General: Dominican Republic

As with most of my travel opinions, they don't go into detail about the history, the geographical statistics or the polictical state, you can get that information from any travel related site. I'll also not be spending any time describing the hotel in any depth, having already written a full review on the Riu Merengue. I will however detail some of our observations and experiences of a recent trip (January 2004) to the Dominican Republic, once we ...
...10 hour plus flight, and still being daylight on landing, we got a glimpse of a fraction of the island from the air - always worth a look. We had already completed our tourist cards handed out on the plane, showed them and got our passports stamped. I managed not to pay my tax of 10 dollars, or perhaps Karolina (my gorgeous girlfriend) mistakenly paid 10US dollars to the counter staff who maybe thought it was a rather generous tip. Either way, we ...

Kingseany 21.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

This review is all about the Bhia Principe complex near Sosua and how I could not help thinking I was in Butlins a lot of the time .... Now depending on your experiences of Butlins the above comment could be construed as either being positive or negative. It’s not really meant to be either, its just that walking around the complex the manner of the set up reminded me of an up market version of this popular English holiday camp. This was mainly ...
...the way the “entertainment” and main areas were all in a central location. However, I will explain more similarities as I go through the review but first of all I want to take you back to the airport and the transfer where there is some information which you will find useful if you visit this place yourself. First of all, when you actually arrive in the Dominican you have to pay an immigration tax, this has to be paid before you go through ...

Mickm9 11.06.2001 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

We have just spent two fabulous weeks in Cabarete on the North coast of Dominican Republic, and I want to tell you all about it. We flew with Thomson and it cost us approx £600 each. Spending money, we probably spent around £400, not including our diving course. First off a bit of geography, DomRep occupies one half of the island of Hispaniola. One of the larger islands in the Caribean. The other half of it being Haiti. It is approximately 8 1/2 ...
...time taken to get there. Remember hurricane Jeanne, of September 2004 hitting and devastating Haiti and Dom Rep, well we got there about 7 days after she did expecting to find devestation and in fact had wanted to cancel our holiday, but didn't as we would have lost all our money. So with trepidation, and fearing the worst we went. We need not have worried. Although Cabarete was hit, Jeanne had been downgraded to a tropical storm before she got ...

wendy155 09.11.2004 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Total Holiday Cost £500!!!! This was our first visit to the Caribbean island of Dominican Republic and at we loved it! We got a last minute deal through Airtours for only £325 all-inclusive! We took the 8-hour flight from Gatwick to Puerto Plata, which is in the North East of the island. The price included coach transfers and it was only about 15 minutes drive to the resort. The resort itself was massive consisting of many hotels, some beach side ...
...Villas Doradas. Initially we were a bit down when we saw our rooms but mainly because we’ve stayed in much nicer 3* accommodation at other destinations. I think the lack of light was the problem. We had a few teething problems with our room because the room only catered for two whereas we were 3 of us. However the hotel staff assisted us very promptly with no problem. The main restaurant was buffet style and the resort included a Chinese restaurant, ...

shaminalinda 28.05.2003 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

I notice that many of the opinions posted on the Dominican Republic seem to be describing holidays taken a while ago so I thought I would post an up to date opinion Since I only got back from there 3 weeks ago! A little bit of history to start my story... ============================================ Now that the kids are getting that little bit older (18, 16 and 14) and since I was feeling a little flush earlier this year, it was decided to go ...
...reviewed the brochures and to my intial dismay, everyone chose the most expensive one - the Dominican Republic. Where's that I thought? what is there to see or do there? Still, I had decided that whatever they want is what they get, at least this year anyway - after that most of the kids will be too old to want to go anywhere with the "old" fogies! So we booked it with JMC and eventually paid up the full amount, eagerly looking forward to the departure ...

notionlogic 19.09.2001 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Total Holiday Cost £2600 or £3200 inc spending money. All Inclusive South East Coast Resort: This was our first visit to the Dom Rep and at first we were well impressed, the atmosphere at the upon arrival was excellent. The check in service was very professional at reception and the assisting staff were helpful and friendly. Without delay our bags were marked with our room numbers and we were given our magnetic key, security box key, towel cards ...
...The food at the resort was brilliant and wherever you went on the resort, everything was kept so clean and tidy, and the grounds men never stopped working. Even the room cleaning was immaculate and nothing was spared, we became quite fond of the lady who cleaned our room, she was so nice to us both throughout our stay and when we left we gave her a $100 tip. The rooms are really nice and cosy and have an amazing en suite which is all marble and ...

SouthernComfort 19.05.2003 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

I see by reading the other op’s on the Dominican Republic it appears to have improved since we visited. I’ll tell you my tale anyway; it may make you think of things to ask when booking, to ensure you get the exact holiday you are hoping for. We went with ScareTours (sorry, AirTours) – who began our holiday by getting my meal wrong on the plane, now I’m not a finicky sort of person who moans at the slightest thing, but, we ...
...I am allergic to milk, and this was a long haul flight this was quite important to me. So what did they serve up then? A vegan main course, (which looked like some sort of aubergine stew thing), a cream bun and cheese & biscuits. Later on the flight they served up Calzone (a folded pizza with cheese inside) in fact they probably couldn’t have got more milk into that flight if they had tried!! The cabin crew got me some fruit. So, we arrived ...

pagan 01.05.2001 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

When I saw the photos for the Dominican Republic, in the brochure, I thought ‘I want to go there!’ Where better than to spend two weeks in the glorious sunshine in the middle of December! So we (Michael and I) splashed out £700 for an all-inclusive deal of unlimited food and drink (both of which appeals to us) to the destination of Sousa. The flight was a very long 9 ½ hours and I would recommend getting first class if you can stretch ...
...with elbows and sweaty arm pits everywhere. I definitely envied those sat at the front in their big armchairs. My first impressions of the Dominican Republic were of disappointment. As we travelled on the coach dropping off other holidaymakers, the place was baron and run down but it is a third world country. The Hotel Eventually, the ‘Sol de la Plata’ hotel. Set back off the road and a world of its own. I was taken completely by surprise ...

melmel 19.08.2001 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Well is it machete wielding muggers, or a cheap paradisical destination? Probably both... -which in a sordid way is almost a good thing. The Dom Rep seems to have had some pretty bad press recently :-< (don't those little sidewqays faces annoy you !) the result of which is less demand for holidays over there, which in turn means I can afford to go! :>) I spent 2 weeks in Caberete, the windsurfing capital of the Caribbean, for the sum total of £169 ...
...again)!) Go to www.cheapflights.com and have a look. We went slightly end of season (which is about now) and booked about 2 weeks in advance. Admitedly the accomodation was my friends floor, but hotels in the area are about $10 a night! Can't complain... Caberete is on the north of the island, only 30 mins drive from the airport, and is probably the trendiest place to go. If you want to use proper local transport rather than taxis then thats a lot ...

miggle 03.07.2001 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

This was our second visit to the Victoria Golf & Beach Resort, Playa Dorada. We’ve never done return visits anywhere before, so you get a good impression of the kind of place this is. Guests: This is ideal for couples, or older ones, looking for a quiet holiday. The evening entertainment is low key (local dancers, local bands, karaoke nights etc.) but there are bars/clubs nearby if you want something more lively. Often after the evening entertainment ...
...out there. The views are amazing across the golf course and the mountains, and the wildlife are a pleasure to watch, especially watching to see when the eggs along the nests in the river hatch Facilities: There are two pools; the main one is kept busy by the entertainment team, and the second is the quiet, adults only pool, where there is no music except for the local wildlife. There is a bar there to keep you fully refreshed though. There are ...

nmckay15 18.06.2007 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Myself and my fiance visited the Dominican Republic a couple of years back, and I can safely say that if you want a holiday just to relax and enjoy clear blue waters and white sandy beaches then this is the place to go. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, that had everything you could ever wish for. Everyone said that when we were going that we were going over there to get married, but we wanted a holiday that was a little different from going ...
...I must admit the travelling was not very good, the flight took over ten hours, so if you dont like flying then you would hate being on a plane that long, but once you were there you forget about the long flight and just enjoy the culture that the carribean has to offer. When travelling to the hotel complex where we were staying, my first impression was oh no, what have we let ourselves in for, the population is very poor in this country, and there ...

zeebra 25.04.2001 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

I visited the Dominican republic a couple of years back and must say we had a interesting and different experience to any other holiday!! The holiday started at Gatwick one very early!! morning last August. We boarded the flight and couldnt get over the cramped seating on the Leisure International Plane (definatley a carrier I would necer travel with again) The flight was 11 hours as it involved a landing and taking of at another airport before we ...
...thankful to be able to walk around again and hopefully get some decent food, we were met by police with guns guarding the airport, this was all like it was in a movie, but this was nothing we were walking to the coach when all these Dominicans tried to carry our bags we had been warned prior ro our trip not to let them as they will demand lots of money from you. We got on our coach in the boiling heat, the coach was a old American school bus with ...

Clarey 16.05.2001 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

My partner and I have just returned from Puerto Plata. We stayed at the Barcelo Punta Goleta Hotel and had a blast. Accommodation The room was simple and clean and we always had hot water for showers. We did not have any problems with bugs, in fact, I only seen one in the room in the fortnight we were there. I would still suggest that it's always a good idea to take insect repellent whenever you go to the Caribbean just incase. In the room there ...
...because at night it can get really hot and a couple of times I found it difficult to sleep in the same bed as my partner because of the heat. There was plenty space to keep clothes and any other bits you pick up while there. The air conditioning was excellent, a wee bit noisy but the low whir was definitely worth it. While we were out during the day we could leave it on and when we got back in the evening the room was lovely and cool. There was a ...

johnny80 16.05.2005 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

I have just returned from Punta Cana in Dom Rep. We stayed at the Occidental Grand Flamenco Hotel in Bavaro. Whilst staying here the weather on the last two days of the holiday took on a nasty turn ….. we had rain constantly one day, resulting in massive puddles 6-7 inches deep at the Hotel. Also on the way home (awaiting in Departure Lounge at La Romana) the weather just bucketed down in sheets, it was awesome to see nature in full force. I was ...
...areas of Dom Rep and their neighbours in Haiti, god bless them. The Dominican Republic then, is an experience to say the least. The people you will meet at the Hotel are warm and friendly, also out and about on the trips. However, the country is very poverty-stricken (it is a third world country) and I have to say I was very upset to see the children out in Santo Domingo with shoe-shining kits all to get a dollar. I just wished I could have given ...

hogwash 02.06.2004 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

I was so excited when I booked my holiday to the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic one of the biggest islands in the Caribbean situated next to Cuba. The holiday was a last minute bargain – a two week all inclusive holiday for £650 with Airtours. I stayed at the Playa Dorada complex in Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic) at the Hoteteur Playa Dorada. I had read so many reviews of this place – all of them saying great things about the hotel and area. ...
...only 20 minutes from the airport and because it was a package holiday transfers were included. My first impression during the transfer was wow it’s so green. I usually take my holidays in the Mediterranean and you tend to find that most of the islands are volcanic and the landscape is brown, dry and barren. Which ever way you looked there were fields and trees, amongst these were living areas – I say living areas because the population is quiet poor, ...

Tricity 24.10.2003 · Read full review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic