We stayed here as a family of 2 adults and 2 children from 6th ? 20th August 2007.The children are aged 13 and 10.
On arrival
On arrival we were met with a lovely refreshing drink and our cases were quickly taken to our rooms. Check in took 10 minutes in total.
The property on first view.
The overall feeling of the property on arrival is the scale of it we felt we needed to use the map in reception a fair bit to begin with.
The upside of a property so big is that you feel that there is plenty of space and not until the evening do you realise how many guests are actually on site.
Our room
We stayed in room 552 which faces on to the golf course and the trees where the woodpeckers live .Our room was spacious enough for all of us and was a standard room .Others we met there had the rooms with kid?s dens and felt that storage had been sacrificed a little for this.
All the furniture in the rooms is dark wood so unfortunately to be able to make the room light enough every light had to be on. The walkway between the room and bathroom is unlit so to see into the wardrobes you have to open the bathroom door and use that light. The rooms are serviced daily and linen and towels changed 3 times a week. Drinks restocked daily in mini fridge in room. We had no issue with our room it was always cleaned to a very high standard.
The pools
If you are not staying in the royal suites there are 2 pools you can use the wave pool or the activity pool.
The wave pool has people reserving sun beds from around 7am despite the book you are given regarding facilities saying this is monitored and frowned upon.
As you can imagine it attracts more children I thought the surface was slippery and saw a couple of quite bad falls taken whilst there.
The activity pool is better we thought lots going on but no pressure to join in it has a little paddle moat for feet or just sitting and reading in .The pool is not so big and is roped off for various things like kids club activities but only for sections of the day we thought the balance was right .Here people take sun beds as they need them not several hours in advance. There is a towel hut so no need to pack your own if you are tight on baggage.
Kids clubs
Well what can I say my kids loved the clubs they used wavelength and tried lots of new things .There are 3 or 4 sessions a day including one that runs from 8.30 ? 10.30pm.
The in2action team work tirelessly andy and chris my kids are missing you .There is always something different happening 3 times a week that twilight session charges a fee but this is always for sweets and treats for your child at a price of 5 dollars if you go in the shop and see the price of sweets you will soon see this is a bargain although we still heard many people moaning about it. In addition there is a cinema on site that shows 2 films daily one is always a children?s film.
Food facilities
Buffet Area.
The topaz restaurant is the main buffet area for the hotel .It has a good variety of food including areas where food is made up as you wait this applies to all sittings. The downside is that it is mozzie central you soon learn that they prefer the dark areas and to sit with your legs in the light areas. If the place was busy we sometimes struggled to find a place set for us to use but in all it was fine and there was always good choice for all of us.
The snack bar by the wave pool.
Check your burgers the 2 times we ate there we sent food back to be cooked our burgers were nearly mooing they were so raw.
In addition I ordered a salad which had extra ingredients- caterpillars which I almost ate!!!!!
The palms by day
This is the beach restaurant the food is slow to come but is far superior in quality, content, choice and view it is 2 minute walk down the path. The place is always clean and we never went back bitten. .Children can go in by day also.
A la carte
We ate in the Mexican the oriental and the Italian they were all fantastic clean spot on for authenticity and ambience. We didn?t try the palms at night as it is adult only so wasn?t possible.
Entertainment
It would be fair to say by day the entertainment is good the team are very organised but it would have been nice to see more Dominican entertainers as last year we stayed in a place almost exclusively Dominican and it made our holiday .Special mentions for Jonathan and also Marcus is great he always has lots of new things on the go circus skills etc Hope those card skills are working ok if you are reading this Marcus.
Night time entertainment
I was extremely disappointed with the night time entertainment bingo name that tune you could set your watch by it. The shows were average at best it is a shame as it lets down the whole thing. Some of entertainment team are very up themselves to say the least others looked miserable like they would rather be anywhere else. The entertainment area is the main place to be bitten too in 2 weeks we saw it being washed down once we were nearly always last to leave and the chairs had been reset for next day without the floor being washed down.
The beach party was excellent though the best night we had.
The aquanox bar
This bar is 24 hours and adults only it shows some premiership football games and is a great place to chill out. The singer in there is amazing ( he will like me saying that but he does have a good voice).
The main bar at activity pool
Wow what can I say these guys do they ever stop smiling they make great cocktails know your order in advance after a couple of days. The area around the bar is very low on wasp activity ? a big plus!! Every few nights they would set the bar on fire with 151 rum I have never seen anything like it but it is a show in itself perhaps the entertainment team could take a few lessons.
The reps
First choice reps were a visible presence at all times and were always checking that everything was going well with your holiday.
The beach
The sea is a little rough and unsuitable for weak swimmers in my opinion as it shelves off quite steeply. The beach itself is wonderful I was here last year and it is a big difference. There are always lots of sun beds to be had and the shade is good here too. It is a short walk through the property it takes 2 minutes maximum.
Overall impressions
Although it is advertised as a 4 star we think it is a 3 going on 3.5 at best, many areas look like they need a good clean in particular the main stage area and the sunbathing areas where the pools are. The entertainment issue is a big thing as are small things like the room lighting. Undercooked food and badly prepared food need to be looked at. It has potential to be a really good holiday village but we felt to the greater part that the main thing missing from the Dominican republic holiday village was the Dominican Republic. If you took away the palm trees and the matted roof tops you could have been anywhere .
On arrival
On arrival we were met with a lovely refreshing drink and our cases were quickly taken to our rooms. Check in took 10 minutes in total.
The property on first view.
The overall feeling of the property on arrival is the scale of it we felt we needed to use the map in reception a fair bit to begin with.
The upside of a property so big is that you feel that there is plenty of space and not until the evening do you realise how many guests are actually on site.
Our room
We stayed in room 552 which faces on to the golf course and the trees where the woodpeckers live .Our room was spacious enough for all of us and was a standard room .Others we met there had the rooms with kid?s dens and felt that storage had been sacrificed a little for this.
All the furniture in the rooms is dark wood so unfortunately to be able to make the room light enough every light had to be on. The walkway between the room and bathroom is unlit so to see into the wardrobes you have to open the bathroom door and use that light. The rooms are serviced daily and linen and towels changed 3 times a week. Drinks restocked daily in mini fridge in room. We had no issue with our room it was always cleaned to a very high standard.
The pools
If you are not staying in the royal suites there are 2 pools you can use the wave pool or the activity pool.
The wave pool has people reserving sun beds from around 7am despite the book you are given regarding facilities saying this is monitored and frowned upon.
As you can imagine it attracts more children I thought the surface was slippery and saw a couple of quite bad falls taken whilst there.
The activity pool is better we thought lots going on but no pressure to join in it has a little paddle moat for feet or just sitting and reading in .The pool is not so big and is roped off for various things like kids club activities but only for sections of the day we thought the balance was right .Here people take sun beds as they need them not several hours in advance. There is a towel hut so no need to pack your own if you are tight on baggage.
Kids clubs
Well what can I say my kids loved the clubs they used wavelength and tried lots of new things .There are 3 or 4 sessions a day including one that runs from 8.30 ? 10.30pm.
The in2action team work tirelessly andy and chris my kids are missing you .There is always something different happening 3 times a week that twilight session charges a fee but this is always for sweets and treats for your child at a price of 5 dollars if you go in the shop and see the price of sweets you will soon see this is a bargain although we still heard many people moaning about it. In addition there is a cinema on site that shows 2 films daily one is always a children?s film.
Food facilities
Buffet Area.
The topaz restaurant is the main buffet area for the hotel .It has a good variety of food including areas where food is made up as you wait this applies to all sittings. The downside is that it is mozzie central you soon learn that they prefer the dark areas and to sit with your legs in the light areas. If the place was busy we sometimes struggled to find a place set for us to use but in all it was fine and there was always good choice for all of us.
The snack bar by the wave pool.
Check your burgers the 2 times we ate there we sent food back to be cooked our burgers were nearly mooing they were so raw.
In addition I ordered a salad which had extra ingredients- caterpillars which I almost ate!!!!!
The palms by day
This is the beach restaurant the food is slow to come but is far superior in quality, content, choice and view it is 2 minute walk down the path. The place is always clean and we never went back bitten. .Children can go in by day also.
A la carte
We ate in the Mexican the oriental and the Italian they were all fantastic clean spot on for authenticity and ambience. We didn?t try the palms at night as it is adult only so wasn?t possible.
Entertainment
It would be fair to say by day the entertainment is good the team are very organised but it would have been nice to see more Dominican entertainers as last year we stayed in a place almost exclusively Dominican and it made our holiday .Special mentions for Jonathan and also Marcus is great he always has lots of new things on the go circus skills etc Hope those card skills are working ok if you are reading this Marcus.
Night time entertainment
I was extremely disappointed with the night time entertainment bingo name that tune you could set your watch by it. The shows were average at best it is a shame as it lets down the whole thing. Some of entertainment team are very up themselves to say the least others looked miserable like they would rather be anywhere else. The entertainment area is the main place to be bitten too in 2 weeks we saw it being washed down once we were nearly always last to leave and the chairs had been reset for next day without the floor being washed down.
The beach party was excellent though the best night we had.
The aquanox bar
This bar is 24 hours and adults only it shows some premiership football games and is a great place to chill out. The singer in there is amazing ( he will like me saying that but he does have a good voice).
The main bar at activity pool
Wow what can I say these guys do they ever stop smiling they make great cocktails know your order in advance after a couple of days. The area around the bar is very low on wasp activity ? a big plus!! Every few nights they would set the bar on fire with 151 rum I have never seen anything like it but it is a show in itself perhaps the entertainment team could take a few lessons.
The reps
First choice reps were a visible presence at all times and were always checking that everything was going well with your holiday.
The beach
The sea is a little rough and unsuitable for weak swimmers in my opinion as it shelves off quite steeply. The beach itself is wonderful I was here last year and it is a big difference. There are always lots of sun beds to be had and the shade is good here too. It is a short walk through the property it takes 2 minutes maximum.
Overall impressions
Although it is advertised as a 4 star we think it is a 3 going on 3.5 at best, many areas look like they need a good clean in particular the main stage area and the sunbathing areas where the pools are. The entertainment issue is a big thing as are small things like the room lighting. Undercooked food and badly prepared food need to be looked at. It has potential to be a really good holiday village but we felt to the greater part that the main thing missing from the Dominican republic holiday village was the Dominican Republic. If you took away the palm trees and the matted roof tops you could have been anywhere .