We recently returned from the Occidental Gran Flamenco, Puerto Plata and overall had a decent time. Nice stretch of beach, good service, acceptable food and wonderful weather were all contributors. However, I had one MAJOR concern that I would like to share with as many people as possible. They wanted to fumigate our room while we were there (...and not only that, the note they put under the door said "no special precautions are necessary") When I spoke with the Customer Service rep she gave me some line about them using non-toxic chemicals (there are no non-toxic pesticides!!!) Considering that pesticides are linked with many cancers, Parkinson?s disease and immune system suppression I was understandably concerned. But especially so because we were travelling with our 8-month old baby! (Data suggest that exposure to pesticides at levels believed to be safe for adults could result in permanent loss of brain function when occurring during prenatal and early childhood periods of brain development. Specifically, pesticides are associated with behavioural and developmental problems in children, and childhood brain cancer and leukemia.)
Problem is, I imagine that all of the hotels use these toxic chemicals. I have no idea what a good solution might be other than to put pressure on the hotels to find other ways of killing whatever it is they are attempting to kill. (They said they were spraying for mosquitoes due to the fact that the hotel was near the water!?!?...obviously not true as mosquitoes don't breed in salt water. I suspect they were targetting cockroaches but didn't want to admit it.)
Problem is, I imagine that all of the hotels use these toxic chemicals. I have no idea what a good solution might be other than to put pressure on the hotels to find other ways of killing whatever it is they are attempting to kill. (They said they were spraying for mosquitoes due to the fact that the hotel was near the water!?!?...obviously not true as mosquitoes don't breed in salt water. I suspect they were targetting cockroaches but didn't want to admit it.)