We stayed with a large group of people at the Melia Caribe in Punta Cana. At first glance, the resort itself is beautiful. The grounds are well kept and the pool is exciting and fun. The lobby is pretty with ample tropical flowers.

Then, Almost instanly we ran into problems. Check in took us an entire hour. (There were only TWO people ahead of us!) The language barrier was by far the worst I have ever experienced. On other vacations, even when the national language isn't English, we have felt a sense of a mutual concern and attempts to understand each other. Well, NOT HERE! Everything seems like a problem. After FINALLY checking in, we were taken to our room via golf cart.. The room was unimpressive. Bare walls uncomfortable pillows. Although it seemed to be clean to me, others in ourparty complained of ants and hair found in thier room. Through out the stay I felt like the room was a bit dreary and wasn't overly enthused to spend a lot of time in it.

One extremely important thing to consider when staying at this resort is the size of it. It is HUGE!!! You need to be driven by either a golf cart of a train(which does not go to your room but follows a mapped out route.) I got lost going home the first night after the bar and it took nearly TWO hours to get to my room. Every single building is identical and I was confused right up until our fifth day. The golf carts are not as easily accessible as they are made out to be. In fact, I usually reached my point of destination before even spotting one. Also, I usually tipped the driver between 3 to 5 dollars each time they gave me a lift and only once or twice was thanked. I don't mind walking on a vacation but when you just want to go to get a bite to eat(since there is no room service) you don't feel much like walking 20 minutes or so in the heat.

The food was ok. Not terrible but not great. The French restaurant was my favorite but some people in our party said that the Japanese restaurant was Fantastic. You MUST make reservations to be seated at least 24 hours in advance and the host or hostess will almost always have a problem finding your name. We had a problem being seated one night and we could clearly see in the door that there were about 10 open tables. Frustrated, we left because they were not at all willing to solve the problem. In fact, they just stopped talking to us all together. I have to mention that we had been extremely polite throughout our trip. Perhaps if we we more of a forthright type of people we would have received more help. Also, I have to add unfortunately that I became sick the day before we left with sever stomach cramps and loose bowels. My husband did as well as around 5 other members of our party. I didn't drink the water but did drink some ice. I have a feeling however it was the buffet food.

The bars were somewhat fun. I had a good time watching the karaoke and dancing in the "Fun Bar." The only beer is El Presidente which isn't bad. The liquor is on the cheaper side which i am not a fan of. Also, The music is usually in Spanish which is fun for a time but them gets redudant to those of us who don't speak Spanish.

Overall, I would NOT advise people to stay at the Melia Caribe. I have been to close to 20 islands in the Caribbean and Hawaii and this was by far the worst. Some people in our party were having their first Island experience and were axtremely turned off and disappointed.

Before I begin to detail our experience at the Melia Caribe Tropical in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic let me first explain that this was the honeymoon my husband and I never had the opportunity to go on. This trip was ten years in the making and something we had worked, saved and planned for. To say the trip was a disappointment would be a gross understatement.
Our initial welcoming into the hotel was non existent, we got off the hotel shuttle as we watched our bags thrown on the sidewalk. After waiting several minutes for some kind of greeting, direction, explanation, and several attempts to speak to the bellhops we were pointed in the direction of the front desk and told to leave our belongings out front.
We approached the front desk which had no line just masses of people bunched around the counter. When we finally were able to get someone to respond to us we were told that our room was not ready and we would have to wait another 30 minutes. Check in time was 3:00, we were told this at approximately 3:15. We waited the 30 minutes and returned to a similar scene at the front desk. The woman working the desk completely ignored us for about 10 minutes before finally telling us she would check our room. We stood there for another 30-40 minutes while she repeatedly took other customers without ever checking on our room. At one point she took the information booklet she had given us earlier containing our towel passes and with our room number written on it and crossed out the room number and gave it to another customer in line. We finally were given a room after approximately an hour and a half, and more than a full hour after check in time. Although I understand things happen and rooms are not always ready on time, it was the complete lack of concern, apology, or even common courtesy that was very upsetting. The front desk acted as if we should be grateful we got a room at all.
Our next incident occurred when we went to retrieve our bags from out front, which were still sprawled on the sidewalk where they had been thrown. Obviously eager to finally get to the room, we asked the bellhop to please take them to our room. We were told they would be there in 2 hours! Not willing to wait that long, my husband had to carry them the considerable distance to our room since, we were told by several passing workers in golf carts that they could not give us a ride.
We had hoped that this would be an end to the problems on our much-anticipated trip. It was not. The same unsatisfactory and many times down right rude customer service that greeted us on our arrival continued through out the trip. Dinner reservations were messed up, we were told we had none, until we physically had to point to our name on the list and show the “host” where it was. Countless times we were out right ignored while trying to take advantage of the “all inclusive” services. Simple requests like “May I have two beers?” were answered with stares if at all.
Our room, which we had been so desperate to get into, was located directly above a room being renovated. Drills and saws are not part of what I consider a relaxing vacation. When we asked to be moved because of the disruption, we were told no. As a matter of fact the only thing the staff did seem ready to respond to any request was NO!
The one thing we did enjoy about this trip, a snorkeling tour, not affiliated with the Meliá Caribe Tropical, was even ruined by the hotel. We ordered a DVD of the experience to share with our family. The DVD was delivered to the hotel, which lost it. Again, we were met with the same poor attitude that was the norm on this trip, “Oh well, it is not here, there is nothing we can do”.
Never in my life did I think I would be counting the days until my dream vacation was over. This trip was a nightmare from start to finish. I have never written a letter like this before, but I can not in good conscience let anyone else spend their hard earned money and wasted their all too precious time with loved ones experiencing the things my husband and I dealt with while at the Meliá Caribe Tropical.

This was our first time to Punta Canta and we traveled with two of our best friends, who are also married, we stayed (6) nights at the Melia Caribe Tropical. The property and landscaping is gorgeous and very well maintained, very spacious and the (restaurants, casino) are not within walking distance. The beach area was within walking distance from our room, which was nice because that was one of the main reasons we wanted to stay at the resort.

The sleeping room was nice; however, the plumbing in the bathroom was horrible... the hotel was extremely "stingy" with bath towels and supplied no face cloths. The pools and beach area are beautiful. The food was very good; a large selection and variety of items for everyone's taste. We all ate at different restaurants each night, which wasn't a great idea because there was not a good selection for individuals that are vegetarians, so we went to the all-you-can-eat buffets instead most of the time...The atmosphere in the Caribe lobby and bar area was very casual . I was also surprised that most of the hotel staff does not speak English; even the simplest things (i.e., black coffee, diet soda) were difficult to communicate. Overall, we had a nice time but probably will not return anytime soon – We also had a time sharing tour, which took up about 2 hours of our time on Sunday, but it was well worth the time to also see the private area, which was breath, taking, but costly.
Please, Please…Don’t sign up for the 14 hour excursion tour of Santo Domingo ….This tour will be a waste of your time and money…

One of the best non-motorized events was the Segway tour….If you never tried it before this would be a great time to learn…..The tour through the wooded area of Punta Canta was breath taking and the tour along the beach was excellent…….Don’t get tricked into purchasing a $20 video of the tour, because it took us a few days of constant complaints to receive our DVD…….

Last but not least, we had a disagreement with the front desk upon checkout in regards to rental/usage of the “safe service” in our rooms. Customer service was not the main focus especially given the fact that we paid thousands of dollars for the all inclusive package to be hassled for a $12.00 safe charge. Resulted in us filing a complaint with “Guest Services” and ultimately having the charge removed from our bill.

We just returned from the Melia on Jul 6 and were there for a week. We booked into Royal Service and upon arrival upgraded to Royal Service Master Suite. After seeing both types of rooms I highly recommend the upgrade to the Royal Master services. Our room was elegant and spacious righ beside the pool the only issue was that it was on the 3rd floor and there were no elevators. I think these stairs helped me from gaining mega weight while on vaction. Also, if you suffer from heat and humidity you may want to rethink going between May and October. The weather was great, the pools and grounds are exceptionally clean and lush. The hospitality staff contrary to what others may say on here were absolutely top notch. At no time did we wait for anything and by the end of the week if the waiter saw you coming he would have a drink ready for you. I think that if you make an effort to speak to them in Spanish it goes a long way to instilling good will and helpfulness from the employees, At no time did I ever pass a staff member who failed to say "Hola" good moring etc. with a bright smile and an offer of assistance. If there is anything that would bring me back to the DR it is the people......everyone of them. Once off the resort though you can see how incredibly poor this country is and how importnant the tourist dollar is to the economy. The few dollars that you tip them goes a long way to help supplement their meager income. These people work long hard hours and yet always have a smile and a quick have a nice day....eager to help and friendlier than the average american/european tourist, so if they didn't speak your language or were not as attentive to your needs as you demanded think of them and maybe treat them with a bit of respect and encouragement. Also, this is a huge resort and expect to walk or wait for transport. At no time were we bothered by the "time share" sales people that a kind "non gracias" didn't stem. The worst experience I had was waiting in line at the airport to check through security on our return. It was hot and humid and the line took forever or so it seemed. I would definitely go back but maybe in the winter months.....