Iberostar or Occidental?

???

Paul,

Where in the DR are you traveling? I am familiar with the Occidental Flamenco in Punta Cana but I'm not sure this is the one you are referring to....

NYC Girl,

Both of the hotels he is asking about are in the Puerto Plata area.

Ken

Paul.

I've been to Pureto Plata, Cabarete, Sosusa, and Punta Cana. The East Coast in my opnion is my better choice. Punta Cana has a wonderful beach front, sand is white, where as the North Coast has clay color sand. The ocean is great on the East Coast. It really depends on what you are planning to do your holidays, other than staying at the resort and the convenience/distance of getting around to see the towns and visit other parts of the island outside of the tours.

Hotel Decision

First of all, what is your age bracket, that makes a big difference in where you should go.

Paul

Punta Cana is awesome...If your into really nice beaches, awesome resorts and pretty good food, you'll like Punta Cana. We went last year with a group of 10 and stayed at the Catalonia. Really, really nice place. The beaches were awesome, topless...which, for the most part, was a good thing. The food was relatively good, however, you'll get mixed opinions about that. The place is quite overwhelming when you get there. I have heard a little about the Iberostars, they are supposidly nice, however, they are pretty north of the rest of the resorts (which doesn't really matter b/c the resorts are very far apart. When you are there, the resort is it...you really don't leave it unless you do a tour or go on the trips to Saona Island (highly recommended, especially if you drink). We are returning next week, however, this time we are staying at the Riu Resorts. Kind of a step down from the Catalonia, but the price was right. Look into booking a trip through apple vacations, they have the best deals for Punta Cana all-inclusives. Really, most travel agents book through them anyway. We got a deal for an all inclusive, airfare, drinks, food, for 8 days and it is only costing us $750 pp. That includes departure taxes and fees, etc. The special is listed as $629 pp. We changed our vacation plans to Hilton Head, SC when we saw these prices. Good luck

First of all congrats! I just got engaged too and am thinking of different places for honeymoons. Punta Cana has some really amazing resorts. One of my friends works for Apple Vacations and they send him every once in a while to Punta Cana to check out some resorts. The Riu Resorts are where we are staying this time. These resorts are set up with 3 of them on the left to right and 2 of the less quality resorts, Naiboa and Macaio set off behind them. The palace is supposed to be really amazing and it is pretty new. Most of the places are realitivly new though, being that they were developed in the mid 1990's. You should definitely look into the Paradisus, Royal Resort & Spa Uvero Alto, and the Iberostar Bavaro. These are probably the best down there. I would recommend Punta Cana over any other spot in the DR b/c the North seems to not be as nice, beaches are not nearly as nice (not white sand) and the south/Santo Domingo area are commercial and like cities. Puerto Plata, and Salsa are not worth it from what I hear. Punta Cana is definitely more of a honeymoon trip. I didn't do the water rafting, but we did the snorkling trip (they let you take these mini speed boats out for about an hour and they bring you to this snorkling dock in the middle of the ocean) and we had a good time. Water is really clear and you see a lot. We also did the Saona Island trip, which you have to do. They take you out on speed boats on a 30-40 minute trip to this other island, and you stop in the middle of the ocean at one point for a dip and drinking...then they take you to literally "Gilligan's Island" and you are there for about 10 hours, they feed you and there is a tiki bar. Only 400 people live on this island, very abandoned, but beautiful. Bring water shoes. Then, you eat a feast, and you leave to be taken back on this huge catamoran sail boat, where you have drinking, dancing, and music. Lots of fun. Total of about 12 hours long. They also take you through one of the cities so you can see the culture a little to. Definitely worth it. I will let you know when I get back, how the palace is..