We went in January 2004 and I must admit after being in Peurta plata that the beach and water here was fantastic. We were on the beach everyday and just loved being in the ocean. Being from a European background and my wife being French canadian we did adapt well to the influx of Europeans at this resort. Had to explain to my son why the women had no tops on the first day. It is part of the experience and one as men I'm sure we all enjoy!!! The food was okay, as I am a chef and know good food from bad. The pizzas were good and the choice of restaurants at least gave you an option. We liked the fact we could walk to the other resort beside ours and loved our bartender. I gave him $10 american the first day and he was my best friend after that.

We did find the front desk less than helpful but the rooms were clean and staff very attentive. We went on a boat trip to Sanoa Island and truly enjoyed the visit. The night life was amateur but we were so tired by the end of the day it didn't matter to us. All in all I went to relax and that I did. The beach and ocean were great and thats why I chose to go on the Carribean side. All in all a good visit with few problems.

We went Nov. 27- Dec. 4. Two families, one with a 5 year old, one with a 1 year old. I booked before reading these reviews. After I had booked, I read the reviews and became worried.
#1. If you stay here, do NOT Fly into Punta Cana! It is a 1 and 1/2 hour ride. It was nice to see a few towns, but with small children it was too long. They are the craziest drivers I've ever seen. La Romana has an airport there.
#2. Food was different, which I enjoyed very much. For the traditional diners, they did have pizza, burgers, pasta, salad, etc.. The deserts were absolutely wonderful! For soda they only had Pepsi and 7UP. No Diet. Purified water, juice, and water, and of course alchohol and beer were available. Out of 6 of us, only I got sick one day and I'm not sure what it came from. We tried all 4 of the specialty restaurants. All were great.
#3 Rooms were very clean. No problem with housekeeping. It did take a few calls to get a crib even though we had in the reservation and infant and had requested a crib. We got a 3rd floor room because they were sold out. After 3 days we did change to a 1st floor because it was too hard with the stroller. Both were oceanview in the 5800 and 5900 buildings. Wonderful view, but there were doing some construction behind us during the day. We had no problem with them leaving clean towels everyday. We used the phone for 2 or 3 calls to the US, 3 calls to Santo Domingo, and over 5 calls to Punta Cana and our bill was only $7.50 US Dollars.
#4 The beach was so huge! It really would take 20-30 minutes to walk from one end of the Palace to the end of the Beach Resort. Our favorite spot was in the middle to the right of the watersports area. We could walk out pretty far and it would only be chest high. Perfect white sand beaches. Lots of chairs and palm trees and "palapas" grass huts. The pools were often empty or with only 3-5 people inside. Folding umbrellas if you wanted them. Jacuzzi is not Hot. Just a bubbling pool. They had a schedule posted of activities, but they did not always go by them. My husband was really into the volleyball and waterpolo, but was disappointed a few times when they had a dance class instead. Plenty of snorkeling and diving areas right at the resort. Bring your own equipment. They do not have snorkeling equipment there unless you take a tour. We signed up for their 2 hour tour, but no one else showed up so they cancelled it. There are small reefs of coral there and free diving lessons at the pool. Water was very calm, unless a boat was going by, then you got small waves. No seaweed!
#5 The Europeans. Of the 900 rooms between both resorts, I would say only 1% were Americans or Canadians. I really didn't mind most of the time, only when they cut in line alot, and it was difficult to do any activities with them when no one spoke the same language. It still is mostly a resort catered to the Italians. The employees seemed to know more Italian and German than English. Though we were able to get by fine with English anytime necessary with a little patients. Yes, you will see topless women and all the men wear speedos or thongs. I do not think that the employees gave us any different treatment like others said they do.
#6 Misc. We checked out the Kid's club and did not feel secure leaving our 5 year old there. It was a playground with 1/2 a fence they could sneak through, no security, just a check in/out sheet. They were watching a loud movie in spanish fighting cartoon movie inside an air conditioned room. We had been on a Disney Cruise before with an excellent and very secure feeling kids club before. This did not compare. We did inquire about a babysitter, but didn't use one. We were too tired to go out at night. We took a tour that included a trip to Altos de Chavon, a Gator ride on the river, and a ferry catamaran to Catalina Island which included lunch and snorkeling and plenty of beer and rum and soda. That was $83 USD and done by TNT & Coco Tours, not by the hotel. I wouldn't really recommend it. They were an hour late, took us by taxi to meet us with another group in the middle of a shady part of La Romana, we toured a Cigar factory that looked like a big garage. The river tour had boring scenery of just cows and trees. Altos de Chavon was nice, but none of the stores and museums that they talk about were open. Catalina Island was nice. Free snorkel equipment and lots of fish to see right from the beach. Be advised, from the ferry, you have to take climb off a ladder into a small 10 passenger motor boat and jump off the boat. Not recommended with small children or seniors. Lets just say it was an adventure. We did do the 3 hour 2pm - 5pm horseback tour that is from the ranch a 5 minute walk from the resort. We even brought the 1 and 5 year old. This tour brings you to an underground cave that you can go swimming in. Doesn't that sound nice? It was pitch black, you could hear the bats and got bit by many mosquitos. Wear sneakers and pants if possible and try another time that goes somewhere else. This one did not take us onto the beach, but we did go by it and we saw the town of Bayahibe. Very nice horses and great prices. We booked with TNT vacations. Whenever we had an issue during our vacation, if the hotel could not help, we called Lisa our sales representative and they did their best to help us. It really was good to have them. I met someone that had booked on Priceline and he was getting nowhere without a representative. Now I am a Travel Agent, so I was thinking in my head " next time book with a travel agent so you have a real person to talk to, to help you".
Overall, I do give it a 4 star rating. The beach was wonderful. I would recommend maybe the Iberostar in the area just because they have more english speaking customers. Keep in mind this is a very poor country. You can get shocked and nervous when you see the living conditions of the Dominicans. Just remember they are people too.
Email me any questions!

I read all the reviews before we went to this place.
And yes, you do have to pay attention to all the negative comments. We've ignored many of them, and everything that was negative came true for us as well. It's all depends on 1. the size of your family: #beds you're getting; 2. whether you like sports and activities; 3. whether you're a pickie eater... This is the place for active people who don't really care about food: you're going to have a great time! People who's careful about their food choices: you're going to be in trouble. Take a dictionary with you: it helped us a lot. Shows are amature shows performed by the people who's entertaining you all day long. These resort is better for a younger crowd (20-30).

I just came back from VIVA Dominicus Palace. The people there are so helpful and friendly as I never ever have seen before.

PS: As VIVA Palace customer you also have access to the whole VIVA Beach hotel ;-)

I had so much fun there - I'll go back asap. I already miss the animation team as well as their great shows!