Reviewers Rating: 
Great
We arrived at the Hotel with a coach load of other British tourists, the roads varied in quality between non-existent to good. I had phoned and E-mailed the Hotel to say that we wanted a cot for our 8-month-old baby boy. When we finally got in the room the cot wasn't there, it took 3 hours and several calls to get them to deliver it.
THE ROOM
The room was well decorated, our fridge was small and kept things quite cool, there was a daily restocking of the fridge (we normally got our own water at the bar), they put in 2 bottles of coke and sprite and 1 diet coke. The air-conditioning did not work very effectively at first this took several calls to amend, when I finally saw them fix it was quite easy. Take of the knob wind the temperature down; replace the knob- from then on it worked just fine (nice and cool). The room was cleaned every day but not too thoroughly, the bed was always made, new sheets etc, the floor was mopped etc etc. but it was a quick superficial clean as opposed to a deep clean which they do in between guests. The TV was good, the normal CNN, three channels showing a decent film every night, news, a DR discovery channel and coverage of most international sport including some European football. The best thing about the room was cupboard space, we took over 60k of luggage for two adults and a baby and had lots of room to spare in the wardrobe, cupboards and drawers.
EATING & DRINKING
The main buffet restaurant was excellent, the breakfast & evening meal times greeted you with a mammoth selection of very well prepared food. The Hotel is supposed to be 5* however it isn't by British standards. ( To give you our standpoint -my wife and I have travelled around the Caribbean, Africa the Far East & Europe, to add to which my wife was a head chef in her early 20's in the UK, so we are by know means experts but we know good food and proper service.) The food was very good the service was poor. The waiters and waitresses did not speak English well, there reaction to you not speaking Spanish /Portuguese was in most cases to give up. In the resort lessons are available, I would recommend it. To be fair the service varied from individual to individual. The crux of my point is that if a hotel is genuinely 5 star then when you ask for something they should make every effort to help - well on average in 7/10 times they didn't. In the main restaurant one example would be when I asked for some bad milk to be replaced, we were told that it wasn't possible as they hadn't got any left (it was the end of the breakfast shift), when I pushed the waitress for better service she got her manager; he told me the same thing. I asked if there was any milk at all in his kitchen, he said yes but it would be cold, I said that would be OK and the waitress finally went and got some for us, a French family joined our request for some fresh milk when they realised we might actually succeed. A good example of their service would be a waiter who gave us a little Spanish lesson while he served us (quite a contrast).
There was a Mexican restaurant by the pool, which served as another buffet restaurant at lunchtime, the selection was equally vast and the service when we did use it at lunchtime which was quite good. I can't comment on the Mexican evenings as we didn't go but if you like Mexican food I was told it was very good.
There was a café next to the Mexican restaurant, which did snacks through the day which was adequate, the service in my experience at the café was at best slow, at worst abysmal. I would advise you not to go to the counter but to be seated and catch the eye of a friendly waitress to have any hope of getting your correct order in good time.
In general the drinks were good, the list of all-inclusive drinks included a vast list of cocktails, the beer was nice and the soft drinks were always served with lots of ice at most bars, the ice being clean water ice brought into the hotel in bags, not as you may have assumed tap water. I also found the bar staff to be a lot more fun to chat to (and this wasn't because I was drunk, in case you were wondering). The pool had a pool side bar which you could walk up to or swim up to which was very nice.
THE POOL AND BEACH
The pool was surrounded by lots of sun beds; the area was cleaned every morning. At 12.00pm there was water aerobics with some very very load music which they apologised for each time, many people joined in with this at it was quite fun. It was fun to watch other people join in whilst I sunned myself and drank beer. The pool was excellent for a nice swim, the deepest bit being 2 metres, good facilities for children including one paddling pool and an area which was about waste high for an adult. The beach was also cleaned every day with security at both ends of the stretch that was overseen by our hotel. If you went any further the hotel did not guarantee you safety, I went running along the beach in both directions on several mornings and didn't see a sole. One American lady and one British couple were mugged during my stay; they decided to go for a walk midday covered in jewellery and they had their jewellery removed. It is not for me to comment but I didn't ware my watch whe! n I ran along the beach as a matter of what I considered to be common sense.
THE ENTERTAINMENT STAFF
These were the guys who in my opinion made up for some of their lesser colleagues. Always willing to help they organised and were involved with all the activities throughout the day, including the evening shows. I can't really comment on the shows my self as I only attended one; this was a comedy magician who was actually quite funny. From what I understand some of the shows were a bit amateurish, but did not lack any enthusiasm on the part of the entertainment staff and some of the guests. Children were well looked after; every effort was made on the part of staff to entertain the children that they looked after and we did hear good reports from parents of older children. We made use of the baby-sitting service, we used the same lady three times, she was very good, changing him, feeding him and also tidying the room and making the bed that he had been in.
SPORTS FACILITIES
I used the gym which was basic but well stocked, weight-training facilities and two aerobic machine (a stepper and a bike). There was a trainer on hand to spot for you or give you advise. There was also a tennis coach and three tennis courts to make use of (the first lesson being free).
MEDICAL FACILITIES
My sister's children at home managed to develop bronchitis, which they passed on to my son who became ill on holiday, we made use of the on-site doctor who was first class, quick to attend, efficient, explained himself and his diagnosis well and eased our fears knowing that we were in a third world country with a baby. There is a new private hospital in Punt Cana, which your medical insurance ought to cover you for. My point is that the medical facilities and the attention that my son received was first class and changed my view that I had gained form the Internet of what was to be expected in the Dominican Republic. Also like me you have probably read scare stories about malaria, our DR doctor told us that in Punt Cana there are no cases of malaria at all so not to worry and advised as to stop taking the course of Malaria tablets we were taking, the only occasional cases of malaria are on the boarder with Haiti. However the Mosquitoes at our hotel were the most veracious and ! persistent that I have ever encountered and I would recommend taking as many methods of putting them off as you can. I am happy to report that our son didn't get bitten once though.
CONCLUSION
On reflection we had a good holiday, my son was well looked after during his illness, the food and drink were very good and the facilities and service were ok although not 5 star level, more like a very good 3 star / ok 4 star. The mosquitoes were bad take lots of repellent. The weather was wonderful don't skimp on suntan cream - YOU WILL BURN! There is construction work being carried out on the adjacent hotel, which will improve the complex when it is finished at the end of April. The building work was unobtrusive and did not spoil our holiday as they had finished the main work and were just doing the interior work, however the hotel complex will be much better when it is completed (bigger pool more restaurants etc.)
If you have already booked a holiday here, don't worry you'll have a great time. If you haven't booked wait until it's fully established.
(Review originally submitted on March 30, 2001)
Stephen Rose
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