Where to stay at: Iberostar, Coral Marien or elsewhere?

I just had two nice folks

from the Coral Marien here at the house, and they were quite happy with the place.

My golfer son always stays at Iberostar when he plays up there.

Hey! Flip a coin!. And come visit Santiago this time.

HB

Coral Marien

We stayed at the Coral Marien in October. Facilities, pool, staff all A+ Food however was C at best. But we did not come for the food.

Bob K

I will be in Coral Marien next Saturday,can't wait.

Having stayed at both

you really can't go wrong.

I would let price dictate - personally.

Gregg

P.S. - Thanks HB for the kind words.

Sanni1975 said:

hi folks,

thanks for all your answers!!!
@badpiece: pls let me know when you get back how your impressions were!! i mean i am not a picky eater but if food is only C - well, at Iberostar it was A+ all the time - and facilities etc were just perfect too.

Well, I'll see what comes up first...

by the way, at Coral guests are mainly from US / Canada, arent they? Not much UK and German?

Thanks for inviting me to Santiago - guess I wont be able to make it as I travel with my 2 yr.old and wont have much time off ;o)

Bye,
Sandra

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Hi Sandra,

Having returned only Friday from CM...

IMHO - Food was way better than C (YMMV) but because the resort is smaller there are fewer choices for each meal (while for dinner at ICD you may get 2 chicken, 2 pork, 2 fish, 2 beef, 4 veg choices; @ CM you may get 1 chicken, 1 pork, 1 fish, 1 beef, 2 veg choices and bacon was only served at breakfast on every 2nd or 3rd morning).

Guests (the past two weeks) were primarily Canadians and Americans with a smattering of Dominican Yorks, Dominicans, Brits and Germans. This may be a seasonal affectation.

Good luck with either choice.

Gregg

Thanks for the info guys.

Wife and I are leaving for POP in about 4 hours and are pretty excited about it.

Look forward to posting about it when we get home.

FireGuy said:

Hi Sandra,

Having returned only Friday from CM...

IMHO - Food was way better than C (YMMV) but because the resort is smaller there are fewer choices for each meal (while for dinner at ICD you may get 2 chicken, 2 pork, 2 fish, 2 beef, 4 veg choices; @ CM you may get 1 chicken, 1 pork, 1 fish, 1 beef, 2 veg choices and bacon was only served at breakfast on every 2nd or 3rd morning).

Guests (the past two weeks) were primarily Canadians and Americans with a smattering of Dominican Yorks, Dominicans, Brits and Germans. This may be a seasonal affectation.

Good luck with either choice.

Gregg

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Have stayed at the Coral many times. I think it is one of the best resorts on the North Coast, especially in Puerto Plata. Big selection of food. They normally have chefs out at meals times to make special things for you.. omelets for breakfast, pasta dishes and hot meats that they slice for you for lunch and dinner.

I do suggest that you go out and try some of the local restaurants. The prices are low that a meal or 2 will not hurt the pocket.

If you want to go horse riding I would HIGHLY recommend seeing Joyce the Horse Lady. She is a trip. True New Yorker, moved to the Dominican about 12 years ago. I have gone on her tour 3-4 times now. Always a great time. She will keep you in stitches. If you go see her, tell her Tony & Beth from Richmond sent you, she will know who we are. She works for Lorilar Ranch, which is only about a 5 min drive from the coral. The company is owned by some Canadian people. The horses are very well taken care of.

If you are interested in doing any other activities around, contact this Francisco Canoabo. I have done many things with this gentleman. He is highly trustworthy and will take special care you for you. I have set up trips through him, rented cars and even bought some property with his help in the Dominican. This is website. Its mostly about real estate, but you can contact him via it. WWW.Caonabo.Info Cheri will most likely get back in touch with you. She is one of his helpers. She is also American. Moved from Maine a few years ago. Very nice to have a few American contacts down there. I have been to the RD about 12 times now and very much trust all of these people. They can always help you with anything you need. Again, just mention us, they will help a lot.

Well, I hope this helps some. Send me an email and let me know how it went, I love making new contacts with people that travel to the Dominican.

Tony
Richmond, VA

Sanni1975 said:

hi guys,

i need your help today:i am planning on visiting DR again at the beginning of june. but i can't decide on where to stay.

my personal fav was iberostar costa dorada as i've been there before.
but then i also thought of coral marien which is right there, too. both seem to be great choices for a single woman and her 2yr old daughter, don't you think so?!

what are the advantages of each, which are the bad points? or is there something similar close by (needs to be in the puerto plata area)`

thanks for helping me out on this, can't make up my mind.
ndra

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we stayed at coral marine reef,food was bad and service was worst,i think there are better places around.

john cast said:

we stayed at coral marine reef,food was bad and service was worst,i think there are better places around.

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I've never heard of the Coral Marine Reef. Do you mean Casa Marina Reef? The OP is asking about the Coral Marien in Costa Dorada, Puerto Plata and the Casa Marina Reef is in Sosua. To which one are you referring?

Gregg

Just returned from the Coral Marien. Spent 3 days there. Everything was fine. Lots of organized activities for both adults and children. Extremely friendly and helpful staff. The only thing, there is nothing in walking distance outside the resort, so if you want to do some exploring you'll have to take a taxi or some other transportation. But as far as AI resorts go, its very good and I'd highly recommend it.

Tass said:

Thanks for the info guys.

Wife and I are leaving for POP in about 4 hours and are pretty excited about it.

Look forward to posting about it when we get home.

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Well, we're back!

And we had an amazing time. If I could go again next week I would.

The Coral Marien, POP had friendly staff, well maintaned grounds and good food. Entertainment was great and the rooms were spotless.

I would highly recommend it, and have to agree with the others here that found it to be great as well.

Thanks gang.