My boyfriend and I went to DR this summer and stayed at the Lifestyle resort for 5 days, we missed our flight back to Cali and had to extend 5 more days. We ended up at Celuisma resort by the help of some people from the DR airport. The first thing we noticed was the staff, they were very helpful and very nice to us. The room was very clean, spacious, and modern. The one thing I did not like about the room was that it was a little dark but my boyfriend liked it that way so we did not change our room. The plus side of this resort is the beach. It is golden sand very smooth, clean, and the water is blue and clear, dont forget to take mosqeto proplent with you, I got mosqeto bits the last day on the trip. I can's say enough about the staff they are very friendly and nice, nightly entertainment was very nice as well, drinks are a little water down so if you want a strong drink get the long island ice tea they make it very strong and one drink will get you drunk. The buffet was avrage and if you are staying there long you will get tired of eating the same thing everyday so it is very important to make reservations for the restureants. The Carrabian one has a stake that is very good and tasty, I wouldent order the fish, it was very bland. At the Italian restureant the pasta with beef was good. The pool is nice and clean but the pool area looked kind of cheep because of the plastic tables and chairs they use. Overall Celuisma was an ok resort for a resonable price but if it is possibel to put up a little more money and stay at the lifestyle resort I would.

I've stayed at the Celuisma Playa Dorada last winter and had a great time.
I just came back from a second trip in Dominican and decided to stay at the same resort.
I was not disappointed.

Rooms:
The resort is under renovations. I was put in a renovated building. I'd asked for a 2nd or 3rd floor room and was given one on the first floor. Without complaining, they were more than happy to switch me to what I had asked for. The safe was an electronic one, but there was not batteries. One simple call to front desk and a guy was coming to fix it. Yes, it took almost 45 minutes, but it's Dominican time. You have to keep that in mind.

My room was big, clean and new. I had hot water every day except for one. I didn't mind. Flatscreen TV was nice when getting ready for supper or show.

Food:
Buffet is good. They change the theme every night. It ain't fine gourmet, but you don't go to a Dominican resort to eat like a king. Food was good, had variety and I didn't eat the same thing twice.

Animation:
They are the reason I went back. They are amazing. Even if the hotel didn't have that many guests, they are still up and going, making sure you are having a good time. The nightly shows are funny and different every night. Rabbet is the funniest (and more handsome) and one of the best dancers. Leo is the cutest, happiest and more funny girl there. She's great at teaching spanish classes in the morning and always makes you feel loved and she's very friendly. Richi, Minime and Jose are great too. But Rabbet and Leo are my favorites!! I hope that are still there when I go back next winter, otherwise I'd be very disappointed.

Don't be fooled by the nasty reviews. You get what you pay for. It's ain't a 5 stars resorts, but again, it's not advertised as one.

I can simpathize with all of the negative comments. I just returned from my 2 day stay that was just simply too long of a stay considering all of the things that went wrong.

Positive things:
Beach was simply beautiful and clean. Staff at the snack bar were polite and friendly.
Overall the grounds were nicely kept however there was some fixing up in some areas.
Standard room was a nice size and simple. Wish my room had some nice decorative colorful accents.
Pool was nice and big.
Buffet food was just ok; nothing to rave about considering how much we paid.

Negatives:
Problem with the key to our room. Had to hike back to the main building to resolve this issue.
Problem with the thermostat in 2 out of the 3 rooms I had, AC was on full blast and could not lower it or turn it off. The occupants woke up sick the next morning. The room itself seemed like it was sweating, the walls and floor was constantly wet with small puddles of water. One of the beds was completely broken on one side.
Throughout our stay there was an extremely bad scent/oder of something coming out of the room where you get the towels for the beach/pool. The smell was completely awful. I asked about the smell and no one knew what it was from, they only said that they were working on it. One of the guys who worked right in that area even said to me that he has not been able to eat because of that smell. Management did not post any type of communication to their guests about
that problem and to top it all off they conducted that evenings entertainment in the same area where the smell was intolerable at times.

The next day, after the room was cleaned they neglected to leave fresh clean towels.
Staff at the front desk were simpy rude with bad atitudes and no common sense of Customer Service etiquette.

Overall it was not a pleaseant experience at all.

First off, a dear friend of mine was able to book this hotel for us through her time share. Adults paid $50 a night & $24 for children (upto the age of 12). I have no idea what a regular night would cost in this old, disgusting hotel, but boy would I be mad had I paid more! It was 6 adults, and 3 children, but they charged adult price for our 13 year old, which we were not properly instructed about. We stayed 3 days, 2 nights. Had we stayed one more night, we would've been left without light or water in the entire hotel for 3 hours. We got that news as we were preparing for check out. THANK GOD. So let me break it down...
WHY I'M GIVING IT 2 STARS INSTEAD OF 1 (THE PRO'S): EXCLUDING RECEPTION, the rest of the staff members are very amiable and helpful. The crew team everyone raves about are pretty entertaining. Tuesday's at Coco Bongo's (local night club) has free cuba libre's from 11 until 1, but they're open until 6am. It was definitely my type of crowd and music (top 40 house mixes and beats all night). I have no complaints of the buffet food. All 9 of us found it very tasteful, actually. The beach is the highlight; clean, beautiful water. Now, on to the negative...

The incompetence of the staff behind reception is quite baffling. Upon arrival, it took a while for check in, but it was 9 of us, so I shrugged that off. We all paid separately for our parties, but they didn't have change for any of us in any currency. The receptionist promised us our change for later on in the day (in total $35). Our rooms were what they call the "apartment room". 1 adjoint room with a king size bed and an old tv, the other is a living room that stunk of rotten fish, with a small, broken sofa bed where they expected the 3 of our children to sleep in (ages 8, 11, and 13. Umm, right...). There are stairs to the second floor with 2 queen sized beds and another old tv. We had to constantly remind them of the remote controls that they keep with them behind reception. The fridge isn't even plugged in, because there's nothing in it. Just two cups on top of it for what? Come on!! Not even a bottle of water? I immediately called front desk to request a change of sofa bed and a much needed extra bed. He was about to give me a hard time, but I instantly shut him down telling him to speak to his boss. Fortunately, we were given an extra room with 2 beds.
We didn't get our change until the next night, and it was like pulling teeth each time we would go ask for it. The receptionists put their nice face on, and they act like they're doing everything they can to help out, but accomplish nothing until they see you pissed. Every time we were there, we would overhear other angry customers complaining about numerous things. They kick you out of the pool at 7pm, every night. Not a schedule I'm used to compared to every other hotel I've stayed in. We only got the chance to make our reservation in 1 of the 4 restaurants in the hotel. 3 random people recommended the Caribbean restaurant, so we went for it. One word: NASTY!! The waiter catered in such an abrupt manner, that my aunts were scared of asking him for anything. He said he would be sending the bartender to take our drink orders, but we all finished our food before we could get a hold of a drink. Again, I had to get angry so they could assist us; UGHH. Later on that night, those who had the cazuela de mariscos that had no mariscos, just all rubbery calamari, had stomache pains and spent all night in the bathroom.
THE WORST PART OF THE HOTEL: THE DRINKS. There are only 2 bars in the entire hotel, and they're both pathetic!!!! You can count in 2 hands how many bottles they have displayed. It's the cheapest brand of everything! Stay far away from the tequila and the amarretto. Truly nasty. You forget that you're even in DR. There's no such thing as Brugal, or Barcelo, not even Presidente beer! Again, pathetic! The only half decent drink was the pina colada.

I'm a Colombian New Yorker that has been living in Santiago, DR for a year now. I had family from NY and Colombia come visit me, and really wanted to give them a great hotel experience in Puerto Plata as we've always had before (Barcelo, Be Live, etc). This hotel was not only disappointing, but a HUGE embarrassment for my fiance and I. NEVER, EVER, EVER AGAIN!