Grand Flamenco Puerta Plata

Arriving next week - 2 adults, 2 teen children. Comments or infor about resort would be appreciated. 1st trip to DR. : :glasses:

trip results

As you read this, keep in mind that I am a seasoned traveler from America. My past vacation experiences are primarily beach vacations. I have done both all inclusive and independent vacations. We have visited many US beaches as well as Mexico and Jamaica. First, the beach at Grand Flamenco. Compared to other beaches (Myrtle, Hilton Head, Florida and Alabama, in US and others mentioned above), this beach would rate as one of the lowest as far as cleanliness and waves (if that is what you like). The beach had a lot of plant material washed up on shore as well as some trash - not a lot, but this just seems to be the way of life in DR - throw your trash where you are. We saw cups, styrofoam plates/containers, oil containers, etc. There are few shells if that is your thing. The sand, golden as we were told, was traditional sandbox sand. The beach itself at this resort is the nicest, as reported. But it also did not have much to compete with. As with the beach in Alabama (Gulf Shores), the beach is flat, but drops off quickly once you are in the water. Vendors did not bother us much, just said "no thank you" and they went on.
Rooms - the rooms at the resort are very neat, clean, and large. We were in three different buildings (more on that later), and they were all the same with the exception of the last building (#14). One room was traditional, the other had a living/dining room and there was a separate sleeping room. This room had alcohol and a frig (which was only stocked the first day). The first night we stayed (2 rooms) in building 6. Very cold air but little water in the way of showers - only a trickle. Also a little noisy as we were right beside the road. This building is also the furthest away from the activity of the resort which may be good or bad for you. Disco from another resort VERY loud. When we discussed the water problem, we were moved to building 12. We asked to see the room before packing up all of our stuff. They gave us the keys to 2 rooms - 1 good, the other reeked of cigar smoke. Told them no. Gave us two more - same thing. They said they would send housekeeping. WE said no. Two more rooms. They were OK. Once we got settled in, we found that one room had an air conditioner that rattled like a washing machine off balance. Calls, up until midnight, did not get help. Complaining the next morning to guest service (front desk not much help), and we were told to check out the two rooms in #14. Both ok, so we took. First night, one room the air went out. 90 degrees in the room by morning. Many discussions with housekeeping and maintenance, and all we could get was give it 5 more minutes and it will be cold. It wasn't so we headed to front desk to find the manager - ran into the gentleman acting as manager since the regular was out - he said he would take care of it right away. He did not go to the room, but it was later fixed so he must have called someone. Last night there, air in other room went out in afternoon. Still not fixed at 10 - called and they said it was already reported. I told them I wanted it fixed tonight. Eventually it was so they did follow up.
Restaurants - A total rip off when you have spent $3000 for a week of vacation. We went the first morning to make reservations for the week. Could only get into the grill and italian. My husband had made a friend with one gentleman (I won't sMay who) who got us into the mexican once we had given him $10 for helping us. The italian was ok -just had plain spaghetti, grill - no t-bone (they said there were out - we spoke to others who ate there several nights later and were told the same thing). Mexican, ok. Oriental, you had to make reservations the moring of your visit and we never could get it. They also informed us that you had to be 16 to go there (never saw that in a brochure!). My daughter is 15 - we tried to pass her for 16 but they looked at us like we were crazy -maybe that is why they did not get us in. Asked why 16 - were told because of flame when cooking at our table. Hum, that did not matter at any other Japanese rest. we have ever eaten at!
Buffet - ok, nothing spectacular and sort of redundant day after day. Just a little variety. Desserts just shipped in - nothing extrodinary or special. Beef/pork/chicken/fish - ok , chicken usually pretty good. Beef sometimes good/sometimes tough. Fish - same, pork - same as beef. Lots of fresh fruits but always the same.
Pizzeria - we liked it - casual and pretty good - even by American teenage standards.
Entertainment - low class Las Vegas style. Last night was audience participation and that seemed to go over better. They need more of this. Other than that, NO nightlife. Went to casinos and disco - not impressed, did not stay - little crowd and little interaction of people.
Pool - this part of our trip was horrible - the main pool was torn up the day before we came and was scheduled to open the day after we left. We were told at the briefing that we could visit Hotel Dorado (I think that is the name) or Jack Tar - both owned by Occidental. Just check in at front desk is what the acting manager told us. Several problems with this. First, you had to get there yourself - first hotel "just three minutes away" Little more than that, plus the inconvenience of dragging all of your stuff there and not having your room to go to in case you wanted a short sun break. Jack Tar was even further and you had to be 18 (which they did not tell us at the briefing) A cab into Puerta Plata was $25 so it probably would have cost us quite a bit to go there if we could have. We did talk to others who tried to go and were denied permission to visit these resorts at their front desk. Colored wrist bands made it easy to see if you were not at the correct resort. So, we all stayed at the small pool of the hotel. On the weekend, many people in this pool made it very unenjoyable. We heard, that the employees could bring their families to use the facilties. Don't know if this is true but with the pool so crowded with what appeared to be dominicans, and the buffet so full that you had to wait outside to get in, we thought this rumor might be true. The day we left, we were told by another couple that as many as 220 people complained about the pool situation and were moved to other resorts. The manager that was at the briefing made it very clear to our group that the other resorts were at 100% and could not accommodate us for anything other than the use of the pool and food from 10-5. Many also told us that they were called prior to their departure from home telling them of the pool sitation and were given other options. We were not.
Dominican people- our overall impression - they do not particularly care for Americans unless you are giving them money. Those on the resort were pretty nice all of the time, but at the plaza and on a tour of Puerta Plata and Sosua, this was not the case. Prices are not marked and once they know you are from America, the price is pretty much the same as US. I asked the man that traveled with us into PP and he denied this. However, a Pepsi was 80 pesos. At the rum factory we were told the workers make about $7 US a day. No way could these people be paying $2 for a pepsi! Another very nice Serbian girl told us to take a spanish speaking, non domincan with us to shop because they do up the price. She lives there and was very knowledgeable. Horseback riding at the resort - a joke - 1 hour included for the week - this includes 15 to and 15 back from the stable. I do not know anyone who did the 1 hour. They make it sound so much a waste of time, they are really trying to get you to purchase a longer trip - $20 or up per person. We went with Orlando, a guy on the beach. 3 hours for $20. Very nice but of course right before we got back, he informed us that him and the other guy with us did not get paid unless we gave them tips. A cab driver also pulled this on us and then we got wise - too bad! We eventually started telling vendors we were from Canada (sorry) and they thought we were angels (literally). All in all, we would not recommend this resort, or destination to anyone else. We spent $3200. hard earned money and was truly not impressed. Perhaps for some this is a drop in the bucket, but this is quite a lot for us. We are working middle class people who want to experience other cultures, but this experience was not one to repeat. Actually, it is not just the dominicans who do not care for Americans, we heard many comments made about Americans and walked away amazed at this attitude. I guess when our tax dollars go for foreign aide, and our tourist dollars go to help a community, we thought this hatred would not be so apparent. We did meet some very nice Canadian and Germans, so it was not all lost. If you have any questions or comments about this post, I welcome them. I hope this is helpful to someone else.

We did venture out. One day we hired a van with a driver and guide. We had them take us into Puerta Plata. We also asked them to take us to the places where dominicans shop. We were with another couple we met at the resort, and we both came to the conclusion that we were just taken to the businesses of friends of the guide and driver. We asked repeatedly to go off of the beaten path, not just to souviner shops. Even when we asked to go eat lunch somewhere where dominicans would eat, they took us to a nice restaurant but it had a very limited menu. The guide and driver did not stay there to eat, instead they went somewhere else. (we found this out when we saw them leave). For 3 hamburgers with fries, and one chicken dinner, along with 2 bottles of water, 1 beer, and 1 pepsi, our bill was $21 US.
Another day, our family got a van and driver to go to Sosua. WE told the driver, through the security guard at the resort, that we wanted to go shopping, including the flea market, and somewhere to eat lobster. We were delivered back to the hotel in 1 hour, having been taken to the flea market and down a couple of blocks to "see the poor people." This was a $35 trip. Again, the people were not all negative towards us, and the ones that were, were not all dominicans. Some comments were made by Europeans at the resort. Someone mentioned that we should have expected this attitude. Believe it or not, we come from a small rural town. Perhaps it is because we do not have a large diversity in our population, but we did not expect this prejudice. Again, we did not want to have the people falling over us and loving us because we are American, neither did we expect to have it held against us. I also believe that since 9/11, Americans have made great strides in accepting those who are different in our culture, and try to learn about their way of life instead of turning our backs to them. This is just my perspective from the midwest and the area that I live in. I cannot speak for all of America. My post about the trip was to aid anyone else considering a trip to the DR. Not for them to be talked out of the trip, just a little of what to expect. Even though we would not go back to Puerta Plata, we are glad that we went and exposed our family to this culture. It is possible that I would return to experience Punta Cana - knowing that different parts of a country can be vastly different.