Bad bad service noone listen to you about any complaint you had which was a lot of complaints went to reception every single day about the terrible state of our room after 8 days of my holiday but reception done nothing !
drinks were given to us Brits in plastic cups while the Canadians with filling up their big jugs with cocktails and any beer they also got served first while they were given tips no matter if you were first in the queue
had to lay my own tables for breakfast and ask waiter for coffee every morning they never did come or just forgot about you had to go and find then he would then tell me to go and sit (down all the time) and wait
cold food wherever we went
complete rip-off with install goods and trips really felt that they had an issue with the British people because every British person I spoke to seem to be having the same problem don't go to this hotel find somewhere else maybe even over the other side at punta Plata

Just returned from a beautiful week with my partner.. We chose this hotel based on our price range and agreed it was great value overall (we did upgrade to Premium on arrival, BUT if we had not done so I don't think we would have felt any less impressive)

What I will start by saying is: there were a lot of people moaning on the hotel's unofficial social media group, picking fault with just about everything... but it really is a case of you get what you pay for. The hotel is advertised as 4 stars, and I would say it just about deserves this rating with a bit of room for improvement of service quality - there are 3 lovely swimming pools (4 if you upgrade) beautiful private white sandy beach, 6 restaurants (and a 24 hour snack place) countless bars around the complex, spa/gym/beauty salon, boutiques and varied entertainment/activities day and night.
SO either be happy to get all that for a decent price OR pay a few hundred dollars more if you expect all-out 5 star luxury. We did not worry ourselves with the negative comments, just turned up with an open mind and a good will, and on the whole we were chuffed with what we found, so there!

Quick housekeeping tip - when you go out on your balcony DO be careful not to lock yourself out like we did. If you pull the sliding door all the way it will just click shut then you're stuck! We had to holler for a security guard (with a limited combination of my basic Spanish and his basic English) to go off and find someone with a master key to rescue us (mucho embarrassing at the time but saw the funny side, poor BF only had his underpants on) and after that our actual room keys didn't work anymore so we had to trek back to reception to have them re-programmed. This can be easily avoided by remembering to wedge the door with something whenever you go out to the balcony.

The room itself was just right. Very comfy bed and decent pillows, plenty of fresh towels changed daily, a few toiletries, mini-bar stocked with bottled water, Coke, Sprite and beer. Coffee machine with fresh coffee (just nab a glass of milk from the coffee bar near reception and decant it into an empty water bottle) and the air-con worked really well. It was quiet at night.

The beach and pools are all gorgeous - they get busy quickly so it is best to be up and out before 9am to have your pick of sunbeds where you want to plot up for the day. We do not reserve sunbeds and then not use them - but there are signs everywhere saying they will remove items left for more than one hour (although I did not see any evidence of this happening.) Our favourite pool was the "Relax Pool" but it would be nice if they could make this an Adults Only area... the beach and main pool are perfect for families, with splash areas for children - there should be a perfectly tranquil space for adults who want to chill out with a book.

The best food we ate was actually the main Open Sea buffet - after going a-la-carte for the first five days and finding the themed restaurants a bit of an anti-climax, we agreed the buffet was most impressive... even the fussiest eater will find plenty to choose from, you really are spoiled for choice and it is all beautifully displayed. Fresh fruits and salad selections were especially lovely. People moaned about a few flies here and there but relax - it is a tropical climate and the restaurants are open plan, a few little insects are to be expected. You can also have a buffet breakfast or lunch at "On the Grill" (by the beach pool) and there is a 24 hour snack bar doing the most delicious pizzas freshly made - they go fast at lunchtime but it is worth waiting for them.

So the a-la-carte restaurants DO need to be booked at least a day in advance (even if you upgrade to Premium you must still make reservations) I would say the Japanese was the best one, whereas the others were a bit hit and miss - OK you get to sit in a more formal setting and have your food brought to you but there were only a few choices for each course, portions were small and some of the dishes were a bit cold. This would be easy enough to improve. The French one served some beautiful cuisine and has an elegant setting BUT if I could make one suggestion it would be to make this restaurant Adults Only so that people could really enjoy a truly sopisticated ambience.

We went to the spa twice for massages which were easy to pre-book, and worth the money. The only thing which could be improved in the spa, would be to show every guest to the locker room on arrival and automatically give them a robe, slippers and towel without having to ask. That's what happens in every other spa I have visited worldwide, but at this place they simply pointed us to the hydrotherapy/sauna/steam area and said they would call us when it was time for the massage - then we had to drip along the corridor to the treatment rooms!

This brings me on to service - being respectful that it is a mid-range accomodation and I don't know how people manage to work fully clothed in the heat, I have been to similar hotels in similar climates where the staff have been more switched on.. Some of the concierges (in the Premium lounge which we had paid extra for) were so slow it was painful. Whatever you asked for it seemed they had to confer with another colleague, spend ages looking at a screen and make a phone call. The employees who were responsible for encouraging guests to pay for extras like spa treatments and excursions were very attentive BUT it was a different story in some of the restaurants. For example you can be sitting in the breakfast buffet for ages before you see someone with a coffee pot of jug of water. At the Italian a-la-carte restaurant we asked for some bread to go with our soup, and the waiter said OK but never came back. Tables were not re-set (leaving you wandering around looking for somewhere to sit down) and rarely did anyone ask if you needed anything. I would point out that I DO tip, I DO speak Spanish (and even if I didn't, I would still try and create a bit of rapport with the waiters) and I appreciate it is the Dominican not Dubai, but I have been to Mexico and Cuba which aren't that different and in those places they couldn't do enough for you, whether you had given them a tip or not. I know I started by saying "you get what you pay for" but a little bit of extra customer service training could make all the difference to keep guests coming back.

FINALLY I just want to say one thing about PLASTIC - I do not mind that the hotel doesn't give you real glasses, with so many of the bars and restaurants being outdoors I get it that broken glass could be a hazard... but I was ashamed of the amount of little plastic bottles and cups (and straws) I shudder to think how many of these are ending up in land-fill... at a similar hotel in Mexico they provided plastic cups which were unbreakable and washable, and made a point of saying they did not provide drinking straws because they were trying not to contribute to single-use plastic waste. I know a lot of Canadian guests bring their own re-usable thermos cups (which are genius as you can get more drink in, and it stays cold) but unless I was camping I don't want to drink out of a flask or a sippy cup. Durable re-usable plastic glasses would be the way to go.

All in all I WOULD recommend this place to anyone wanting a cheap and cheerful week, I know I have included quite a few negative points but this is just feedback which could easily make the place extra-impressive at no exra cost.

Just returned from this hotel and will pass on good points and bad.

Good points -
very clean and tidy - pleasant environment - fantastic gardens- good clean pools with shade and sun. Plenty of chance to grab a sun bed throughout the Day- nice clean beach and food acceptable plenty of choice. Fantastic Pizza and chef works extremely hard. Coffee shop fabulous,

Bad-
constant harassment from people selling time share. People trying to sell everything including tours. With the odd exception staff are rude and will say things to other staff about you and start to laugh. Lack of space during evening with no where to sit with only one small bar operating throughout the hotel and very slow service with drinks served in plastic cups.

If they try and sell you premium upgrade don’t bother, and if you do pay less than half what you get offered.

First time ever at a hotel got food poisoning and was very unwell for 24 hours.

The stalls that appear around the grounds during late afternoon and evening you will get constant harassment and they try to sell at ridiculous prices. When you find anything that you like get a price and then take of 2/3rds and start haggling at that point. They will sell when you start to walk away.
The staff with odd exception are mostly miserable and cold. The cleaner serving our room was always walking in on us and on last day despite check out at 1pm walked in 3 times and we felt under pressure to get out. When I’ll in bed despite my wife asking not to come in she still did. Her and all staff very unappreciative of tips whatever the amount.
Shops inside hotel are daylight robbery and if you venture outside and go to local shops you will pay a fraction of these shop prices.
Water not very hot and had to complain 3 times when it was completely cold.
The spa and hydrotherapy is a joke. Steam room never working. Hydrotherapy pools never fully working.
Evening entertainment was well....I’ll let you make your mind up but take a jigsaw or something!!!

Overall a good holiday. The hotel is okay but more like 3 star. Would benefit from friendlier staff, more space to sit and relax and a few benches around the grounds. Please when you say the pool is for premium customers only enforce that rule. Because I saw no benefit from being a premium customer and having paid for upgrade not happy to see people who complained get a free upgrade. With a little more effort this Hotel could be very good.