Catalonia, VERY IMPORTANT, to anyone who has stayed at the Catalonia Resort or in Punta Cana

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Bill

Guest
Catalonia, VERY IMPORTANT, to anyone who has stayed at the Catalonia Resort or in Punta Cana

If you were at the Catalonia resort and had a bad experence with illness or anything else let Apple Vacations (or who ever you booked through)know. I placed a complaint today at 10AM about the illness and Apple Vacations said they already had one other complaint from someone there the same week as me. They told me to writ a letter about everything that was going on and they would investagate it if more complaints follow. I don't know what the out come of it would be but it would be worth the letter. I was at the Catalonia resort from Feb. 7 to Feb. 14 and I can't even begin to tell you how many people had got sick that week. One lady was on an IV and was there for two weeks from Canada and wanted to go home as soon as possibly after being there less than a week, and her medical bill was up to $600.00. There were also other people that I was talking to from other resorts that said people there were also very sick and even needing IV's, but didn't seem to have affected as many people as we had at the Catalonia. If you read the latest review on the resort data base about the Catalonia, it is absolutly true. So true I don't think I will even write one because it will look like a carbon copy. But I do have a couple things to add to it. The airport, I was scared to death, they were not even looking at the video screen at the x ray machine for luggage,they were too busy talking to each other. My girl friend put her camera bag around the outside of the medal detector and nobody even checked it. But it gets worse, I seen people walk through the medal detector, set it off and continue walking without ever being cheched. At the Catalonia, they don't put alcohol in the drinks unless you ask and sometimes even when you ask they still didn't put it in and they would laugh about it when you would walk back and ask again. One time I figured I would order a drink that had the alchol in the name of the drink (Peach Schapp and orange juice), figuring I couldn't go wrong with that, well I ended up with a glass of orange juice, or I should say a orange colored liquid that they called orange juice. The strawberry Daq. were also the worst I ever had. Well I really don't want this to turn into a review so I will end it there. But please if you were not happy with the resort or even Punta Cana please let your travel agent know and make sure it gets forwarded to the right people.

Bill
 
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refract

Guest
Re: Catalonia, VERY IMPORTANT, to anyone who has stayed at the Catalonia Resort or in Punta Cana

I agree with everything you said. I know first hand how it feels to be away and feel that sick. I was in bed for 36 hours feeling really bad. Also my husband was not feeling well but aleast he was lucky not to get the fever. There were to many people sick for that resort. I know ,you seen the doctor walking around alotnot a good sign. Also at the airport they never announce when your flight is leaving so don't wait or you be stuck their much longer than you want.I hate to say but I really feel sorry for anyone going there. Hey, sorry we never got to met up and have that beer. HAPPY TO BE HOME!!!
 
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Trudy

Guest
Catalonia!YIKES! I'm going next week

Thank you Refract and Bill and others who have posted recent comments. I'd like to know how you contact Apple directly. I called Travel Agent today and Apple wants me to spend an extra $400 each for 4 of us to change to Bavaro Beach. That's $1600! If I knew where they were located in Philly area, I would go there and confront them directly. If I even had a phone #, I'd call them. My agent said Apple rates new hotels on their "expectations" but if the hotel doesn't get to a 5*, then the customer is screwed because they're paying for a 5* and maybe getting a 2* or 3*. My vaca is ruined and I haven't even left the ground. What next?

DR1-thank you for this board. It's such a wealth of truthful info from "real" people. I know this is not indicative of the country, just a hotel that's shouldn't have opened until they were ready.
 
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Big John

Guest
Iberostar Dominica/Punta Cana not much better than Catalonia,Vacation from Hell !

As in the Catalonia posts I found the Iberostar hotels to have great beaches,good rooms, and very pretty grounds. The food was the worst I've ever experienced,they served hot dog & fish Kabobs and one animal they carved on the buffet no one could identify even after eating it ! The common description of the meat was mystery meat! It goes without saying many people got ill, some from what I suspect was the huge amounts of coconut & palm oil they used to cook and reheat everything, and others from what only can be assumed to be bacteria that required antibiotics to kill, and somtimes I.V.'s to replace lost fluids ! The other thing that took me back was when a Canadian Druggist was given an I.V. by the doctor he added antibiotics without first telling the Canadian or asking about allergies ! Not everyone got sick, but then not everyone could bring themselves to eat much of the food. AND DON"T EVEN THINK ABOUT DRINKING THE WATER, NOT EVEN TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH ! All in all "A VACATION FROM HELL" .
 
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Jim Hinsch

Guest
Re: Star ratings are not the same as USA star ratings

I have been to the Bavaro Beach Resort twice. See the report here at this site (click on link below). While they give themselves 5 stars, I give them maybe 3. 5 stars are reserved for service at the level of a Ritz Carlton. Still a very nice resort, just don't believe you are really going to a 5 star resort at $100 per person per night.

Hotel star ratings in the Dominican Republic are very liberal and relative to other properties in the country. They have little parallel with the star rating system used to rate properties in the USA.

They perhaps get 5 "apples", but not 5 "stars".

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM
 
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Natasha Lopez

Guest
Re: Star ratings are not the same as USA star ratings

The same applies to some extent to Jamaica, especially with the all-inclusives (ie Sandals and the likes), except that in JA you'd be paying far more than $100/night. If you go by US standards, then only truly 5 star resort in the Caribbean would be the Four Seasons in Nevis.

Natasha
 
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Marleen

Guest
Re: Iberostar Dominica vs Iberostar Bavaro n Catalonia,Vacation from Hell !

Help I am leaving for the Iberostar Bavaro on March 13. Is it any better than the Dominica/Punta Cana?
 
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Marleen

Guest
Re: Catalonia, VERY IMPORTANT, to anyone who has stayed at the Catalonia Resort or in Punta Cana

Is the Iberostar Bavaro any better? I will be there in three weeks.
 
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Tara

Guest
Re: Catalonia!YIKES! I'm going next week

Trudy...I will probably be dead meat for doing this, but my mother-in-law is a travel agent & I have the reservations # for Apple, however, it is a # for agents only, so they won't speak to you without an iotta or arc agent number. But I though maybe they could direct you to a customer service # or address...the number is 1-800-727-3400. I also had a reservation on hold for Catalonia Bavaro for mid April but am seriously reconsidering. Please post your comments as soon as you return, I'm sure everyone will want to hear them. Also...I had a terrible experience on a GOGO Tours vacation once & you can get restitution...take extra film & take pictures of anything & everything you find not up to par & document what you feel is necessary. When you return, file a formal complaint with your state's Attorney General's Office (Dept. of Comsumer Affairs), also send copies to your travel agent, Apple Tours and the resort itself. In our case it worked, we were reimbursed for some things on our trip. I hope everything works out so well for you at Catalonia that you won't need to do that! Again, I can't wait to hear your comments when you return.
 
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refract

Guest
Re: Catalonia!YIKES! I'm going next week

Sorry we really did't want to spoil your vacation before you left but you can still have time to call your doctor before you leave and get the proper medication so you aleast don't get sick.I think you have to start taking it before you leave.GOOD LUCK!! I sure hope you do have fun.
 
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Eeva

Guest
Re: Catalonia, VERY IMPORTANT, to anyone who has stayed at the Catalonia Resort or in Punta Cana

I'm sorry you have had a bad holiday, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth to go Punta Cana. We just arrived from Punta Cana last Friday (28.1.-11.2.1999) and I can say we had a fantastic holiday there. We lived in hotel Riu Naiboa (four*, all inclusive). Riu area was very clean and pleasent. Food and drinks were OK and nobody was sick (persons I got to know). I ate everything, even cakes and ice cream, there and didn't have any problems. There was also signs in every room that the tapwater was not potable so it's everybodys own responsibility if drank it. Even the ice was made from bottled water. You said that they didn't put any alcohol to your drinks in Catalonia but they really put in Naiboa! I can only say that I recommend Punta Cana and Riu hotels.
 
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diana pichardo

Guest
Re: Star ratings are not the same as USA star ratings

Jim, Natascha......hellooooo!!!!! you can't compare!!! you are talking about a third world country. It's not the hotels whom put their own little stars or apple, like you want to call them, but is a group of many different associations in DR.....not USA. Jim I noticed that you travel a lot and for someone whom do a lot of traveling should have a clear understanding to these matters.
 
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Gary

Guest
Re: Star ratings : I agree Jim.

My wife and I have travelled extensively through the Caribbean and the World and the Caribbean and Mexico seen through the eyes of the Tour companies is misleading. If you sell your product in a particular market, ie Canada or the US, then rate the hotels in the system used by your target market. I have seen Apples apples and other companies ratings here in Canada and they are the rating of the local counties. We have stayed at 4 diamond(AAA' almost highest rating) in the US and Canada and I believe that only a handful in the Caribbean have that rating. We stayed at Ciboney in Jamaica a few years back which had the rating and it was bang on. Rule of thumb for the DR is subtract 1.5 to 2 stars from the ratings in the tour books for an accurate rating. If the resort is new, use minus 1.5, otherwise subtract 2. Gary
 
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Natasha Lopez

Guest
Re: Star ratings are not the same as USA star ratings

I don't know about you, but I am getting pretty tired of this whole "the DR is a Third World country". What does that have to do with the ratings that these associations give to DR resorts? The reason I ask is because I certainly was not making any kinds of comparisons; hence my statement that if you went by US standards, then the only 5 star resort in the Caribbean would be the Four Seasons. Aside from this though is the fact that ratings (5 stars or whatever) have to do more with a proven track record of customer satisfaction, professionalism, certain ammenities, and most of all CONSISTENCY. These things are applicable everywhere. There are certainly some resorts in the DR that claim to be 5 star, but yet don't deliver what they say they provide. Five star does not really have to do with having a back up generator at your resort, or the water not being the safest. It has to do with a guest having to ask three times for an extra bar of soap; five star means that that guest would not have to ask at all. Five star means that you DO get that ocean view room you requested 6 months in advance. It means having a keen sense of customer service. This is very simple to me. I am curious to know then, what are the standards that these associations go by (if they differ from the US's)? What makes a certain resort 5 star? I am not trying to be sarcastic; I am just really curious.

Regards, Natasha
 
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Big John

Guest
Re: Star ratings : I agree Jim.

And when we stayed at Ciboney back about 5 years ago,it was the only other "Vacation from Hell" we ever had. Each week is often a diffrent experience.
 
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Tom

Guest
Re: Star ratings are not the same as USA star ratings

Natasha

If there is one thing I have learned about certain people on this board, it is not to bother arguing useless questions

I think Jim's reply was quite accurate to his opinion, but some people will never be satisfied unless you subscribe to their way of "thinking"

Tom
 
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Jim Hinsch

Guest
Re: Star ratings are not the same as USA star ratings

Just to bring you up to date:

The organizations rating the hotels are local and are controlled by representatives of the hotels themselves, rather than the more recognized international rating organizations, which is why I say they "rate themselves" and which is why these ratings are only good for comparing the properties to eachother within the country.

When it comes to ratings in tour operator guidebooks, each tour operator has their own rating system. This will become clear to you when when comparing the same property offered by different tour companies, showing different ratings. Some rate on a scale of 1 to 4 symbols, others use 5. They also pick their own symbols. My Apple Tours guidebook rates using apples.

When Americans (USA people) see "stars", they think of the star rating system used in the USA, for which I'm not sure which organization does the rating (perhaps it was AAA that did the original "star" system for hotels in the USA). The rating system does not consider the infrastructure of the host country, so the DR being 3rd world is irrellavant. 3rd world is actually a meaningless term. By the old usage of it, the DR is not 3rd world anymore.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM
 
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kathleen

Guest
Re: Catalonia, VERY IMPORTANT, to anyone who has stayed at the Catalonia Resort or in Punta Cana

tried to e-mail you but got message saying the address wasn't right. so i am hoping you will read this! we are seriously considering a switch from the catalonia to the iberostar bavaro for the last wk in march -- but we have to make our decision today! wondering if you know any more about the iberostar than we do. my son says our hotel must have a basketball court (iberostar website says they play basketball in the kids' club, so that sounds promising). my husband wants a fitness club, maybe a massage -- but i can't find anything about that. i want good food - and i can't tell if iberostar has several restaurants, they seem to emphasize the buffet. have you talked to people who have been there? what made you decide on the iberostar bavaro? wd love to hear what you think now -- and maybe later, too! my e-mail address -- kmccleery@newshour.org many, many thanks!
 
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refract

Guest
Re: Catalonia, VERY IMPORTANT, to anyone who has stayed at the Catalonia Resort or in Punta Cana

If you can still change from the catalonia I WOULD. We stayed there in Feb. what a nightmare. Terrible food and got very sick.Check the data base there are some good reviews about others resorts. Hope you have a great vacation.
 
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DR One

Guest
Re: Catalonia, VERY IMPORTANT, to anyone who has stayed at the Catalonia Resort or in Punta Cana

We called the Iberostar Bavaro (809) 221-6500 and they told us they do not have basketball courts (only for the employees).