I've been to this resort many times and for the price we pay we can't complain! There are plenty on restaurants to eat at, many activities, lots of pools, nice beach and most important great people that work there to make your holidays unforgettable! The animation team is just great! Thanks to Barbie, "Lenny Krevitz", Johny Bravo, Droopy, towel boy Jorge, Pedro "happy happy" bartender at the beach bar and all other staff members for a great week!

We were able to get a pretty good weeklong deal through an RCI guest certificate and paid very little to upgrade our stay to all-inclusive. The Tropical isn't the fanciest place I've ever stayed, but it was clean. And you're in the Dominican Republic -- why are you in your room when you could be on the beach, at the pool or taking some excursion four-wheeling or horseback riding???

I liked that RCI members have dinner reservations made for them already when they get there. The resort has several dinner-only restaurants (reservations required) and two buffets at which you can eat any meal without reservations. I loved Blue Lagoon for seafood, and also enjoyed El Pilon (Dominican cuisine) and their Brazilian steakhouse. I would avoid Trapiche Paradise (Mexican). Buffet fare was usually pretty good.

Too many pools to count, and some with swim-up bars! The best pools are in the Lifestyle Cofresi Palm resort next door, which you can walk to within a few minutes.

All the staff were very accommodating, kind and helpful. They were part of what made the trip so special for us! I especially liked our waiters, and the photo staff that walked around the resort snapping photos to sell to vacationers later.

The nightly entertainment wasn't always the best, but at least the resort always had something going on. There is also a big Ocean World casino and Sea World-type park next door that other visitors seemed to like. We didn't make it over because we were having too much fun! Hopefully we'll go back some day!

We booked this hotel through CheapCaribbean.com. Of course, all the photos looked great. The hotel itself was nice. Main gripes:
1. They ask to meet with you right away to give you a 'welcome gift' and tell you about their VIP service. Beware: this is a time share presentation. Although they don't call it that - it is!
2. Requested a quiet room. Gave us a room by the pool where the 'boom-boom' music is the loudest. However, they did eventually give us a more quiet room.
3. Our room was supposed to be ocean view. Couldn't see the ocean unless you went out on your lanai.
4. They have several restaurants on-site but only open a couple each night. Although we were there 4 nights, were never able to get into one except at 9:45 at night. Way too late to eat a big meal.
5. The computer automatically assigns each guest one good restaurant reservation. You can go at 9am to Guest Services but they won't change your reservation. They put your name on a waiting list. However, we noticed that many of these better restaurants were fairly empty. We assume that people who have pre-assigned reservations never cancel them. Hence, you can never get in. This is a terrible setup and needs changing.
6. Prices for excursions were way overpriced from the hotel. If you went directly to the outfits vis phone or internet, they were way cheaper.
7. We signed up with Aqua Center Dive in Sosua from the hotel. Was supposed to be a boat dive. It was. But, you had to swim out to the boat and then swim from the boat back to the beach after the dive. They did not have a pier where they docked the boat. Of course they don't tell you that. We did two dives and they were the worst dives I have ever done and I have gone diving all over the world.
8. The guys in 'white shirst' try to sell you excursions. Beware: they are dishonest!

We saw an internet ad for "villas" and because we had a large group and wanted a "quality" experience, we contacted a representative. The villas were unavailable at the time we wanted so we were presented with other options including the "Presidential Suites". They were large and well appointed and looked like they would meet our needs. We were promised that we would have all the same benefits as if we were in the villas - except a private pool and breakfast cooked in our rooms. We would still get golf carts for transportation and have room service and liquor service to our rooms.The "all inclusive part" was an extra daily fee and we felt it was expensive but not excessive. We had very high expectations because we paid the "upgrade" for the VIP gold bracelet package. We arrived in Puerto Plata and were met by a VIP representative who took us to a Van for transportation to the property. It was not very comfortable but the driver was very nice and after 40 minutes, we arrived. The property was huge, a sprawling development of 6 or 7 different beaches and many specialty restaurants and several pools, tennis courts and health spa. We were glad we would have the carts for transportation or we would not be able to enjoy all it had to offer particularly because two of our party were older and had mobility issues. We were told there were busses and vans that ran continually throughout the property and were available on request but at busy times there might be a little wait. At check in we were presented with our "packages" and bracelets and told about how much would be charged for key loss etc. They were professional but not overly friendly. What struck us immediately is how many uniformed personnel there were. There were more employees than guests. Although we were glad to be providing help to the Island, its easy to "do the math" about how they can pay so many people ........ and still make a profit. What we were to find out was that quantity did not mean quality. The first problem came immediately, We were informed that in spite of consistent communication and availabillty of phone and email about the payments, we were never told that because this was one of the busiest times of the year for them and there were certain things that would not be available. The first was one of our suites. We had booked and payed for 4 two bedroom presidential suites but when we checked in, we were given only 3 and two "studios" to accomodate the others. There was no apology - no effort to "compensate" us in any way. In fact when I complained to the "customer service person" - "Amber", she had the gaul to say "You are lucky to have these - you could have had no room at all." That was our first experience of what this organizations ironically calls "customer service". The second was after checking in we asked about "our" golf carts which were numerous and everywhere. We were told we were not getting any even though we were told we would get 1 for each of our suites. I explained our situation with limited mobility to no avail. There were to be no carts for our entire stay until after most of our party had departed. The next was after check in we went to make dinner reservations for the "specialty" restaurants and were informed there were several that were not available for various reasons. The Brazilian would not be available due to its not being able to "accomodate such a large party". Even though these things were known in advance, no effort was made to make us aware of any of this nor was any of it on the web site. We tried to make the best of it and booked several excursions including golf, horseback riding, fishing and a special "island snorkling trip" as well as an outside trip to a spa in the mountains. We thought we would be able to have many of our meals in the Presidential buffet and others on the property. We expected the food to be high quality. To make a long story short, with some exceptions, (Wilgree at the VIP desk, Lilo, the tennis pro, Miguel, the golf coordinator) the rest of the staff was mediocre and were abviously wanting to be "tipped' even though it's supposed to be "all inclusive",The food in the presidential buffet was inconsistent poorly done and tasteless. Very limited choices and not well prepared or presented. We tried several of the other buffets and were similarly unimpressed. Even the one at the Tropical (Casablanca) was at best just OK and mostly poorly seasoned, overcooked and not appetising. We have been to these types of resorts all over the world and have had much better food in the majority of places. As for the specialty restaurants, they had much better presentation, but only the Mexican,(Trapiche) and the Jazz were better than average - but not great. Even the "big deal" VIP Gourmet was not up to expectations and be careful where you eat, they allow people to smoke at the next table while you are still eating. There was one restaurante at the "tower" the Azul on the 4th floor that had what I would call good food, but it was very small and difficult to get to and not open on the weekends - in fact none of the restaurants are open on Sunday due to the "managers" party - a huge extravaganza- with horrible food and fireworks. The two Sundays we were there, it poured down rain and no alternate plans were made even though rain was predicted. The biggest indicator for me is that no effort was made to make things better for us in any way. The so called custome service people made it clear that we were not "owners" so they could not do anything for us. We came to understand very clearly from "Amber and Laura and a third very overwieght and unattractive woman with dark straggly hair who was working on the weekend when the other two were not available - that customer means owner and if you do not become a member, you do not get any "service". They never once called us nor offered anything to compensate us for any of the problems we were facing. We were unable to enjoy most of the resort due to the transportation situation and some of our party were pretty much confined to the one facility. Were there good things - sure every experience has goods and bads but the overwhelming majority of this place is horrible when compared to other value destinations around the Carribean and Mexico/Central America. Oh one more thing - becomming an owner has its own special rewards, apparently you can pay for the right to go there any time you want and choose amoung upgrades like "golf carts" and helicopter or limo rides from the airport - all of which are "extra". Then - get this - you still have to pay the same weekly service fee as a renter - gotta love it - but you will get "customer service" LOL