We just spent a week in Punta Cana on a hotel resort. While the people on the resort were very nice, beware of people who target tourists to sell gifts/souvenirs. We were told that we would be given a free ride to go shopping and the guy that picked us up did take us to an area with a handful of stores, but he owned the one that he showed us to. He and his workers would not tell us the price of individual items, but instead, wanted us to put everything we thought we might be interested in on the table so that they could offer us a "very low, low price" for buying several items. We ended up picking up to medium sized paintings (the kind that would sell for $15-25 in the US), one necklace made of larimar, the national stone in the DR, one bag of coffee, one wooden elephant (small, souvenir size), and a few other small tokens. We expected the total to be around $50. The man pulled out a calculator and told us he was giving us a very good price on everything (again, when I asked him how much he was ringing everything up for, he would not answer)-- he showed us a price of $290! When we said that was much too much, he lowered it $100 dollars. We still said it was too much and he and the other workers began chastising us telling us to "be nice" and that they were giving us good prices so we should buy from them. We said no several times and they continued to try to force us to buy from them. We ended up buying only a few items for $25 and then asked to be taken back to our resort. The man who picked us up ignored us at first then told us we had to wait for another person to take us back. About 25 minutes later, someone else took us back. Needless to say, we did not go shopping off the resort again.

There were also vendors on the beach at the resort. they used similar tactics, especially putting "free" necklaces and bracelets on me and telling us to "name our price" when the initial price they gave us was too high. Unlike the off resort shopping though, we were able to walk away from the aggressive beach vendors.

My boyfriend and I just got back from DR on saturday. We had an amazing time! I was in a wheel chair because of an injured foot so we were restricted on the amount of activities we could do. (so of course we compensated with drinking) Mamajuana was our #1 choice of poison:) The staff were SUPER friendly and they really appreciate an extra tip here n there:) Newton, who is the PM bartender at the bow bar makes the BEST Capiaranhas! The room was always clean and comfortable. The food was really good, we found the best food was the breakfast/lunch in the members only area. If anyone has any questions, I stayed for 7 days, i could probably answer some of ur questions:)

We booked our trip on AirGorilla.com and found a seemingly good deal on a stay at the PUNTACANA RESORT AND CLUB in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We booked our stay for 6 nights, 7 days, from Saturday to Friday. Our stay was at the end of March, and first week of April.

We read about the country on various websites and reviews, and thought we had a good idea of what to expect. Palm trees, nice beaches, and friendly locals. We got two of the three, and then many other unexpected surprises once we arrived.

Upon arriving, you must pay a $10 entry fee to pass through customs. Taking a taxi to the hotel, about a 10 minutes drive, was about $15 plus tip, not including the tip for the man who grabbed our bags from us at the airport and took them to the taxi (not optional).

The hotel itself was pleasant. The room was not in superb condition, with old or damaged furniture, but nothing terrible. Nice beaches, facilities, and workers. However, as we would find with everything else on our trip, you will pay for *everything*, be it either by way of incredibly inflated prices, or constantly expected tipping.

Our experience outside the resort was quite an eye-opener to how unpleasant the country really was as compared to the commercial image presented by their tourism industry. Our hotel was located very close to the airport, which was convenient, however the vast majority of the other resorts and attractions in the region were located about 30-40 minutes north of us, making doing anything outside the resort quite a chore. We decided to rent a car for a few days, as a taxi anywhere would cost around $30-40 each way. The car cost $75 a day.

Dominican roads are likened to the Thunderdome. No rules, no laws, every man for himself. The roads themselves are barely paved, littered with potholes, and apparently speed-bumps are the "in" fashion down there, as they are littered on main roads every 200-300 feet or so. They are also up to 2 feet tall, and will destroy any car that's name doesn't starts with "LAND" and end with "ROVER". Everyone drives as fast as they can, all the time, with their brights on... all the time. If you don't have a car, you find 4 friends and all pile on a dirt bike, then drive twice as fast as the cars. Insanity. There are no traffic cops to control any of this, as the only police force we observed were several men wearing baseball caps and dirty shirts wandering around the streets with shotguns.

Everywhere we went, somebody was forcibly trying to sell you something, or forcing a service upon you then expecting a hefty tip. Attitudes from the local population were best described as ungrateful. A polite interaction was rare, and often we were treated as if our visit wasn't welcome. This was at the resorts and tourist areas we visited, not anything out of the way. We speak a small amount of spanish, enough to get by, but not enough to feel confident in venturing out into the local where English speaking people were few and far between.

The weather is what you would expect, very pleasant. The beaches and sea are picturesque, and the golf is wonderful.

Upon leaving, we were forced to pay $30 to take the resort shuttle back to the airport, after asking for a taxi. We had to tip about 5 people between the hotel and the plane, and had to pay a fee to check more than 1 bag each, after being able to check 2 per person free on the way in, with no notice. Oh, and there is a $20 fee for leaving the country, but our customs agent looked like she didn't care about her job, and we weren't charged.

Bottom line of the trip was this: There are plenty of other countries and places to visit that I would recommend over this place. More development is needed before Punta Cana becomes a desirable vacation destination.

Bring plenty of small bills (USD) to get you through the trip, as the ATMs only dispense Pesos in $100 and $500, and getting change is not easy. Be prepared to tip everybody you meet, and their friends. Be prepared to have goods and services forced upon you on a regular basis. Don't expect the friendliness and accommodating atmosphere that you would hope to see. Expect to be visiting a poor, developing nation, with a population that wants your money as fast as you can give it to them.

just got back from ocean blue hten,in punta cana,dominican.The resort itself is very well set up,very clean,the rooms where great,the food was wonderfull.We didn't do much for excurtions due to the fact that our trip was delayed 16 hours so,we just hung out on the resort,soaking up the sun.The beach was very nice,but found it too be a little windy,but the water was very warm and safe to swim in.You have to go and get your own drink's,but that didn't pose a problem,most of the staff there do speak very good english so you don't need to worry about that.Take lot's of stuff to leave for the cleaning staff,as we did and they seemed to really love that.The vendors on the beach,just to the left of you are interesting,pushy but you can get a really good deal if you know how to barder.We met some really nice people while down there,and would deffinatly go down there again,maybe try a different resort,just to check out what's out there.but overall this resort was wonderfull.