- Thread starter tharrison
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Holiday Village resort
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Update
Hey, we are still here at the holiday village, alive & scorching!
A very good review of the resort posted by thompsst & some good points made, one or two of which i will quickly expand on:
1) Reserving of loungers with towels is a right pain, though not as prevelant on the adults only section. If 1st Choice are going to make up rules about removing them, i wish they would have the guts to enforce the rules... or just don't bother making the rule in the 1st place!
2) This goes for the 'gents must wear long trousers in the a la carte restaurents'. I read the brochure, i packed trousers, i detest wearing them in this sort of scorching heat, but do so because I obey the rules. So, it utterly pees me off to see guys just marching in wearing shorts & even one rude arrogant (englishman i'm ashamed to say) guy turn round to a member of staff & say 'i didn't pack any trousesrs so you will have to let me in with these on'.
3) The entertainment really is still an issue to many, especially the non-stop boom-boom music going all day by the main pool. Our poor bar tender on the adults section has already had to deal with 4 adults who have arrived in the adults only claiming refugee status becuase they can swim in the pool & the noise is driving them crazy!
Its still a wondeful place here though for us who paid the extra & who can flee the chaos of the main resort!
Will do full report on return!
Cheers for now............
Hey, we are still here at the holiday village, alive & scorching!
A very good review of the resort posted by thompsst & some good points made, one or two of which i will quickly expand on:
1) Reserving of loungers with towels is a right pain, though not as prevelant on the adults only section. If 1st Choice are going to make up rules about removing them, i wish they would have the guts to enforce the rules... or just don't bother making the rule in the 1st place!
2) This goes for the 'gents must wear long trousers in the a la carte restaurents'. I read the brochure, i packed trousers, i detest wearing them in this sort of scorching heat, but do so because I obey the rules. So, it utterly pees me off to see guys just marching in wearing shorts & even one rude arrogant (englishman i'm ashamed to say) guy turn round to a member of staff & say 'i didn't pack any trousesrs so you will have to let me in with these on'.
3) The entertainment really is still an issue to many, especially the non-stop boom-boom music going all day by the main pool. Our poor bar tender on the adults section has already had to deal with 4 adults who have arrived in the adults only claiming refugee status becuase they can swim in the pool & the noise is driving them crazy!
Its still a wondeful place here though for us who paid the extra & who can flee the chaos of the main resort!
Will do full report on return!
Cheers for now............
Believe me I will be stocking up on Imodieum before I go! As well as other things such as the hand sanitizer, there is not really much else I can do. After all you go on holiday to have a good time and have fun not worry about getting an upset stomach, you go to have fun,get a tan and enjoy yourself! What are these dehydration packets you mentioned? I have never heard of them before.
Hey! Just to clarfify the long trousers issue, how long? As in full length trousers? Is it ok for men to wear long shorts(as in surfer/boardie shorts) in the buffet? Also on to the main question, have you or anyone else in your party been poorly? Or heard of anyone being poorly? I of course mean really poorly not just a bit of t he usual holiday tummy.----
re:
hi it is dioralyte you take if you have a bout of fluid loss nice way to describe it i can imagine you took every precaution as your a family person i didnt mean anything bad it iv never taken sanitizer hand wash before ill be taken it to hv though as i dont want attacked with anything like you did
hi it is dioralyte you take if you have a bout of fluid loss nice way to describe it i can imagine you took every precaution as your a family person i didnt mean anything bad it iv never taken sanitizer hand wash before ill be taken it to hv though as i dont want attacked with anything like you did
Shorts
In the buffet i believe you can where any shorts, including swimwear. The A La Carte's is more tricky to work out though as they say men must wear 'long' trousers, which i take to mean as full length............. but as i mentioned before, this does not appear to be enforced.......... so far!
Just as a footnote.....whilst i was missing for 20 mins from my lounger this morning doing my post about enforcing rules.....guess what?.......... the sods did a purge on loungers & removed my towel!
irate:
In the buffet i believe you can where any shorts, including swimwear. The A La Carte's is more tricky to work out though as they say men must wear 'long' trousers, which i take to mean as full length............. but as i mentioned before, this does not appear to be enforced.......... so far!
Just as a footnote.....whilst i was missing for 20 mins from my lounger this morning doing my post about enforcing rules.....guess what?.......... the sods did a purge on loungers & removed my towel!
irate:What I had I actually got in England in my home town! But it was definately a virus. I thought it was food poisoning to start with as I had eaten in a coffee shop with all my friends. However, we all had different things and soe of us didnt eat any food. So we must have caught it from whoever was serving us/or handliing the food/drinks in the kitchen. It just sounds very similar to what some people are experiencing out at the HV, which I hope wont happen again!
Anyway, I thought I would ask this question in this thread, what is the sea like? Are there any animals in the sea Ishould be wary? Jelly fish for example?
Hi
I left HV on Sunday with one of the wedding parties, I had a wonderful time and the village is everything everyone has said - large, beautiful clean, gardens, great pools, great beach etc, however, our bride was very ill and in hospital for 2 days so the wedding was postponed, but thankfully she made a great recovery and the wedding was beautiful - I'm sure she'll post some pics when she gets herself together. Fortunately my daughter (11) and myself were not ill at all but most of our party were at some point. General concenous amongst us was that the food was the biggest disappointment, we ate at 3 of the restaurants and they were quite disappointing although I think some of that maybe due to the fact that we were booked as a large party each time (30+) and whilst the service from the staff was excellent they struggled to get hot food on the plate!
One tip for any future wedding planners - if you're planning a quiet evening or to have some speeches try not to have the reception meal at the Oriental restaurant - its far too close to the main entertainment area and some of our speeches were drowned out by Rolf Harris! A minor irritation but handy tip
The trips we booked were amazing - The outback safari and the day on the catamaran - well organised and well worth it!
If I can help with any other questions please feel free to pm me.
I left HV on Sunday with one of the wedding parties, I had a wonderful time and the village is everything everyone has said - large, beautiful clean, gardens, great pools, great beach etc, however, our bride was very ill and in hospital for 2 days so the wedding was postponed, but thankfully she made a great recovery and the wedding was beautiful - I'm sure she'll post some pics when she gets herself together. Fortunately my daughter (11) and myself were not ill at all but most of our party were at some point. General concenous amongst us was that the food was the biggest disappointment, we ate at 3 of the restaurants and they were quite disappointing although I think some of that maybe due to the fact that we were booked as a large party each time (30+) and whilst the service from the staff was excellent they struggled to get hot food on the plate!
One tip for any future wedding planners - if you're planning a quiet evening or to have some speeches try not to have the reception meal at the Oriental restaurant - its far too close to the main entertainment area and some of our speeches were drowned out by Rolf Harris! A minor irritation but handy tip
The trips we booked were amazing - The outback safari and the day on the catamaran - well organised and well worth it!
If I can help with any other questions please feel free to pm me.
A good tip if you get D and V bug on holiday is coca cola that has gone flat it has in it all the essentials in it that Dioralyte has for a fraction of cost and in an emergency is readily available.I used to work in pharmacy and that was what we always recommended to travellers as cola was originaly invented as a stomach medicine. Hope someone reads this and remembers should they need.
Hi
I left HV on Sunday with one of the wedding parties, I had a wonderful time and the village is everything everyone has said - large, beautiful clean, gardens, great pools, great beach etc, however, our bride was very ill and in hospital for 2 days so the wedding was postponed, but thankfully she made a great recovery and the wedding was beautiful - I'm sure she'll post some pics when she gets herself together. Fortunately my daughter (11) and myself were not ill at all but most of our party were at some point. General concenous amongst us was that the food was the biggest disappointment, we ate at 3 of the restaurants and they were quite disappointing although I think some of that maybe due to the fact that we were booked as a large party each time (30+) and whilst the service from the staff was excellent they struggled to get hot food on the plate!
One tip for any future wedding planners - if you're planning a quiet evening or to have some speeches try not to have the reception meal at the Oriental restaurant - its far too close to the main entertainment area and some of our speeches were drowned out by Rolf Harris! A minor irritation but handy tip
The trips we booked were amazing - The outback safari and the day on the catamaran - well organised and well worth it!
If I can help with any other questions please feel free to pm me.
Apart from the poor bride, how long did the majority of the partys illness last? Also was it very serious? Did it ruin certain peoples holiday? I am just finding it so bizarre that some people are getting ill to the point they have to go to hospital, while others are not ill at all!
My mum went up to our local First Choice travel agency and spoke to a lady who has just got back from the HV after 2 weeks there, she had a lovely time and did not get ill. However, she did inform us that at the Carribean restaurant there were a lot of mosqitoes there in the evening, due to the fact it was close to the beach. She also recommend we took so spray and things as she did get bit a few times by them, her kids did not.
returned from HV yesterday
i have been avidly following the different posts since Jan but haven't posted before today. Before we went out to the HV I actually tried to change our holiday but FC wouldn;t let us without a massive charge. So 9 of us flew out of manchester on 2nd april. A quick summary:
The rooms are quite basic - we were in a family room with kids den and they are not 4* accommodation. One of our party had to change rooms mid holiday as their roof leaked all over their bed during a rain shower. My brother and his wife were in the royal suites and that was much more like 4* - wish our rooms had been like theirs. Electricity in the rooms was hit and miss - managed to charge mobile phones and DS, but camera and lap top both dies as insufficient charge. More worryingly, there didnt appear to be enough charge to get our bug plugs going - we got eaten alive! Suggest you take a different method of killing mozzies if you were planning on the plug in jungle formula type.
The restaurants are nice and the staff very freindly. We tried all the restaurants except carribean. The italian was very nice, mexican a bit ropey and i am sad to say the oriental led me to be very ill for the last week of my hols. 8 out of our 9 were ill at some point on the holiday. My 7 year old was ill for 3 days in our first week and was completely lifeless as well as having chronic diarrohea and stomach pains - we personally believe his was the undercooked chicken as more than one occasion we had to take food off the childrens plates that was far to pink to be eaten - beware of the meat joints as this is where we think the majority of our party got ill. Back to me and the oriental - I'm sure it was crab croquettes. I am not weak stomached or a wuss, but I have been quite poorly since last monday - no sickness, just stomach cramps, bad diarrohea (with blood in last 4 days) and dizziness. I had to go straight to see my gp yesterday who has signed me off work for a week and sent samples off the hospital for cultures. This is most definitely not 'traveller's belly'!! My husband has been ill for last 3 days and I have had to fetch my sone home from school today as he is still has diarrohea. On the plane home on MOnday my niece was violently sick (sorry if anyone was near row 3 in prem!). Now personally I believe the issues are in food prep, thorough cooking and I would even question the food quality that is delivered to them (wonder what a slaughterhouse out there actually looks like?!). The staff take great care to wash hands, wipe things down and move food around in hot/cold containers - but there is definitely something amiss. I sat next to an old guy on the bus back to the airport and he said that he, his wife and granddaughter had also been ill for 4 days. You will all just need to be careful with the food, check that it is cooked thoroughly and watch out for the salad bar. Twice whilst we were in the main restaurant birds got in and were picking at the salad.
We saw a couple of weddings (1 had to be restaged as it took place in torrential rain) and also saw pics being taken on the beach. The couple who we spoke to were very happy how everything had been conducted.
The kids pool is fab, and when we werent ill had a great time there. The evening entertainment is shoddy, but a new entertainment mgr flew in at the weekend to revamp it all. She told us that they are struggling to bring together the canadian and british cultures but were going to try some different things.
The outback safari was fantastic and would throughly recommend it.
Adult bar is a bit of a let down - its the only area to show live football so if you've got any football crazy kids in your group (like my 7 yr old) they wont be allowed in to watch the matches.
In summary - it isnt a 4* holiday and if you really are going for luxury then you wont get it here if you;re not in royal suites. Just a note on that too as a couple in our party found the scam - my bro and wife were booked in there legitimately but tehy stretched their wrist bands (different colour) and gave them to 2 of our party and just went to reception and said they had lost theirs and got replacements. Now it didnt get them anything other than access to the adult only pool, but if you are paying for that privilege and it gets a little crowded round there, I suspect that is what is happening. Everyone who we spoke to who had been to the adult pool also said the beer was better - not sure if it just felt better in the swim up bar.
Finally, I'm not being snobby, but I think the prices have dropped a bit now the easter hols are over and maybe because of the bad press - there were quite a few stereotypical young louts arrived over the weekend using bad language and generally staggering about drunk and shirtless around the bars and restaurants.
Men can wear cutoffs in the restaurants or long shorts - it is far too warm for long trousers!
Hope that helps - let me know if any more info needed!
i have been avidly following the different posts since Jan but haven't posted before today. Before we went out to the HV I actually tried to change our holiday but FC wouldn;t let us without a massive charge. So 9 of us flew out of manchester on 2nd april. A quick summary:
The rooms are quite basic - we were in a family room with kids den and they are not 4* accommodation. One of our party had to change rooms mid holiday as their roof leaked all over their bed during a rain shower. My brother and his wife were in the royal suites and that was much more like 4* - wish our rooms had been like theirs. Electricity in the rooms was hit and miss - managed to charge mobile phones and DS, but camera and lap top both dies as insufficient charge. More worryingly, there didnt appear to be enough charge to get our bug plugs going - we got eaten alive! Suggest you take a different method of killing mozzies if you were planning on the plug in jungle formula type.
The restaurants are nice and the staff very freindly. We tried all the restaurants except carribean. The italian was very nice, mexican a bit ropey and i am sad to say the oriental led me to be very ill for the last week of my hols. 8 out of our 9 were ill at some point on the holiday. My 7 year old was ill for 3 days in our first week and was completely lifeless as well as having chronic diarrohea and stomach pains - we personally believe his was the undercooked chicken as more than one occasion we had to take food off the childrens plates that was far to pink to be eaten - beware of the meat joints as this is where we think the majority of our party got ill. Back to me and the oriental - I'm sure it was crab croquettes. I am not weak stomached or a wuss, but I have been quite poorly since last monday - no sickness, just stomach cramps, bad diarrohea (with blood in last 4 days) and dizziness. I had to go straight to see my gp yesterday who has signed me off work for a week and sent samples off the hospital for cultures. This is most definitely not 'traveller's belly'!! My husband has been ill for last 3 days and I have had to fetch my sone home from school today as he is still has diarrohea. On the plane home on MOnday my niece was violently sick (sorry if anyone was near row 3 in prem!). Now personally I believe the issues are in food prep, thorough cooking and I would even question the food quality that is delivered to them (wonder what a slaughterhouse out there actually looks like?!). The staff take great care to wash hands, wipe things down and move food around in hot/cold containers - but there is definitely something amiss. I sat next to an old guy on the bus back to the airport and he said that he, his wife and granddaughter had also been ill for 4 days. You will all just need to be careful with the food, check that it is cooked thoroughly and watch out for the salad bar. Twice whilst we were in the main restaurant birds got in and were picking at the salad.
We saw a couple of weddings (1 had to be restaged as it took place in torrential rain) and also saw pics being taken on the beach. The couple who we spoke to were very happy how everything had been conducted.
The kids pool is fab, and when we werent ill had a great time there. The evening entertainment is shoddy, but a new entertainment mgr flew in at the weekend to revamp it all. She told us that they are struggling to bring together the canadian and british cultures but were going to try some different things.
The outback safari was fantastic and would throughly recommend it.
Adult bar is a bit of a let down - its the only area to show live football so if you've got any football crazy kids in your group (like my 7 yr old) they wont be allowed in to watch the matches.
In summary - it isnt a 4* holiday and if you really are going for luxury then you wont get it here if you;re not in royal suites. Just a note on that too as a couple in our party found the scam - my bro and wife were booked in there legitimately but tehy stretched their wrist bands (different colour) and gave them to 2 of our party and just went to reception and said they had lost theirs and got replacements. Now it didnt get them anything other than access to the adult only pool, but if you are paying for that privilege and it gets a little crowded round there, I suspect that is what is happening. Everyone who we spoke to who had been to the adult pool also said the beer was better - not sure if it just felt better in the swim up bar.
Finally, I'm not being snobby, but I think the prices have dropped a bit now the easter hols are over and maybe because of the bad press - there were quite a few stereotypical young louts arrived over the weekend using bad language and generally staggering about drunk and shirtless around the bars and restaurants.
Men can wear cutoffs in the restaurants or long shorts - it is far too warm for long trousers!
Hope that helps - let me know if any more info needed!
Superfitz, enjoyed reading your review. The "food" issues still seem to be something that people continue to comment on. We were there at the end of February (2 weeks and a group of 10) and no one was ill. We spoke with others who were ill and we were eating in the same restaurants, some on the same nights. Who knows . . . .
I smiled when I read your comment about the new entertainment manager and "trying to bring together the canadian and british cultures" . . . . why would they want to worry about that. This is the Dominican Republic!! Enjoy their culture . . . I am still puzzled at what First Choice is trying to accomplish but it seems that they have an approach that is consistent at all their resorts. If they were reading this thread, they surely have had sufficient comments to add some local flavor and make some changes. If they aren't reading it, they should be!
I smiled when I read your comment about the new entertainment manager and "trying to bring together the canadian and british cultures" . . . . why would they want to worry about that. This is the Dominican Republic!! Enjoy their culture . . . I am still puzzled at what First Choice is trying to accomplish but it seems that they have an approach that is consistent at all their resorts. If they were reading this thread, they surely have had sufficient comments to add some local flavor and make some changes. If they aren't reading it, they should be!
The management of the hotel, Signature and First Choice know of this site and the various threads. My guess is they choose not to read this or respond to it. Bad move on their point.
As for the entertainment - I do not understand their approach at all! Why on earth create this mixture of Canadian and UK in the midst of the Caribeann? There are some wonderfully talented and fun locals here! They should make use of the skills, the energy and bring a local flavour to this hotel.
Just my 2 cents worth.
As for the entertainment - I do not understand their approach at all! Why on earth create this mixture of Canadian and UK in the midst of the Caribeann? There are some wonderfully talented and fun locals here! They should make use of the skills, the energy and bring a local flavour to this hotel.
Just my 2 cents worth.
hi planner, sadly it seems indicative of many places we have been worldwide that hotels and complexes assume that us brits only want bingo and audience participation games as entertainment! the only place we ever visited that never mentioned bingo in the last 15 years was the old fiesta bavaro . two weeks of heaven !!!!!!
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