We found the Italian staff to be aloof and on occassion, rude. Further, the Venta club was unable to provide excursions in any language other than Spanish or Italian.
The food was good, but also very Italian. Every dinner and lunch offered the same choices- minimal salad bar, pizza, 4 kinds of bland pasta, a roast of some kind (once was rabbit) and an antipasto table. If you are a vegetarian be warned that there is "ham" in many of the pastas, salads and antipastas. However, there was 2 kinds of fish served at lunch and dinner although they were always the same 2 kinds of fish which was frequently overdone.
If you are on a carbohydrate reduced diet, the Venta Club is not the venue for you. Their bread is the best thing about the lunch and dinners. It is absolutely delicious. Unfortunately breakfast consisted almost exclusively of sweet pastries. There was an omlette bar, but with only one chef cooking for some 850 people, we were not willing to dedicate the time required to obtain an omlette.
There were only 2 other Canadian/American couples on the whole of the resort. We were easily identified by our red wrist bands. As for the Italians, many of them could speak some English however, they appeared to travel in large familial groups so had little incentive to meet others.
Bayahibe and the surrounds are simply stunning as are the islands of Saona and Catalina. (Don't take the horse back rides. The creatures are pitiable with iron mouths and gaits. On the ranch our group attended, we saw horses with sores and all ribs visible. I saw a horse, tethered by a 6 foot rope in the blistering sun, with all of its ribs and hip bones standing in sharp relief. It cried out to our horses as we rode by and it is an image which haunts me still. Along with the carriage driver whipping a struggling horse.)We would definitely go back to the Dominican Republic but we would avoid the Venta Club chain.
(This review was orginally posted on March 8, 2001)
Erin
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