We arrived early morning.

The room was located in building 3. Which isn’t updated like some other parts of the resort. We weren’t impressed. We asked for a King and ended up with two double beds. It wasn’t fancy. It had a couple of dressers, a tv and a small mini fridge, coffee machine and a blow dryer. The blow dryer was broken. I complained the first night and they never did come fix it. Good thing I have fine hair. I dried it under the ceiling fan all week.

The air conditioner worked good. Just a little noisy.

The shower was ok. We had decent water pressure and hot water most nights.

Upon arrival our mini fridge had 4 bottles of water, 1 pepsi, 1 7-up, and 2 beer. We also had
1 1/2 litre of water for making coffee. The next day we had 1 beer and a couple bottles of water. No extra to make our own coffee. We left a tip and the fridge just kept getting sadder and sadder. No beer, and less and less water. So, hold on to your empty bottles and refill them at the bars. I asked the house keeper in person if we could have beer and she flat out told me “No, it’s for other people. “ we were VIP booked through Air Canada Vacations. So, not sure who was getting the beer and water but it wasn’t us. We met a couple staying in building 5. They were being given cases of water and a fridge full of beer. So that kind of annoyed us.

On night 3 I got food poisoning. That was it for me. I didn’t eat the rest of the trip. So beware of what you’re eating. Food is being repurposed for several meals.

The resort is big but some of the stuff that they advertise isn’t located at the Tropical it’s located at the sister resort the Cofresi. We only went to one show and it was pretty bad so we didn’t bother any other nights.

They have a gift shop at the Tropical. You can buy pop for 1$ so when you drink what’s in your mini bar they won’t replace it. There is also beer at the gift shop, snacks, ice cream, some meds like pepto, tums etc.
There is a cigar shop as well.

If you want cappuccino. You can get one at the lobby bar or the pool bar that has the swim up but they are finicky as to when they feel like making it.

The beach was nice. There are a few shops located right on the beach but everyone was friendly enough and had no issue if you said no.
The water was pretty rough most days and the red flag was up most of the week.

The VIP beach with the beds was great. There was always plenty of room. There are a couple of bars located down there and the drinks are better there than the poolside bar. There is also wait service at the VIP beach and a sushi place.

The pools were dirty and too cold for me but plenty of people didn’t seem to mind or notice.
There always seemed to be lounge chairs so that was a plus.

The Timeshare guys gather outside the entrance of the buffet and hound you incessantly. You just have to keep saying “No Thanks. “ They make it sound like its imperative that they speak to you but it isn’t. They give you a tour of all the places you can’t go to try to convince you to buy in.

Sunday is supposed to be a welcome party but ours was cancelled due to rain.

All in all, we had an okay time but we won’t be back.

I give this resort a 3 based on some of the issues that we had and the lack of effort put forth by some of the staff.

I have been on numerous all inclusive trips in my 26 years on this earth (1-2 per year since I was 18 months) and this was the absolute worst experience of my life.
We booked an oceanfront/ocean view room and were given the lowest, smallest, “garden view” room. The room is small and it’s just a bed and two dressers with a tv. There’s no where to put your luggage except the floor (usually there’s a luggage stand, couch or desk. NOPE! Not here!
We tried to explain and show what we booked but it fell on deaf ears. The service leaves so much to be desired. No one looks to help or go the extra mile. I had to jump through hoops of fire to get ONE extra towel for the bathroom (normal resorts will give around 4 towels, like 2 medium towels and 1-2 towel mats for the bathroom. This place gives you exactly two shower towels, one small towel and one mat. So I call down for one extra shower towel so I can wash my hair and basically had to beg. The man I spoke to told me they were making a one time exception and don’t expect it to happen again. I waited 2.5 hours for my one towel and it never came so I had to call again. Eventually an hour and a half later it came. My one singular extra towel. The restaurant hosts don’t really help you find a seat at buffets or ask if you need anything. You kind of have to fend for yourself. The only time I really felt like we were on a resort was at the beach in our cabana. The guys were so attentive and helpful!
Food is super lackluster and not many options if you have dietary restrictions (my husband and I don’t eat beef or pork and we were pretty limited). There’s a lot of beaches but if you’re a lower member or not a member (we were not members) you’re limited to VIP beach and Cofresi beach. We generally hung out at VIP beach because the cabanas were nice and private and comfy. We’d go daily around 10am and there were lots of spots to choose from. Same situation by the pool, lots of room if you go early and claim your spot.
On the beach there’s definitely A LOT of people selling you things- massages, packages, excursions, etc and what really bothered me about them is that when you tell them you already purchased something they get mad and say you got robbed and you should have purchased from them. I really don’t want to feel cheated or haggled on a vacation. We ended up getting massages at one of the two resort spas because it was cheap- 60 min couples massage for $130! It was fine not great not bad but the spa facilities are nice.
We were toured by some concierge guy who tried to talk us into buying a timeshare but honestly we were wowed by anything they offered and don’t want to feel less than or greater than on vacation. I don’t want to worry that we can go to 2/12 pools or 9/32 restaurants or 3/10 beaches. Like let me just go where I want, eat and drink what I want and do what I want, when I want. This isn’t a place for that. Also there’s free no WiFi.
We happily did not purchase the timeshare and WE WILL NEVER BE RETURNING to any lifestyle resort.

Pros: exceptional cleanliness, helpful, smiling staff
Cons: reception does not appear as helpful when problems arise (don’t have your travelocity reservation!, no hot water, key cards don’t work); just a wee bit of attitude and unhelpfulness, but it all gets worked out.

Came here with adult family members. I can’t say enough about the cleanliness of this resort and the super smiling and helpful employees everywhere: at the buffet, restaurants, pool & grounds maintenance, housekeeping, etc. We did not come to party, we came to rest, and were quite happy with the separated quiet ‘adult pool’ area. A special perk was the peacocks wandering around...cute and lazily entertaining.
GROUNDS: Kudos to the groundskeepers, and for the incredible landscaping and variety of the plants, trees & palms.
FOOD: The food at the buffet was very good! Tasty & good variety with a different theme each night (ie: Dominican food, Asian night, bbq night). Top notch wait staff! Made plans at the Italian restaurant, Brazilian bbq restaurant, (men MUST wear pants - no shorts - or you’ll be sent home to get some) and Indochino - ALL excellent food and service.
BEACH: The ocean is rough here, but doable. (Ladies: turn sideways when a big wave comes or you’ll be knocked flat). We mostly stayed at the pool and walked to the bar one-pool-over for refreshments.
CABANAS: if you want a covered cabana (for shade or rain) by the adult pool they’re all saved by 7am. Just throw your towels on one by then and you’ll be all set for the day. (But please use it. Don’t hoard and then just spend minimal time there like some do)
DRINKS: Great bartenders and the rum is good!
Rum & sun. Oh ya.
ROOMS: simple, clean. People can be a little loud walking past after 11pm, but you if did the sun/rum combination right during the day, you’ll still sleep well!
Nothing major.
SNORKELING: We rented a car (or get an Uber) and went to Sosua Beach on the recommendation of a friend who lives in the DR. As we got to the beach, a fellow came up and offered (for a fee) to take us out to the reefs on their little glass bottomed boat, the CHAMAQUITA. So worth it!!! We didn’t have time to do both reefs they suggested (we were flying out that day - Sosua is only 15 min from POP airport), but the fish variety were amazing! We had our own equipment, but they also have equipment on the boat. Victor was a lovely guide, very sweet and helpful (though no English). Download your offline google translation! We forgot.
If you do have all day, feel free to explore Sosua on your own. The reef snorkeling is out where you’ll see catamarans anchored (far end). If we’d had time we definitely would have got Victor to take us out to the second reef they knew of.
All in all a very lovely vacation spot and a great place to escape the -35C temperatures of Alberta winter!