Just returned from another wonderful two weeks of bliss at the Breezes Puerto Plata. This was our third time here in three years and we had a blast. We are a group of Canadian women aged 43-59.
CHECK IN
Went smoothly, we took a cab from the airport to get ahead of the crowd on the bus so it was quick and painless. We had written ahead of time to request a certain building and our request was honoured.
THE ROOM
When we arrived, we had a fruit plate and bottle of rum along with a welcome letter from the manager waiting for us. We were assigned room 10213 and it was clean with the air conditioning working on full blast. There was some peeling on the wall of the closet and a couple of water stains on the lining of the curtains but nothing to be concerned about. The water pressure was fine and the water was so hot that at times we had to turn it to almost cold so it wouldn?t scald us while we showered. The air conditioner did shut down on our last evening there and they fixed it temporarily and said they would return the next day. We checked out at 7:15 am so I have no idea if it was fixed or not. The maid service was good, I made a point of introducing myself to her on the first day and greeted her by name each morning when we left the room. We always had water and diet coke in our fridge and plenty of towels.
THE SERVICE
As always the service here was great. The staff are incredibly friendly and accommodating and will go out of their way to make your stay pleasant. We had no problems with service in the dinner buffet this year as we did last year. The bars seemed to be well staffed during busy times and after a while they get to know what you like. My friend and I prefer a certain rum that wasn?t on the shelf at the beach bar so one of the bar tenders went all over the resort until he came back with a bottle and every day after that it was available. This is the kind of service that warrants a good tip and he got more than one. This kind of service is one of the reasons we keep returning.
THE FOOD
The food was good for the most part. There was always a huge selection in the buffet but one night it was all cold except for what was being grilled. The beach restaurant didn?t have the good chicken wings or soup this year but they had a selection of sandwiches, salad fixings, fries, dogs, burgers, chicken, ribs and meat balls each day. The al-a-carte restaurants were all good and the service great. There were a few subtle changes in the menu selection at the Tex-Mex and Italian restaurants but they were improvements. Around 4 in the afternoon across from the lobby bar they bring out finger sandwiches and cookies to snack on with tea or coffee. They supply these for a couple of hours and they just hit the spot after an afternoon of shopping in town.
THE POOL
The pool was good and there were no problems getting a lounger or service at the two bars. The lazy river was full of people floating around enjoying the sun.
THE BEACH
The beach seemed shorter some how this year and there were little changes that I think were the result of mother nature not human hands. They did add some of the huts to the upper level of the beach which was a good idea because not everyone can manage the stairs to the lower level. There were always lots of loungers to be found and the huts were plentiful, however, if you are a person that likes to stay in bed until 10 or 11 your chances of getting a hut are slim as most people are up and about by 9, but you will find a chair.
ENTERTAINMENT
The nightly shows were pretty good. The Mystery and Playback nights were my favourites. We didn?t spend much time by the pool but there always seemed to be something going on.
SHUTTLE SERVICE
We availed of the free shuttle into the towns and had a good time. Spent a couple of afternoons with Mark and Colleen at the Checkpoint Bar in Sousa, a burger there is a must.
SUMMARY
All in all this was a great trip. We were not disappointed in the least even though we did notice subtle changes in some areas. They no longer have staff going around with open bottles of wine refilling your glass in the buffet restaurant, they bring you a single glass of wine and will get you another if you so choose. In the al-a-carte restaurants they still go around with the bottles filling glasses as they go. I prefer the asking for a glass method because they you know how many you have had as opposed to a constantly full glass that you have no idea how much you have consumed. We noticed that they don?t have as many of the top shelf liquors they did last year, Canadian Club and Bailey?s were not available and neither was champagne in the lobby bar. We would definitely return to this resort again as we feel like we are going home. One of our group has stated they would like try another place so we will have to see when we are making plans later in the year.
CHECK IN
Went smoothly, we took a cab from the airport to get ahead of the crowd on the bus so it was quick and painless. We had written ahead of time to request a certain building and our request was honoured.
THE ROOM
When we arrived, we had a fruit plate and bottle of rum along with a welcome letter from the manager waiting for us. We were assigned room 10213 and it was clean with the air conditioning working on full blast. There was some peeling on the wall of the closet and a couple of water stains on the lining of the curtains but nothing to be concerned about. The water pressure was fine and the water was so hot that at times we had to turn it to almost cold so it wouldn?t scald us while we showered. The air conditioner did shut down on our last evening there and they fixed it temporarily and said they would return the next day. We checked out at 7:15 am so I have no idea if it was fixed or not. The maid service was good, I made a point of introducing myself to her on the first day and greeted her by name each morning when we left the room. We always had water and diet coke in our fridge and plenty of towels.
THE SERVICE
As always the service here was great. The staff are incredibly friendly and accommodating and will go out of their way to make your stay pleasant. We had no problems with service in the dinner buffet this year as we did last year. The bars seemed to be well staffed during busy times and after a while they get to know what you like. My friend and I prefer a certain rum that wasn?t on the shelf at the beach bar so one of the bar tenders went all over the resort until he came back with a bottle and every day after that it was available. This is the kind of service that warrants a good tip and he got more than one. This kind of service is one of the reasons we keep returning.
THE FOOD
The food was good for the most part. There was always a huge selection in the buffet but one night it was all cold except for what was being grilled. The beach restaurant didn?t have the good chicken wings or soup this year but they had a selection of sandwiches, salad fixings, fries, dogs, burgers, chicken, ribs and meat balls each day. The al-a-carte restaurants were all good and the service great. There were a few subtle changes in the menu selection at the Tex-Mex and Italian restaurants but they were improvements. Around 4 in the afternoon across from the lobby bar they bring out finger sandwiches and cookies to snack on with tea or coffee. They supply these for a couple of hours and they just hit the spot after an afternoon of shopping in town.
THE POOL
The pool was good and there were no problems getting a lounger or service at the two bars. The lazy river was full of people floating around enjoying the sun.
THE BEACH
The beach seemed shorter some how this year and there were little changes that I think were the result of mother nature not human hands. They did add some of the huts to the upper level of the beach which was a good idea because not everyone can manage the stairs to the lower level. There were always lots of loungers to be found and the huts were plentiful, however, if you are a person that likes to stay in bed until 10 or 11 your chances of getting a hut are slim as most people are up and about by 9, but you will find a chair.
ENTERTAINMENT
The nightly shows were pretty good. The Mystery and Playback nights were my favourites. We didn?t spend much time by the pool but there always seemed to be something going on.
SHUTTLE SERVICE
We availed of the free shuttle into the towns and had a good time. Spent a couple of afternoons with Mark and Colleen at the Checkpoint Bar in Sousa, a burger there is a must.
SUMMARY
All in all this was a great trip. We were not disappointed in the least even though we did notice subtle changes in some areas. They no longer have staff going around with open bottles of wine refilling your glass in the buffet restaurant, they bring you a single glass of wine and will get you another if you so choose. In the al-a-carte restaurants they still go around with the bottles filling glasses as they go. I prefer the asking for a glass method because they you know how many you have had as opposed to a constantly full glass that you have no idea how much you have consumed. We noticed that they don?t have as many of the top shelf liquors they did last year, Canadian Club and Bailey?s were not available and neither was champagne in the lobby bar. We would definitely return to this resort again as we feel like we are going home. One of our group has stated they would like try another place so we will have to see when we are making plans later in the year.