awful service, ok beach, pretty hotel

Posted by merrimen3 from ny, ny on 2/17/08

my boyfriend and i booked this trip as a romantic getaway. we had never stayed in an all inclusive and wanted to splurge for the service and pampering experience. we wasted our money! the hotel is beautiful. you are welcomed into an awing open air lobby and the grounds are covered in palm trees and flowers. that was where the fairytale ended. here is a list of my complaints (which we spoke with the hotel manager regarding): - paid for superior room which does not have a flat screen tv, nor chairs and a table as shown in the pictures on their website -mini bar not stocked until second day of stay -no free tickets to bravissimo, nor can they help you book a trip to ocean world -the hotel offers free 30 min horseback ride which you cannot book on weekends, could not use any of the non motorized beach equipment of the weekends as they have no staff to unlock the padlocks -hotel staff could not be found to bring me a drink either poolside or beachside, would not bring me another towel (was told where i could go and get one myself) -hotel staff could not book our scuba, horseback riding or ocean world trips. we had to find third party companies in my travel book which was very costly as internet is $20 us a day -pools all close at 7pm despite welcome package provided by hotel -citrus (italian restaurant) and senora (mexican restaurant) would not seat us at 10pm on saturday night, despite 11pm closing times according to welcome package -cockroaches in bread basket at malibu restaurant -no hot water on arrival, had problems throughout rest of stay -room about 15 min hike to beach (very steep stairs) -no rooms have views of ocean (told at check in) ours had a view of a tennic court and the entrance road (which was very loud every am as it is on a the major highway) -food at lemongrass was awful (had fish that had gone bad), senora was very good. never had opportunity to try citrus as we were turned away on sat and they are closed on sunday. -the beach is small and average. went to caberete and sosua and both were much more impressive beaches. good stuff: -danielle at guest services was very helpful in finding phone numbers for all the third party excursions we booked -pools are very pretty with plenty of beach chairs (no hammocks) -has pool tables we actually had a great time in puerto plata when we were off the resort. ocean world is amazing both for kids and adults. the scuba diving off sosua was awesome, visibilty must hvae been about 100 ft (north coast dive)! the horseback riding on the beach and thru a small village was picturesque, what brochures are made of! go, just don't stay here!