Reviewers Rating: 
Fair
Hello,
My girlfriend and I stayed at the Paraiso del Sol in August 2002.
Reviews for this resort are mixed as you can see, it seems that during the summer the level of customer service may perhaps go down.
CHECK-IN
We were the only people on our flight going to this resort, which was a bad sign from the beginning. When we got to the hotel, the desk clerk made me feel like we were inconveniencing him. There was no warm welcome here.
ROOM
Our room was fine, although I did hear from several other people that their rooms weren't up to par, including no air conditioning in some rooms. My only recommendation is not to have a room facing the main pool area which can get quite noisy at night.
PERSONNEL
I don't even know where to start here. Our maid stole stuff from our room and other families vacationing here had some expensive and non-expensive items go missing from their rooms as well. Lock up everything in the safe or your suitcase and I mean everything! She stole our underwear and other peoples toothpaste, etc.
When we reported this to the Front Desk, they immediately pretended like they didn't speak English, which was a huge insult since the desk clerk was the only one there who spoke really good English. Once we got them to understand us and the extent of what happened, they refused it and said that people make up stories because they are unhappy with the hotel. Later, security personnel came to our room and insisted on searching our bags to make sure we weren't hiding the underwear in question. They then brought in the maid and told her that we accused her of stealing.
The entertainment staff were alright compared to everyone else, although they did make some very hurtful comments to me about my appearance which dampened a fun evening.
There was one great bartended named Eric, be sure to go to his bar if for some reason you go to this resort.
WEATHER
It was nice, extremely hot. It only rained once although it was in the forecast to rain every single day we were there.
POOLS
The pools were visibly not clean. Some had a green tint to them, others had actual slime floating on the top and all felt gummy. Also, there were tons of plastic cups in the water, which is more of the customers fault than the staffs.
BEACH
The beach would have been perfect if it weren't for the beach vendors. They sure are persistent. They sit there and put items on you, such as necklaces and leave saying they will be around tomorrow to collect their money so you feel that you have to pay them. They are very pushy and hound you the whole time you are at the beach. You have no other choice than to pretend you are sleeping.
There were no watersports as advertised, they were at their sister hotel. In our week there, we couldn't get any information about this mystery sister hotel, where it was, how to get there or what was there.
BARS
There were a few bars there. Although, any time we asked for any kind of drink, they were out of it. We asked for Coke, they said "Sprite?" we asked for Bloody Mary, they said "Sprite?". The only thing they had was Sprite! So much for the all inclusive drinks as advertised.
FOOD
Before we went, we read critisms of the food in other reviews. We figured, how bad could it be? You don't go there for the food. Well, let me tell you, the food really can bring you down. It was the same thing, not only every day, but every meal. Potatoes, cheese and some type of meat. One lady was talking to a chef and he said that they recycle the unused food until it is gone.
Breakfast - Boiled potatoes, Lunch - Boiled potatoes with cheese on top. Dinner - Mashed potatoes with cheese. Honestly.
ENTERTAINMENT
As mentioned above, wasn't too impressed with the entertainment staff. Most of the entertainment listed on the boards never happened. The music was the same CD day in and day out.
CONCLUSION
I am not exaggerating the extent of this holiday. I would definitely not recommend this resort. One word on the outside world from the resort in Puerto Plata. Be careful. Because the hotel is on two sides of the street, you must cross the public street to get to things. People are always there to hassle you. Be careful on the "Funny Bikes" as they call them. We were on a guided tour with them and crashed into a ditch due to high speeds to keep up with our leader and dirt roads with trucks zooming by. Please email me if you have any questions about this resort and I can elaborate more: tylermcneil@rogers.com
Tyler McNeil
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