General Questions!

15 pesos for a grande Presidente??? Damn I missed the "good old days". LOL are you sure??? Anyway, a 12 oz Prez (small) I'm happy when I get it for 100 pesos at a bar Last trip down I think I was paying 130 or 140 at el Pulpo. might be a little cheaper in a colmado or whatever. In Super Pola I think a GRANDE was about 200 or 220 pesos.

taxi?? negotiate, but about a year ago I paid, (in desperation) $15 US from the Texico in Friusa to my condo... center of Cortecito / opposite the Barcelo Dominican beach. Same year paid only $25 from condo to Airport. so go figure.

Concho? I don't want to break their rear springs, so I haven't ridden with one. lol

Lunch??? Decent place place $10 - 15 per person

Nice dinner? like Noah or Jellyfish... nice, expensive, but worth it... apps... drinks/wine... dinner ... tip... $40 to 50 per person

Excursions full day average $100 depending on the activity Half day... $50 - 60 per person

I'd say prices on average are pretty close to what you would pay for similar activities in the U.S. (and I assume Canada).

Enjoy the trip, watch out for the sankies, HAVE FUN.

yeah, the good old times, 15 pesos for the peque?a bien fria, at some small places we got them even for 13 pesos per bottle.
todays you pay at small cheap colmaditos at least 65.- pesos, mostly 70-80 pesos, Bars in the touristy center of bavaro i guess will take over 100.- and no limits upwards if you visit a bit more upscale place/restaurant.
yeah, the above mentioned Noah is my fav in the area for a good dinner reasonable priced for their services and quality.

you will be surprised about the huge changes the country did since you've been here

Mike

There is nothing in pc besides resorts/beaches...........an invented/fabrication place for tourist dollars.......

Hi Marlie, nice to see you posting again. I live in PC now and the less touristy shopping options include the San Juan shopping centre and Punta Cana Village's Galer?as Puntacana. Palma Real is more touristy. A jewellery designer I know supplies several of the shops in all these centres.

Noah is right next to San Juan shopping centre, in the other small commercial complex behind IKEA.

Derfish said:

Phil, Take a trip here and see for yourself that it is a real place. Tourist oriented to a degree at the edges, but a very distinctive place if you actually give it a try.
Der Fish

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Der Fish....I have been in the Bavaro area and inbetween there and the airport.....not really my cup of tea....perfer cultue/local areas such as P. Plata........Sosua........Charimicos.........Bani..........but to each there own. Where is your spot of choice in the DR?

There is a nice shop at the end of Plaza San Juan I've gone to a few times. It used to be in the strip mall by Noah but moved about a year after the mall opened. It's on the south or right end of the plaza as you look at it from the road. It's on the right side as you walk that way from the grocery store (Super Polo). It looks really touristy but I've bought a few nice rings and earrings from them over the years. Larimar, Amber and Coral, each set in silver. The prices were reasonable and they get worn all the time and have stood up well.

There is also a bathing suit shop called Cut for Cut which has Dominican made suits that actually fit my Canadian body! Tops and bottoms are sold separately and I got one last week, have worn it almost every day and it's great! Washes well too. Prices are $29 USD for the tops and $20 USD for the bottoms. I paid in Pesos and saved about $3 USD.

marliejaneca said:

Thank you again, and maybe if you are not too busy, we could arrange a time for a little visit while we are there...it would be so nice to finally meet you after all these years If you are busy, I understand, we are the ones on vacation not you! LOL

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We can try! I'll PM you my phone number.

the above named places by Chiri and agw are good.
an other one to add as for nice jewlery, and i mean NICE and valuable but very reasonable priced, available for every budget, is at La Reina Dominicana at Plazas de Brizas, the lady is from switzerland and named Suzanne, she sells great stuff and you will not be scared away from the prices.
Philosopher,
personally i loved the Punta Cana area when i arrived 18 years ago, quiet empty, no real existing roads that would have earned to be named roads, a fantastic beautiful countryside on the oceanfront, the reason why i stayed. but the guests who visited during the last couple decades demanded more space to bring more friends, they demanded better roads to travel more comfy from the airport to their vaca hideout, they demanded more activities to be readily available upon arrival to do on the water and on land, so the formerly countryside sorrily filled up by all those demands and is today a well filled area with a heck of stuff to do.
sure, not everyones cup of Tea, as our tastes are all different, and good so, otherwise it would be boring on the planet.
myself i decided to not build a own house here, even that we own enough property to start a own vacation club for that, we are born country and built on the country side of the island, but if you really explored the wide punta cana area, then you should know that it is much more than just the countless hotels on the oceanfront.

Mike

Ah yes..............the good old days in Punta Cana. My arrival was in 89 when the ONLY hotel on the Bavaro stretch was the Bavaro Beach Resort. (beach and garden sections only). I remember how, on our days off, we could drive along the coast on a sandy road all the way to Macao...........Not a soul in sight save the occasional soul riding a burro.
Those days we felt like kings and queens with the beaches wild and wonderful and clean and oh so private.......Yes sir, we thought those days would never end.

the best tip worldwide is of course cash, as the Maid/housekeeper can with that purchase what is needed.
you can tip Pesos or US$, that is worth the same and appreciated the same.
there is no real guide on "how much to tip", when we are at a AI we leave every morning US$5.- or 200.- pesos on the Bed.

Mike

What he said, nobody wants shampoo or soap, or hair thingees, CASH is king!
Anything you give is fine RD100 is a nice tip daily, and you will get great service.

If Mike was my chambermaid, I would leave him a few ballyhoo on the pillow!

Great suggestions.........The maid would find MikeFisher a very generous guest indeed.:knockedou

I might go one step further and suggest that one touch base personally with the maid in order to tie in the tip with a verbal appreciation for a job well done. A smile and a pat on the back for a job well done ( along with the tip of course ) acts as a great motivator. After all...who doesn't love to be told they are doing a "good job".
While leaving the tip in one lump sum might seem like an efficient way of doing things, it can be problematic;
If you leave it at the beginning, your maid may well benefit and depart the following day on "3 days off", leaving the replacement high and dry. At the end of course could have the same consequence only in reverse.
Yes, providing the recipient of your gifts with some kind of note would be a good idea in order to ensure that they are not suspected of pocketing items from a guest's room.

as we are a couple with a Baby, so there are always extra things needed, i find just $5.- per day appropriate, but of course there is no guideline about the amount.
yes, the personal contact is always helpful and appreciated, my Dominican wife knows our roommaid always from the beginning and it is not seldom that she cooks a coffee for the Maid while our room is done, while i spend my usual 30 minutes on the computer in the patio/veranda early morning.
such treatment automatically provides best services without asking for it, extra towels in adults and Baby sizes are always present over the usual amount per room, quiet often a nice Jaccuzzi bath is surprisingly prepared when we leave the pool at the swimup room at closing hours.
the same for the guy who restocks the roomfridge and brings the appetizers in the afternoons, as opposed to the daily tips for the roommaid i tip him personally on day one, it assures that we have always a extra bottle of refill of our prefered Wine on the room instead of a randomly selected housewine, the bucket for the champagne never runs out of Ice etc etc.
treat people nice and some small but very nice and comfy extras come automatically.
again, the amount of a tip is not written in stone anywhere, everyone has to tip by the own possibilities and by the own satisfaction with a provided service. as fact a large number of guests at the AI's does not tip at all.
considering that we pay $200.- - $350.- per room per night (without any airfare, no airport taxes, no toruist visa, no transfer from the airport to the hotel etc, as we just hopp in our Truck and drive by there, roombill paid in US$ cash upon check in) i personally do not find it overly high to leave each morning 200.- pesos for the roommaid, 100.- pesos on the breakfast table, 200.- pesos on the table for lunch and again for dinner(buffet or a la carte dosn't matter), on a week's stay the staff at the restaurants knows by day 2 what kind of table we would prefer(if available), what Juice to pour in the Glasses on the table of the breakfast buffet while we fill our plates, they know how each wants his/her coffee etc, and the Babygirl is always treated like a royal Princess.
at the Bars used throughout such stay, as we are at the Resorts Poolpeople(we live on a very nice beach year around, so a hotelbeach is not a important thing to ourselves on vacation week) and always stay at swimup rooms the most used bar throughout the day is the Swimup Bar/poolbar, there we do not tip per drink or such, at a often per day used Bar we leave 500.- pesos every other day for their shared tip pool of the Barstaff, without requesting such it mostly guarantees that the Bartender starts to fill the glasses with the prefered drinks at the moment he see's me or the Mrs in the pool heading for the short swim towards the Bar(i nor my wife would ever demand such extra service, but quiet often staff is doing it automatically and it is a nice touch to receive such. early evenings we usually have a drink or two at a lobby Bar before dinner and an other couple drinks afterwards before we head to the room early(Baby and her times are of course King of our shedules for some years to come now, lol), so here we may leave 100.- pesos after we had the last drink of the evening at the Bar before we njoy ourselves on the room with the little one sleeping in the next room.

Mike

All very good advice on tipping at A.I.'s Mike is correct, many guests do not tip at all. The whole "gifts for the maid's kids", and "toiletries" thing, while nice, is a waste of effort, (I'm still wondering where that well meaning but misguided suggestion started, but it's been around for many years). Money is far more needed, appreciated, and appropriate. When I used to visit A.I.'s I would get a couple of hundred dollars in ones, and tip small amounts and often. You'll notice after the first day that you will be taken special care of. The word gets around among the staff about who is who. All guests are treated well.... some are just treated BETTER. As for the personal thanks... I agree whole heartedly. In fact I make a special effort to great all the staff with a smile and a "Hola" whenever I can. It never hurts to be an ambassador of good will!!!

One other jewelry store I'll suggest is the "Amber Museum" place in Palma Real. Very nice quality, and although it's a tourist oriented mall, the prices aren't bad... maybe even a little room to haggle. I've gotten a few things there over the past couple of years.

I dont wanna be tough, but ...
Should we have to keep tipping every day, everybody to get a good service?
I thought in this life you are hired for a job to be able to do your best in what you are paid for ...
It is nice for sure all those tips Mike gives so gently to everybody.
If you can afford, great, but 5$ left in the room every day and tipping everybody is something not everybody can do. There are people who had to save money for long time to spend some time in the Caribbean.
On the other hand, not tipping, or tipping less than others turns then into a bad quality service for you compared to the ones tipping more? that should be quite unfair ...
Just my opinion ... cheers.