La Romana

We arrived around 9:00pm. This was the first time we arrived to a resort and weren't offered a welcome drink or washcloth on arrival. We were walked directly to the Preferred Club and again weren't offered anything to drink or eat. I mentioned how thirsty I was, and they suggested we grab a drink at the bar, and couldn't believe we weren't offered anything. The staff were incredibly friendly and sweet. They took us to our room, and initially the room key didn't work, but that was quickly sorted. Our butler had already finished for the day given our arrival time, which was totally understandable. We actually never met our butler in person - which shocked me! he checked in daily via WhatsApp between 9–10am, but we didn't have any face-to-face interaction. Again something we have never experienced before with Butler service. They did throw an excellent New Year's Eve party it was very well done. There was one unfortunate incident though: My husband went to grab a drink and on his way back a drunk guest fell into one of the tall, VERY heavy light posts with speakers and large lights used for the event. It tipped over and smashed into my husbands leg. Given how large the bang was, MANY guests heard, and a few staff members. He was incredibly lucky it only hit the back of his leg, but it bruised badly and swelled. They took our room number, but no one ever followed up to check on him, which was disappointing. The rooms themselves were nice. The bathroom was on the smaller side with only one sink, which was a downside for four people. The shower was great. The swim-up was nice, but the layout made it difficult to actually sunbathe there wasn't really a sunny spot for the chairs. Because of that, we hardly used the swim-up at all. The resort was very clean. Housekeeping came daily and again in the evening to check if we needed anything. The shows and entertainment were good, and the water show was especially impressive - something we hadn't seen at a resort before. The beach was absolutely beautiful - zero seaweed, the softest sand, and easily the nicest beach we've ever experienced at a resort. There were never any issues finding chairs, either at the beach or the pool, which we have never experienced before and really appreciated. We went into the food with low expectations, but honestly, it was totally fine. I had no concerns with the food at all. We all did experience diarrhea, so it's smart to always pack stuff for that, but it was nothing that was terrible. Dinner reservations are usually something that stresses me out, but for every single meal we were able to walk up at any time and be seated without issue. The staff throughout the resort were lovely. Wi-Fi was spotty in some areas of the resort but worked well in our room. All in all, we really liked the resort and the brand, especially the beach, cleanliness, ease of dining, and overall atmosphere.

We had a generally good stay, but there were a few things families should know. The kids' club is very small and really only suitable if you want your children to spend 30–60 minutes drawing. There aren't any other activities, and the staff there speak only Spanish, which made communication difficult. The beach is nice and enjoyable, but the waves can be strong, so it's not the easiest spot for small kids. We ended up spending most of our time at the pool, which was great—well designed for children, not too deep, and our kids loved it. The buffet was good with a nice variety, but the à la carte restaurants were not very impressive. Again, the language barrier was an issue, as the restaurant staff spoke only Spanish, so it was hard to explain what we wanted. In the buffet, the staff were generally good, but sometimes we had to ask multiple times for the same thing and received it only at the end of the meal. Cleanliness was good throughout the hotel. One thing we didn't appreciate was the “premium” sales pitch happening on-site. It felt like forced marketing during a vacation when we just wanted to relax. Overall, we had a good trip, but there are definitely areas that could improve—especially communication and kids' activities.

Fantastic resort! All staff are so polite and do their absolute best despite the language barrier(we were English speaking, the staff, not as much). Reviews are accurate about saving chairs. Early birds, get the prime spots for lounge chairs, both on the beach and by the pool. Only improvement I can suggest to the resort is to actually enforce the no children/adults only sections in the Sun Club. This is not enforced whatsoever.

Overall, we were very pleased. We went with our 5-month old son and needed to go somewhere appropriate for him (ability to go back to room often and quickly). This all-inclusive was great and our son was a hit with staff and other vacationers. The food was okay - it was what I'd expect and there was a lot of choice. I did find some of the other vacationers really pushy at the buffets. There were always shady places to sit at the pool and beach - though at the beach the best spots were always taken. Tips: Drink the mojitos!! The espresso machine in the "steak house" has the best coffee.

Room was embarrassing, the hotel obviously doesn't care once you are there. Tried multiple times to change our disgusting under removation room..embarrassing. Food and the beach were great. Go elsewhere, room was not 4 star. Not even a 1 star.

This hotel is awful start to finish. They would not fix our A/C (even though they sent someone to look at it everyday sometimes multiple times). The whole building didn't work for a couple of days, and the manager tried to tell us that it was only our room even though we met multiple couples at the front desk with the same issues. They offered to switch us to a different room however that room was also 27 degrees Celsius as well. The manager just wanted to argue with us about the room being hot. His idea that a room with an ambient temperature of 26 degrees Celcuis was not hot, it was just "fresh". We found out they changed someone who had arrived days after us to an airconditioned room in another building (the man was 6'8" and 300lbs). We paid for an "ocean view" room however had to keep the blackout drapes closed so the room wouldn't get above 27. Ocean view to them means you can see the ocean from your room, not that you have a good view. The food is barely edible, the drinks are bargain basement. They use sugar flavours for the Pina Coladas and Daiquiris (no fruit in sight). They run out of mint for Mojitos and Champagne daily. There are times of the day food is not even available. Staff are friendly if you are a young good looking person. The whole resort shuts down at 11 pm. It is an adults only....

Worst Vacation First some shared info in general that I always try to share at the beginning of my reports. Use a certified travel agent. They are your first recourse when something goes wrong and they will advocate for you with the carrier. USE YOUR ROOM SAFE. At all times. Do not leave your room unless you have cash or other valuables locked in the safe or on your person. Many of the reasons people report bad experiences is due to bad service or theft. The hotel will not take any responsibility or replace what you claim was stolen. Don't drink the water while in the Dominican Republic. Don't even brush your teeth with it. It is not potable at all on the resorts. Chances are if you hear of people getting seriously ill they drank the water. The sites and carriers don't advertise the fact. If you go to your orientation once you get there they do tell you. So don't skip your orientation. If you arrange your stay yourself, i.e. don't use a carrier, I'm strictly talking all-inclusives here, use some common sense. They give you bottled water not just as a courtesy but out of necessity. Drink the bottled water until you learn the lay of the land. If you go off resort and aren't sure then drink Coke or beer. The only all-inclusive I stayed at that I didn't have to drink bottled was in Panama. But be careful. Don't flush the toilet paper. Throw it in the trash. They are not connected to city water and it clogs up the plumbing. Do tip. This is a poor country. The people work hard and make way less than anyone in Canada makes for sure. It doesn't always equal better service but at least we are helping these people out. Be polite, a Hola or Buenos dias, tardes or noches goes a lot way. So does por favor and gracias. Everyone should travel with manners. Arrival: Arrival was quick as there was only four arriving. But we were greeted with neither a cool towel or drink. Room: The basic room is what they call a Studio. It had neither a patio nor a balcony. It's an enclosed hotel room with a kitchenette. Bathroom with tub but no stopper in case you want to have a bath. A free safe, a TV, wall A/C. Just very basic. Basic wouldn't be so bad if they actually cleaned it. The bath tub had never seen a sponge and cleanser, it was black. A dead bug sat on the floor of my bathroom all week. The fixtures were not made to shine. The shower head was clogged and could have used some CLR. Most egregious was that the shower liner was black with mould. In short it was kind of disgusting. There was spilled nail polish on the floor, wall and door when I got there and no effort had been made to clean it up. Don't the cleaners have supervisors or heads of housekeeping that check their work? I'd be embarrassed to charge for a room that was this dirty. The minibar was supposed to have water, soft drinks and beer. There was only 2 bottles of water. As well there were supposed to be 2 beach towels in the room. There were not. After my orientation when I mentioned these things, that changed. But c'mon they had 4-5 hours to get the room ready and create a good impression. The food is horrible and repetitive. The fruit juices were never cold. It was never hot. They don't have proper chafing dishes to keep things hot and as it is open air there are a lot of flies, etc. There is also no ice cream. The desserts were not cold and melting. They do pizza very well and on my last day there they had incredible fried chicken. But nothing is labelled in English so it is hard to tell if it is not obvious what you are eating. Saturday night they had a fish night and nothing was labelled. I had no idea what I was eating. If I had had an allergy to shell fish I would have been in trouble. They have nothing really guaranteed gluten free. They have one a la carte which only seats 20 people above the lobby. You have to be at reception at 7am to book it. The one night I went it was Chef's surprise. It's a 3 course meal. It was ok, although the menu had very bad English translations and the steak was grisly. We didn't get a steak knife. And still had paper napkins. They used to have a coffee shop but the shop front was empty. I have never had to buy snacks at a resort before but I did at this one. The service in the restaurant is slow to non-existent. It was hard to even get your water glass refilled. One day after about ½ hour I went up and filled my own water glass. They didn't like that so much. They spend most of their time taking away your dishes. I suppose because I was a solo traveller they felt I wasn't worth their time. The grounds themselves are kept nice. As I travelled there in July there was never any problem finding a seat at the beach or by the pool which was nice. But there are so many flies, mosquitos and small almost invisible flies that are there to bite you! I came back with so many bites! The bar, unlike many AIs, did not have a specialty drink. Some of them have their own cocktails. When I asked the bartender if they had a special drink he didn't understand me or pretended not to know so I ordered a pina colada. They didn't seem to have any activities. There was a water activity pool for kids with a slide etc. but it looked pretty decrepit. No animation crews. At night they had a sax player around the one bar outside of the open air buffet. There were excursions you could book and I did book one but it was to Soana Island which is a tourist trap really. However I did have 3 problems that they were able to resolve. First problem, I had no hot water in my shower for a couple of days. At first I thought it was just the time of day and they ran out, then I thought I had to let it run for awhile. Nothing worked, so I mentioned it to the front desk and it was fixed by next day. Second problem is that Canadians like to use wash cloths. I know it's mostly a North American and West European thing. Anyway I had to ask for them a couple of times. The second time I Googled the Spanish translation, wrote the maid a note and got 3 the next day. Third problem was that one day my A/C just quit. I called and they sent someone right away but they could not fix it. The front desk person told me that a specialist would be there the next day at 9am to fix it. And it happened. It was fixed. Another strong point is that they have free WiFi on the beach, by the pool, the buffet and the lobby. Departure: Departure was uneventful and smooth. Although for some reason I was on a flight that flew in and out of the Punta Cana International Airport. It left later in the day. On the morning of my departure I was eating breakfast and had not packed and a man came from the hotel and told me my bus was at the front. I almost had a heart attack. I thought that maybe my flight had been changed and no one told me, although I had checked the book in the lobby the day before. So I told him I was flying out later and he put the rep on the phone. I told her that I was leaving later and she realized I was on the other flight. Nothing gets your heart started faster than thinking you only have 10 minutes to pack! At any rate I will not be going back. It was pretty much the most miserable vacation I've had. As a solo traveller there was absolutely nothing for me.