We stayed at the Viva Wyndham Beach and after 5 other hotels in the Dominican Republic, found this to be the best beach. Crystal clear water, plenty of beach and chairs and the reef came right up to shore for perfect snorkling. However, the rest of the resort (3 star) was lacking in a lot of areas. Yes, it's not a five star, but even for a 3 star it needs some work to earn that spot, other than the beach. The rooms were small, old, with very few amenities and the television didn't even work. There is an ok pool, nothing special and there is no swim up bar. The food was typical but we did really enjoy the one restaurant on the beach.
The price was good for the week we stayed, but I would not go back unless they upgraded the rooms. The two resorts next door to the Beach are much nicer...they just don't have as good a beach for snorkling.

I love reading reviews on hotels. Everyone has an opinion, including me!
I have been to this resort over 10 times and I love it. I am going back again for a couple of weeks in May, 2012.
I have been to all inclusive resorts on many islands. Most have a minimal beach with the hotel stretching back from the beach. Here, between the Beach and the Palace in almost a mile of beach. The beach is rocky when you go in so watch your step. I have never had a problem finding a beach chair anytime of day.
Be prepared to do some walking, as this place is big. Enjoy the mature palm trees and landscaping.
This hotel is aroung 20 yrs old so do not expect marble and lace. The rooms are basic, but do the trick. There will always be problems with water pressure and such, deal with it ! This is 3rd world!
I am from the US, and around 80% of the guests here are form Europe, mostly Italy. It will take a day or two to get used to the Italians, but they are great people.
During the day there are many activities. The beach boys and girls are there to motivate you to join in, do so, it is fun.
At around sunset, people start to meet at the main outside bar. Dinner follows and then back to the bar where the music is starting. Some will go to the nightly show, and some stay at the bar area. This is what I enjoy the most. Every hotel I have been to becomes rather quite at night. NOT THIS PLACE ! Each night is a differant theme and the dancing goes to around 12:30 ! Then, there is a migration to the disco that goes all night. Just outside the disco is an all night outdoor pizza parlor. Great just before bed! The dancing is Bachata, Salsa, Merengue and modern. Again, the pool girls and boys will motivate you to dance. (remember the lessons during the day?)
I am also a diver. The scuba here is average but fills the need to dive. Most dives are very easy around 40 ft. I so underwater photgraphy and I always come back with new critters.

Now the food. The buffet is large and the food is good, not great, but no complaints. The reservation restuarants are also OK, but nothing special.

I actually went in NOV 2010. I am more interested in the technical aspects of vacations which I will try to share. This is my 2nd time at this resort but spaced almost 10 years apart. It's mostly as I remember it. You can expect to pay a $10 tourist tax either at arrival or departure. This time I was suckered into having a guy carry my luggage all of 20 feet to the van that would drive us to our resort so he got a small tip (he had a sign w/our names, what could I do?). Since we landed in La Romana this saved us at least an hour of driving if we had landed at another airport, this is HIGHLY recommended, it was a 20 min drive from the airport (drove like a maniac but I don't mind).
At the desk we did wait quite a while and were told our room wasn't ready on 2 occasions but we got wristbands so we got some food and drink. Finally by the 3rd time the room was ready, very nice w/a safe, big beds, plenty of space, clean, but I don't spend my vacations in a room so I don't really care. We got fresh water bottles everyday and towels, I left a couple $$ in tips everyday also, maybe it helped. I also tipped drivers, waiters (when they actually did something), and bartenders.
This was a relaxing vacation, no excursions, but we did rent out kayaks a few times and spent plenty of time in the crystal clear water, took plenty of pictures. The fish swim pretty close to shore, very interesting to see if you have snorkeling gear. They had vendors come on site w/art and jewelry, you can get better prices than the on-site shops if you know how to haggle, I went home w/some paintings and jewelry. BTW, if you don't tip in $$ then tip w/drinks, these guys really love their rum and appreciate it as much as money sometimes, but I think they have to be careful about being seen w/it.
I enjoy the nightly shows a lot, different theme every night and it's comedy or song/dance themed. There are games and activities throughout the day to keep you active, they try to get people involved in aerobics, archery, soccer, volleyball, drinking games, etc.
It's true that this resort is largely Italian, I tried to communicate in english as little as possible. During one of the evening shows they called some American guests on stage for a game and they were even booed. We didn't really meet any other Americans until the last few days but that's fine because we mostly kept to ourselves and relaxed. I would have liked to try some of the excursions if we stayed longer than just 4 nights. There was only 1 day where we had trouble finding chairs but we just walked around until someone eventually left theirs.
The food was good, plenty of options so I don't think anyone should complain about it being repetitive because there is too much to sample all in 1 day. We did not try the specialty restaurants. I wasn't sick at all but we come down with some stomach issues when we got home after the trip, not sure what brought that on but I'm glad it was after everything.
There are cool animals they keep on site: flamingos, iguanas, fish, other birds. The property itself looks amazing, it is gated, guarded and safe, I would not recommend leaving the property because there is no reason to do so unless it's part of an excursion. If you want to see what life is like I would highly recommend the "Safari" day long trip, you see so much of the country. These excursions are extra money, so are things like banana boat but kayaks are free, not sure about scuba or snorkeling. For other sports equipment I think you just leave a safety deposit.
Rain wasn't an issue, it happened twice for about 5 minutes and then went back to clear skies.
For the price it can't be beat but I wish they were more American friendly. If you don't speak spanish or italian you can have problems with service.

I've just came back from the Viva vilage. What can I say... The beach and the sea were amazing but the organization of the entire structure was not so good: you can eat at the buffet only if you are very patience otherwise it should be better to reserve a table in one of the other reastaurants (that you have to pay a little bit more). I had a problem with the cash in my room and none helped me to solve it.
So if you have to pay 2400 euro (because of the new year period) there are many other beautiful places to go.
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