Got home Monday
Hi although i've been reading this forum since page 3 i've never actually posted myself until today. My sister and i got back from HVGB on Monday and promised ourselves we would post a review so here goes:
Royal Suite - On arrival in the clubhouse we were given a drink whilst we checked in, we were fortunate enough to get our rooms straight away but really wouldn't have minded waiting as we were being looked after so well. We stayed in a standard suite which we were happy with, the finish could've been better but bearing in mind the country we were in we were happy overall, we had everything we needed, bath, shower, toilet (working - as in Greece it's best to put the paper in the bin but they're emptied daily), sat TV, minibar (stocked with beer, water, pepsi, 7up and refilled every day). Our room was kept clean and the bed turned down each evening. Other people we met had bigger rooms than us so it's probably luck of the draw which you get. To be honest size doesn't matter much to us!
Restaurants - As Royal suite guests we were allowed to book all of our a la carte meals at once, the first we went to was the Italian, i have to admit we were not impressed with this restaurant. We felt like cattle from the beginning to end. Everyone eating in this restaurant does so at the same time so if you only want a main you have to wait until everyone has finished their starters. All menus are given out at the same time, drinks are offered at the same time etc, you get the picture. The caribbean opened whilst we were there and we really liked it, the setting is lovely, and the food good too. If you can't decide what you want to eat they are happy for you to try them all. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the Mexican or Asian so can not comment on them. The buffet was okay, i sometimes had trouble finding something to eat but that is no different from buffets in all other hotels i've stayed at. We always ate breakfast at the Clubhouse which we preferred as it was quieter, more friendly and your hot food cooked to order.
Bars - Our favourite bars were the Adult pool bar where Miguel has to be the happiest guy i've ever met, we know all the words to his favourite songs!! The downside to this is that it closes at 7pm, it would be a fantastic place if open throughout the evening for Royal suite guests. Our other favourite was Aquanox which is the adult bar, they have loads of TV's and were showing baseball and the tennis whilst we were there. Luis really looked after us there, we rarely had to ask for more drinks they were put in front of you before you realised you needed it, quite dangerous for the head the next day! Make sure you try Mangu just once, it's a great club we went there on the Friday and Saturday, it was much better on the Friday, the atmosphere on Saturday was less party-like but on the Friday was really good fun.
Entertainment - This is geared towards kids, we rarely stayed longer than five minutes watching the shows as they were so poor. Think Karaoke in your local bar and you'll get the picture. I'm sure the entertainers are trying their best but you really can't call them professionals and the content of the shows can get very samey after a while. We only stayed a week and agreed that had we been there for 2 weeks the evenings would've been very boring.
When we first arrived there we were really worried because of all of the negative reviews we'd read, this may have lowered our expectations but we were pleasantly surprised. We found the Dominican people to be really lovely and so friendly, it was them who helped to make our holiday. We met some great people around the adult pool and i would strongly suggest that if you aren't going with kids to upgrade to the Royal suites where you are much more likely to meet similar minded people. We were given questionnaires everywhere we went so the management are clearly trying to improve things.
All in all this place is what you choose to make of it. We had a good time but it was largely down to the people we met both other holidaymakers and the hotel workers who really work hard to make sure you have a good time. We heard a lot of negative comments from others about the First Choice reps but can't really comment as we didn't have anything to do with them.
That's me done, sorry i've gone on for so long!
