The Former H10 Coco Club Now Ocean Bavaro Beach Resort & Spa

QUALITYGUY1

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Mar 24, 2003
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Greetings from Buffalo NY! The following is a trip report for my visit to the H10 Coco Club Bavaro Beach in Punta Cana DR from April 5th thru April 12th 2003. First let me mention that we were informed on the day we arrived that the resort was in process of being transformed to a 5 star and is now ?OCEAN BAVARO BEACH RESORT & SPA?. Many improvements were taking effect during our stay without encumbering our visit whatsoever. Just for your information, in our party were 6 adults and 2 children, a six-year-old boy and four year old girl. The adults ranged in age from 30 to 49.
Our flight arrived 1 hour late due to an ice storm in Toronto coupled with a shortage of de-icing fluid to spray the planes before takeoff. We arrived at the airport and went directly through customs with no trouble. Our shuttle bus was waiting and took us directly to the resort with no stops in between, ~20 minute ride.
BAD: Upon departure, the Airport security stole $80 from one of the girls purses...one kept her busy while the other stole the money! BE CAREFUL!! Keep your money on your person and NOT in a purse or fanny pack!

For pictures e-mail me at: qualityguy1@yahoo.com (available after 4/16)


Rooms/Grounds?

We were located in block 5, which is but a few steps from the beach, a pool, beach bar, and not much further to the largest pool with the swim-up bar (~a hundred feet away). The 24-hour Pizza/Hamburger/Hot Dog stand (great pizza), Brazilian Restaurant, Spa, and Gym was across the courtyard from our block. Each of the blocks has ~20 rooms per floor with 4 floors, one being sort of a half basement type. I guess I can say we had an Ideal location. There was bottled water available on the first floor of every block, chilled & hot, and Ice was available at the bars & buffets, or 24 hours at the Pizza stand (it could be a walk to get it here though depending on your block location). The room was very clean and fresh smelling and the AC worked great. All rooms have sliding glass doors leading to a balcony?we had a great ocean view from room #5418. We had a mirrored dressing table with ample drawer space, sort of resembled a large wicker desk. The bathroom was all tile, floor & walls, and had plenty of space & a blow-dryer is provided. The TV worked fine, of course I only watched CNN in the AM before breakfast and PM before retiring (sometimes). There was 1 large closet with mirrored sliding doors, shelves for shoes (or whatever), a safe, which we did not rent ($15 + $20 deposit), I just locked my valuables in my carry-on and put that on a shelf in the closet. The other 4 rooms I saw, in various blocks, were almost identicle and 2 had vaulted ceilings. The room service was good, nothing exceptional, but we always had a clean room with fresh towels. There were also larger rooms with Jacuzzis available, and even larger villas as well. The grounds were kept impeccably clean and well groomed resembling natural tropical gardens with all sorts of flora with a nicely done walkway meandering through every area. There is a nice large garden pool, frequented by various ducks and pink flamingos; adjacent to the breakfast buffet is a great picture spot. NEGATIVES: We had to ask for toilet paper, no washcloths, no facial tissues.

Restaurants/Food?

The food was really good overall. We have been to many other all-inclusives before and suffice it to say the variety and quality was some of the best. To insure seating at the ala-carte restaurants you need to get to the breakfast buffet between 7 & 7:30AM, where you can make reservations and the hostess will give you a card with your room#, the restaurant of your choice, and seating time. The breakfast buffet offered the typical fare of such things as eggs, omelets, French toast, pancakes, fruits, chesses, breads, and assorted hot items such as sausages, bacon, potatoes, etc. You can pretty much come dressed as you are at the buffet, barring bathing suits, and feel comfortable. On the other hand, dress code is strictly enforced at the ala-carte restaurants where men will need long pants and a shirt with a collar (polo OK), women should be presentable and are allowed shorts. We tried the dinner buffet, which was quite nice in its offerings, and also the Brazilian, Italian, and Mexican ala-carte and all were wonderful. My favorite, however, was the Brazilian where the waiter would bring out large skewers with various meats throughout your meal?beef tenderloin, pork, chicken, & prime beef, culminating in dessert offerings and a lights-out display of the fiery preparation of a liqueur-coffee. As I mention earlier, you could get Pizza, Hamburgers, and Hot Dogs None of the 8 of us encountered stomach difficulties, just stick to the bottled water. We brought our water bottles with the flip-up straws to keep an ample supply of cool ice water wherever we went.
NEGATIVES: Long wait at the Mexican (I heard this comment by many) but that?s it.

Bars/Drinks?

The buffet restaurants offered self-serve red or white wine, Pepsi products, 7-up, soda water, orange soda, various fruit drinks (not real juice), water, and plenty of ice. Waitresses served coffee and kept it coming. Ala-carte restaurants offered wine, soft drinks, & water. The bars offered an array of local brand hard liquor, Presidente brand beer (not bad), and top shelf with a charge if you wanted it. I found the local brands to be fine including the scotch. They used 8 oz. Plastic cups but would fill your container as well if requested. Swim-up bar was a nice amenity; beach bar and lobby bars were also fine. The disco charged for drinks?I didn?t do that. Negatives: One bar tender (most of the time). This was especially annoying at the swim-up as there was also an upstairs regular bar the guy had to work simultaneously.

Beach/Pools?

The beach at the H10 was the best I?ve been at. Clean white sand, ample amount of lounge chairs & Palapas, although I would recommend claiming yours early if you want a specific spot. Tall healthy looking palms, but not too many to cause an overabundance of shade, and more than enough room between the palms and the crystal turquoise water if you wanted total intense tanning. My wife and I walked a long distance in either direction and our beach was by far the best. Walking to the beach and going left for about 15 minutes takes you to a nice little native market if you want souvenirs, t-Shirts, etc. This area led into a small town with some quaint shops and restaurants, or if you would rather, you could take a local bus to one of the larger towns (cheap!). Also, in the ocean there was a roped-off area dedicated to swimmers only. The pools (4) were cleaned & tested regularly. If you had children there were areas provided which were safe & discreet. For adults there were areas that were quiet relaxing & refreshing. There are also ample amounts of lounges at each pool. Our favorite, and the largest, was the pool with the swim-up bar (hard to believe isn?t it). Negatives: Regularly throughout the day there are many power craft scooting back and forth causing a nauseating stench of gasoline for swimmers (not apparent on the beach). For this reason you cannot venture out past the rope or you risk injury, so for all practical purposes, if you want to snorkel you need to pay for an excursion.

Activities/Entertainment?

Many, many activities?Various excursions (as usual $$) including, but not limited to, jungle safari, fishing, snorkel, diving, boat rides, horseback riding, etc. FREE: Non-power watersports and other activities, without long waiting, including 1 & 2 person kayaks, hobie, windsurf, boogie boards, scuba lesson, tennis, billiards, pig pong, shuffle board, etc. A full feature well equiped Gym is located above the Italian & Brazilian restaurant. $$$: Powered activities including 2-person speedboats, banana boat ride ($5 ea. US for ~15 min), parasail, etc. Full feature Spa, massage, hairstylist, hair braiding & beading. FREE & offered by the animation team in most cases: Dance lessons, water aerobics, games, shows for kids & adults (a couple fantastic some were just OK), & beach volleyball. Kids club was phenomenal and was available twice per day at 10:30AM-12:30PM and again from 3PM to 6PM. They did just about everything you can think of from art and board games to water polo and volleyball. All the kids get a diploma on the last day indicating areas they excelled in, the 2 little ones with our group couldn?t wait to go. Locals come in on Friday evening to sell their wares, this was very nice compared to others I've seen. Negatives: ALL the adult activities (except the shows) including the dance lessons were done on the beach in the sun & sand. No local musicians or performers for dinner or lunch, or anywhere for that matter, this was a first for us. No local music or culture whatsoever outside of the beachside merengue lesson. No beach party or dinner in the evening.

Employees/Service/Staff?

Waitresses, Bartenders, and all other service personnel were friendly and tried to be as supportive as possible including in the restaurants and on the grounds. However, we were told that most of the people working for the resort spoke English, this was not so, or maybe they preferred not to. Most spoke relatively no English, even the bartenders, which I found unusual. This did not hamper our good time, we just didn?t let it. Nicely supplied store on premises gave 20 Pesos per US$. I bought a bathing suit for $10, coffee for ~$2, Petite Cohibas for < $1 each. Negatives: Really none other than the language thing.
 
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QUALITYGUY1

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Mar 24, 2003
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Hi Wud,

Thank you for your reply! After reading your trite statement, I feel a reply is warranted. I appreciate your candid comments, however, I believe you missed or misinterpreted the salient point of my review. My statements are all intended to be purely subjective to be viewed in an objective manner by anyone interested in an honest opinion.
First off?I did say that the resort is, ?in the process of transformation?, I did not say that the Ocean Bavaro WAS NOW a 5-Star Resort, by any stretch of imagination; just many improvements in progress with that as a goal (maybe they will never make it). Besides, what are the carved-in-stone criteria for a 5-Star Resort? I?ve been to a couple and I can tell you that I?ve preferred my stay at some 3-3.5 stars more so. Maybe some of this 5-Star talk is pure marketing. Contrary to what you say about, and I quote, ??another advertising scam for sure. It is no better than it was before?, yes, improvements are being made as we speak, an it will definitely be better, how much better, neither you nor I will know until completion. Please try not to read things into the words of others, just read, that is, if you choose to. Doing this only makes one look imprudent, or at best, unwise.
Second?It is my choice to e-mail photos to interested parties, to which I have had many pleasant responses, and I might add, this is a common thing to do on message boards, forums, etc. This is my prerogative so please respect my choice in this case. By the way, I had e-mailed Robert prior to my vacation on whether he would be willing to host my photos and he responded positively, so I did survey the options. By the way, I do have an account with ImageStation, but that is irrelevant at this point as I have chosen the e-mail venue. Wud, you need to understand that there are many options and choices in life, as per the old adage, ?there?s more than one way to skin a cat?.
Third?Regarding the beach; in my review I said, ?the best I?ve been at?, NOT necessarily THE BEST! I submit you to my previous statement about reading things into others words. Please try to read as it is written. I?m quite sure that there are many, many beautiful beaches, as evidenced, for one, by the Travel Channels Program, The Worlds 10 Most Beautiful Beaches. Not one of the DR beaches appears on this program, including sections of Bavaro at the Riu, Oberostar, or Fiesta. However, to imply that these, as well as the section of Bavaro Beach at the Ocean Resort, are not beautiful, or as you put it ?sucks?, is very crass at best. I?m sure that others that enjoyed any of these beaches would agree. Remember Wud, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so again, respect the opinions of others, and never rain on anyone?s parade because it?s rude, cruel, and really not so nice. In a statements I make, as do the people from Travel Channel, I am giving an opinion based on my experiences at some point in time; that goes for my entire review. For example, regarding restaurants: could I compare a resort restaurant to some of the fine places I?ve dined in Paris, New York, or Italy? Of course not, that would be foolish, but I thought the food was still good to excellent at many resorts I?ve been at, that is, in my opinion of course.
Wud, to sum things up with some unsolicited, but I feel deserved advise, please try to be more objective. I participate and contribute to many forums and message boards and I?ve found it always pays to have web manners. As for my review, it?s just that, a review, not the law, and I don?t believe it or I deserve the abrasiveness of your so-called reply. Any correspondence, including on a forum or message board, should have the intention of good will, this is how understanding develops. So Wud, please try to brush-up on your communication and people skills, I?m sure many here would appreciate it. Furthermore, learn how to use a spelling checker! ?LOL
Thank you for your concerns and have a great day!
Best regards,
Dave QUALITYGUY1
 

MommC

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Mar 2, 2002
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Wise move Wud!!

I didn't read your comments just QG1's reply and I did read his original report before you posted your comments.
I thought he did an excellent job of describing the resort and pointing out both the positives and negatives (with a bit of "tongue in cheek" re the negatives").

Opinions are just that -opinions!
We all differ in our opinions in relation to our experiences.
What's good for me might not be good for you and what's bad for me might not be bad for you but we are all entitled to our opinion and it's up to each of us to decide for ourselves whether we agree or disagree with someone elses opinion.
When one person tries to "stifle" anothers' opinion just because they don't agree with it or don't "like" it it's time to bid farewell to the "free" world and go to war for what we believe in!!

FREEDOM of SPEECH Rules!!
 

QUALITYGUY1

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Mar 24, 2003
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WHAT HAPPENED?

Hey Wud!...don't drop out!! I thought this could be the begining of a good debate...but maybe on another forum...I say, let the review stand, let the debate go on! Be some fun, or happiness will ellude you. Go Mommc with that speech thang!
Highest regards,
Dave
 

MommC

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Mar 2, 2002
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Yeah well..........

I gotta watch what I say these days or I'll get DELETED if not worse.......

Repeat after me:: positive,positive, positive! Just keep it positive!!!
 
Same feeling

Make my opinions known, flames fly so if I don't remove then someone else might.

Trying to be, positive,positive, positive! Just trying to keep it positive!!!
No need to debate I have seen the H10 and voiced my opinion not trying to read between any lines. I have other stuff to do rather than argue trite points, your opinion is respected.
But I cannot imagine you sending hundreds of pictures via email to hundreds of prospective tourist when a simple website upload does the trick, but that is your choice again.
I am glad Robert will host your pictures at least many will be able to see them, I will look for them as well.

End of discussion for Wud!
 

pittipat

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Jun 5, 2003
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Safett

Thanks for your post. It is most informative. We will be visiting there in August and I was wondering about the safety of wondering off the property. Is it safe? Also, how did you manage to communicate with the lack of English/:cool:
 

QUALITYGUY1

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Mar 24, 2003
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If you use common sense any place you travel is pretty safe. We had no trouble whatsoever. As far as the English goes, there are enough people there that do speak the language so that should be no problem as well. Have fun!

Regards,
Dave
 

garndell

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Mar 7, 2004
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Ocean bavaro ,a bit concerned

My familly and i are booked to go end of July and i am a little worried about the amount of english speaking people there.My daughter is 6 and any parent knows if you have a happy child you have a happy holiday.My concern is weather she will find any friends to play with if there isnt many that can speak english can any one reassure me please,Thankyou Gareth
 

QUALITYGUY1

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Mar 24, 2003
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garndell said:
My familly and i are booked to go end of July and i am a little worried about the amount of english speaking people there.My daughter is 6 and any parent knows if you have a happy child you have a happy holiday.My concern is weather she will find any friends to play with if there isnt many that can speak english can any one reassure me please,Thankyou Gareth

You should have no problems with that Gatreth.