Melia Caribe Tropical

5 Aug 31st, 2004 (Sep 18th, 2004)

Advantages:
Paradise on earth

Disadvantages:
long way to go

Recommendable: Yes 

Detailed rating:

Value for Money

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Nightlife

Ease of getting around

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clairesolo

About me: Hi, i'm 25, have a gorgeous fiance and have two cats monty and muffin.

Member since:28.07.2004

Reviews:10

Members who trust:2

Review rated by 16 Ciao members on average: helpful

We visited the All inclusive complex of Melia at Punta Cana in March 2004 on our honeymoon.

We travelled with mytravel airlines, which I cannot recommend, it was a budget airline trying to do long haul which just did not work for me.

The flight lasted about 10 hours from Gatwick.

As soon as our plane touched down at Punta Cana airport, we knew we had arrived in paradise. The golden sun, white sand and turquoise water exceeded the expectations we had of the resort.

The country is still building itself up to encourage tourism so outside of the resort was still a bit rough around the edges.

It's main export comes from growing sugar and coffee (which I can heartily recommend) and local cigars which are on a par with cuban cigars at a fraction of the cost.

The main vehicles about are scooters and motorbikes and small box vans.
It has to be said that roads in the dom rep are a bit dodgy to say the leas,t and it seems to be anything goes with regards to road rules.

We were greeted at the resort by extremely friendly staff who upgraded us to a deluxe room and sent our luggage there for us.

The room was very spacious, clean and decorate with flowers and fresh fruit.
We were also treated to a fridge full of spring water and soft drinks.

We then attended a special honeymooners evening in their stunning wedding gazebo and were presented with cake and champagne whilst we mingled with our fellow newleyweds.

Each day there were special activities such as volleyball, snorkeling, and even bingo going on. In the evenings apart from the most excellent casino, there were special shows and events, my favourite was the 70's night where they had us all up doing the dance routines.

There is also several different restaurants to choose from and these included a french, japanese, italian and chinese as well as mixed international buffet style restaurants.

The food was absolutely delicious and plenty to choose from. the standards of hygiene and cleanliness were second to none as all the playa dorada hotels have to conform to daily checks by various travel companies reps. All drinks were free and I can heartily recommend the local coffee and local lager Presidente.

Even getting about the resort was well catered for by three land trains making regular round trips through the complex.

There were a few good excursions that could be taken icluding a trip through some of the local sugar plantations and villages and helicopter tours, these ranged from about £30 - £100.

We didn't take any excursions as the resort had excellent activities and facilities.

Overall this resort has everything you could expect from a top class resort with excellent value for money. I would and have recommend this resort to all my friends and am currently saving up to go back (so please rate this review, every penny counts!)

We paid £2000 for this holiday with Thomas Cook. (our bank manager actually was the one who recommended it to us!) I think it was well worth every penny, my only regret was going with mytravel airline (formerly airtours).
 
Pictures of Playa Dorada (Dominican Republic)
  • Playa Dorada (Dominican Republic) Picture 71617 tb
  • Playa Dorada (Dominican Republic) Picture 71618 tb
  • Playa Dorada (Dominican Republic) Picture 71619 tb
Playa Dorada (Dominican Republic) Picture 71617 tb
Poolside
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Comments about this review
shazzaspannered

shazzaspannered

29.04.2008 15:17

We have just booked our honeymoon to this hotel. We are going in October and I really cannot wait! x

MAFARRIMOND

MAFARRIMOND

31.08.2004 22:01

A good first review. Welcome to Ciao. Maureen

petitesquirt

petitesquirt

31.08.2004 20:58

How much did the entire trip cost?

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Review Ratings
This review of Playa Dorada (Dominican Republic) has been rated:

"very helpful" by (13%):
  1. shazzaspannered
  2. torr

"helpful" by (88%):
  1. juliet_bravo
  2. Elainebaba
  3. MAFARRIMOND
and 11 other members

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