Puerto Plata 8/24/04 ? 8/31/04
Coral Marien (Hilton) all-inclusive Hotel
Overall, a great all-inclusive and normally I would like to try different places to go, but because we had such a great time, my family wants to go back !!!! I am 47, my husband is 50 and my kids are 8 and 12. We are seasoned travelers and have been to a Puerto Vallarta adults-only, all-inclusive and a Royal Caribbean cruise this year, so I can compare it to that. For the off-season price we paid (I used www.visitdominican.com) it was an incredible deal for this wonderful hotel. Feel free to e-mail me at RhonaP@aol.com if you have any questions.
Airport
You have to fill out a tourist card per person and then pay $10. each. It wasn?t too crowded when we landed so this line and the customs line went quickly. We also retrieved our luggage quickly and proceeded outside. Via e-mail we hired Martin Espinal
We hired Martin Espinal (http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/martin.html)
or e-mail at espinal30@msn.com to pick us up at the airport ($20) and also for the return trip. (his office called the day before to confirm). We were very pleased that we arranged this as it was crowded once outside and it was a welcome sight to immediately see Martin. Martin is very friendly and dependable and you can book any tour thru him at a lower rate. We booked a tour of Puerto Plata with him.
On the return trip, we arrived to the airport 2 hours early. The airport people are quick to take your luggage a few feet from the taxi to the line so be prepared for that. We were flying AA, however, we just stood in line 1 hour outside because the AA flights to San Juan and NY were scheduled to arrive before our Miami flight so they take those people first.
Hotel
The ride to the hotel is about 20 minutes. Check-in was quick and you are brought to your room via a golf cart. The rooms are all within 3 floor complexes. I?m glad we ended up on the 1st floor. The room was comfortable, modern, very clean, with a balcony. We were given fresh flowers in our room daily. The grounds are spectacular and the pool is the largest you will ever encounter !
Note that you are given just 1 key, which you will quickly determine that once inserted in the slot in your room, will keep the a/c and electric on. Therefore, when you leave the room and take your key, the a/c and electric turn off. A safe key is available at the front desk for $5.00/day. You are also told you are given 1 large bottle of water, 2 bottles of beer and 2 bottles of soda a day. (note, not cans or you will be charged for the can, as we were). Each room seems to come with a mini-bar/refrigerator and you are given a price list of the stuff (rather expensive). I really don?t see the need for this since there is plenty of other food around.
There is also an iron and large umbrella in the room. I thought the room lights were too dim and was not able to read a book at night. Checking the light bulbs, they were all 40 watts so that explained that. There is a large hotel staff and they are friendly, always passing by with an ?Hola? greeting.
Hilton Vacation Club
We didn?t find the people in white shirts/khaki pants too bothersome. Basically, they stand outside the breakfast buffet and ask if you are interested. We weren?t asked to go to an informative breakfast as others have written about.
Meals
Overall, I would rate the food quality as very good and the variety as excellent. Dinners on a cruise ship and a la carte all-inclusives are better but for a buffet here it was very good.
Breakfast
Buffet- 7-10:30, French toast, pancakes, cereal, made-to-order omelettes, bacon, potatoes, great rolls/muffins, 6 types of juices, fresh smoothies, fruit
Continental ? also available until 11:00 by the beach restaurant.
Lunch
Buffet ? a variety of hot dishes.
Beach ? we chose to eat here, where there was great pizza, burgers, hot dogs, salad, fresh chicken (sometimes), and desert.
Dinner
Mexican and Crepe Restaurant ? you make a reservation at Guest Services Desk (opposite check-in). We didn?t care for the Mexican restaurant at all but liked the crepe restaurant (especially good for deserts).
Buffet ? Always a pork, chicken, beef, and fish dish along with potatoes, salads, variety of great breads and at least 6 cakes. There is also a nightly pasta bar with a choice of 4 sauces. While we did find the beef very tough on 2 nights, it was fine 2 other nights. I particularly enjoyed the lasagna, beef kabobs, and flan for desert. There was always ice cream but what may look like vanilla, could be rum raisin or banana and what looks like orange sherbet could be mango
Carribean Grill ? this restaurant costs $15pp , we didn?t try it, so I can?t comment.
4:00pm each day - crepes by the pool ? my family enjoyed this daily, along with ice cream and lots of toppings.
Chocolate Friends/Entertainment
These are a large group that live at the hotel who are responsible for daily activities and nighttime entertainment. At the pool they would have a daily activity (volleyball, dance lesson, etc). At the theatre nightly at 8:30pm, for the kids, there is a nightly dance with a clown , sometimes followed by a game. Then at 9:15 the Chocolate Friends come out to dance the meringue with the guests. This is sometimes followed by an audience participation game. Then comes the show. We saw shows called ?Evolution,? ?Imagine,? and ?Musical (I think ? which was scenes from Grease, Lion King, and Moulin Rouge. These shows were excellent and I was amazed at the caliber of dance, costume, and scenery presented.
Tennis, Mini-golf, Large Chess Set, Exercise, Spa
There are 2 clay courts with a tennis pro and ball boy. The pro gives ?free? drills (I tipped him and the ball boy) at 9:00 am for intermediate. players. However, it is very hot. The 1st morning there were 6 of us. After than, just myself and son showed up and stayed about ? hour because it was just too hot. But we did play each night at 6:00pm when the sun started to go down. You have to reserve the court by just putting your name in the book, located by the exercise room. The courts do have lights (needed at 7:00 pm) but no one ?offered? to put them on for us, although I did seem them put on once for someone. You can also hire the pro for $25/hour.
Exercise Room ? This is a small, area but doesn?t seem to get crowded (note: it is covered but not enclosed so no a/c).
Mini-golf is a nice 9 hole course, just sign-out your club and ball by the pool activity hut.
Spa ? we didn?t use it, but it seemed nice in it?s own a/c building.
Kids Club
There is a separate building/wading pool/playgroud located by the beach, seems suitable for young kids.
Pool
The pool is the shape of a 3 leaf clover, it is tremendous so you never feel crowded and it is the largest pool we?ve ever seen. We brought cheap blow-up pool floats which we all thoroughly enjoyed (and gave them away on our last day). There are lots of comfortable pool loungers (I walked next door to the Iberostar and the loungers at the Coral looked more comfortable and the pool was larger). There are about 30 huts for shade. My ?job? was to get up around 7:00 am to ?reserve? a couple of loungers under a hut. Putting towels on chairs during the day to ?reserve? them seemed to be the ?norm.? I brought my own towels/magazines and put these on the chairs. The chocolate friend in the pool hut requested my magazines when we left and was very happy when I gave them to her on our last day. You are given pool cards and turn them in for towels at the pool hut.
A minor complaint would be that towels were not readily available at all times.
Tours & School Supplies
You must see the city of Puerto Plata We hired Martin Espinal (http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/martin.html)
or e-mail at espinal30@msn.com who provided us with our own driver and tour guide for the day (9-1:30 and we paid $100 for 2 adults/2 kids + we tipped both). It was nice to have an a/c van to hop in and out of and go to typical tourist sights as well as areas we chose to see.. The tour guide even helped me at a ?pharmacy? to get medicine for my daughter?s mosquito bites. . We went to the rum factory, amber factory/store, amber museum, areas where the rich and poor people live, San Felipe Fort, Playa Dorado complex, Sosua (we wanted to see the hotel Sosua-by-the-Sea, Jewish museum (at our request), and we wanted to a quick look at the Sousa water park.. Also, upon reading the DR1 website, (great site for info), we brought a duffle bag of school supplies. We would have gone to a school but since it was summer vacation, we went to the town of Montellano. Here we were greeted (or mobbed) by a group of kids who couldn?t wait to get the 10 cent notebooks, pencils (that had designs), crayons, licorice, and small stuffed animals (for the little kids). I wanted this to be an educational experience for my kids (age 8 and 12) and it turned out to be something we will all remember as how these kids got excited over stuff that we would consider minuscule. We wish we had brought lots more with us.
Mosquitoes
After the 1st night we all had lots of mosquito bites, my daughter had about 30 bites. Coincidently, the next day was a note on our door that the rooms were to be fumigated. Also that night and thereafter, as we played tennis at 6:00 pm, we saw the Terminix truck fumigate the entire complex. The bites diminished after that. Bring bug spray !!
A/C
We didn?t realize that basically only the rooms have a/c. The restaurants and theatre do not, as they are both open on the sides. The beach restaurant felt fine but the buffet and theatre do get a bit warm so dress appropriately.
Dress
People seem to get more dressed for the reservation restaurants (pants, collared shirt, shoes) but at the buffet it is o.k. to wear shorts there, even at dinner, although some people did get dressed here as well..
Phone Card and Taxis
I had forgotten my phone call. I was surprised that the hotel or gift shop does not sell these and to call the U.S. from the public phone located by the internet computers cost $13.00. The front desk told me to walk left of the hotel 5 min and I would find a store selling phone cards. I attempted to do this but only came upon the Iberostar Hotel security guard who did not speak English. Between both hotels are a line of taxis. The man in charge of the taxis approached me and offered to assist me. I told him I wanted a phone card to make a 2 minute phone call. He told me he would send someone on his taxi ?scooter? to get me one and then I could use his cell phone. In a matter of minutes, he was back on his scooter with the phone call and I used his cell phone, all for a couple of dollars.
Beach
The beach is nice with plenty of lounge chairs shaded by trees. Not too many people utilized the beach probably because of the seaweed in the water and it is not the Caribbean blue water. Although they are continually raking up the seaweed and the water is warm, we didn?t enjoy swimming amongst the seaweed but it was nice to enjoy the breeze here on lounge chairs or hammocks..
Shopping, Hair braiding
Facing the beach and walking left a short distance you will see a hut with flags. Here you will find about 20+ vendors in separate stalls selling souvenirs (they all have the same stuff?.t-shirts, cigars, laramar jewelry, etc). All day long, they wait for customers. They are friendly but aggressive in having you visit ?their? shop and be prepared to bargain. And if you show any interest in something, they will try their best so you buy it. The day we were leaving, I went to the beach to look for a woman to do my daughter?s hair braiding . They walk along the beach and show you pictures of hair braiding, I was set on paying $25 for her whole head and finally got that (you must find Sonia) then I had to follow her to the hut area.. I didn?t time it right as we had a plane to catch, but Sonia had 3 people working on her head at the same time since we were in a rush.
Tourists
On the week-ends it gets more crowed because many Dominicans come from Santiago for the w/e. Other times we found most were from England, Canada and New York. The hotel provides wooden receptacles to leave your glasses and the staff is constantly walking around picking up drink glasses but I did find it rude that people would just leave their glasses all over the place.
Have a great trip !!
Coral Marien (Hilton) all-inclusive Hotel
Overall, a great all-inclusive and normally I would like to try different places to go, but because we had such a great time, my family wants to go back !!!! I am 47, my husband is 50 and my kids are 8 and 12. We are seasoned travelers and have been to a Puerto Vallarta adults-only, all-inclusive and a Royal Caribbean cruise this year, so I can compare it to that. For the off-season price we paid (I used www.visitdominican.com) it was an incredible deal for this wonderful hotel. Feel free to e-mail me at RhonaP@aol.com if you have any questions.
Airport
You have to fill out a tourist card per person and then pay $10. each. It wasn?t too crowded when we landed so this line and the customs line went quickly. We also retrieved our luggage quickly and proceeded outside. Via e-mail we hired Martin Espinal
We hired Martin Espinal (http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/martin.html)
or e-mail at espinal30@msn.com to pick us up at the airport ($20) and also for the return trip. (his office called the day before to confirm). We were very pleased that we arranged this as it was crowded once outside and it was a welcome sight to immediately see Martin. Martin is very friendly and dependable and you can book any tour thru him at a lower rate. We booked a tour of Puerto Plata with him.
On the return trip, we arrived to the airport 2 hours early. The airport people are quick to take your luggage a few feet from the taxi to the line so be prepared for that. We were flying AA, however, we just stood in line 1 hour outside because the AA flights to San Juan and NY were scheduled to arrive before our Miami flight so they take those people first.
Hotel
The ride to the hotel is about 20 minutes. Check-in was quick and you are brought to your room via a golf cart. The rooms are all within 3 floor complexes. I?m glad we ended up on the 1st floor. The room was comfortable, modern, very clean, with a balcony. We were given fresh flowers in our room daily. The grounds are spectacular and the pool is the largest you will ever encounter !
Note that you are given just 1 key, which you will quickly determine that once inserted in the slot in your room, will keep the a/c and electric on. Therefore, when you leave the room and take your key, the a/c and electric turn off. A safe key is available at the front desk for $5.00/day. You are also told you are given 1 large bottle of water, 2 bottles of beer and 2 bottles of soda a day. (note, not cans or you will be charged for the can, as we were). Each room seems to come with a mini-bar/refrigerator and you are given a price list of the stuff (rather expensive). I really don?t see the need for this since there is plenty of other food around.
There is also an iron and large umbrella in the room. I thought the room lights were too dim and was not able to read a book at night. Checking the light bulbs, they were all 40 watts so that explained that. There is a large hotel staff and they are friendly, always passing by with an ?Hola? greeting.
Hilton Vacation Club
We didn?t find the people in white shirts/khaki pants too bothersome. Basically, they stand outside the breakfast buffet and ask if you are interested. We weren?t asked to go to an informative breakfast as others have written about.
Meals
Overall, I would rate the food quality as very good and the variety as excellent. Dinners on a cruise ship and a la carte all-inclusives are better but for a buffet here it was very good.
Breakfast
Buffet- 7-10:30, French toast, pancakes, cereal, made-to-order omelettes, bacon, potatoes, great rolls/muffins, 6 types of juices, fresh smoothies, fruit
Continental ? also available until 11:00 by the beach restaurant.
Lunch
Buffet ? a variety of hot dishes.
Beach ? we chose to eat here, where there was great pizza, burgers, hot dogs, salad, fresh chicken (sometimes), and desert.
Dinner
Mexican and Crepe Restaurant ? you make a reservation at Guest Services Desk (opposite check-in). We didn?t care for the Mexican restaurant at all but liked the crepe restaurant (especially good for deserts).
Buffet ? Always a pork, chicken, beef, and fish dish along with potatoes, salads, variety of great breads and at least 6 cakes. There is also a nightly pasta bar with a choice of 4 sauces. While we did find the beef very tough on 2 nights, it was fine 2 other nights. I particularly enjoyed the lasagna, beef kabobs, and flan for desert. There was always ice cream but what may look like vanilla, could be rum raisin or banana and what looks like orange sherbet could be mango
Carribean Grill ? this restaurant costs $15pp , we didn?t try it, so I can?t comment.
4:00pm each day - crepes by the pool ? my family enjoyed this daily, along with ice cream and lots of toppings.
Chocolate Friends/Entertainment
These are a large group that live at the hotel who are responsible for daily activities and nighttime entertainment. At the pool they would have a daily activity (volleyball, dance lesson, etc). At the theatre nightly at 8:30pm, for the kids, there is a nightly dance with a clown , sometimes followed by a game. Then at 9:15 the Chocolate Friends come out to dance the meringue with the guests. This is sometimes followed by an audience participation game. Then comes the show. We saw shows called ?Evolution,? ?Imagine,? and ?Musical (I think ? which was scenes from Grease, Lion King, and Moulin Rouge. These shows were excellent and I was amazed at the caliber of dance, costume, and scenery presented.
Tennis, Mini-golf, Large Chess Set, Exercise, Spa
There are 2 clay courts with a tennis pro and ball boy. The pro gives ?free? drills (I tipped him and the ball boy) at 9:00 am for intermediate. players. However, it is very hot. The 1st morning there were 6 of us. After than, just myself and son showed up and stayed about ? hour because it was just too hot. But we did play each night at 6:00pm when the sun started to go down. You have to reserve the court by just putting your name in the book, located by the exercise room. The courts do have lights (needed at 7:00 pm) but no one ?offered? to put them on for us, although I did seem them put on once for someone. You can also hire the pro for $25/hour.
Exercise Room ? This is a small, area but doesn?t seem to get crowded (note: it is covered but not enclosed so no a/c).
Mini-golf is a nice 9 hole course, just sign-out your club and ball by the pool activity hut.
Spa ? we didn?t use it, but it seemed nice in it?s own a/c building.
Kids Club
There is a separate building/wading pool/playgroud located by the beach, seems suitable for young kids.
Pool
The pool is the shape of a 3 leaf clover, it is tremendous so you never feel crowded and it is the largest pool we?ve ever seen. We brought cheap blow-up pool floats which we all thoroughly enjoyed (and gave them away on our last day). There are lots of comfortable pool loungers (I walked next door to the Iberostar and the loungers at the Coral looked more comfortable and the pool was larger). There are about 30 huts for shade. My ?job? was to get up around 7:00 am to ?reserve? a couple of loungers under a hut. Putting towels on chairs during the day to ?reserve? them seemed to be the ?norm.? I brought my own towels/magazines and put these on the chairs. The chocolate friend in the pool hut requested my magazines when we left and was very happy when I gave them to her on our last day. You are given pool cards and turn them in for towels at the pool hut.
A minor complaint would be that towels were not readily available at all times.
Tours & School Supplies
You must see the city of Puerto Plata We hired Martin Espinal (http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/martin.html)
or e-mail at espinal30@msn.com who provided us with our own driver and tour guide for the day (9-1:30 and we paid $100 for 2 adults/2 kids + we tipped both). It was nice to have an a/c van to hop in and out of and go to typical tourist sights as well as areas we chose to see.. The tour guide even helped me at a ?pharmacy? to get medicine for my daughter?s mosquito bites. . We went to the rum factory, amber factory/store, amber museum, areas where the rich and poor people live, San Felipe Fort, Playa Dorado complex, Sosua (we wanted to see the hotel Sosua-by-the-Sea, Jewish museum (at our request), and we wanted to a quick look at the Sousa water park.. Also, upon reading the DR1 website, (great site for info), we brought a duffle bag of school supplies. We would have gone to a school but since it was summer vacation, we went to the town of Montellano. Here we were greeted (or mobbed) by a group of kids who couldn?t wait to get the 10 cent notebooks, pencils (that had designs), crayons, licorice, and small stuffed animals (for the little kids). I wanted this to be an educational experience for my kids (age 8 and 12) and it turned out to be something we will all remember as how these kids got excited over stuff that we would consider minuscule. We wish we had brought lots more with us.
Mosquitoes
After the 1st night we all had lots of mosquito bites, my daughter had about 30 bites. Coincidently, the next day was a note on our door that the rooms were to be fumigated. Also that night and thereafter, as we played tennis at 6:00 pm, we saw the Terminix truck fumigate the entire complex. The bites diminished after that. Bring bug spray !!
A/C
We didn?t realize that basically only the rooms have a/c. The restaurants and theatre do not, as they are both open on the sides. The beach restaurant felt fine but the buffet and theatre do get a bit warm so dress appropriately.
Dress
People seem to get more dressed for the reservation restaurants (pants, collared shirt, shoes) but at the buffet it is o.k. to wear shorts there, even at dinner, although some people did get dressed here as well..
Phone Card and Taxis
I had forgotten my phone call. I was surprised that the hotel or gift shop does not sell these and to call the U.S. from the public phone located by the internet computers cost $13.00. The front desk told me to walk left of the hotel 5 min and I would find a store selling phone cards. I attempted to do this but only came upon the Iberostar Hotel security guard who did not speak English. Between both hotels are a line of taxis. The man in charge of the taxis approached me and offered to assist me. I told him I wanted a phone card to make a 2 minute phone call. He told me he would send someone on his taxi ?scooter? to get me one and then I could use his cell phone. In a matter of minutes, he was back on his scooter with the phone call and I used his cell phone, all for a couple of dollars.
Beach
The beach is nice with plenty of lounge chairs shaded by trees. Not too many people utilized the beach probably because of the seaweed in the water and it is not the Caribbean blue water. Although they are continually raking up the seaweed and the water is warm, we didn?t enjoy swimming amongst the seaweed but it was nice to enjoy the breeze here on lounge chairs or hammocks..
Shopping, Hair braiding
Facing the beach and walking left a short distance you will see a hut with flags. Here you will find about 20+ vendors in separate stalls selling souvenirs (they all have the same stuff?.t-shirts, cigars, laramar jewelry, etc). All day long, they wait for customers. They are friendly but aggressive in having you visit ?their? shop and be prepared to bargain. And if you show any interest in something, they will try their best so you buy it. The day we were leaving, I went to the beach to look for a woman to do my daughter?s hair braiding . They walk along the beach and show you pictures of hair braiding, I was set on paying $25 for her whole head and finally got that (you must find Sonia) then I had to follow her to the hut area.. I didn?t time it right as we had a plane to catch, but Sonia had 3 people working on her head at the same time since we were in a rush.
Tourists
On the week-ends it gets more crowed because many Dominicans come from Santiago for the w/e. Other times we found most were from England, Canada and New York. The hotel provides wooden receptacles to leave your glasses and the staff is constantly walking around picking up drink glasses but I did find it rude that people would just leave their glasses all over the place.
Have a great trip !!