Coral Costa Caribe has potential, but needs some improvements and is not a 4-star. My husband and I are not really picky travellers, so we had a good time in spite of some deficiencies.

ARRIVAL: The worst part of the trip was the three-hour bus ride from Punta Cana airport, no bathroom on the bus. And we didn't arrive at the resort until 3:00 in the morning! After we checked-in, we were heading to our room and all of a sudden a guy appeared out of nowhere, wearing a dark hoodie and frantically speaking to us in Spanish. Eventually we figured out that he was security and was trying to bring us to our room. But it was pretty scarey, at 3:00 in the morning being approached by a frantic stranger in a dark hoodie.

ROOM: Our room was okay - not great but not a disaster either. It was a bit dark and the clock-radio didn't work, but the sun beamed in the window at 7:00 every morning, which was lovely!

SERVICE: We arrived on a Saturday night, and the next day we went down to the buffet for breakfast and could not find a clean table or a cup of coffee to save our lives. The place was completely over-run with local people. Which I have no problem with at all, except for the fact that the staff could not keep up with the influx. Service at the buffet was often slow, but if there was a big crowd of people it was impossible. With that said, the staff were all very sweet and friendly.

BEACH: The beach was okay, although not the really soft sand like Punta Cana - a lot of the beach was covered with crushed shells and pieces of coral, although the sand down by the water was softer and had less shells.

VENDORS: One big problem with Costa Caribe was the vendors on the beach - they were relentless. There's a steady parade of people selling items, and even though they would move along when you'd say "No thank-you," they'd be back again an hour later. They also set-up tables at the resort in the evenings, which was nice because you could look through a big selection of items. Although Dominicans can be very assertive when trying to make a sale, which can be a bit overwhelming if you're not used to it.

RESTAURANTS: Pretty good. I think our favourite was the Mexican restaurant, the Santa Fe.

SANTO DOMINGO: Loved it! We toured the colonial zone and it was fantastic!

SAONA ISLAND: Biggest regret of the trip. It was utterly disappointing. We were promised a trip to the most beautiful sandy beach in the Dominican, a chance to swim with starfish, and a barbeque of steak and burgers. They brought us to the area with starfish, but there were none anywhere where our boat stopped. None. When we got to Saona Island, the beach was blocked full of people, worse than at our resort, and was CRAWLING with vendors, again, worse than at our resort. And the food? There was no barbeque. There was a buffet of crappy food - warm coleslaw, tough chicken. The only thing that was edible was the instant mashed potatoes. The beach was mostly rock and coral and was difficult to walk on in bare feet. Only when we were leaving did I realize there actually was a beautiful soft sandy beach there, but it was not where our guide brought us and we didn't get to appreciate it at all.

WARNING!: One of the staff on the boat back from Saona Island tried to steal our bags. It was very upsetting and really soured the day. He tried to open my husband's bag and started to argue that it was his bag. My husband had to physically rip the bag away from him. We didn't have anything of real value in our bags, but it was a very souring incident.

Overall, however, we had a good time and we got a really good deal through Sunwing. However, I could see how people would be disappointed if they had paid for and expected a 4-star resort. I don't think I would recommend this resort to a friend. And I definitely would not stay at another resort 3 hours from the airport.

So we just got back from our vacation and let me tell you...I am glad we read the reviews but some peeople just live to complain. To start off...

The Hotel : Now that you just had an hour bus ride... When you first arrive and you arrive early? Prepare for a long wait for check in. Check in is at 3 and they stick by it. We arrived at 1230 and they was no way we were checking in early. The Lobby is very nice as well as the hotel grounds. Very kept up and tidy. Make sure the internet is working BEFORE you pay. We found a little internet cafe down the street passed the mexican resturant that was clean, had web cams and was much cheaper. Be patient with the front desk and they will be awesome to you. We got 2 oceanview rooms and then by our third we didn't care about the view anymore.

The Rooms : The view is not important !! Well we ended up changing rooms 3 times. Yes a pain but we were cool about it. First room had great view on the 6 th floor of the sea. But the outlets in the bathroom didn't work and I had to blow dry my hair in the bedroom. You could see out side above the air conditioner. Friends actually used the balcony to blow dry! 2 nd room had NO cold water. Not great for sun burns. 3rd had very little air conditioning. Made my husband grumpy. Beware of flooding and possed tv's too. YES there was bugs. In the bathroom They were spraying for bugs but must have missed all 3 rooms we were in. They were the size of a large ant. Yeah it is gross but whatever. I would make sure all the lights, outlets, bathromm fixtures and locks work in the room before you unpack. Less trouble. They need some upgrades but no one is perfect. SAVE your water when you move. Take it with you. You only get 2 bottles in the bathroom for teeth and check your rinse glass before you use it! You DO NOT get the 2 bottles of beer or pop in the fridge. Apparently that contract was over when we were there.

Food: I don't know who said the italian resturant was crap because it was anything but. The Mexican was just as good when it comes to the a la carte spots. Didn't go the the dominican one so I have no idea was it was like but I heard that their version of steak is like a thin hamburger. The main buffet was great and they have the best omlett maker in the DR. Now for you picky people like my husband, the snack bar serves french fries and hambergers, hotdogs and pizza. All day...everyday.

The Bars: Were awesome of course. If you get too hot then go to the sports bar in the lobby. Air conditioning and free pool. The bar tenders were great and kept the drinks coming. If you are like me and DON'T like em strong then they will make them "light". Ask for the Mamawana shot...you'll thank me later.

The Beach: If you like to shop thats great because they bring the stores to you...every 5 minutes. Lots of people selling necklaces and wraps, paintings and hats. I know that they are trying to make a living but when got off work..they came out wearing nicer clothes then me! The beach itself was nice but be careful of the shells in the sand...everywhere. Stay AWAY from the sea weed unless you want sea urchins stuck all over you. You can only go out about waist deep which kinda sucked but it was warm so had my vote.

*** If you arrive on a friday or saturday then I am sorry for you. We arrived on Friday and by 6 o clock the resort was covered with locals. They swarm over everything and you are now second in line to everything. Come monday everything was normal and you got served right away. I mean who is in a rush anyways but it was more relaxing.***


I hope some of this helps you in your travels. I liked the resort and other than the rooms...we got what we payed for. We met lots of great people and had a blast other wise!!! Happy Travelling!

This hotel is not even close to a 2 star hotel ,the place looked like something would look like after a storm.
Staff was ok but once you tipped them you would not see them till they wanted more.the pool bar was a joke no great sevice and the pools were small,my friends have bigger pools at their homes,also more sand in pools then on beach. stay away from this resort and area go to punta cana where most hotels are 4+ .

I stayed at Coral Costa Caribe during the week of April 11th -18th, 2008 and had a wonderful experience. There were four of us and all of us either work for a hotel currently or have worked in one before so our expectations were higher than most people.

We arrived at the airport and there was a shuttle bus waiting for us to take us to the hotel. The guide on the bus was amazing. We flew into La Romana Airport so it only took us about 40 minutes to get to the hotel. Since we arrived around 11am, our rooms were not ready yet but they stored our luggage until 3pm. We headed to the buffet restaurant to grab some lunch.

I have to say that regardless of the previous reviews regarding the food, I was completely impressed. The food was awesome. Lots of variety and it actually tasted great!! The breakfast was wonderful and the omelette chef was soooo adorable. We tipped him $5 on our last day. The previous review writer had mentioned the buffet was really busy but they probably got there when a huge busload of new guests arrived and their rooms weren't ready.

When we finally got our rooms, we found out we were upgraded into ocean view rooms in the main building. The view was spectacular. The hotel is an older hotel and the rooms aren't in the greatest conditions but they were clean and bug free. We weren't going to spend much time in our room anyways.

The beach was spectacular. The sand was clean and not too many shells. The water was clear and warm at all times. There were always lounge chairs available regardless of what time we got to the beach which was nice.

The main pool was great. The water was perfect temperature and the swim up bar was just what we needed to get out of the sun. There was a seperate kids pool area on the other side of the resort so there weren't too many kids around. It was difficult sometimes to get a drink at the pool bar since it was one of the main bars used for the beach, but we weren't in any hurry. We left the city to get away from the hustle and bustle so we didn't mind. The bartenders are WONDERFUL!! Especially Alexandro.

We ate at two of the three a la carte restaurants (Mexican, Italian) and it was great. Get there early for the 6:30pm seating at the Mexican restaurant because there is usually a wait. There is a fajita stand that you can get food at while you wait. Tipping is essential. We left $2-3 each meal and the servers remembered us each time. We were never left with an empty glass.

The disco was ok during the week. The locals pretty much dominated it on the weekend and it was tough getting good service but during the week, there were no problems.

I would definitely go back again and again. For the price we paid, it was spectacular. I recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to relax and isn't expecting everything in a flash. Everyone down there works in Domenican Time and I had no complaints.