Emotions By Hodelpa Juan Dolio

The hotel itself is not too bad. Few minor negative things but our overall stay and experience was quite memorable [Details]

Wonderful staff, clean, fun, and beautiful! The food was top-notch, and Santo the Concierge was exceptional. [Details]

The hotel is 2 hours away from Punta Cana. Depending on the flights, the arrival to hotel could be late in the night. The only thing available is snack bar at Beach. The food is limited for a Vegetarian and Vegan. The buffet has option but all the food has too much of salt. The restaurants only assembles the food and its cooked elsewhere.
The staff and crews are good with good entertainment option every day. The bar is quite open and any kind of cocktail request could be done [Details]

Resort was quiet,beautiful. Food was good,rooms were incredibly clean, bed super comfy, staff were amazing, good activities and entertainment. [Details]

Stayed at Emotions as my first experience away from Punta Cana. Hotel was not bad but definitely not the best. Reservation system for al a cartes was very bad, could only book 1 restaurant 1 day in advance and whether I used the app or in person they were always booked up, even at the opening time for reserving. I only managed to get 1 reservation, italian, in the whole week. Resort fills up with locals on weekends, which isn't bad because they liven up things but a lot of them were very rude, line cutting, no regard for personal space, that sort of thing. Was also approached by 2 prostitutes that seems like the resort condones. I was alone so not bothered by time share people but heard and saw couples who were. Finally this resort is very far away from anything so the 2 excursions I did seemed like I spent more time on the bus getting to and from the excursion then actually on the excursion. [Details]

Hotel was clean when we arrived and the cleaning staff kept everything clean daily with towels and whatever was needed. The food was great at the Italian cuisine Mexican was mediocre Asian was awesome a La Carte, breakfast buffet was great . The afternoon snack awesome. The views amazing the beaches were clean sunsets amazing sunrises also amazing [Details]

If you come here for long walks on the beach, beautiful sunsets and sunrises and calm,clear waters ,you will be very happy.
The resort,food ,drinks and service are decent , people work very hard , but cannot exceed 3 stars [Details]

The hotel was overall ok. The entertainers didn't want to make a show in the night most nights we were there. They said they didn't have enough audience but that was not true. Air Canada rep sold excursion tickets for higher price and when we later looked at the ticket, he wrote a lower amount than what he charged us. Drinks at the pool bar were not good, I asked for Pina colada and got a dispenser soft drink. Food at the a la carte restaurants was really good. I loved the gardens and decor at the hotel, it was very clean. [Details]

Overall pleased with my experience at Emotions.
This smaller resort is about 90 min from the airport. Some guest rooms, one buffet, some a la cartes and one bar are right on the beach and other areas are across the street - majority of the guest rooms, two larger pools, larger buffet, etc. The buffets are small, with limited offerings. The processed items such as deli meats and cheeses did not look appealing - however the prepared dishes were delicious. The a la carte restaurants were very good, amazing flavours at the Italian and Mexican!! Dominican was also good. Pizza at the snack bars was superb. The one exception was the Asiatic. The sushi did not appeal, the rice was so highly spiced that one small mouthful literally left me coughing, the beef skewers were overdone.
Drinks are plentiful, frozen slushies are tasty. Recommend bringing an insulated cup/mug with you!
Beach is small, erosion is significant. Water was murky with lots of debris.
Pools are warm yet refreshing. Music at the main pool was WAY too loud, the pool near building 10 was more peaceful. Unusual placement of the “kids pool”, literally 15ft away from the swim out rooms of the adults only building ???
Good housekeeping services.
Persistent Elite Club sales staff, pressed me daily to attend their presentation.
Check in to room was just over 90min late. [Details]

Check in was average, but there were 4 in our party and they only gave 3 beach towel cards. Had to ask for another. Room was pretty nice, but only had two drawers for clothes. Definitely not enough room for clothes for 4 people. When we arrived we had 2 bath towels in the room and no hand towels. We had to ask 4 times for towels the first day and still did not get any more until the next day. And still no hand towels. By the third day we had hand towels, but still had to ask for enough bath towels and no bath mat. This was a problem we dealt with the whole 7 days. One day we even had to wait 2.5 hours for beach towels! The food was average. The buffet was pretty much the same from day 1 to day 7. The Restaurant food was quite good, but the service often unorganized and slow. The staff were generally friendly, but obviously preferred Spanish speaking guests. I wouldn't say this resort is worthy of 4.5* rating. [Details]

The hotel was great. Spread out in many villas. The staff was very helpful, however sometimes language was a barrier. Grounds and rooms very clean and well kept. I landed in Punta Cana, and almost 2 hour bus ride each way.
Resort is fairly new, looks like Juan Dolio is an upcoming place for tourists. Good place for weddings. [Details]

Happy with my choice. Very friendly staff. Installations are OK although they could use some upgrading, specially in the bathrooms....
Internet is very bad, only "works" when you are at the lobby and that is if it works. Buffets and restaurants are good, not that much of a variety but manageable.Snack bars were not good at all (just a like 4 slices of pizza when available, some doritos no cheese or sour cream and hot dogs) Kids club was great, my kids loved it! Lots of activities during the day and night from the recreation team. Angela ( our housekeeper ) took special care of my kids, very nice lady. [Details]

So many things wrong with this Resort including false advertisement
The shows are the worst shows I've seen in my 20 years of traveling
The entertainment team did nothing or very little during the day
My main reason to go to this resort was to visit Santos Domingo BUT
It was so difficult to get to Santos Domingo it cost $100 US for 3 hours there and it's a 45-minute drive from the resort
Food selection was very minimal selection
The hot tub turned out to be a very very cold tub
We Are Young seniors and
It was the most boring Resort we have ever stayed at and out of 5 I give it 2 1/2
The people were very nice but had very little time for you
Overall we are disappointed that we went there [Details]

Emotions has a lovely ambiance with lush surroundings. Essentia rooms and 1 buffet are right on the beach. Ocean-view rooms are great. Swim-outs are on the backside where the swim-out canal gets no sun so is frigid but a nice quiet/semi-private area. Some buildings/rooms are across the road from the beach quite far back with own pool. Some swim-outs back there as well.
Food handling is a big issue- from dirty plates in the stack (ignored by staff), to picking food off surrounding counters and putting back in the dish plus food was never hot - sitting a long time in the buffet tepidly warm and perhaps recycling of food sitting at the buffet for hours to a la cartes at night.??
Experienced terrible cramps, diarrhea, sweats, vomiting & passing out one night. Scary-maybe dangerous!! Home and still recovering.
After being told by Essentia staff that the General Manager would contact us regarding this, there was NO follow-up...after telling them my husband wanted me hospitalized as I was that sick.
Service is hit or miss while "most" staff are friendly and upbeat.
I would definitely have gone back to this resort if not for the handling of food. I could not handle being that sick again. It can happen anywhere BUT there are some obvious failings in food handling here.
Quiet place to go but definitely not a party scene and definitely NO water sports. "Essentia Club" not good value in my opinion and check-in took 3 hours. They were tracking down the guy who would not leave the room.
The surcharge for not leaving the room is $20.US... so I am sure this must be rampant. Why leave?? But after getting up at 3 am in the morning to get there, having to wait until dinner time to get into the suite was terribly exhausting...so Essentia Club treatment is not so special.
They have a lot to improve here but could be a great place for those wanting a quiet beach escape as we did!
LGBT friendly.
Small town of Juan Dolio to walk into although there is only 1 small store.
Long transfer but nice to see the countryside in the daytime.
Santo Domingo is over an hour away as well. [Details]

Landscaping and rooms were very clean and attractive. Food was very good although it did not offer a lot of variety from day to day. Water in rooms a problem, no pressure and very little hot water if any. Not a good place for seniors, no hand rails for pools. [Details]

Very nice resort, but not on par with other 4 and 4.5 star resorts we have stayed at. Arriving is scary, no private drive, gatehouse guards etc. Just pulls off to the side of the road and you get out of the bus. The resort itself is very clean and although small is not crowded. Neighbouring resorts seem to be closed down or converted into apartments for locals. Once you settle in, its nice, but its definitely not grand and luxurious. [Details]

We worked with our travel agent to find an all-inclusive resort that was more intimate than the huge factories and found Emotions. With 7 grandchildren ranging in age from 2 to 13 we needed a direct flight with a “short” bus ride to the resort. And, we wanted a facility that would suit the needs or our children (adults) and their children. Emotions met our needs.

On arrival we were impressed with the welcome we received and the efficiency of the staff. Shortly after arrival we were driven to our rooms by a fantastic employee that made sure we didn't lift a finger as he took care of our luggage and had us in our rooms in short order. Our other 3 families received the same treatment. On the way we noticed how clean and well manicured the lawns and entire outside areas were maintained. It was spotless.

Our rooms were in one of the newer buildings overlooking the pool and one of the stages. It appeared that most of the buildings had been renovated and/or very well maintained.

Everything was so clean and safe with lots of things for the kids to do including bike yours, archery, wall climbing, tennis, pool activities and great programs for the kids to old for the kids clubs.

Each evening the entertainment started with the childrens' mini disco that all of our grandchildren loved and wouldn't miss. After the mini disco, we stayed at the entertainment stage, which had ample seating that was usually pretty full for each theatre.

The choice of food seemed never ending and usually included local dishes with several options such as fish, chicken and beef individually prepared. Even the pickiest eater could find a meal to satisfy their individual taste. By the beach you can find the fast food outlet where you could pick up hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken and an assortment of other fast food dishes.

When you reached the centre of the resort you were in heaven with the 3 pools, a small convenience store, a coffee bar where you had a selection of coffees that equalled Starbucks (it was free), a wine tasting bar, a beer bar where you could pick up a beer or taco chips and hot dogs for the mid afternoon snack. Oh, by the way there is also a full bar by the pool.

Everything was so clean, especially the abundant number of washrooms so it didn't matter where you were in the resort you never had to look far to find one.

We started the celebration for New Years Eve 2019 with an outstanding supper on the beach. The staff did an amazing job setting up the tables and chairs on the sand. The buffet is the best one any of us have ever had. You could have everything from lobster to steak and I do mean everything. The selection of cold cuts and cheeses were unbelievable, as were every other food option.

Then what looked like all the guests migrated to the centre to continue celebrating while watching a spectacular stage show. Lots of dancing, mingling and just having fun. Congratulations go to the resort and the staff for putting on such as fantastic event.

On the lighter side, we were entertained by the “Towel Nazi” who was quite stingy when it came time to giving out fresh towels. My wife figured him out so when she went an he claimed he was out of towels, she said I know you have a stash of towels behind the curtain & I want to exchange mine for new towels. He just smiled and then gave her the towels.

The only negative experience was with our housekeeper. She would pick up all of the towels in the morning and rarely brought back the same number as she took. Possible a language issue, but my son just called guest services and she would immediately bring the number they needed. [Details]

We just came back from a 2 week stay at Emotions. This is our 3rd time staying at Emotions only this time we stayed at the Essentia side which is located in building 1 with an ocean view worth every penny. The attention to detail and service was beyond 5 star. As a former destination rep and I have had the privilege to work in ultra lux resorts and work in the luxury industry and all of emotions staff have fully exceeded our expectations. I would like to point out extraordinary service and going out of the following staff members:

Restaurants : Leonardo Rosario , Uri , Sashaba , Maiki , Jonathan , Domingo , Yoel , Vladimir , Dionisis (not sure if I spelled it right) , Jose , ALL of the restaurant staff went above and beyond for us. too many names to remember however everyone delivered amazingly.

Bar/drinks: Pablo he's ALWAYS happy and genuine , Adileni she was our server and would get our drinks from our vip pool for 14 days back and forth such a sweetheart. Jose from the coffee shop always pleasant and makes the best coffee's.

Animation: Zapata he's hilarious and well seasoned animator made us laugh so much , Tutti Frutti my 9 year old is obsessed with her! Tutti Frutti is an asset to the hotel she is an amazing person , Gabriel is the job 100% full of energy consistant and made us laugh so much, Gasolina you were great and Ruth. Annimation has greatly improved since it's opening, management keep your staff happy because the team you have has strong potential which is very hard to come across in this day and age.

Security staff : Papo Rosario amazing person always happy and ready to help.

Reception : Nina and Marileny were great !
Gym : up to date equipment staff is very friendly the gentleman working lent me his boxing gloves!

Housekeeping: Agripina , and unfortunately i can't remember we had a couple of other cleaning ladies all great and attentive never missed anything great team. [Details]

The staff is amazing, the first room we were in had insects and bugs, the second room was much cleaner. We had difficulty getting clean towels, shampoo, conditioner, etc. on daily basis. I had to ask every day. [Details]

This was my 11th vacation to the great D.R.and second to the Juan Dolio area. Although 1:40min from Punta Cana it is well worth the time and seeing the sites along the way of the non D.R tourist areas is special. Upon arrival my best friend and I who were on a golf vacation for 14 days were greeted and checked in within 10 minutes. After a quick daquari in the check in area which is served promptly upon entry we followed Ezekiel a concierge to our separate rooms which where located 3 rooms apart in building 7 (which was 1 of the only 1 floor only buildings, for carrying luggage and clubs in and out it was sweet) The rooms are of medium and adequate size and we both had 2 double beds. Self controlled air conditioning and ceiling fan made controlling your personal comfort easy. After unpacking we made our way to the main pool which was large and shaped into 3 different areas 2 areas separated by a wood bridge. After a quick drink or 2 we tested the pool water which was a perfect refreshing temperature. Emotions has a awesome layout of this main pool surrounded on one side with a strip mall including a gift shop, cafe-bakery, wine and cheese bar and our favorite the Milwaukee beer bar which contained included Presidente draft beer and 100's of import beer bottled from all over the world (at a added cost of course approx. $5 but any brand you craved) this side had nice tables and chairs set up for pool view and for shade for those who needed it.... the other three sides of pool with plenty of lounge chairs and sun for sun bathing.. ..Next a walk to the beach which is only minutes from main pool and crosses a small narrow service road and is patrolled against the few on coming vehicles by a security(cross walk) guard 24 hours a day (safe and easy) you then can go straight into another beach building and are greeted by a senorita who will guide you to the beach buffet area straight ahead or seat you at the Italian restaurant on the left or the D.R restaurant on the right (both are la carte and reservations required) upon entering through the beach buffet which has both indoors dining and covered patio dining areas facing the ocean and beach await in front of you. Plenty of canopy covered lounge chairs and on the beach lounge chairs under the sun were always available. The beach bar (opened 24/7) has complete selection of beverages available as well as a grill and mini buffet with lots of good food available from burgers to eggplant lasagna and other unexpected beach food available(yummy). As we were on a golf vacation any golfer would be interested to know that a short 10 minute taxi ride ($5 U.S) will take you to Las Marlins (Metro) semi private golf course which is a par 72 and of pretty decent shape ( with the D.R mostly dry weather a 240 yd drive can easily achieve 290 with roll ) rates are approx. $75 U.S per round but if you really want to golf and get a deal you can score 7 rounds with cart for only $200 U.S but can only be used Monday to Friday as the weekend is for members mostly Dr's and lawyers who work in the D.R and have their summer/weekend homes surrounding the holes on the golf course the 2 helicopter pads in the parking area are used to bring some of them there...Onto the food the 2 buffets have a great assortment of cuisine from breakfast thru to dinner good variation and lunch and dinner buffet had about 50% different items each day. The 3 ala cartes restaurants are good to great with my favorite being the Mexican (attached to the main buffet) the shrimp fajitas are amazing so I had them 3 different nights. Next the D.R restaurant which offers steak, shrimp and many other awesome D.R dishes my least favorite but still delicious was the Italian restaurant great selection but the pasta dishes but most of those are always available at the buffets ( the beef medallion dish is superb). After dinner the nightly stage (entertainment shows) are diversified and delightful also thru the afternoon there is always entertainment and activities going on pool side. One night a week is a fun beach party complete with a bon fire good music and lots of dancing..There is a disco at emotions but I found it to be not busy and a lot of times only a few people dancing or even in it...The biggest thing that stand out with Emotions resort is the service which is top notch this was only accomplished by the well trained beautiful D.R workers and their attentiveness to make sure all visitors felt special..their sincere smiles and friendliness show thru at every moment, their ability to communicate in up to 4 or 5 different languages amazed me. It's experiences like this which keep me coming back to the D.R and I have no hesitation about returning to Emotions again ( maybe even next year)...Special thanks to Erik a awesome human being and top rated server who provided every one with the most quality service I have ever witnessed he would be serving at breakfast buffet in early morning then lunch beach buffet in afternoon and then beach bar-grill area at night to the wee hours of the morning...simply amazing.( I have spent all my work life in the service field and know the difference between adequate and awesome service) The awesome service is the # 1 attribute to Emotions resort. Also I would like to thank Emotions for surrounding me with the most awesome visitors from all over the the world and I now have found at least 50 more fellow traveling good friends...Oh yes the 14 days with no rain helped...lol. [Details]

overall this was a good resort but here are some things of interest... lighting too bright in buffet dining areas; simple maintenance un-actioned such as paint touch ups, curtains off of rods, ensuring soap dispensers are full, toilet paper full, taps working in bathrooms, proper grading of shower door sill which equated to a large amount of water on the floor each day, etc.; nightly entertainment should start by 9 as opposed to 9:45 -- too late for kids (and some adults) to attend; al-a-carte meals could only be booked 24 hrs in advance which was annoying to have to go to the desk each time to do this; my husband witnessed a bartender swishing glasses in soapy water then in clear water -- no washing of the rim of the glass (I am against the use of straws because they are not recyclable, however, once I heard that, straws were a great idea); music too loud at pm aerobics -- just when you want to siesta; two days shower towels were removed but not replaced; beer was only stocked twice in the fridge the entire duration, supposed to be every other day; drinks upon arrival was very nice (travelling to get to these resorts makes for a very long day); one day an appetizer was served and it was nice; dominican restaurant - very little menu choices; italian restaurant - nice atmosphere, too much open space, too much bench seating, chairs low and uncomfortable; buffet food was good, but way too repetitious; only the same two salad dressings all week; asked 2 staff for peanut butter, and they said they didn't have any -- found it on my 2nd last day -- at the grill area for pancakes; suggest you set the spreads out with the bread section; smoothie bar was nice for breaky; garbage burning nearby at night was disgusting; there was a toddler crying for over an hour straight two mornings in a room beside us, then for over an hour in the middle of the night the next night; perhaps it would be better to put families with small children in areas together; the rooms are not soundproof, even though we had earplugs in, it still kept all of us up [Details]

lots of good things here but also lots of poor things which could be corrected [Details]

hotel.grounds,staff, entertaiment, food,all excellent. [Details]

Great hotel and staff. Lovely beach setting, you can bicycle and the pool is great. The internet WORKS! BUT THE TV IS ALL SPANISH EXCEPT FOR 3 CHANNELS. Just be aware of that. [Details]

My stay at emotions by hadelpa has been a wonderful experience. The service from the staff at the restaurants,bars ,coffee shop is excellent.The animation team is very engaging with all the activities planed throughout the day.Ruth is definitely a standout from the entertainment team really great energy.The room was new but the view from my room was not that good.Beautiful beach where I spent most of my time .Good food and the drinks were not to bad.Mojito is a drink I like but they don't have it at this resort. [Details]

My husband and I travelled with Keith Rhuland and his wife. I am submitting my own review. [Details]

Nice resort for the price. Very friendly staff.The Mexican and Dominican a la carte restaurants were very good. I was disappointed with the Italian restaurant as it has little in the way of Italian cuisine. [Details]

The hotel is small and close to the beach, which is great. The rooms are clean and confortable, even if the door of the bathroom didn't close properly. The beach itself is quite clean and nice. The food at the hotel was better than I expected, but was more or less always the same. The staff was courteous, though service was slow in the restaurants and the maids cleaned the room quite late (on two occasions after 6 pm). Overall, I enjoyed my stay and the inconvenients were not enough to make it less pleasant. Nevertheless, I don't think this is a 4 1/2 star hotel, rather a 3 1/2. [Details]

Room was clean but it was a very long walk to the beach. Located within walking distance to Juan Dolio. A very eclectic mix of guests. Didn't really cater to singles. Yoga advertised but didn't exist.
One of the guests I met had their safe robbed by security and the hotel would not call the police. [Details]

We went from June 24 to July 1 and we had a wonderful time. We will definetly return. [Details]