just returned from A HOLIDAY FROM HELL, The worst holiday i have ever experienced, first taken to our hotel, WOW. could not believe our good fortune. bags whipped away & told sir madam you are on holiday, please go to reception, we were given cold pristine flannels, & cocktails, oh my God we thought, let our holiday begin. Then our nightmare began, sir/madam I'm sorry but this is not your hotel, the driver has made a mistake.

They rang the hotel we should have been in, and gave the taxi driver directions, as nobody knew where it was.

Two hours after leaving the airport, we arrived, OH MY GOD, we cant be staying here. talk about a anti climax.!

We were asked to pay 22 USD, taxi fare, we had had it by then, jet lagged,& desperate for a bath.we had to repeat that our transfer, was paid. but in the end had to pay.

Then security took the two large bags. while we carried the other luggage, what seemed a long way, &up 3 flights of stairs, (husband suffer,s bad back, and me a grandmother) .

Room OK, looked out of widow, and heart sank, this could not be where we were going to spend our precious Christmas & new year, we felt sick.

went for a shower, fitment facing wrong way, so had to hold. it, ran water COLD.

It was so noisy, all we could do was, go to the apology of a bar, WE COULD NOT COPE, so i immediately went to reception, and greeted with a cold stare from reception, i asked to see manager, I explained everything, and broke down crying, saying we cant possibly stay here, he apologised ,and upgraded our armbands to another part of the hotel, 10 times better, i would say 2*, i asked him if we could move to this side, but he said it was more money, but we paid for 4*i replied, he replied that it was full, and was booked until feb, and no amount of money could change the fact. We decided to wait to see our rep. The next day we turned up v.i.p rep, on holiday. Day after he arrived, yes i think we can help, he made phone call,s then replied, 255 USD per person per night. no way, equivalent to £4000 approx. next day again'

I pleaded, please move us, the receptionist replied, i think we can help you, come back tomorrow, this went on for 6 day,s, all Christmas. crying in reception. with 20 other people, near mutiny..
Things got worse, no beach towels for 3 days' cold showers, sewerage. stagnent water mossies, flies, rudeness, no filter in pool, leaving gaping hole so children could trap their feet.' no entertainment.
drug dealing, prostitutes, people trashing their room, high on drugs, you name it, it was all there, except for what, we expected, A fantastic Christmas/new year holiday of a lifetime. We could go on and on, but still suffering, jet lag, PLEASE DONT GO TO THIS HOTEL.

....hmmmm... I would have many more photos - except - my digital was dropped into the ocean a few moments prior to snorkeling.... so - here is my take on the whole retreat.


We arrived at about 9pm - on a Wednesday. They couldn't find our reservation - but - they showed us to our rooms anyway.

We get to our room - it is clean and neat - no problems - yet.

The buffet - I guess I'd call it very interesting. Dinner is 730 to 930pm.... so we - got a bite to eat. On the buffet menu that night.... OLIVE LOAF...in red sauce. [--] The menu was a little odd the whole time. Always some sort of processed meat. There was always fresh fruit - but mostly just pineapple.... We kept wondering where the coconuts were? They were on the beach...not on the buffet? Some sort of dark mystery meat was also available....nothing labelled..... a guessing game at best.


Go back to our room - LOUD music pounding until 11pm. This was a nightly occurrence.... If you want to go to bed earlier - choose another hotel.

The shower was occasionally sea water. The shower head was always broken...it faced into the wall - thankfully I was able to use the hand-held to rinse off ... etc. Worked best with a shower buddy.

As for the room-cleaning, sheet changing and towel changing. Our room was finally cleaned on Saturday - the sheets and towels were never changed.

Now the positive.....

The people were fantastic.... All very friendly and helpful. If you speak a little Spanish, French and English - you are all set - you try and they try!

Three beatiful pools. Unlimited cocktails. Great deals on day trips if you are willing to barter with the locals.

Be ware of travelling down the beach to other shops or in town....the locals are very pushy re: shopping.

All in all - very beautiful locale - you do get what you pay for -

We stay atthis hotel on 24 august to 7 september ,on the begining we get room,dirty,dark and smelly,was so empty,bathroom was full of water on the floor was planty bugs,so we ask for new room.Please,if u can don't go there ,just waist your time and money.FOOD ,so poor ,old fruits,tasty lunches but...not enough

So let me say firsthand that I am not a snobby traveler as I have slept in a rental car before. That was a better experience!
Since our flight was overbooked the day of our departure we needed accomodations for just one more night in the DR. So I booked this thru Hotwire for one night, thinking "Great! We get another night added to our vacation!" I was wrong.
Upon arrival and showing our printed itinerary for stay, the receptionist looked completly confused and dubiously eyeballed us while she called her manager to confirm us. After about 15 min. wait we had our key, pool towel cards, and the remote in hand for our room.
The room was on the ground floor, small, and I quickly removed the bedspread to search for bedbugs, given the surroundings.
(The bedspread stayed in the dresser I did not put it back on the bed, it looked pretty gross.)
The A/C barely worked in the room but the bathroom was recently renovated with marble so that was nice. It was unclear to us if our room was really secure with the outdated locking in the unit.
When we decided that we could not stay in the room another minute, we went of course to the bar and ordered 2 beer. At the previous all inclusive, they didnt give us 3 ounce cups for a drink but here they do to conserve. This is not your place if you want a drink. We went to the beach and had a nice swim in MOTOR OIL which was apparantly leaking from the tour boats anchored a few yards off the beach. (I took 3 showers.)
By the way there looks like a really nice resort close to the alisios the guard called the Barcelo. It looked a lot better from the beach than the alisios but we did not have time to really ask about it as we got to the beach around 6 PM.
The food: poor poor poor. Luckily we had a big lunch prior to leaving our previous all inclusive.
All in all, unless you are on a tight budget, please consider staying somewhere else! Like maybe the RIU., it is nice.