this was my first holiday abroad with my boyfriend which he bought for my bday but the hotel was that bad we were both really disapointed and ended up stayin in on the night of my bday.i would advise anybody who has booked to stay at this hotel to try change it as it will spoil your holiday.we paid for our room upgrading and got put in block 9 which i think was the worst block on the complex.with our package we got private check-in so we thought this would mean we didnt have to queue and would get our room quick.we didnt have to queue,instead we were taken away from the queues and was sat at a table for 1hr by the time we finally did get checked in there were no queues left! these are the problems we had with our stay...you will need about an hour to read this!! room when we finally got to our room it wasnt upto standards it smelt and did not look like an upgraded room(this was just the start) most days our front door did not lock ,when it did we got locked out because it wouldnt unlock,our balcony door was broke for 3days and did not close.our bed side lamps did not work(when we complained somebody was sent to tape the wires up as they were faulty)they sparked when we plugged them in! our tv remote did not not work this meant we couldnt watch the tv as the tv buttons did not work either-we complained but nobody came to fix it.we also had a large gap underneath our door which meant we werent sleepin alone at night as we had all kinds of bugs coming in our room. after going down to reception for the sixth time in 1wk we argued with the staff for 2hrs to be moved to a different room.when we finally got moved to "the best block on the complex" (block 6) we had the same problems and on the last night our bathroom cieling nearly fell through as there was a really bad leak with water comming through the lights! i went to reception AGAIN and nobody came to see to it for 30mins(a bit dangerous when theres water leaking through the lights) when they did come they just had one look at it and said they will get somebody to come clean it up-nobody came. food and drink the only restaraunt i liked was the japanese as the food was cooked in front of you but its always hard to get in that restaraunt as its always booked up.i didnt like the main restaruant as food wasnt covered up and was covered in flies and ants. everybody we met up with had a stomach bug as did myself and my boyfriend and we are both off work now as were still poorly. we booked a trip and was happy to get away from the hotel for the day but as food wasnt served till dinner time on the trip we decided to go to the main restaurant for breakfast at 7.00am,we were getting picked up at 7.30am-we were stil waiting at 7.20am because the ovens werent workin so ended up leaving for the day without breakfast. on our last day one of the snack bars was closed down as it was so dirty! the drinks in the bars are limited there is only one beer they have and its flat and tastes horrible the vodka and rum they have is also nasty it tastes so strong.we went all-inclusive and had to pay for our drinks in the disco which by the way is rubbish we only went once and the music was spanish and it fit about 30ppl in. entertainment it states on the internet that the hotel has its own beach party wkly,i thought this would be good-i was wrong! its a party for the locals that come to stay at the hotel every wknd the party lasts most of the night and is very noisy keeping you up all night. be carefull if you do go to this hotel and want to do parasailing as me and my boyfriend got charged 90 dollars and then found out two other couples got charged 50 dollars from the same man(he calls himself the king of the beach you cant miss him) the hotel only has one bar with entertainment and it is poor,we stayed in most nights for the first wk until we met some friends,michelle,gary and goerge and margaret who made our holiday. staff the bar staff were really ignorant and not helpful!! we went with first choice who have their own rep(melanie) living on sight which i thought is really helpful to have but when we had a problem she didnt want to know. when we had all the problems with our first room we argued with a member of staff(santa) for 2hrs for her to tell us to come back at 5pm with our bags packed to be ready to change rooms,this was at 10am.when we went back she had gone home and told nobody about the room so there wasnt one ready for us move into we were then told we had to go back the next day. all these problems in just 2wk i may sound like i complain too much but when you've paid alot of money to have your dream holiday and you get this its very disapointing.i would never go back to that hotel in fact it as put me and my boyfriend going back to the dominican altogether.

My wife and I wanted an inexpensive 2nd honeymoon. This place gives you what you pay for. Little for a little. Check-in was so-so. We did not get the room we booked with a King bed and gave up trying to move. The check-in staff were inattentive and could care less what we requested. Best to brush up on your Spanish if you visit this resort. The room we got was nice and in one of the older/remodeled bldgs. Plenty of hot water and the A/C was great. The little gifts for the housekeepers we brought assured that we got plenty of bottled water and soft drinks/beer restocked each day. The 2 main buffets were good. Plenty to choose from each meal. We avoided the fresh salads and uncooked veg. and had no stomach ailments. The rice and beans are a local staple and served at each meal. Lots of chicken dishes and seafood. Most of the desert choices were good incl. the ice cream bar. Get in early if you want a clean table. The waitstaff staff seemed to have a hard time resetting tables. The al-a-carte restaurants we tried were so-so. Saki was more of a "show" and you were left with a plate of stir fried rice with a mix of meats,seafood and vegs. The Brazilian steakhouse was OK. The meats are heavily seasoned so you don't get to taste the real flavor. Dissapointing compared to other Churascaria I have eaten at. Book a day ahead for the Al-a-Cartes at the Main Buffet reception desk. The Lobby Bar was the best choice for service during the day. The pool and beach bars always seemed understaffed and out of clean cups. Our own insulated mugs kept drinks cold and never had to wait for clean cups. The bartenders always remembered us and refilled with the same drinks we liked. The beach was nice and always busy with sunbathers,some topless, beach activities ect. If you want to reserve a "palapa" for the day, do so around sunrise. Leave your own towels and some personal items and you will have your shady spot for the day. Always shady spots around the pools though if the beach is not your thing. Bring plenty of sunsreen. The resort gift shop charges $28.00 USD for one bottle. The resort itself was always being looked after by staff, gardeners trimming, painters, carpenters. They seemed to care alot about appearances. We visted the week that the numerous coconut trees were being pruned and the arborists always had an abundance of fresh coconuts to offer passing guests. Watch out for the laundry vans as you walk around the resort. They will stop for you but not without some grumbling. The bellhop carts do not have horns and the bellhops each have their own Beep-beep to let you know they are coming through. The nightly shows were entertaining and fun. The pool show was sort of cirque de so laimish and seating was very limited but that show was entertaining. One of the firebreathers got a little too close and you could see the guests backing away. We deicided on the Tropical Paradise Cruise which is walking distance from the resort although a shuttle picks up in front of the resort. This trip included snorkeling in a very small area of reef and I felt very crowded out. The Sting Ray/Nurse Shark visit was in an enclosure about 1/2 mile offshore. Reccommend bringing your own snorkeling gear. It is provided but very cheap. They dance on the cruise boat and offer up a limted supply of beer and punch. It was a fairly short trip and we decided to walk back to the resort. To sum it up, if you want to vacation for cheap with mostly Europeans and S. Americans, this 3 star resort is nice. I would probably not go back to this property, instead spending a few more dollars for a 4 or 5 star resort. The property was beautiful and if we had brought our two teen daughters, they would have had a great time and we would not have to worry about their whereabouts. This was my fifth Carribean vacation but the first to Punta Cana. I would go back to Punta Cana next time. Great fun for the price.

We stayed at this hotel 31st July - 15th august 2007. Everything was going well until 3 days into the holiday I started with what I thought at first was sunstroke. After being ill for 7 days I was admitted to the local Punta Cana Hospital and was diagnosed with a tropical parasite (caught from contaminated food, poss the salads) and was seriously dehydrated. It caused amoebic dysentery (which is not pleasant). The illness lasted 15 days. Thank goodness we were staying in the Block 10 rooms ( the newly refurbished block) as I spent alot of time in there. All I can say about this hotel is that the beach (what little I saw of it) was beautiful, and the weather was fantastic. BE WARY OF WHAT YO EAT !!!!