Cabarete Bay Hotel opened or not

[ddmpls]

Last full day in Cabarete

Well sorry to say it is my last full day at Estrella del Mar or whatever it is called.
Nope, definately no swim up bar this year. The small pool is beside the buffet restaurant. It actually has been a bit crowded the last few days so I have been going to the beach.
It has been very grey all day and rained from dinnertime last night till mid-morning.
To answer your question about the grounds. NO THAT, I think they my have finished by the 20th. They have been cutting trees, and planting, sodding everyday! There are of course several buildings under construstion on the grounds, and the pool, so those areas are pretty muddy. But, again, hasn't spoiled my trip!
I would have to say the worst aspect of this hotel for me is the lack of hot water EVERY afternoon. I like nothing more than a hot shower after a day at the pool/beach. The hot water is Never on until about 6 or 6:30, then it is a mad dash to get showered before my early mid-western dinner hour.
Hope you all enjoy. I will check back in the next few weeks to see the progress on the hotel construction.

 

[palmtree]

Cabarete Bay Hotel

Hi

The countdown has begun to our trip to the Cabarete Bay Hotel or whatever it is called. It is the 20th of January and Sunquest said that they'd let us know by this date if there was any problem with the resort.

In case anyone is interested, you can contact Mina at Sunquest. This is the person who has all the inside information on the resorts, problems etc. She gets the information and updates the system for all the agents.

I am hoping that the Sunquest rep who is in the Dominican is on the ball and is updating Mina.

 

[mjkalau]

Cabarete Bay Hotel

Hi palmtree
I am not holding my breath on hearing anything from Sunquest in the way of "compensation". Not sure why, but it did not seem like ddmpls who just left there on the 16th got any compensations and he was:
1. ut a horrible room at first even though there were lots empty and with the state of the place you would have thought the first thing they did was offer him an Ocean View room.
2. moved twice after complaining
3. had no hot water until early evening
4. 2 restaraunts still not opened
5. tin fences still errected and partially blocking beach
6. new (big) pool far from ready and (little) pool realy croweded.
On top of that the weather wasn't very good (nobody's fault there however) and he still had a good time.

Maybe he is very easy going, but I think they could have done something for him. Should have actually with all that mess.

I was told by Jason, customer service/Suquest that ALL travel agents were being notified and travelers would be offered 'SOME FORM OF COMPENSATION' and that (I) should definately hear something becasue I complained. Not to say that others would not be contacted, but I am just saying that I would be one way or other.

See how the stories change.
What do you think?
MJ

 

[coldcanadianX10]

Cabarate Bay

Hi to all, been watching your comments closely as we are leaving on the 27th from Toronto for our first family vacation in 7 years. We will have a good time no matter what, but chose this location because it was advertised as "new in 2002". I will be calling Sunquest tonight or tomorrow and seeing what the situation is. I will let you all know what I find out.

Strength in numbers? There is 10 of us going (2 families) and it have taken us 3 years to save up for this, hopefully everything will work out.

 

[mjkalau]

Cabarete BAy Hotel

ColdinCanadax10

Yeah, you are right there is stenght in numbers. Let them know at Sunquest that besides the 10 of you, you are hooking up with 3 other families, or at least that you have heard from 3 other families who are going and concerned.
And don't take NOOOOOOOOO Guff. They will be nice, but will play it down. DEMAND THE TRUTH. Tell them if what they say is not the truth, they will be hearing from you ALL after the trip which will of course be the last one you take with them.

Go for it. I will be calling them tomorrow if I don't hear from them.

Maybe we should wear name tags or something like that on the plane, so we recognize each other, but can have a laugh together both on the plane and at the resort, but also gang up on administration when we get there to make sure we get good rooms and treated right.
If we don't find each other on the plane we will on the bus going to the resort. The first beer's on my.
MJ
P.S. Good Luck with Sunquest.

 

[coldcanadianX10]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Look forward to ganging up on the administration with you. We got a good deal on this trip, but that doesn't mean we have to take anything second class.

I should be pretty easy to spot. There is 10 of us and 6 of which are kids ages 5-18, so we should need the beer you are offering. Talk soon.

 

[mjkalau]

Cabarete Bay Hotel

Hello ColdinCanadax10

Made one mistake on my last post. We are going on the 26 and you are going on the 27 so of course we will not be on the same plane. Too bad, could have been laugh.

We are lots of fun, even if we are old foggies compared to you (or so it sounds) our kids are grown up, 23, 24 next month, 25 and 30 and we have a 6 month old grandaughter.

We are both salt and pepper. Hubby 6'2'' and me a shorty Aat 5'1". What a pair we are. You might also recognise him if he wears an firefighter hats or tops, as he is a Platoon Chief here in Kitchener.

The other reason I posted today, is to tell you that I tried to get in touch with Sunquest Customer Service, either Jason (whom I previously spoke to) or Mina, who is supposed to know what's going on with this place. I waited for 20 min. honest and then got just a regular person who had to switch me to Mina's line and she was not available, although she was there. I left a detailed voice mail and told her that I would be out of town Thurs. for most of the day, so please, please get back to me. She didn't.
I also called our tour company because their customer service person, whom I called a week ago never called me back either. She was not working today, so I had to leave a message with her too. I will be home until about 11 a.m tomorrow, so hopefully they will call. If not they are going to hear from me Fri. and I probablly won't need a phone.

Hope all is well thought. Hoping for the best.
MJ

 

[coldcanadianX10]

Hi MJ

I spoke with sunquest and there is still constuction at the resort. Pool is closed, rooms are fine. Sunquest is offering 3 choices.

1. Cancel with full refund
2. Rebook and pay the difference or recieve the difference in a rebate.
3. Travel voucher to be used in one year. But you have to pay for the airfare (about 600.00) to stay at the same resort, but subjecct to black out periods. I don't know if this is any kind of deal, but sounds like one!!

We don't know what we are going to do, but I will talk to my travel agent to look at my options if any to rebook. With 10 of us going, it will be difficult at this late date to find anything, I think.

You travel agent if suppose to be contacting you with this info. Let me know if you find anything else out. Sunqest if still saying that the 2 hotels are not joined, but we know different.

P.S. We are not that young, however thanks for saying so. My hubby will be celebrating his big 5-0 while we are there!!! Se

 

[mjkalau]

Cabarete Bay Hotel

For coldncanadax10

After not hearing back from Sunquest or Dream Vacations yet, even though I left messages.

I called back to Sunquest again after reading your post.
Thank God you got through to someone.

The person I wanted to speak to wasn't there but a really nice young woman called Kayla gave me the "scoop" as she knows it.

It was more or less what you said, with the three options.

She couldn't tell us when the "Blackout" times would be, because that would have a big affect on choosing the one with a voucher.She called it a "free" week at the hotel, with as you said paying the airfare.

I went into the Sell-Off Vacations web site where I booked our vac. and they had air fare as low as $345 + txs = $556.76
for Jan 27 to Feb. 5th. Which is darn good. The only other problems would be paying to get to the resort, but I don't think it is to far from the airport, so it may not be much, but it should be factored into any decision. Remember, with a package you get airport transfers and a tour rep.

Currently all other dates throughout the year where from $600.+ to $700.+

It would really be good to find out the black out periods. The hotel has to tell someone that and I don't know why they didn't in case they hoped this would entice people not to cancel and then find out that there is only a very limited time you can go. Like late spring, fall, the slow times.

I have also looked into getting a refund and rebooking another holiday somewhere else for the same time period. There is not much at a reasonable rate for Jan 26, or 27 which is the only time we can go right now, as my hubby is going ice fishing when on Feb 4 or 5th. when we return. Not sure when his next holiday is, but the idea was to go when it's cold, like RIGHT NOW and not in April, or even March.

There were a few to consider though. Leaving Jan. 27 booking through Sell Off Vacations are the following.

Occidental Playa Grande 3 star for a Superior room with fold out couch (good for the kids) for
$767.00 + txs. or $787.00 If you go on to www.selloffvacations.com you can route around within the Dominican and Cuba and you will find a few goodies. There is also Club on the Green, 3 1/2 stars in Porta Plata that looks nice and has a golf course (if interested) for Jan. 27 for $717.00 for a standard room or $777.00 for a junior suite, which has a sitting area and small kitchen. This place is suppossed to be part of the Playa Dorado Complex, which I think means you can use other hotels in the complex. The agent at Sell-Offs is trying to find out more about this place for me. It also has a swim-up bar which my husband and I really enjoy. This resort is offered by Sunwing Vacations. www.sunwing.ca. I am trying to manouver in this web site for more info on this property, but can't seem to find the right places to click on and I think it tells you to call you travel agent.

Hope I have helped, instead of giving you too much to think about. I think we may have gone for the Club on the Green if it went on the 26th, 27th is cutting it close on getting home and getting ready for "fishing"
Also I am not sure it is right on the beach. That's one of the things I am trying to find out. Usually these golf club places have really nice facilities and are farther away from the beach. If I am right about the Dorado Complex, then the beach could just be on that part of the resort.

Too bad we don't have more time to try and figure this out.
I'll try to let you know what we do, or if we get any more info.
Good Luck
MJ

 

[palmtree]

Club on the Green

Hi MJ,

We are down to 4 more sleeps til our vacation. Can you tell that we have children in our party? This is how they measure time.

In regards to your question about Club on the Green..... I visited this resort a few years ago when they were selling some timeshare there. It's not on the beach . They do offer a shuttle service (sort of like the trams at Disneyworld that shuttle you from the parking lot to the Theme Parks). Although it looked like a nice resort, we felt that it was too far away from the water. It all depends if you'd like to be beachfront or not.

Hope this information helps you. We've decided to take the free week . Just as you said...you can get some great airfare deals on the net but I have a funny feeling, though, that the airfare must be booked with Sunquest. This is what the agents in the office were talking about today. Even if you are stuck with Sunquest, you can usually get a lower fare that the ones that they post in their brochures. I've been to the DR in July and the weather was great. It was very warm but not humid. There was always a beautiful breeze coming off the water.

 

[mjkalau]

Cabarete Bay Hotel

Hi Palmtree.
Thanks for the heads up.
I think we are leaning toward going and taking the free week, even if we don't use it.
My son is interested in possibly using it, or maybe if allowed we can give it to our daughter and son-in-law. You know if it a vouchure without a name then no problem, but if it can't be tranferable then that idea won't fly.

I sure hope that we don't have to book the flight through Sunquest as your are right, the price would not be any deal.
I just checked and you can get a flight through Sell OFf Vacations on Jan 29th for $345 +txs and then they are around 4hunredish and a little higher, but Sunquest are all over $600 +txs.

I was suppossed to hear back from the Sell-Off rep by 5 today about some other places and she wanted to clarify the new info she just got from Sunquest so she could understand it herself. Hopefully I will hear from her tomorrow. She knows when we are leaving and how anxious we are to make the right decision.
She said she was also going to try to get some more info. about just what all is up with the resort right now. If there are more good things then bad then great and of course we get to go to Sosua and use their services.

As for 4 more sleeps, know what you mean. Our kids did the same, but guess what, as fun, we still do it, even with other adult family for a laugh.

Good Luck to us all. Hope we run into each other. If your remember my discriptions or myself and hubby you won't be able to miss us. We look like mutt and jeff. The tall and the short of it with matching salt and pepper hair. And we like to get around the resort(s) and meet people.

Maybe even see you on the plane.
Bye for now.
MJ
By the way it's Mary and Harry, (I know I know, but it is honestly). You can call me Mj if you still want to, which is my real and true name: Mary Jane (the Pain)