First let me say that we were a little nervous about trying to pick a hotel in Punta Cana b/c of the reviews ! After much research & reading about all the hotels and also keeping price in mind...we booked IFA for my 30th birthday present! We booked on our own through Apple Vacations and got a really good price including airfare. Upon arrival we had our bags taken to our bus by a guy (tipped $4) which was very helpful for us to get on the correct bus as there are many. Short ride to the hotel. Hotel was BEAUTIFUL even from the entrance!! Most buildings are open air and have that romantic tropical feel to them. The bathrooms throughout the place are also pretty nice and very clean. The grounds were keep emaculate and so were the many pools. They have fountains in the pools where you can play in, swim up bar, there are numerous smaller pools and even there is a hidden "jacuzzi" bar on the villas side of the resort where it was often very quiet (jacuzzi are not hot). Our room was kept very clean and was cleaned later in the day which didn't bother us b/c we were not in our room very often anyway. The only thing we had a problem with was getting the free beer that they are suppose to put in the fridge every day. Staff was friendly for the most part, however front desk girl wasn't the most pleasant. We ate at the two buffets for lunch and dinner after trying the Mexian restaurant and not loving the food there. Buffets offer a decent variety of foods and is convenient for people like us who are doing excursions (Saona Island and Zipline) and being gone all day. The food was good, nothing amazing. Never got sick. Water is safe at all restaurants too. Beach was beautiful as well and the water was crystal clear (some days some seaweed). One complaint was the lack of open beach chairs for most of the day..had to lay on sand with towel or use the older, kinda ratty chairs if available but it didn't ruin our paradise! Nightly shows are fun if you like dancing and we enjoyed them very much. BE AWARE of the disgusting speedo wearing men, they are everywhere!! FYI You can smoke everwhere including inside restaurants but I did not see one butt anywhere outside! Also, not many guests spoke English but most employees spoke enough that we did not have any problems which was great. I would totally go back to this place in a heartbeat. Had the best time and made many wonderful memories. We stayed on the Ocean side in room 4139 and it was centrally located to most things which we loved. It's about a 3 min walk to the beach from our room as well. The resort is not as huge as some we heard about where you have to take a golf cart to get places, not sure I would like that. Although the resort was said to be at capacity, it never felt crowded to us especially at the pools on the Villas side (behind the shops).