Dominican Republic hotel for family holiday
Discussion
Not been to that hotel but about 14 years ago we went to Punt Cana, think our hotel was Punta Cana Resort and Spa?? or something similar. We paid a lot of money and we hated the place for many reasons, and after holidaying there it put us off going abroad completely for many years and instead we bought a caravan to holiday in the UK (but that was partly because we had a very young child and caravanning suited us better).
I'll not go into how bad our hotel was as you aren't staying at the same hotel, however...
On the coach journey from the airport to the resort, the villages and towns we passed through didn't feel safe places to be at all, but as long as you remain within the areas around your hotel you'll be perfectly fine. I think that was the official advice too. Maybe the island is a safe place, but I didn't feel so.
Punta Cana was the kind of place where you mostly had to remain within the grounds of your hotel. Each hotel had a segment of beach directly outside, with sun loungers restricted for those designated hotels which you had to pay for each day. Guests would get out to the beach sun loungers before 8am and put their towels down to reserve them, then leave them empty all morning whilst they went for breakfast, only returning to them later in the day. If you got there much after 8am you had nowhere to sit as they didn't let us sit on the sand itself without paying. Exactly the same with the hotel pool, almost impossible to get a sun lounger after 8am. I refused to set my alarm to get up in time, so we hardly got the chance to sit by the pool or beach which with a young child ruined our holiday. The few times we did get a sun lounger was when I threw the reserved towels off and onto the floor, but then you faced an argument with angry holiday makers when they returned. It was a very tense and stressful holiday.
Also you cant just wander along the beach and sit where you want as the guys that work the beach run up to you screaming at you to move as only their hotel guests could sit there. When sat on the beach there were lots of blokes approaching us hassling us to buy leather belts, fake watches etc which soon became very tiresome.
I got the impression that all the resorts and hotels on the island operated in the same way, you remained within the zone of your hotel and didn't wander off. Maybe it's different now?
I recall putting a negative review on Trip Advisor and receiving death threats and wishes of catching cancer, probably posted by the hotel staff?
I'll not go into how bad our hotel was as you aren't staying at the same hotel, however...
On the coach journey from the airport to the resort, the villages and towns we passed through didn't feel safe places to be at all, but as long as you remain within the areas around your hotel you'll be perfectly fine. I think that was the official advice too. Maybe the island is a safe place, but I didn't feel so.
Punta Cana was the kind of place where you mostly had to remain within the grounds of your hotel. Each hotel had a segment of beach directly outside, with sun loungers restricted for those designated hotels which you had to pay for each day. Guests would get out to the beach sun loungers before 8am and put their towels down to reserve them, then leave them empty all morning whilst they went for breakfast, only returning to them later in the day. If you got there much after 8am you had nowhere to sit as they didn't let us sit on the sand itself without paying. Exactly the same with the hotel pool, almost impossible to get a sun lounger after 8am. I refused to set my alarm to get up in time, so we hardly got the chance to sit by the pool or beach which with a young child ruined our holiday. The few times we did get a sun lounger was when I threw the reserved towels off and onto the floor, but then you faced an argument with angry holiday makers when they returned. It was a very tense and stressful holiday.
Also you cant just wander along the beach and sit where you want as the guys that work the beach run up to you screaming at you to move as only their hotel guests could sit there. When sat on the beach there were lots of blokes approaching us hassling us to buy leather belts, fake watches etc which soon became very tiresome.
I got the impression that all the resorts and hotels on the island operated in the same way, you remained within the zone of your hotel and didn't wander off. Maybe it's different now?
I recall putting a negative review on Trip Advisor and receiving death threats and wishes of catching cancer, probably posted by the hotel staff?
Edited by The Gauge on Saturday 17th August 17:53
Last year we stayed at the Royalton Splash which is on the same site as the Royalton and a third over 18s hotel. The best thing we did was pay extra for the Diamond club, better dining options, exclusive pools and beach area - no problem with loungers. Not as manic as the open areas. Having two hotels to use didn’t make it feel too much like being stuck in a compound.
Weekends are very ‘lively’ with influxes of locals and Puerto Ricans. We missed a fight between some Septics/Dominicans/Ricans at one of the pool bars as we were diving that day. Brits abroad do not have exclusive rights to being dicks.
We went 17 years ago to a different hotel but the general set up was the same. Thoroughly enjoyed the holidays.
Weekends are very ‘lively’ with influxes of locals and Puerto Ricans. We missed a fight between some Septics/Dominicans/Ricans at one of the pool bars as we were diving that day. Brits abroad do not have exclusive rights to being dicks.
We went 17 years ago to a different hotel but the general set up was the same. Thoroughly enjoyed the holidays.
I stayed at a Majestic (Elegance) (Cancun) and it was decent. Not incredible, but for the price it was good.
The property was massive, clearly aimed at Americans. Beach good to very good. Beach service was excellent.
The food and drink on the whole was good. The Mexican was terrible though, funny eh.
We did get caught in the "your room has technical problem" scam at check in and ended up in a garden pool room for 2 nights. We had a roof top pool room booked. The roof pool room was good once we were in - bit tired though. Hotel wasnt that old.
We were not happy, but after a week in Peru we were just glad to have arrived so sucked it up and accepted a spa voucher as compo.
Which turned out ok as the Spa was very nice indeed and we got a private booking so had the place to ourselves for a couple of hours.
Cant advise on the kids situation as we don't have any but they seemed happy enough.
I would imagine most Majestic properties are similar.
The property was massive, clearly aimed at Americans. Beach good to very good. Beach service was excellent.
The food and drink on the whole was good. The Mexican was terrible though, funny eh.
We did get caught in the "your room has technical problem" scam at check in and ended up in a garden pool room for 2 nights. We had a roof top pool room booked. The roof pool room was good once we were in - bit tired though. Hotel wasnt that old.
We were not happy, but after a week in Peru we were just glad to have arrived so sucked it up and accepted a spa voucher as compo.
Which turned out ok as the Spa was very nice indeed and we got a private booking so had the place to ourselves for a couple of hours.
Cant advise on the kids situation as we don't have any but they seemed happy enough.
I would imagine most Majestic properties are similar.
Stayed at Excellence Punta Cana a few years ago. We liked it, possibly going there again next year if I can wean the wife off Jamaica. It's adults only though so maybe not what you're looking for.
Re the trip to PC from the airport that was mentioned earlier. We booked a company recommended by the resort and it worked very well. He was waiting at arrivals with a board with our name on it and took us swiftly to the resort in a large air conditioned limo. Picked us up and took us back at the end of the week, no drama and it wasn't expensive.
Re the trip to PC from the airport that was mentioned earlier. We booked a company recommended by the resort and it worked very well. He was waiting at arrivals with a board with our name on it and took us swiftly to the resort in a large air conditioned limo. Picked us up and took us back at the end of the week, no drama and it wasn't expensive.
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