Barcelo Naiboa Caribe Beach Resort, Domican Republic > Reviews (1)

In September 2004, my husband and I went on holiday to Barcelo Naiboa Caribe Beach Resort on the south coast of Dominican Republic. The complex wasn't cracking, but it's the company that can make a holiday fun!

THE RESORT
We arrived at the hotel in the dark, after a 5 hour bus journey. The travel company told us it would be 2 ½ hrs. So, by the time we arrived we were pretty fed up. My first impressions of the organisation of the hotel "was chaos". 8 couples got of the rickety bus, to check in and it took the receptionist a further hour to get us all checked in. they'd lost registration details, couldn't find some keys (great security) and someone's luggage had gone missing between the airport and the hotel! Great start.

Next morning we got to look around. It's quite a basic hotel; but that didn't bother us. We both work in hotels, so didn't want smothering by the staff. The reception is open air with just a roof over. There were some settees in the area and a couple of little shops - which seemed to charge different prices daily! The main restaurant was also open air. Sort of like a marquee with its sides up. The A La Carte restaurant was a proper building. There was a lovely pool, plenty of sunbathing areas. The bar was open air aswell. We had a private beach and there was a disco building. The bedrooms were nice - very bright. We had a huge bed, a lovely balcony, air conditioning, and TV. The bathroom was a bit dull. It had no natural light and could have done with a refurb, but it was clean. The shower was good and was always at the temperature you required. You couldn't drink the water, but there was plenty of water stations around the complex. But there was no gym, casino, water sports facilities, no golf course and no use of other Barcelo hotels' amenities. All other things that had been described to us before booking. Disappointed? Yes, a little.

THE WEATHER
I need to tell you about the weather before I can tell you anything else. The weather is a huge backdrop to the holiday.

We arrived in Dom Rep on 15th September. A week previous Hurricane Ivan had passed the south of the island. I kept an eye on the weather and reports were saying no hurricanes were in the area. On the way to the airport at 4am the headline was "Hurricane Jeanne heads for Dom Rep after hitting Porto Rico." Great! Surely they wouldn't fly us out. But they did. The airport in was beautiful, lovely thatchedroofs. The rest of the day - travelling to the resort - was windy. The 1st morning the wind was getting worse and the rain started. Sun beds were put away, but the bar staff were still serving, so we took advantage of the "all inclusive." During the day we got a message from the management telling everyone to stay in their rooms and go in the bathroom if it gets really bad. But the bar stayed open. After dinner everyone sat chatting, then we went to the disco. Rain was pouring in, but we carried on dancing to crap. At 1am men in yellow overalls and waders/wellies came in and turned the lights on and said "Hurricane hits at 2am.

Disco closed." The walk back to the rooms was about 30metres. I ran the short distance, but got soaked. I have never seen rain like it. The sea had 20ft waves. It was scary. We went to bed and feel straight to sleep. Next morning, we had hangovers, but managed breakfast. The air was calm and still, but still raining. Everyone sat chatting about how scary the night had been; how they had spent the night in the bathroom; how patio windows nearly came in. Me - slept through it! The hotel corridors were flooded. The beach looked like an entire forest had been washed up, plus a couple of life jackets and 2 dead cows. It was a horrible experience. One I never want to go through again.

The following day the sun came out and we were able to sunbathe by the pool and use the facilities again, but it took 9 days to clear the beach. The cows were taken by the locals for family dinner I guess. The manager said how lucky we'd been. A hotel down the road had lost its roof, several towns had been destroyed and a major bridge had collapsed. We'd crossed that bridge, so now we were cut off.

Due to the weather all trips were cancelled. People complained. I just sat back and read my book. I hate complaining on holiday, it puts you in a bad mood. Plus we were on holiday and would be going home eventually, but the poor staff - some may have lost their homes.

THE ENTERTAINMENT
All inclusive entertainment, take it or leave it; love it or hate it. Every night the entertainment staff did something for our amusement. It was all rather cheesy, but it was fun. They made fools of themselves, but would drag you up to get involved. Many complained about the entertainment, but these people never got involved. It was cheesy, but it was funny to watch and body language is universal. Watching an Italian girl trying to sell a Rampant Rabbit to a guy from the Brazilian Army, in charades, was hilarious. During the day they organised swimming gals, aerobics, volleyball, pool tournament etc.

THE FOOD
The food was worth complaining about. Breakfast was a buffet. It looked good. There was a cold section where fruit was, but there were always flies on it. The hot section had the usual full English stuff, but wasn't very hot; or you could ask for an omelette to be cooked for you. I quickly learnt this was the safest option.

Lunch was best avoided a) because too much food on holiday is not healthy! B) It was the same as the previous night.

Dinner was buffet. Some not so fresh salads and a few choices of meat, to go with rice. It never made us ill, but it wasn't nice. You had no idea what the meat was. I kept an eye out for the Beef. (re the cows on the beach.) The A La Carte restaurant was just as bad. Nothing was warm and one person ordered chicken and it came very pink.

So a week into the holiday and it looked like we would go home slimmer than when we arrived. Then we discovered "Caribbean Sun" restaurant across the beach. The owner Terry was a fantastic host and had a great chef. So we ate there for most of the 2nd week.

It something wasn't on the menu that you wanted, Terry would organise it. He made our holiday.

THE CAPITAL _ SANTA DOMINGO
Due to the hurricane trips were cancelled. This caused so many complaints. I was sad I didn't get to see Dolphins, but it wasn't worth complaining about. However, 2 weeks in the resort felt like we were on Big Brother. So me and my husband and another couple asked Terry if he'd take us to Santa Domingo and be our guide. We paid his petrol, paid for his time, bought him lunch and bought his little girl a gift. But we still only spent approx £100 between he 4 of us that day. Everything is so cheap. It was great to visit the capital. Terry was a great guide. He showed us the shops. I bought a 3ft by 2 ft canvas painting for £3. It's an original, I saw it being painted. He showed us the history and the culture and took us to an authentic place for lunch. We had a great lunch, chatted to loads of locals and other restaurant owners. (It was like a working lunch for us.)

THE STAFF
They were great. They remember your name, what you liked to drink. Breakfast staff knew how I liked my coffee. The service in the restaurant couldn't be faulted. We especially like Sandy from the bar. He was particularly friendly. All their English was good.

To sum up. I wouldn't go back to this resort. Mainly because I don't return to the same place twice. But yes, it wasn't a very good resort. The food was shocking, the entertainment was cheesy, activities were cancelled and it wasn't what we expected when we booked. But I enjoyed my holiday. People make a holiday. The staff were outstanding, the people we met were nice and we made friends some of whom we still speak to now. We go on holiday to relax, which we were able to do; there was nowhere to go! I may return to Dom Rep, but probably the north.

Finally, due to the bridge collapsing in the hurricane, we had to get a speed boat as our transfer back to the airport. It was certainly quicker than 5 hours. That was when we saw the devastation of the island. The airport's thatched roofs had gone.

What a holiday. I look forward to the next one, to Mauritius in January.