Reviewers Rating: 
Fair
We travelled with Vacation Express with a charter flight out of Baltimore in late June. The beach in Punta Cana was pristine, and the resort absolutely beautiful. However, beware of some things at this resort or you may have a frustrating vacation experience.First of all, don't travel in the summer. It is extremely hot and humid in Punta Cana. The hotel rooms in the Melia Caribe resort are air-conditioned, but the other buildings, including the restaurants have poor, if any, air-conditioning. And bring lots of good insect repellent as there are mosquitoes galore in the evening.
Expect long lines at the airport, and at the resort when you check in and when you make dinner reservations. Very few people speak Spanish, even at the resort, so you are really on your own here.
Because the resort complex is so huge (Melia Caribe Tropical is two resorts that were combined), getting your bearings is a real challenge. Especially since the printed maps do not correspond to the directories on the grounds.
The food was the best deal at this resort. If I had to recommend a restaurant, the beach grill has good breakfast and lunches, the International has an excellent breakfast buffet. For dinner, the Mexican restaurant was the best. The Japanese, Chinese, French, an Italian restaurants were all disappointments.
Stay away from the resort gift shop. Better to spend your money at the stalls on the beach. ALL of the vendors on the beach spoke very good English and were happy to have our business. Have lots of small bills though, as they prefer to give you change back in their currency.
Expect very poor service at the restaurants, erratic maid service, and sometimes no clean towels. Reaching the front desk was next to impossible. My daughter slept on a rollaway cot with no blanket all week.
This is NOT a place to take children of any age. It should be promoted strictly as an adult resort. Many women go topless at the pool and the beach, and wear only a thong bikini bottom. In addition, we encountered loud music with obscene and very explicit lyrics at the large swimming pool w/pool bar. Very few planned activities appropriate for teenagers. Likewise the casino and stage shows are not suitable for youngsters.
Three of us ended up with digestive problems by the end of our vacation. Nothing serious, but who wants to have diarrhea while you're at the airport? And the only food we ate was at the resort...hmmm.
The management of the hotel and the Sol Melia headquarters did "investigated" the problems and sent us a letter of apology. But, Needless to say, we won't be going back to the Sol Melia Caribe resort any time soon.
Claire McCullough
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