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Holiday Village resort
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I've been watching this thread for some time now and am very relieved to see the mostly positive reports coming back from people who have visited HVGB recently. My family and I will be there from 8/13 for two weeks and, having pretty much read all the way through this and the other thread, we are well prepared for whatever is in store!
Anyway, I'm a big baseball fan and am hoping I can catch some games while in the DR. Can anyone tell me if it is shown in the Village anywhere? Or will I need to go outside the hotel/resort. I know that baseball is the national sport there and many fine players play in the big leagues in the US and Japan (Soriano and Ramirez of the Cubs for example) BTW, I am a Chicago Cubs fan...
Anyway, I'm a big baseball fan and am hoping I can catch some games while in the DR. Can anyone tell me if it is shown in the Village anywhere? Or will I need to go outside the hotel/resort. I know that baseball is the national sport there and many fine players play in the big leagues in the US and Japan (Soriano and Ramirez of the Cubs for example) BTW, I am a Chicago Cubs fan...
I am not sure if they show games at the hotel - try the adult lounge. Off site - Hemingways at Playa Dorada Plaza may have them on, Playa Dorada Golf Course Restaurant may, but I can guarantee they will be on TV at most clubs in Puerto Plata. Consider going outside of Playa Dorada and enjoy watching a game from a local watering hole!!! If you want more info PM or email me....
We are here now 2 adults 2 children 1o and 13 everything is as you would expect for holidays- fantastic clean nothing too much trouble.
Not heard of any sickness issues here.The room areas are all being tidied block ny block yesterday our ctain poles were swapped and outside the rooms all whitewashed today i have seen official looking people testing the pool water.The chef yesterday was testing several cooked foods at dinnertime please people dont worry.
Hi, i do go in 1st oct thats why i need to get on the tread mill now ha ha, im saying i cant believe you only have 3 weeks till you go keep me posted, i am so pleased the sickness bug aint anywhere near our hotel does anyone no if they no the cause of the bug yet??
Hi All,
After reading this forum for several months my time has come to find out for myself.
I would like to thank Planner for the enormous amount of time and effort given replying to peoples questions/concerns.Its been a bit of a roller-coaster for us all and I'm sure that not cancelling by listening to the noisy minority will turn out to be a good decision.
Just one more question that I need answering as I have searched all the posts but cant find any replies.
I enjoy my food but I need to earn it,so has anyone tried going for a run around the resort and if so can you run a good few miles without doing the same loop,also what is available to use in the gym I have a concept2 rowing machine at home so was wondering if there was one similar available to use.
Once again many thanks Planner for all the hard work you have put in, my kids have packs off pencils ready for the jeep safari as you requested.
Regards.
Stephen..
After reading this forum for several months my time has come to find out for myself.
I would like to thank Planner for the enormous amount of time and effort given replying to peoples questions/concerns.Its been a bit of a roller-coaster for us all and I'm sure that not cancelling by listening to the noisy minority will turn out to be a good decision.
Just one more question that I need answering as I have searched all the posts but cant find any replies.
I enjoy my food but I need to earn it,so has anyone tried going for a run around the resort and if so can you run a good few miles without doing the same loop,also what is available to use in the gym I have a concept2 rowing machine at home so was wondering if there was one similar available to use.
Once again many thanks Planner for all the hard work you have put in, my kids have packs off pencils ready for the jeep safari as you requested.
Regards.
Stephen..
HI Stephen, first you are very welcome. I am glad to be of help.
You can run around the Playa Dorada complex, out to the road and around easily and safely. It is a nice run. No that I have done it but I have walked it...... Also you can run a good long way along the beach in either direction.
As for equipment in the gym, it is pretty basic! but at least it is there.
Enjoy your holiday!
You can run around the Playa Dorada complex, out to the road and around easily and safely. It is a nice run. No that I have done it but I have walked it...... Also you can run a good long way along the beach in either direction.
As for equipment in the gym, it is pretty basic! but at least it is there.
Enjoy your holiday!
Hi Stephen, I asked the question about the Gym a few pages back and was told
"Gym is quite small but it does have a treadmill and also 2 bikes a rower and weights"
Hope that helps. I'm keen to use the gym so that I can enjoy all the food the 1st week and still fit into my wedding dress on the 2nd week!! LOL
"Gym is quite small but it does have a treadmill and also 2 bikes a rower and weights"
Hope that helps. I'm keen to use the gym so that I can enjoy all the food the 1st week and still fit into my wedding dress on the 2nd week!! LOL
Hi or should I say Hola!!
Having read all of the good and bad posts on this site regarding Holiday village I now feel I have to add my own!
My husband and I and some friends returned from DR on Tuesday morning after an excellent holiday! We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and can honestly say that I have now wondered what I was worrying about!
I will try to keep this brief, but doubt I can!
Flight - We upgraded to Star class premium and had a wonderful flight. My husband who is over 6 foot said it was the best long haul flight he had been on! Food great, service fantastic, and the pilot even made up time so that we were there on time!
Hotel - We had booked a standard room, well aware that some were dark and small. Our friends did the same, even though they had 2 children. We had been assurred that the rooms would be suitable. This was not, however, the case. Both rooms were dark and very small and were not probably what you would expect for 4*. After discussions with other people there, we seemed to have got the older rooms and the newer ones were bigger and lighter. Our friends decided that it would be impossible to stay in the room as they didn't have any storage space for clothes or to put the suitcases let alone the kids!! They upgraded to a family room which was much bigger, and had the seperate room for the children. Deciding we were not too impressed either, we upgraded to the adults only royal suites. Really pleased we did, although slightly peeved at having to pay more for what we would say was a 4* room. We were also in 65-2!!!!! It was lovely and definately helped make our holiday. All the perks were worth it!!
The food was great! How anyone can say that there was nothing to eat I'm not quite sure. We visited the Italian and Mexican on many occasions and thoroughly enjoyed both. The waiters in the Mexican were always happy and sang to all the songs!!
The buffet restaurant was always bustling and there was plenty to choose from at all times of the day. The major problem in the buffet we found were the mosquitoes!! We all suffered quite badly from bites, of which I felt none of them when they bit, but suffered later when they itched like mad!!! 151 rum seems to take the sting out of them when you apply it!! Think it did the same if you drank it too!!! The mozzies seem to hide under the tables and table cloths awaiting a nice juicy ankle or leg to snack on!!!! My advice would be, which we tried to do later in our holiday is to not put your feet under the tables. We put them out to the sides and tried to sit in the lighter areas of the room, where they didn't seem to appear very often. This seemed to work and I have returned home with relatively clear legs!!! They certainly were not like that after the first week, atleast 20 bites on one, and around a dozen on the other!!!
We liked how the hotel was spread out and you didn't feel like you were on top of each other. We spent most of our time around the wave pool. Competition for sunbeds was rife. My husband was up at 7 most mornings!!! Everyone seemed to reserve beds, even though it said you weren't allowed to. The activity pool was nice, but got very hot in the afternoon. The wave pool seemed to get the wind, which was sometime very gusty in the afternoon, but very welcome! I have never burned sooo much! Weather was lovely - hot and sunny. Only a couple of showers and a couple of cloudy days.
We saw a couple of weddings whilst we were there. They looked great. Brides arrived in a horse and cart decorated with balloons and streamers. One group used the aquanox bar in the afternoon so they had a seperate reception away from everyone else.
Activities - lots to do if you want to get involved. Friend did the high ropes course with his kids, went boogie boarding, kayaking and joined in with some of the pool games. If you don't want to get involved nobody was over pushy. Some people were alittle miffed about having to pay for the extras, like the kids club sometimes charged on a night.
Trips - We went on the Outback safari which was great fun. Hang on to you hats is all I can say!! Had a fantastic time visiting the house, swimming in the river, boogie boarding in what must have been the wildest sea ever, and then crusing down the river. Jesse our guide was amazing and certainly helped make the trip. We also went to Ocean World, which was nothing less than fantastic. We were alittle dubious having visited Sea world and Discovery Cove in Florida, but we definately were not left disappointed. The dolphin swim was fantastic, with much more interaction and the sea lion encounter left us speechless. I didn't know they were furry!!!!! Both trips I would definately recommend and now regret not doing others.
As I said, I knew I couldn't keep it short. Please don't worry about visiting here. We had a lovely two weeks and were very impressed with the staff, food and layout of the hotel. Yes we did have a few teething problems (broken a/c, which took a while to fix, but we were given another room in the mean time, blocked toilet - fixed within hours and a letter of aplogoy and a basket of fruit sent to the room) but who doesn't. This can happen anywhere.
If you need to know anything else just ask, as I think I have rambled on enough for the time being!!!
Asta la vista!
Denise x
PS We also played golf four times. If anyone wants any info let me know
Having read all of the good and bad posts on this site regarding Holiday village I now feel I have to add my own!
My husband and I and some friends returned from DR on Tuesday morning after an excellent holiday! We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and can honestly say that I have now wondered what I was worrying about!
I will try to keep this brief, but doubt I can!
Flight - We upgraded to Star class premium and had a wonderful flight. My husband who is over 6 foot said it was the best long haul flight he had been on! Food great, service fantastic, and the pilot even made up time so that we were there on time!
Hotel - We had booked a standard room, well aware that some were dark and small. Our friends did the same, even though they had 2 children. We had been assurred that the rooms would be suitable. This was not, however, the case. Both rooms were dark and very small and were not probably what you would expect for 4*. After discussions with other people there, we seemed to have got the older rooms and the newer ones were bigger and lighter. Our friends decided that it would be impossible to stay in the room as they didn't have any storage space for clothes or to put the suitcases let alone the kids!! They upgraded to a family room which was much bigger, and had the seperate room for the children. Deciding we were not too impressed either, we upgraded to the adults only royal suites. Really pleased we did, although slightly peeved at having to pay more for what we would say was a 4* room. We were also in 65-2!!!!! It was lovely and definately helped make our holiday. All the perks were worth it!!
The food was great! How anyone can say that there was nothing to eat I'm not quite sure. We visited the Italian and Mexican on many occasions and thoroughly enjoyed both. The waiters in the Mexican were always happy and sang to all the songs!!
The buffet restaurant was always bustling and there was plenty to choose from at all times of the day. The major problem in the buffet we found were the mosquitoes!! We all suffered quite badly from bites, of which I felt none of them when they bit, but suffered later when they itched like mad!!! 151 rum seems to take the sting out of them when you apply it!! Think it did the same if you drank it too!!! The mozzies seem to hide under the tables and table cloths awaiting a nice juicy ankle or leg to snack on!!!! My advice would be, which we tried to do later in our holiday is to not put your feet under the tables. We put them out to the sides and tried to sit in the lighter areas of the room, where they didn't seem to appear very often. This seemed to work and I have returned home with relatively clear legs!!! They certainly were not like that after the first week, atleast 20 bites on one, and around a dozen on the other!!!
We liked how the hotel was spread out and you didn't feel like you were on top of each other. We spent most of our time around the wave pool. Competition for sunbeds was rife. My husband was up at 7 most mornings!!! Everyone seemed to reserve beds, even though it said you weren't allowed to. The activity pool was nice, but got very hot in the afternoon. The wave pool seemed to get the wind, which was sometime very gusty in the afternoon, but very welcome! I have never burned sooo much! Weather was lovely - hot and sunny. Only a couple of showers and a couple of cloudy days.
We saw a couple of weddings whilst we were there. They looked great. Brides arrived in a horse and cart decorated with balloons and streamers. One group used the aquanox bar in the afternoon so they had a seperate reception away from everyone else.
Activities - lots to do if you want to get involved. Friend did the high ropes course with his kids, went boogie boarding, kayaking and joined in with some of the pool games. If you don't want to get involved nobody was over pushy. Some people were alittle miffed about having to pay for the extras, like the kids club sometimes charged on a night.
Trips - We went on the Outback safari which was great fun. Hang on to you hats is all I can say!! Had a fantastic time visiting the house, swimming in the river, boogie boarding in what must have been the wildest sea ever, and then crusing down the river. Jesse our guide was amazing and certainly helped make the trip. We also went to Ocean World, which was nothing less than fantastic. We were alittle dubious having visited Sea world and Discovery Cove in Florida, but we definately were not left disappointed. The dolphin swim was fantastic, with much more interaction and the sea lion encounter left us speechless. I didn't know they were furry!!!!! Both trips I would definately recommend and now regret not doing others.
As I said, I knew I couldn't keep it short. Please don't worry about visiting here. We had a lovely two weeks and were very impressed with the staff, food and layout of the hotel. Yes we did have a few teething problems (broken a/c, which took a while to fix, but we were given another room in the mean time, blocked toilet - fixed within hours and a letter of aplogoy and a basket of fruit sent to the room) but who doesn't. This can happen anywhere.
If you need to know anything else just ask, as I think I have rambled on enough for the time being!!!
Asta la vista!
Denise x
PS We also played golf four times. If anyone wants any info let me know
trip report
As a frequent traveller to the DR I would have to say that I would probably never stay at this resort again. Over all the resort was well groomed, food was good every where we went - a la carte - loved The Lotus. I agree with a previous poster about the lounge chairs - I was up every morning at 7 am to run out my room to grab a four chairs under an umbrella. I was fortunate that when I booked, I asked for a family room with a pool side view and we got that( the wave pool) We were in 25-2. Great room with lots of light. My neices enjoyed the bunk beds.
Now as far as entertainment goes - as a Canadian traveller if I wanted to know about Britian - I would go to Britian. I didnt go to the DR to learn spanish from a Brit , I didnt go to learn Crowsfeet island( what ever that maybe) and I didnt go to listen to show tunes( where was the bachata or salsa or merengue), oohh ya and what the heck is up with Bingo every single night and name that song. I was talking to some other Canadians there and they felt out of place as much as we did. Not once did the entertainment team ask either of my neices to participate in anything. I have also never met so many rude people and unruly children ( ie child eating ice cream off public scoop and then proceeding to eat from the sprinkle bowl with public spoon) The first night we got there, there was a handle full of kids my neices age(13 14) running and splashing in the water fountian near the reception area. If those were my kids Id tan their backsides - that shows no respect for the resort or staff. The staff ( bartenders, waiters, waitress) were the only people that were friendly and outgoing.
Did the Sousa snorkling trip - had a blast. Had the opportunity to meet Planner and have lunch. It was a pleasure to meet such a nice person. We had lunch at the Fairway Golf course in Playa Dorada - excellent service , food and price. My niece whom is extremely picky felt that her ham and cheese sub was better than Quiznos and the chicken wrap that I had was excellent. I may get blasted by some British and I know I went in NA low season but hell if you want your own resort with everything from home stay home.
As a frequent traveller to the DR I would have to say that I would probably never stay at this resort again. Over all the resort was well groomed, food was good every where we went - a la carte - loved The Lotus. I agree with a previous poster about the lounge chairs - I was up every morning at 7 am to run out my room to grab a four chairs under an umbrella. I was fortunate that when I booked, I asked for a family room with a pool side view and we got that( the wave pool) We were in 25-2. Great room with lots of light. My neices enjoyed the bunk beds.
Now as far as entertainment goes - as a Canadian traveller if I wanted to know about Britian - I would go to Britian. I didnt go to the DR to learn spanish from a Brit , I didnt go to learn Crowsfeet island( what ever that maybe) and I didnt go to listen to show tunes( where was the bachata or salsa or merengue), oohh ya and what the heck is up with Bingo every single night and name that song. I was talking to some other Canadians there and they felt out of place as much as we did. Not once did the entertainment team ask either of my neices to participate in anything. I have also never met so many rude people and unruly children ( ie child eating ice cream off public scoop and then proceeding to eat from the sprinkle bowl with public spoon) The first night we got there, there was a handle full of kids my neices age(13 14) running and splashing in the water fountian near the reception area. If those were my kids Id tan their backsides - that shows no respect for the resort or staff. The staff ( bartenders, waiters, waitress) were the only people that were friendly and outgoing.
Did the Sousa snorkling trip - had a blast. Had the opportunity to meet Planner and have lunch. It was a pleasure to meet such a nice person. We had lunch at the Fairway Golf course in Playa Dorada - excellent service , food and price. My niece whom is extremely picky felt that her ham and cheese sub was better than Quiznos and the chicken wrap that I had was excellent. I may get blasted by some British and I know I went in NA low season but hell if you want your own resort with everything from home stay home.
planner.....i dont come till oct 15th...i have pencils and pens for the kids,is there anythin else they would like?
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