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 EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana —  Location: Beach front - Punta Cana - East Coast - 31 mins. from Punta Cana airport All-inclusive Description: Buffet - 4 specialty restaurants (Asian, Italian, Surf & Turf, Romantic - adults only) - 24 hr. room service - non-motorized watersports including snorkeling, kayaks, windsurfing, paddle boats, intro diving lesson in pool - tennis - Kid's Club & Teens Club  ~ Reader's Vacation Photos ~ 1, 2, 3 ~ Map of Resort ~ Reviews posted on this page — 35 —
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| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Annick and Sylvain ~ Blainville Qc. |
Section: Paradise Club
To start, I would like to thanks all the staff at the Edenh for the mostly warm welcome. Especially the staff from the VIP lounge, Staff from the dinner a la carte, Ramon and Fransisco at the VIP Pool and finally Mike Bryant (Punta Cana Mike).
AIRPORT; Upon our arrival we quickly recieved our luggages (lots of helper to carry your luggages, for a small tip if you want) and we were directed to the bus, which took only 20 minutes.
Hotel; We arrived from a late flight 9:00 PM. If you are at the concierge section please go check in to the VIP lounge. If not at the Check in counter. Both were quick and people were nice.
After our check in we took a cart ride to our room.
Our Room; was really clean with a king size bed and the jacuzzi on the balcony. The shower was huge, and plenty of hot water, and pressure was execellent. We had a Ocean view, Just amazing! The mini fridge or bar was filled with beer, pop and water. We ran out of water in the fridge once and we called room service and within minutes they arrived with some. We also ordered beer one night and also was quick. We had breakfest in our room, took 20 minutes.
Bars; Of course our number uno choice was at the VIP Pool with Ramon. (Check youtube "Ramon VIP Pool" to see him) We also liked the Tanthra Bars with a super warm pool. The Alisios bar was really nice but we found it quiet, when there was no Karaoke night.
Mosquitos: We did not see any, not in our room or outside at night. The only bugs that we saw were flies, but really few.
Elevators; I did not count how many there was, but a lot. We were on the fourth floor and we found the elevator just fine. We did not have to walk really far to find one .
Restaurants; For breakfest we could go to the buffet or at the Cinq Terre restaurant (if VIP, pink bracelet), We love having breakfest at the Cinq Terre, few people going and great service.
For Lunch we went to the buffet twice and was great, pasta was good, of course we did not like some of the food, but in general it was good. The restaurent at the beach, had some good chicken, burgers and fries. American food. Finally all the dinner a la carte were amasing, steak, fish, squid, porc etc. The wine is ok but I had better. We were serve without waiting to long. The Shore Grill and Asian was the top but also liked Sens (French Romantic) and Cinq Terre (Italian). The staff were always smilling.
Activities; We are a couple early 40's and we loved the activities, we wake up early (7 AM) we did the cayak, parasailing, swimming in the sea and snorkling. To be able to see the fishes you need to put some crumble of bread in a plastic bottle and crush the bottle to empty the air, put the cap back on the bottle. I found no fish until I arrive close to the security barrier. The bread crumbs are the key of seing any fish. We saw plenty! But If you want to see more fish you will need to do some catamaran. They go snorkling, we try the Marinarium and theTropical Storm, WOW!
At the hotel, they also give a free biginer scuba crash course (in the pool). And if you want you can go deep in the see ($$$). The Gym was nice, ok it's not the GOLD gym but we are not here for the gym. If you want some pictures, sned me a request.
Our goal for this trip was to relax but have fun at the same time. We did reach our goal!
Do we recommend the Edenh: Absolutly!! and for all the family.
We would go back anytime.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Deb ~ Pittsburgh, PA |
We booked our 4 night stay through a travel agent and Apple Vacations. At the airport, we were met by porters who took us directly to the Apple van. They had all our info ready and we were at the Edenh in about 15 minutes.
At the Edenh we were directed to the Paradise Club private check-in. We were given great fruitty drinks, checked in, but told our rooms would not be ready for a while (it was only 11:00 and check-in is at 3:00), so we understood perfectly. Ramone the bellhop, asked us if we wanted to change into swimsuits or go to eat. Ramone drove us in the "golfcart" to the beach end of the resort, explaining everything as we passed, to the Olas buffet on the beach. Food was "normal" with pasta, burgers, french fries, chicken and all very good. You can also get wonderful breads, desserts, salads, and ice cream here. I must say, we all enjoyed the breads at this resort. They were all tasty and fresh! Afterwards, we headed back to the lobby area to get changed into our swimsuits. Ramone saw us on the way and gave us a ride. It's not an incredible walk, but seems that way in the heat. And being fully dressed. ; Ramo ne checked with Paradise Club and found one of our two rooms was ready. He drove us and our luggage to room #1360 (building one, third floor, room 60) the higher the room number, the closer to the beach. We put our teen+ kids in this room as it had two double beds. We were next door in room #1362 with a king size bed. When we got the key to this room, it was filled with "happy birthday" balloons for our daughter (a request made by our TA). She loved it!
After we changed clothes, we went first thing to the Paradise Club private pool just outside the front (beach side)of the building. There we met Carlos, the bartender at the swim-up bar. We loved him. He would even come out of the bar and serve us pool-side. He even told us to "slow down on the tips" (we tried to tip him a buck or two when we were not soaking wet), as he said "it is my pleasure to serve you!". Imagine that?! He would automatically bring refills of the drinks we had that day and even made some suggestions for other drinks to try. What a remarkable guy, he was so upbeat and funny- he really made the trip for us!!!
We wondered down to the beach a couple times, but really liked being at the private pool, so spent most of our time there. The beach, though, is out of this world!!! Wonderful water and the softest sand! Pool and beach lounges are very comfortable and never could we not find 4 together. We didn't see much in the way of bar service on the beach. I think Edenh really cuts their staff during low season. That was also very apparent at the Ala Cartes and buffets.
We went to the Shore Grill and the Asian ala carte restaurants. Husband and I went alone to the Shore Grill since the kids were being lazy and wanted to try the room service. Anyway, we waited about an hour for a table for two and when we finally got seated, there were half of the tables empty because they had not been cleaned. Staff ran around like crazy because it was short-staffed and they had closed two of the ala cartes that night. Food was wonderful, I had a beef tenderloin and husband had the ribs.
Even though low season, I think it is probably not the best move to close any ala cartes. It seems there is then not enough seating for the number of guests. The one night we ate at the Olas buffet - seafood theme night. Although I didn't see any seafood that I wanted, no shellfish anywhere! Except mussels - yuck! They had fish on the grill and that was about it for "seafood". We ate the grilled beef - okay taste, but pretty chewy and husband said the fish was okay. That night, we had originally tried to go to the Italian ala carte. We stood in line just to get a "buzzer" for about 1/2 hour and the line never moved. We finally gave up and went to the buffet. They only opened the Italian and the "adult only" Senses ala cartes that night. Anyone with kids obviously tried to go to the Italian. And it seemed a lot of people didn't even know about the seafood night at the beach buffet. We only found out about it because we were told by our apple rep, Santos, to pick up a daily activity sheet in the lobby. It would have been a good idea to print these and deliver to the rooms the night before. It included the "drink of the day", the entertainment that night, and the ala cartes closed that night.
The four of us went to the Asian ala carte on our last night. We couldn't get seated at the hibachi grill, so ate at a table instead. No problem as we've seen the "show" elsewhere. The food was awesome, although the small gourmet portions left us wanting much more. The service here was terrific as well. Servers made suggestions that were very tasty. Beef skewer appetizer and Chicken skewer for main entree. Husband had the salmon and loved it.
We also ate at the Festival Buffet for breakfasts and once for dinner. Food was good, but nothing to "write home about" like the ala cartes. It was a lot of common buffet type food and a bit repetitive. There were some Dominican food on the buffet and some very tasty. Felix the egg/omelet maker was so friendly and very good, but it took a bit too long standing in line for either. It was much easier to just eat from the buffet tables. Paradise club had reserved area in the Festival Buffet. I'm not sure the point of that, because although we got coffee poured, so did the other areas of the buffet. We never got offered juice, so went to buffet and served our own. It just didn't seem like any special service, maybe just a better chance to get seats. However, it was never overly crowded in the buffet anyway.
We all tried room service at one time or another. Once you got someone on the phone to order (not always easy - again I think they were overwhelmed) service was fairly quick and you got what you ordered - at least most of it - one time we got more breakfast than we ordered. LOL The club sandwich, chef salad, eggs, cheese plate, and fruit plate all very good. I do think the Paradise Club upgraded room service menu should be just that. No real main entrees, just sandwiches and salads. I'm not sure what part was an "upgrade". Maybe we never got the true Paradise Club upgraded room service menu.
In the early months of the resort, people were bragging about the "all they could eat" lobster on the buffet! So we go in June and see it offered at the Shore Grill, but for $29.99 extra. What???!!! Especially with the Paradise upgrade - we get charged for something that other resorts offer as included, and without any upgrade. I do think it is very wasteful and probably ridiculously expensive to offer it on a buffet, but it should surely be available as included at an ala carte. This is an island resort and no crab or lobster on the menus anywhere that I saw. We really didn't expect to eat mostly beef dishes - we get that in abundance here it Pittsburgh! We really enjoyed the grilled lobster at the "Lobster House" ala carte when we stayed at Excellence last year and looked forward to having some at Edenh.
Our rooms were beautiful, although workmanship was a little sloppy. It appears they rushed to open prior to or at least during high season. That's understandable, but I think some problems are now showing up. Our toilet backed up twice in our five days there. We had to call late one night for maintenance. He came in about 20 minutes, but the second time was on the morning we were leaving. We ended up leaving the room before anyone showed up to fix it. It never did flush right the entire time we were there. We really feel it was "set" wrong to begin with, so the flow was not proper. But thankfully, we had our kids room to use, or it would have been a major inconvenience.
Also, the Paradise Club rooms have the bathtub jacuzzis on the balcony rather than inside the room. We never used it once. Partly because we couldn't get a light to come on on the balcony. We asked several people and finally got a working light on our last night there. So now we were able to "check for bugs or anything" in the tub or on the balcony, but then we couldn't find a switch to turn the light off for some privacy. And honestly, getting into a bathtub in swimsuits just seemed strange. After all, this was the size of a little larger than normal bathtub. It was not a hot-tub or what we would call a two person jacuzzi. We had used an in-room two person jacuzzi at another resort a lot and loved it.
The casino was fun. It's a bit small like other resorts. They had some tables of blackjack, poker and roulette and about 30 or so slot machines. The staff was not friendly there, but I've heard they are not Edenh staff, but a sub-contracted company. They acted as if you were "bothering" them if you needed help with a malfunctioning machine or needed to cash out or break a bill. We never saw so much as a smile until the husband tipped them when he cashed out on a slot machine. He even got a "thank you" then as well as the smile. Funny how money can change someone's demeanor!? LOL But at no other place in the resort did a tip seem expected and when we did tip, we received absolute gratefulness.
Check out and the trip back to the airport went very, very smoothly. We'd all go back in a heartbeat because nothing was enough of an issue to even think much about. It is a fantastic resort with awesome staff. In summary, the resort, the pools, the restaurants, the beach, the activities, the amenities, and especially the staff were all absolutely perfect. Once the workmanship shortcomings are fixed and the staffing at capacity and fully trained, it will be a resort very hard to top! And it does seem the management is listening to complaints and trying to make corrections. One that I witnessed, was that the music at the pools was changed from piano, spa music to the typical upbeat Dominican music. I was so very glad to see this happen as the music is a big part of the tropical ambiance we look for. I don't want to hear music I'd listen to at home.
A big thank you to the staff at Edenh. We loved our vacation!
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Terry & Marcia ~ Guelph , Ontario |
Flight
We had a choice of either flying Westjet or Air Transat; we opted for Westjet. Flight was great, on time; we had the exit row down and back and no-one was in the third seat either way. The baggage allowance was unbelievable - well over 100lbs each which allowed us to bring Punta Cana Mike some goodies for the Kids. (Tennis racquets and balls as well as sets of badminton)
Check in
Was very smooth. We met with Francisco in the VIP lounge and got our entire info package and were assigned a room on the 4th floor facing the pool and overlooking the ocean.
Met with Mike, (friendly, knowledgeable and a perfect Gentleman). He introduced us to Clara Escribano who was the Manager of the Paradise Club.
Clara was always helpful and always smiling which for the first 2 to 3 months was not easy all the time, I would suspect.
Room
Well laid out and spacious, lots of storage area and a nice area to sit on the couch or nod off, as the mood struck you.
There was a King size bed as requested and I didn’t need any time to get used to it; it was great right from the start. There were 4 pillows supplied and were almost large enough.
The bathroom was well laid out with a huge shower and good lighting. The whirlpool was on the balcony and was the source of much entertainment.
There was also an electronic safe, large enough I would say for anything you brought on vacation.
The fridge was well stocked and a note to the staff as to what you wanted was all that was needed to ensure you had your supplies.
We tipped the maid every day; they do work hard and do a fine job.
Pool & Beach
The resort is on one of the nicest beaches in the DR and its location ensured pretty calm waters and a clear beach.
The beach was raked almost every day to rid it of the seaweed the tide brings in, just like every other beach I’ve been at in the Dominican Republic.
There is a vacant or undeveloped beach next door that was not raked each day, however when the tractor with the automatic sand rake arrives for the hotel, it would be a good idea to continue on to the vacant beach also.
There were a good number of palapas and more being built.
The pools were kept very clean and were large. All 3 pools at the front area had swim-up bars.
The towels were plentiful and clean
The loungers were very comfortable however not all of them had arrived at resort by Feb 14th so there was a rush on early in the morning to secure one for the day.
I should note at this point, that in my opinion MANAGEMENT should have had more chairs. Getting a chair at 6am is ridiculous!!!
However the GUESTS bear the majority of the blame for lack of chairs in MY OPINION.
Guests would save 2 chairs at the VIP pool, then 2 in the shade by the big pool and then 2 at the beach under a palapa (a palapa that they would not share with any one as they wanted only 2 people). People would save chairs all day for friends that never arrived. People would reserve chairs at 6 am and never get to them until 11 or 12 if at all.
People would grab bundles of 6 towels for 2 people??
Food and Restaurants
We ate only at the buffet and the beach restaurant.
The food was always the way it should be, hot for hot foods and cold for cold foods.
There was lots of variety and the presentation was always entertaining.
There is room service but we did not make use of it, with the exception of our included in- room lobster dinner. That was great.
Conclusion
We enjoyed the resort and would recommend it to all.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Lisa ~ Orillia, Ontario |
The Punta Cana airport really is too small for the amount of visitors they get each week! You will just have to be patient! Everyone rushes - don't the luggage will be a while!!! Relax! We always get a bell hop luggage guy - they appreciate it! He carries everything to the bus!
Rooms
The rooms were just wonderful. We upgraded to the Oceanview which put our jacuzzi on the balcony. But we did not have the pink wristbands or the private pools. Our friends had the reg. deluxe room - open concept. Didn't feel it was necessary to upgrade - nice but not necessary! Knowing that (open concept rooms) before you go don't complain deal with it! It was the same concept as the Majestic Colonial. The resort is new so if a tile is missing - whatever - they will fix it in the summer when the rooms are available for repair!!! I have been to the Caribbean a lot musty smell - put fabric softner sheets in the air conditioner out take and all is wonderful!!! We had 4 rooms and only one room with the smell. We took a flyswater for the mossies and we killed two! Problem must be fixed.
Restaurants
Buffet - great pasta and they grill meats on the grill. Steak was really good and so was the fish. Breakfast had loads of selection!!! Buffet accomadated larger tables - we really appreciated that. Grill near the beach - good pizza, fries dogs, burgs etc.... Salad bar really good!
Italian - good - food was good had to seperate group into two tables - didn't accomadate larger groups. Slower meal but great atmosphere - relax and enjoy!
International Grill - remember warm water lobster is way different than cold water lobster!!! Steak was wonderful. Service good but again slower restaurant relax - your on holidays!
Asian! A MUST!!!!! To get the grill on this one you must line up!!!! Joe lined up at 4:40 to get the 13 of us at one grill - they only hold 12 but they let us have it because of my 6 year old son! The show is WOW!!!! and the food was the best!!!! I showed up at 4:50 and became the bar wench. While the others waited! Good meeting people and we had soooooo much fun!
My guess is the grill by the ocean will open eventually for dinner and that will greatly reduce the wait lines. For now if you want a sit down dinner ya have to line up! I knew before I went that it was like that! So no biggy!!!
Swim up bar - Alexis made me sooooooo laugh it was so funny!!!!! Balanced beers on his head - said "Why Not" all the time - way funny! At the lobby there is one guy that juggles the bottles too much fun! The lady bar tender at the Casino makes GOOD drinks!!!! Dirty Monkies, Screwdrivers with Polar Ice, Miami Vice and some blue drink - way yummy!!! As far as the complaint "not enough alcohol" ask for mucho mucho and well you will be more than fine!!! I still think Presedente is the best!!!
Beach and Pools
Pools are lovely! Loads of room. Two private pools for the pink bands and One smaller pool with swim up bar and large pool and kiddie pool for everyone else! Beach chairs already knew I would have to get up early for shade so nothing I didn't already know!
Grounds
Coming along. Remember two months open!!! Gardens are starting to take shape! Saw a lot being done while we were there! Foutains are lovley!
Activities
Dance lessons, in pool and out of pool excercise class, volleyball and I saw yoga. They do not offer games and activities like you see at other resorts. The painter - very interesting and excellent with adults! NOT good with children! He is very sarcastic so if you can handle that it is worth trying - for me he was too sarcastic especially to children (had one in tears) told me it was good for her and when challenged he is extremely deffensive! He can dish it but doesn't like taking it! We decided to pass! If I pay $20 American I want to feel good when I finish!!! Nightly entertainment was REALLY good!!!! The night shows are worth staying up for! Don't miss the Circus and the Techno show - break dancers are amazing and we danced sooo much!!!
Tours
Mike's Marina Fishing Charters for fishing!!!! Wow great!!!! This is our third year with Mike and I would not fish with anyone else!!!! My son is now six and this year he caught a Barracuda so he tells us! It was his highlight to his week!!!!! Picked us up right at the beach! and dropped us off there! Just the best!!! As always!!!!
Caribbean Festival - third year for us!!! I brought a photo album from the other two years and the crew loved it!!! Snorkeling was wow and the stingray exhibit great! We so enjoy the crew! They make it for us!!
Catilina Island - LONG TRIP best site seeing ever! Unfortunaltly the dive company at the resort hires a different company for the diving in Catilina! The equipement was awful! I jumped in the water and the PFD didn't inflate! Lots of other problems - I ended my dives and snorkelled. The eqipement at the resort was great and the Instructors good - Catilina I would walk to the Melia - they are Scuba Caribe? and everyone that booked with them had a great time! and good equipement! Hope the company at Edenh does the same. They did give me a partial refund the next day but not the first dive I so wanted in the ocean!
Golf - Espada was just too much - to rent clubs and round etc almost $450 per person had a great round at the course across from the Hard Rock Cafe! It use to be a Sugar Plantation!
Conclusion
The Edenh is new but way fun!!!!!!!! No worries!!! I saw some people taking pictures of the light fixtures that didn't have covers! They pulled the lightbulb out to make it look better for their complaint! Another man went into the ladies bathroom to take a picture of the one missing sink (two were fine and working) scared the life out of my 11 year old daughter! This place is GREAT and was a GREAT price!!!! We had a blast!!!!! The best was meeting our new friends from this forum!!!!! We would adopt their son if they would let us!!!! Can't wait to meet up with them again!!!!! No worries enjoy the resort - any questions PM me!! daydaydayo
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Jennifer ~ Northern Ontario Canada |
My husband and I traveled to the EdeNH Real Arena on May 10th – 17th 2008 with Conquest Vacations. We are both 25 years old.
Flights: Our flights were with Air Canada and left on time with no problems. We really enjoyed the seat back TVs with new release movies that was offered on the flight. It took awhile to get the luggage after we landed but everything arrived in one piece so we were happy. There was only one other couple in the van with us so we had only one stop before our resort. Everything went smoothly.
Check In: Check in was smooth and efficient. We changed our room to a pool view because of the negative comments we had read about the garden view. Turns out we didn’t even sit out on the balcony and only really used it on the first morning to check out paradise.
Room: The room was clean and nice. I found it to be a bit plain but it was only a standard room. I really liked the opening between the bedroom and the bathroom as I could talk to my husband as I was getting ready for dinner. The Jacuzzi was nice, took awhile to fill up but it worked fine.
Restaurants: Being that it was low season the restaurants opened on a rotation basis. Unfortunately because of this we were unable to try the Romantico restaurant. There are 4 a la cartes, 1 buffet restaurant and 1 beach buffet. We really loved how you didn’t need to pre book reservations at the a la cartes and were able to go as many times as you wished in a week. We never had to wait more then 45 minutes for a table and we were a group of 8 every night for dinner. We ate at the Asian twice (one hibachi and one menu), Shore Grill twice (American) and the Italian once. None of us enjoyed our food at the Italian, my food was incredibly salty. However my risotto appetizer was AMAZING!! We were there for over 2 hours which was really long, the food was slow coming but nobody ever had an empty glass so needless to say some were quite tipsy by the end of dinner.
My favorite restaurant was the Shore Grill. They had yummy Steak, Ribs and Seafood. The Asian was great as well, we had sushi for one of the first times. The Hibachi was really yummy and we had tons of food. A great stir fry with beef and chicken and veggies and shrimp. On Thursday we had the beach party which is something not to be missed! A HUGE buffet on the beach with roasted pork and beef, pastas, salads, potatoes…. YUMMY! The beach buffet had the most amazing French fries, pizza, fried chicken and soft serve ice cream. We did the buffet for breakfast every morning, they rotate bacon every other day, smoothies with fresh fruit, omelets and awesome mashed potatoes and pastries. We ate there once for dinner when we arrived (it was almost closing so not a great selection) and also once for lunch. They also had 24hour room service (we heard it was good but never tried it) and a sports bar that had hot dogs, homemade chips (yummy!) mini burgers…. You never went hungry at this resort.
Bars, Activities and Entertainment: We spend a lot of time at the bars on the resort. The pool bar was amazing. Alexis was always full of energy and had a few tricks up his sleeves. We went to the lobby bar every night to meet up with everyone before dinner and to have a pre dinner drink. There was one bartender who was amazing however I do not remember his name. We also went to the sports bar and the Tanhtra bar. I did talk to Mike about the music at the Tahntra bar and he did say they tried to play disco type music but there was a lot of problems associated with that and they prefer not to have those type of problems on the resort. They did however have a DJ most nights in the lobby bar for a few hours which was fun. They also had karaoke night, they had movies in the courtyard and I even saw them play Nintendo Wii one night in the courtyard on the big screen. We went to the Wednesday night show which was good and we went to the Casino a lot.
Beach and Pools: Amazing, the beach was cleaned every day. There were tons of huts on the beach with plenty of shade and chairs. Not sure if it was because we went during low season but we never had a problem with the chair issue on the resort. Lots of traffic in the water on the beach with was annoying at times especially with the helicopters and the parasailing, not much we can do about it though. Water was beautiful and there was a bit of seaweed but nothing compared to other resorts further down the strip.
Grounds: In a few years the grounds will be beautiful. There was a lot of work still going into the grounds at this resort. Nice fountains and very clean everywhere. We saw people washing rocks one day.
Tours: Went on 2 tours, Saona Island and Marinarium. Saona Island was boring in my opinion. The bus ride was long, saw some culture, farming and the famous Higuey Church. Stopped at a store where they wanted $9.00 for 2 bags of chips and didn’t barter at all. Took a speed boat to a natural swimming pool where they had starfish, that was the best part of the trip. The beach on the island was rocky in the water and your first step in the water you would sink in sand up to your ankles and it was yucky. Buffet was ok, drinks ok. Vendors on the beach coming up to you every 5 minutes asking you to buy things. Had a massage cost $70 for 40 minutes. Too much in my opinion. Would not recommend that tour. The Marinarium on the other had was amazing and would recommend to anyone. Snorkeled with Sharks and Stingrays, very cool. Then we partied on the boat with dancing and stopped in the middle of the ocean to have drinks in the water. We also went to the Mangu Disco one night and thought it was ok. The downstairs area seemed to be more fun then the upstairs. $8 cover and a $20 shuttle to the Disco. Drinks were quite expensive and there are a lot of locals there.
Departure and check out: Went smoothly we were on a late flight so we had to leave our luggage in the lock up with no problems. Our shuttle was scheduled to pick us up at 5:10pm. At 5:03pm the hubby was still in the pool. We made it to the shuttle on time and were the only ones to be picked up. Two porters grabbed our luggage at the airport and we had to run to keep up with them. We only had $1.00 left over but since they took our luggage and started walking with it before we could say anything and they brought us to the wrong line I don’t feel so bad.
After we found the correct line, check in was very fast. The airport is not air conditioned so it’s very warm so make sure you dress accordingly. Our flight was on time and we landed a half hour early.
I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone thinking of traveling to Punta Cana. I would return in a heartbeat if I could. Staff was friendly, resort was clean, no problems at all. Only one person we met wouldn’t go back (didn’t like the quality of the alcohol, we thought it was fine). We met TONS of people and had a blast. The nightlife is not the greatest so if you’re looking to party then this is not the resort for you. Great quiet spa type resort.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Brenda and Daniel ~ Halifax NS |
Arrival and Flight - We stayed here from April 26-May 3. Travelled with Air Transit Club Class (worth every penny) Arrived mid-morning so we had the whole day at the resort.
Rooms - We upgraded to Deluxe Concierge Room. Room ready about 2:30. We had a third floor room which was very nice and we enjoyed the outside jacuzzi tub, it was nice to get into after a day at the beach. We were also entitled to a lobster dinner - room service brought this and set everything up for us on the balcony. Lots of English TV stations. Mini bar and lots of water stocked every day. Our room was cleaned early in the day as we were out of our room by 7am. We didn't get a chance to visit a Presidential Suite but I heard they were very nice with an outdoor jacuzzi and shower on the terrace.
Restaurants - we ate at the buffet only two nights. Buffet had a good variety of food. We tried all of the Al la Carte restaurants:
1. Italian - this was very good, we ate here twice and service was very prompt
2. Shore Grill - ate here once, they do need more wait staff as service was very slow - I didn't get the appetizer I ordered but I did enjoy what they gave me. In the most recent reviews, however, I hear the service has improved.
3. Hibachi Grill - if you don't get to eat at the grill table you don't get much on your plate - we were disappointed and didn't try to get into this restaurant a second time.
Incidentally, it was the day after we ate here that we were told that the a la carte restaurants open at 5:45 and not 6:30 so that would explain why the hibachi tables were full at 6.
4. Romantico - we ate here on our last night. Food and service was really good. The decor is different - done in red tones.
We got a "beeper" for the Romantico restaurant. Our wait was 45 minutes which wasn't bad. We usually eat early so that was the only time we had to wait.
The pink bracelet folks has the option of eating a la carte at the Italian restaurant from a set menu. Waffles are advertised but they don't have a waffle maker yet. This may be the only place to get bacon as the buffet had bacon once during our stay.
We usually had lunch at the beach grill. The food was good and they have plastic plates so you can take your lunch back to the pool or beach.
Bars - We had top shelf liquor. Loved our waiter Ramon. He treated us like royalty and our glasses were never empty. Lobby bar was very busy before supper. I usually went to the bar to get my drink.
Beach and Pools - The beach was breathtaking. We have been to the DR many times and Bavaro beach is one of our favourites. It was strange to see folks walking toward the beach at 5am to get a chair. I went for a walk every morning and nobody on the beach at nearby resorts. Even at 10:30am there were still chairs available on the beach. The security guard on the beach will remove your belongings before 7am so it wasn't uncommon to see people wrapped in their towels sleeping in beach chairs at 5am! The water was very calm and great for swimming.
Grounds - very nice - will be beautiful when everything has matured.
Activities and Entertainment - we didn't see any shows as we're early risers but I heard that some of them were very good. The lobby has a sheet that is available every day with the list of activities and what a la carte restaurant is closed that night. The animation team doesn't approach the guests to participate, you just show up to play.
Tours - as we have been to the DR many times we have already done the tours
Departure and Check Out - our bus left at 7:20am. It is advertised that a continental breakfast is set up in the lobby for those leaving early or going on tours. Unfortunately, this was not the case on the day we left and unless you paid for the upgrade and could eat at the Italian restaurant then you were out of luck.
Conclusion - we had a wonderful vacation and would recommend this resort. We met some great folks - hello to Barry and Pauline from Nfld. and Jen, Tim and Jane from Michigan. We didn't get to actually meet PC Mike but we did see him on a few occasions. He's a busy guy.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Mike ~ Markham, Ontario |
This review is from the point of 4 people in their 30’s. We were at EdenH from April 19-26. We had 2 people join us on the 20th which were in their 20’s. The review is broken down into sections for easier reading.
Flight to Punta Cana: The flight down was good. We had pre-booked our seats on SkyService. We had row 4 and there was plenty of legroom. I was very surprised.
PUJ Airport: No issues here found the representative from Signature easily and were on the bus within a few minutes. We had to make one stop first at Natura Park and then we were off to EdenH. Due to the stop the bus ride took 40 minutes.
Check-in: It went fairly smooth. They tried to sell us the upgrade which we declined. We felt the “Green” bracelet was sufficient. The cost of the upgrade was $35 USD per person per night.
Rooms: We had room 2333/2335 (which means Building 2, 3rd floor, room 33). We had requested king size beds and pool view. We got the pool view but had the two double beds. It was ok for our friends but we would have liked the King size bed. We decided that it was no big deal and we liked the location of our rooms and the fact that they faced the pool and were side by side. We just moved the night table in the middle and pushed the two beds together. We figured the maid understood why we moved the beds and left them like that for the rest of the week. Everything else in the room worked fine. The rooms are very spacious and we liked the fact that we could sit in the tub and watch TV. Our friends found the “hole” in the wall a little tricky when it came to showering but they worked out a system. Our rooms were cleaned each day by 4:30pm when we came up for the beach. We always got lots of water but our friends were not so lucky, as they always had to ask for more water. Now for the mosquito’s, the first night I had to kill about 5 and then it was one to three each night after that. I’m glad we brought our fly swatter to kill them. We got a few bites but nothing major. Calling home from the room was easy. To call Canada/USA all you needed to do was dial ‘9’ then ‘1’ then the number. If it didn’t go through (busy signal after a few numbers) then all you needed to do was dial ‘0’ and the operator at the front desk would call for you. The cost is $0.50 USD per minute with no connection fee. We made a few calls and it only cost us $4.
Grounds: The grounds at EdenH are beautiful there are many mature palms all around the property. They are constantly planting flowers and shrubs. The place will look beautiful when everything grows in. We found that the grounds were kept very clean. Just watch out when it rains as some of the hallways can get slippery when it rains. Once the staff mops they are fine.
The Beach: All I can say is that the beach is spectacular at EdenH. There is a little bit of seaweed in the water in the afternoons which we think is from all the boats going by all day. It didn’t bother us one bit. Whatever seaweed washed up on shore the staff made sure it was gone quickly. There was always someone coming around and picking up garbage on the beach and around the huts. The water was warm and not too rough. We enjoyed it many times each day. The only negative we have about the beach the resort can do nothing about. We found that a lot of smokers were using the beach as their ashtray. Come on people how hard is it to put you butts in your empty drink cups. If they would do that the beach would be pristine. They do have beach drink service. Maria worked really hard to make sure we all had our drinks each day.
The Chair Game: I have to mention about the chair game. We have to play the game at all the resorts but here we had to wake up extra early to get beach huts. The first day we were on the beach by 8:30am and there were no huts and we had to scavenge for 4 beach chairs. We thought maybe we were too late so the next day we were at the beach by 7:30am, no huts. We were able to find chairs easier but still no shade. Two of our group sat by the pool that day so that we could get some shade. The rest of the week we were up by 6:00am and we were able to get huts near the back of the beach. You have to stay at your chair until 7:00am before heading for breakfast or security would take your towels off. This was a bit of a pain since I would have liked to sleep in but on the other had the day was longer and I got some great sunrise photos. If you wanted huts at the front of the beach (closer to the water) you needed to be their by 5:00am. If you want chairs and/or shade by the pool it was no problem. There were many chairs available even at 8:30am. I’m sure the game will slow down as more chairs arrive and more huts are built. Our last mention on the chair situation, one of the people in our group had her chair STOLEN at lunch. We went to grab a snack at 12:30pm and when we got back (not 20 minutes) her towel was hanging from the hut and her chair and table were gone. They had lifted each item and walked away as there were no drag marks. We found it very annoying that they would steal a chair that was clearly occupied. What is wrong with guests when they have to resort to stealing someone’s chair mid-day?
The Food: Let me speak generally about the “reservation” system first before I break each restaurant down individually. The beeper system I think sounds like a good idea but is not working very well. I think that having a reservation pre-booked may work better now as they seem to not have enough staff working in the restaurants. You can end up waiting one hour to get your beeper and then possibly another hour to get beeped. Once you are in the restaurant you notice a lot of empty tables. I think the beeper system would work better once they get more staff to cover all the tables. One trick we learned is that you should be down to line up at the restaurant of your choice by 6:00pm (except the Asian hibachi will elaborate later) in order to get to eat at a decent time. If you don’t mind eating late then feel free to go at your leisure. We noticed that going down by 6:00pm gave us a dinner time of 6:30pm-7:30pm, anything after that meant we were eating at 8:30pm-9:30pm.
The Buffet: The breakfast buffet was AWESOME. They didn’t have bacon everyday but that was ok with us as it was a nice break having it every other day. Felix on the omelette station is excellent as usual. The other omelette guy is also excellent. You can get your eggs twice as fast if you don’t go to Felix. I enjoyed getting my eggs from both. Felix really has a personal conversation with each and every guest. He even remembered us from our honeymoon at Secrets four years ago. No complaints about the breakfast. We never tried the buffet for lunch as we always ate by the beach. We heard it was good but again we never tried it. We tried the buffet for dinner the first night and we have to say we were a bit disappointed. We didn’t find the selection that we had at other resorts. There was stuff to eat don’t get me wrong, we just didn’t like it that much and we decided to eat at the a la cartes for the rest of the week. If they improve the buffet, the line-ups for the a la cartes will be greatly reduced.
The Beach Grill/Restaurant: We had lunch here everyday. We enjoyed the beach cooking each day. The food cooked on the beach changed each day. They had fajitas, Stir fry’s, Pasta, Sardines and everyday they would do burgers and hot dogs. At the restaurant they would have grilled chicken (which was AMAZING) each day. They sometimes had fried fish and fried chicken. They always had baked potatoes, fries, pizza and vegetables. They sometimes had onion rings. They had the usual salads and deserts. The last few days an ice cream machine showed up which was a big hit. We ate at the grill a few times (they have wait staff for drinks) but most days we at on the beach at our hut. Most days we were still full from a good breakfast they we just snacked at lunch.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Dara and Gerri ~ Nova Scotia, Canada |
Here is our experience at this beautiful resort.
Our stay was from April 26-May 3. Travel from the airport was approx. 20 mins. Check in went quite smooth considering there were probably about 100 people checking in at the same time.
We were given our room within minutes although we were checking in at 11 am. Our room was on the first floor and had 2 double beds, having the whirlpool tub in the room was much better then on the decks we thought. We did have a few mosquitoes but have to say were not bothered by them. Housekeeping was good most of the time, although we did have a couple of days that we didn't receive water in the fridge and had to go and ask for it. Since you can't drink the water there I did have an issue with this. I saved several of the water bottles and filled them at the pool bar so we would have extras for teeth brushing as well as drinking. Also some days it was like pulling teeth to get face cloths. Other than these minor problems the rest of the week was fine.
We shared our time between the beautiful beach and the pool and never had a problem finding 4 chairs for us. May have to go and look a couple up but what is the big deal with that, they are still saying that there are more chairs on order.
Bar tenders Danny, Leonal (aka Lionel Richie Jr.), and Alexis are "A-1", make you any drink you want. Alsisos lobby bar was also another popular spot, where you can sit and be served and receive your drinks in real glasses. Also here is another place we found that you could get bottled water. Don't expect to get bottled water at the pool bar as they do not have it there but there are 2 large water coolers there that you can fill your cups up and the guys will give you ice to keep it cold.
My biggest complaint was with the buffet, very difficult to get hot food, even when something new was just brought out of the kitchen it still was only luke warm, and also out of our 7 days there was only bacon 2 mornings, not a real big thing, but would have been nice to have.
We ate at all 4 a la carts, myself I enjoyed them all. Didn't have any real problem getting seated, if you go around 6-6:30 you should be able to get in. Also remember you are on vacation so if you have to wait 1/2 hr. -1 hr. to eat, go grab a drink and relax. Have to try the steak at the shore grill it was to die for!!!! Also the beach restaurant has a great selection of chicken, pizza, fries, hambs.,etc. with salad stuff and an ice cream machine.
There are markets on either side of the resort to the left a very short walk and to the right about a 15 min. walk, found the vendors very difficult to barter with this year, wasn't looking for much so did manage to get what we went for.
All in all our week was fantastic, this is a beautiful resort and hopefully given some time the minor problems will be ironed out.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Barbara ~ New York |
Arrival and Flight
Apple Vacations USA 3000 departed from Cleveland. Excellent
Rooms
Loved our room # 2456. Nice view of the ocean, (if you looked past the vacant lot). We had the open wall into the bathroom which was weird but fine. I preferred the tub inside to the ones on the deck in the so called upgraded rooms.
The cleaning service usually showed up right around the time we were returning from the beach to get ready for dinner. I never could figure that out.
Restaurants
We ate at all the ala cartes. The Asian Hibachi was the best. Very fresh food. The other restaurants were adequate. Usually something on the menu wasn't available. They didn't have surf and turf at all the week we were there in the Shore Grill. Steak was good though.
We lined up at 5:45 and got into the restaurant at 6. The restaurants say they open at 6:30 but they opened every night we were there at six. Never had a problem getting into the first seating. We never ate dinner at the buffet.
Bars
The drinks were all watered down. I've never drank so many calories without feeling the teensiest little buzz. But they tasted good anyway. One night I drank five absolut's and cranberry juice - didn't feel a thing. I think they empty the bottles and add water to them. Even those from the VIP shelf. Although we didn't pay for VIP our friends ordered our drinks and they were all the same.
What I missed most about this hotel was an outdoor pool bar with lots of seating and places to congregate and where you could meet other guests. The Rius have them and it's so much fun to take a break and hang out at the pool bar. The pool bar at the Eden H was pretty much a service bar. The main lobby bar was smoky so for me was not a fun place to be. Service was horrible at the bar - it was difficult to get a drink. The bartenders wouldn't even acknowledge you if you were standing there. The waitress service was great though. The girls were lovely and brought drinks promptly.
Beach and Pools
Beautiful beach which is why we go to PC in the first place. The situation with the lounge chairs is horrific. People are at the beach as early as 4:30 in the morning to get prime spots. I couldn't sleep one night so I went down early and was amazed at how many people were already there at 4:30 in the morning. It was sick. It truly was the worst part of my vacation. Who could sleep worrying about getting a beach chair and a palapa on vacation.
Grounds
The grounds look beautiful and plantings are continuously taking place. Overall the look of the hotel is very pretty, but when you look close you can see how they slapped the place together to get it opened. How many 5 star hotels have handles that fall off in your hand, sinks that fall off walls, elevator buttons that dangle by their wires etc.. The poor construction leaves a feeling of overall shabbiness for a hotel that is only four months old.
I can't imagine what the hotels punch list would look like if they ever decided to make one. Every room would need to be gone over and all the buildings, hardware etc. should have a second look. In the main plaza which is very beautiful, the expansion joints in the tile were never filled in and in some places the space is at least two inches. Beware if you're wearing heels.
Activities and Entertainment
We were so tired at night from having to get up early that we didn't stay for many shows. Karaoke night was kind of fun. Of course the guests provided the entertainment. The one show we did stay for was billed as Swing Night, but basically it was two guys taking turns singing Sinatra like tunes. We bailed out early. I heard the Las Vegas type show was very good but we missed it.
We never made it to the Beach Party because the beach barbeque was so crowded - they ran out of food, the lines were ridiculously long to get to the buffet, it got dark and you couldn't see what the food looked like etc.... that we left the beach and didn't go back.
Tours
We took the 4X4 half day trip. It was fun but very dusty. You definitely need goggles or sun glasses and a bandana around your face to keep the dust out. There are some pretty views of the ocean, but not much of actual Dominican life. You pass by Julio Iglesia's compound and you can see the house from a distance. They stop and let you swim for about 10 minutes. It would have been nicer to stay longer.
Departure and Check Out
Fine
Conclusion
This was our fourth trip to the Dominican. We've been to the Riu Merengue and Iberostar in Puerta Plata and the Riu Bambu in Punta Cana. I would go back to any of those hotels in a minute but would not go back to the Eden H. I thought the service was lacking the personal touch I've felt at the other hotels.
It was very difficult to get a cup of coffee in the morning. There was only one server for a whole dining room and unless you were lucky to catch his attention, you could sit and wait until he noticed you. Decaf coffee was hit and miss. Sometimes I'd get hot water and by the time it was cold they'd bring the jar of instant decaf. I just gave up.
There was one sometimes two people cooking eggs and omelettes. I waited 15 minutes or more sometimes to get two fried eggs. The staff was great, and fast, but there were just too many people waiting for service.
Overall we had a great time in Punta Cana. Good weather, beautiful beach and we met some great people. We just wouldn't go back to this hotel.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Sandy |
We were a group of 18 and stayed at the Edenh Real April 19-27.
I would say we all had a great time and got what we paid for…”It is what it is” a cheap vacation that got us all away from the cold !!!
The ala carte reservation is not (in my opinion) acceptable. You have to start lining up at 5.
The beach chair issue is just a joke. My husband and others in the group were up and on the beach
By 5:30-6:00. if you did not play the game you did not get a chair.
Overall we did have a nice relaxing week and enjoyed the beach and the nice warm sun.
Would I go back? Probably not.
Would I recommend? Yes, if the price was right.
I think in time the resort will resolve the issues and it will truly be a 5 star. But right now I would give it a 3.5.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Alexis ~ Halifax NS |
My boyfriend & I (25 & 26) stayed at the EdenH from April 19-26. In the grand scheme of things we had a wonderful vacation! If the price stays the same as when we bought our tickets we'd definitely return, but I can absolutely see the prices increase by this time next year so it probably won't happen. I'll break it down for you
Flight (Sunwing): Good
Check-in: Good
Room: Good
Staff: Fantastic
Food: Good
Reservation system (or lack thereof): Needs a lot of improvement
Entertainment: Fair-Good
Beach: Fantastic
Pool: Fantastic
Flight: Our flight down was with Sunwing. Neither of us had flown sunwing before and didn't know what to expect. We'd heard of many delays with sunwing but thankfully we didn't experience any. The seats were acceptable. Not the most comfortable seats I've flown in, but the flight was only 4hrs for us, so not a big issue. They give you a glass of champagne to kick off the flight (yay: champagne at 7am! hahaha) which was a nice touch. The food they served was good. There was a choice of eggs & potatoes or waffles. We both got the eggs & potatoes which were yummy. On the return flight everyone had been checked in on time, and we actually left Punta Cana approximately 30 minutes * ahead * of schedule. That was great, considering we were arriving so early/late (430am). The food offered on the return flight was chicken divan (my boyfriend said it wasn't good) and tortelini pasta (It was so-so)
Check-in: We got to the hotel around 10am, and although checkin isn't officially until 3pm, we managed to get a room that was available. (When we were checking out we noticed the sunwing group that was checking in at the same time all received welcoming glasses of memosas which happened to be the drink of the day. This was not something my flight received, unless I missed it in the herd of people!)
Room & Colored band: We were 'greenies' and did not pay to upgrade. We didn't see any reason to. The alcohol we had was fine, and we * never* saw any 'special' treatment for pinkies. The 'vip pools' etc didn't even appeal to us.
Our room had 2 double beds but that wasn't an issue for us. more cuddle room! our view was great, we faced out towards the pool & could see the ocean if we looked out to the left. (Room 1306) The rooms were a bit complicated to find at first. Our info booklet said we were in room 1306 and figured we were on the first floor and walked about 1/2way through the 1st building trying to find it.
Well, the way it works is that there are 2 buildings (#1 & #2). When you walk out of the lobby to the plaza, building 1 is to your left, and building 2 is to your right.
Then, the floor that you are on is indicated by the 2nd digit in your room number. (For us [1306], that would be 3. so 1st building, 3rd floor). It makes sense, but no one had given us any direction so we were walking around aimlessly.
I'd read previously that some employees would enter the room whenever. We would have our 'no molester' sigh on the door at pretty much all times except for when we went for breakfast & in the afternoons if our room hadn't been cleaned yet. There were 2x the room wasn't cleaned, but we figured the cleaners had gotten an early start. They cleaned the room quite well, but for some reason we never got any coffee mugs?!
Sidenote: What was also interesting about the resort was the frequent power outages that happened. they worked like clockwork. Each night between 6:30 & 7PM the power would go out for about 10-30 seconds. It wasn't an issue for us, and we laughed about it, but I could easily see some folks complaining about it. I'm not sure what it was from, but there were times we got stuck in the 'blackout' in the buffet which was quite funny.
Staff: The employees there are wonderful! We never had any issues with anyone. Everyone was always so pleasant, and offered a smile & “hola” all the time! You'll notice some of the more popular employees listed in previous reviews: Felix the omlette guy, Alexis the swim up bartender, Wilton the coffee guy, Felipe at the buffet, and of course Jose at the bar by the beach buffet.
Johan the “Sunwing Guy” was INCREDIBLE! He was so knowledgable, so helpful, and just an all around good guy. If you need anything, he's definitely the one to go to.
There was never any pressure for tips, EVER. I did not tip all the time, but I'd try to return to my favorite employees and offer a tip sporadically throughout the week.
These people work very very hard and always aim to please. It was very disheartening to see some of the abuse the staff would take from some vacationers. It really seems as though some people just use the staff as an outlet for their penned up rage. Grrr!!
Food: The food was quite good. The buffet had a nice variety. I'm a breakfast person, and one thing that I noticed was bacon wasn't offered every day. Having said that, there was always a nice variety of meat. Sausage was available which was good, and one morning we even enjoyed “breakfast wings” in lieu of the bacon hahaha. I've never had wings for breakfast but it was quite satisfying. The buffet would always change up each night, so there was always something new to choose from.
The a la carte food was nothing great to us. Everyone seems to enjoy the Asian, and it * was* good, just not my favorite. I've worked at a Japanese restaurant with a hibachi before and was not impressed by the lack of 'entertainment' from the chef. I was having more fun watching a little child playing around on the other side of the hibachi rather than the chef. There was no pizazz, and the fried rice was actually over fried and a little rocky. I didn't dislike it though. I was disappointed we never got to try the sushi bar. My favorite would be the steakhouse. I had a beef tenderloin which was made PERFECTLY for me. I love a medium rare beef, but I ordered well done as recommended by previous reviews, and what'd I get? Medium rare steak! It was delicious!
My favorite drinks were Miami Vice, Dirty Monkey, Presidente, and Bahama Mama. Sooo good. Each day there is a 'drink of the day' which you can find out when you go to the lobby and check out the activity sheet. It'll indicate what activities are going on, what type of food will be at the buffet, as well as what is the drink of the day for both adults and kids.
I'm a red wine drinker and I found the red wine in the a la carte's was much better than if you got a glass of red wine at one of the bars. The bar wines tasted like very tart juice. Ick.
Reservation System: there wasn't any! This is the most disappointing part of the whole vacation. it is so disorganized and leaves many people unhappy. if you wanted to get into certain restaurants (ie: asian) you had to line stand in line quite early at about 530, so you could make a reservation for a later time. This definitely cuts out of some valuable vacation time. It's hard to plan because sometimes the restaurant would be ready for you as soon as they opened, whereas other times you'd be left meandering to kill time. If there was ever a very long wait for us, we'd just eat at the buffet, or even make a late reservation and have a snack at the buffet. There should be some sort of structure to this. People should be able to make reservations at the start of the vacation so they can pick a time and a place where they want to eat on any given day. This will allow the hotel to see how busy they will be, and offer alternatives to people if there is no availability.
Entertainment: Fair-good. There wasn't a lot to do in the evenings. We found ourselves hitting the sack at around 10-11pm. There were some gymnast/dancing/variety shows offered, but it wasn't anything amazing.
Beach: The beach was beautiful!! The sand was soo soft!! I do agree with many others, and garbage cans are needed. I didn't have a travel mug with me so my drinks were in the plastic cups they gave you, and they'd get piled up on the sand. There is a nice breeze, so sometimes the cups could get picked up by the wind. If garbage cans were placed around the beach, they'd most definitely be used so I'm not sure why there aren't any. Chairs were still an issue, but it isn't at the hotels fault. There are PLENTY of chairs there, but there are plenty of greedy vacationers that'll reserve chairs for hours and hours and never show up. Very disappointing. It's simple: if you aren't going to sit by the beach, don't reserve a chair. If people used the chairs only when needed it would allow for everyone who wants to sit by the beach, sit there, and open up chairs when not in use. One morning I woke up at about 645 and found a few chairs by the beach, but it was very slim pickings. That was the only morning I did that. any other morning, we'd take a peek at the beach and if there weren't any chairs, we'd just find some by the pool.
Pool: It's quite large and very clean. The pool beds built in are very neat. There are a lot of activities from water polo to volleyball to basketball in the pool. Water aerobics are held here, as well as dance lessons. It's a great vibe and a lot of fun. If you play volleyball or water polo watch out for your tootsies. Most of us developed blisters on our toes from the tiles at the bottom of the pool. Can't really prevent that, so just an FYI.
Excursions: Zipline Adventure -We did the zip lining offered with Bavaro tours. This was AMAZING! There is a bus that comes to pick you up, then goes to other resorts to pick up other people for your tour. The ziplining is held up in the mountains so it's about 1.5hrs or so to drive up there. It's great to go through the communities and farmland and see how the locals live. I would absolutely recommend this tour. The employees are VERY knowledgeable and very reassuring. One person who went with us was terrified of heights, but they did a great job talking to her and calming her down so that she could get the confidence to do the ziplining which was very rewarding. Soon there will be longer ziplines to go on in the next few months, so I can't wait to go back!
We also did the Bavaro Splash Speedboat Ride. This is where you get to take a 2 person speedboat out and then do a little bit of snorkeling. We got a ride to the place, but there was no need to. It was about a 5 minute walk up the beach to the place where you depart from. The tourguides are a lot of fun and very informative. We really had a blast! You can get a video of the tour for $35US and a picture of yourself in the boat for $8. Nice souvenirs. There is also a little store here that has decent prices for some other souvenirs.
The other thing we did was parasail. This was $45US for 1 person, or $85 for 2 people. EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS!!! We had an incredible time. It felt like we were in the air for only about 10 minutes but it was worth EVERY second. We got a great picture of us taking off in the parasail for $15.
This isn't an excursion, but there is a mall closeby that you can take a free shuttle to and walk around. There are PLENTY of womens' clothing stores, but the prices are a bit much. This is a new mall, definitely targeted towards tourists as the prices are outrageous. you can eat at the Hard Rock cafe, there is a sushi place there, also a Tony Roma's Restaurant. We didn't eat at any, but it is an option for some sort of variety.
Each day there is a photographer that'll take pictures of you and something, whether it be a snake, an iguana, a monkey, parrots, or even animation staff dressed up in beautiful costumes. These pictures are $8US a piece, and are worth it. I never thought I'd have the guts to hold an iguana but I did and I'm glad I have the pic to prove it. The monkey is soo cute, and the parrots are beautiful. The handler can be a little pushy, but a firm 'no gracias' will send him away if you don't want to take the pictures.
Other than the reservation system, the only issue I had was a safety issue: there are water fixtures on the bottom floor of each building, and they are on a square platform with 4 potlights. We were taking pictures in this area, and my butt was sitting on the platform. I actually got 2nd degree burns from the potlight because it seemed as though my butt had touched the light. My fault, I understand but I didn't see this as a safety issue at first but then realized (afterwards of course) that there was no 'shield' to cover the light. I can very easily see a child wanting to go closer to the water fountains (which are turned off at night) to take a peek. They could easily place their hand on the light and develop very serious burns as I did. Unfortunately mine was on my rump, but now I can say that I've been branded by EdenH.
We had heard some people had not so great experiences, but this is my honest review from what I experienced. We went with an open mind and good attitudes and were very pleased with the vacation we had!
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Graham |
My wife, my sister and husband and I stayed at the Edenh form April 10th to the 24th. We booked through Sunquest Vacations, flying directly from Vancouver to the Dominican Republic on Air Transat. The flight was on time, with no problems. We arrived at the hotel at approximately 7PM, and proceeded to check in. Checking in was no problem, it was quick and easy, although they did try and upgrade us to the tune of an additional $350.00 per week. When we said no, they made the same offer but with a 50% discount. We refused this offer also. I find this a bit if an aggressive sales pitch. We were given our green bands and assigned our rooms. My wife and I got room 2370 and the others got room 2320. We got an upgraded room (without the additional benefits) while the other was the standard room.
The Room: Not what one would expect for an upgraded room, except for the outside bathtub. The other room had the tub inside, and was missing the wall dividing the bathroom from the sleeping area. In the closet, the electrical panel had a loose cover that couldn’t be closed properly. There were many small things that gave the room an unfinished look to it.
The Resort: Overall the Resort was quite nice, although it sure had an unfinished look to it. On Thursday the 24th we had a major downpour and there were lots of areas, including the lobby that had water leaks. We heard from others there that they had water leaks from rooms above them. One couple apparently had to be moved to another room the leak in their room was that bad. The pool area was very nice and the beach was super. The noise in the restaurants and in the lobby was at times unbearable. The high ceilings contributed to this problem.
The Staff: We found the staff to be very good, with 3 that really stood out. Liby, Margarita and Rafael in the Buffet are 1st Class people. Their warmth and friendliness went beyond what one would expect. Only once did we encounter poor service from an employee and that was in the Romantic (French) Al-a-Carte restaurant. He had a real attitude problem. There is a staff shortage. The beach bar, the pool bar and the beach grill are good examples of this shortage. It seemed that unless you had a pink band on your wrist, or had previously tipped them, or were aggressive you were ignored.
The Food: The buffet was quite good. A lot of variety of food to appeal to all nationalities. Many in previous reviews have mentioned Felix at the omelet station. I concur what others have said about him. Remarkable and friendly person.
Al-a-Cartes: Wait, wait, and wait some more, to get in, while there were empty tables inside. The current system of getting into them is an absolute joke. The last day we were there, we saw people lining up at 4.30 to get on the list. The resort has to take care of this problem. Limit the number of times you can go to the Al-a-Cartes and make it a reservation system. The staff at the front doors had many angry guests and I commend them for their patience. We enjoyed the Italian and the Shore, but the Romantic and the Asian are another story. In the Romantic, we ordered the “Duck and Mango Chutney” appetizer. When it arrived, there was no chutney and the “DUCK” was not duck, but was instead beef. We called the waiter over and mentioned this to him, but he insisted it was duck. The Maitre D also insisted it was duck. I’ve ate enough beef and duck to know the difference, and my sister who is a gourmet cook also said it was beef. Needless to say we never went back to the Romantic. In the Asian, we couldn’t get to go to the grill which many had said was very good. We had to order off the menu. My sister and brother-in-law ordered the Sushi. This consisted of a “bit” of Miso soup and 7 pieces of Sushi followed by desert. A small meal to say the least. My meal of Thai rice and chicken wasn’t much larger. We finished supper by going to the buffet.
Liquor: Most mixed drinks seemed to be short of liquor unless you asked for a double, then they were OK. The beer was always excellent. My wife ordered Kahula once and it appeared to have been watered down. It may have been a substitute of Kahula, but one would think that we could have been told that the real Kahula was available to us (green band wearers) at additional cost.
Beach Chairs: Unless you got up and hit the beach before 6:30AM your chances of getting a beach chair was non-existent. Boorish guests, who needed chairs both at the pool and the beach, were probably the biggest cause of this problem. We met people who were staying at other resorts who had the same issue, and one couple mentioned that at their resort, you had to be on the beach by 4:30 AM to get a beach chair.
Music: This is the first time I’ve been in the Caribbean where there was a lack of the Caribbean atmosphere. The music in the lobby and in the courtyard made me wonder if I was staying in a Buddhist Monastery. One would think that they would be playing the music of the Dominican Republic to give guests the feeling of the Country they were visiting.
Overall: As I stated previously the Edenh has an unfinished appearance about it. It has many issues that need to be taken care of before it becomes a 5 star resort. We’ve stayed at the Royal Antiguan Resort, 3.5 star rating, and in most ways it was far better than the Edenh. Yes it is older and more weathered, but overall it was considerably better. The Bahia Principe Akumal we stayed at in Mexico, 5 star rating, was much, much better and deserves the 5 star rating. Presently the Edenh does not rate 5 stars. Would we go back? Like others we spoke to, probably not. Until the resort meets and rectifies their current problems this resort rates only 3.5 stars at best. There are lots of true 5 star resorts in the Caribbean and in the Dominican Republic one can go to.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Shannon |
My Trip to Edenh Real Arena was certainly one I wont forget.
Got there and check-in was a breeze- no problems
We left our luggage with the bell boy cause our rooms we not ready, we had something to eat and a few drinks while we waited.
We went to our rooms when they were ready and after requesting a king size bed we got 2 double beds in our room. We complained and got switched to another room with a king size bed. The rooms werelovely but there was no privacy. The food I hated, and I became ill and had to stay in bed for 3 days. When I got better We did the Manati park tour and it was alright except my husband got stung by something and his finger swelled up twice it's normal size. That following day We had a Outback Safari Tour booked but my husband got violently ill. I tried to get our money back but there was no refund cause you have to give 48 hour notice. I went on the tour without him and we were out 75$ US. When my husband got better we had 2 days left to our trip, when the worst thing happened, I fell asleep and my husband woke me up to kill some of the many flies in our room, We did once open our patio door but when the maids come in to clean they would leave the doors open and the room would fill with flies. any how when I got up to get rid of the flies a HUGE COCKROACH was on my pillow, I went and moved from that room to another and then another until fianlly we found a room without a COCKROACH in it. The hotel did not say a thing...no sorry, no nothing only 2 coupons for 20 min of Spa massage on the beach...no thanks. I have to say this was my second trip to the Dominican Republic and the very last.
I dont blame the workers nor take it out on them, they were all lovely people, the service was great. but i do blame the resort for posting such a nice resort as a 5 star when I would actually give it a 2 star.
I Slept with the COCKROACHES
NEVER AGAIN!!!
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Joanna ~ BeaverBank Nova Scotia |
Our group of 12 arrived on April 5th for our two week stay at the EdenH resort. Let me tell you I have been away on 10 other vacation down south and this by far was one of the best resorts I have ever stayed at!! (The best being The Grand Caribe Real in Mexico).
Check in: Everyone in our group purchased the upgraded package which allowed us to go to the VIP check-in area. We arrived around 11am so we had figured we would not receive our rooms until after lunch some time, however most of us received rooms right away or within a few minutes. The people in the VIP check-in area were wonderful; they answered all our questions and explained the resort layout to us. Through out our stay if we ever had a question we would check with the VIP staff and they would always be willing to help…they were great.
Rooms: My husband and I were placed in building one in room 1366, the First VIP building 3rd floor room 66 (I believe). We had a great view of the pools and beautiful beach, first site took my breath away…amazing! The others were all placed through out the Second VIP Building. One couple in our group did have a problem with their first floor room (Mosquitoes and I believe a musty smell) and asked to be moved. The next day they received their new room in the First VIP building and all was fine. Since we had purchased the upgraded package we had received Beach towels in our room, bathrobes and slippers for both as well as a tray of fruit and a bottle of rum. Everyday our room was cleaned; actually it was clean twice every day! Once in the morning, then again in the evening during our turn down service…our towels were replaced both times if they needed to be. Our Fridge was stocked daily, 4 beers, 4 pop and water. We did leave a dollar tip everyday on the bed and once in a while we would leave another dollar in the fridge.
Restaurants: The food at EdenH was the best food I have had at any resort I have stayed at. I was a little worried at first because of all the bad reviews but I never had a problem finding something good to eat. The Buffet always had a great selection of food, yes it did get repetitive the second week but this did not bother me at all. We never had a problem finding seats in the buffet, and were always greeted with a smile. My only problem was some mornings it was little hard to get the attention of the person serving coffee, sometimes we would not receive coffee/water until we were almost ready to leave. I solved this issue by bringing a bottle of water down with me from my room…to me this was not a big deal.
A la cartes, I actually only ate at two the Shore Grill and the Hibachi…I enjoyed both. We did not get to the Shore Grill until late and by that time they had run out of veggies however the steak was really good. We ate at the Hibachi twice, once 4 of us were able to obtain seats at the Hibachi grill and the other time we sat at a table and ordered of off the menu. There is line up’s for the A la cartes, the worst being the Hibachi. If you want to eat at the Hibachi grill you have to line up early, we lined up at 5pm and were able to get 4 seats at the grill table for 6:30. The guys are faster at getting ready so we sent them down to the line while the two ladies took their time…worked out great! The time we sat at a regular table there was no wait at all, went to the restaurant and we were seated right away. Some of group did manage to eat at the other two restaurants and they enjoyed both, the steak at the romantic restaurant they said was very good!
One Sunday night we all went to the Hard Rock Café for a birthday dinner, the food was very good. We took a taxi from the hotel and back, $7 for 5 people and then $2 for each extra person…not bad. If you do get board of the resort food I would recommend going to the Hard Rock.
Bars: The lobby bar could some times get crazy, very hard to get a drink. We would usually start our evening off at the Sports bar and end it at the Tanhtra Lounge. If you are VIP and you find the bar line up’s a little busy you can go to the VIP lounge and make your own drink…if they do not have what you are looking for ask someone and they will find it for you. We all wished the Tanhtra Lounge would play a little more up beat music, some nights it was very quiet while other nights it was busy and a lot of fun. We enjoyed one night in the pool on the roof and few too many drinks! We did experience a little show in the Tanhtra Lounge one evening, one I would like to never see again. Let me just say it was an older couple that were not shy about doing anything at all in public…crazy.
The Pool bars, for the most part we only enjoyed the VIP Pool bar in front of building 2. The best bar tenders work there, Ramon and Carlos…they always made us laugh! We actually received Ramon’s home address and number and will be in contact with him in the future.
Beach and Pools: The Beach, AMAZING. Beautiful white sand, hardly any seaweed at all. There were always guys on the beach early morning raking up the seaweed that had washed up the night before. Yes, we did have to get up early morning to “reserve” our seats on the beach but I am an early bird so I did not mind at all. Actually while we were there a new shipment of chairs came in so they are working on the chair situation!!
The Pools, again we only really swam/drank at the VIP pool in front of building 2. We always found seats and enjoyed the company of the many new friends we met during our stay. Of course Ramon and Carlos kept us entertained so we really did not want to go to any of the other pools. 10am when the pool bar opened for the day Ramon or Carlos would start are morning off by delivering us strawberry daiquiris and beer to our chairs….Could not get any better!!!
Grounds: It is a new resort so the grounds are not yet as nice as some of the other resorts but this to be expected. They are working very hard on the grounds, always someone planting or watering or rearranging. The fountains are a very nice touch, in time I am sure it will be even more beautiful!
Activities and Entertainment: There is an “animation” team during the day that were always trying to get the guests involved in something, arobics etc.. Our group did not participate in any of this so I really can not comment on them. The resort did have a photographer go around each day taking pictures of the guests with different props. One day it was a really big snake, the next it was a cute little monkey as well Parrots and lizards. I did get a picture with the Monkey and snake and I am glade I did, the turned out great. (Really I may never have the change again to have a monkey on shoulder!) The cost of the pictures were $8 each but it really is worth it!
The entertainment on Wednesday night was really good! 20 or 30 performers put on a very lively show with many different costumes and themes, actually next to the Tropicana show in Cuba this was the best I have seen.
Tour: We went on two tours, one was the Zip Line tour and the other was the half day with the Outback Safari.
Zipline Adventure : This was so much fun! I was a little scared at first but after the first platform it was a breeze. The staff really know what they are doing, no worries in that department at all. I will do this tour again the next I am in Punta Cana; it is well worth the money and a great experience. Actually we were told after the tour that they are looking into adding more platforms, higher and longer…can’t wait!
Outback Jungle Safari : Over all this tour was great, our guide was very knowledgeable and was able to tell us a great deal about Punta Cana and the culture. We had talked to the tour Rep. at EdenH about this half day tour before we booked; she told us all about the different stops we would be going on. Well, we specifically asked would it be stopping at a beach, she stated NO. None of our group brought along a bathing suite then to our surprise on our ride to our first stop we were told we would all be going to a beach for boogie boarding! We were not too happy about this; of course it was not the fault of the guide or driver so we did make a big deal of it then. I did go back to the resort and I tried to talk to the tour Rep. but she stated she never told us that…from now on I guess I just bring a suite no matter what.
Departure and Check Out: After a two week stay we still were not ready to go home however during check out we had no problems and the flight home was good.
Conclusion: This was one of the best resorts I have stayed at and I would not hesitate to go back. It was a very relaxing two weeks, service was excellent. The only thing I can really say is if you are looking for a Party resort this is really not for you. If you are looking for a nice place to relax enjoy a few drinks in great company then this is the place to go!
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Sean ~ Canada |
My wife and I along with three other couples arrived on March 31 and stayed for two weeks. We went with the upgraded package so check-in was in the VIP lounge and went very smooth. The staff was very friendly especially Rami. This is not his entire name but is what he wanted to be called. He took us to our room and made sure all was fine and bid us goodnight. He made a point to say if we needed anything during our stay to see him. Over the course of the next two weeks he proved to be the person to go to when we had questions or any concerns. If he could not answer our questions or directly take care of the issue, he always knew who to contact.
Our room overlooked the pool and we had a partial view of the beach. The room was spacious and very clean. The housekeeping staff took great care to make sure the room was cleaned everyday. Service was excellent. Times that the room was cleaned varied but we attributed that to staff getting other rooms ready for new guests.
The grounds were very clean and staff worked on the maintenance everyday. Staff seemed to always pick up any garbage they came across. One thing we did notice was the lack of garbage bins especially at the beach and pool area.
The food was good and depending on where you ate was a personal preference. The beach grill was fine and the line up usually went quick. The food at the lunch hut was good and had a reasonable variety. We only went to the buffet a couple of times and the issue seemed to be with cleanliness around the food area. We went to all the restaurants and loved the Asian. The American and Italian were good as well. We did not go back to the French restaurant because the food was not too our liking. There is no doubt that the reservation issue needs to be addressed. Having to be at a restaurant door to line up every evening at 6:00 was a pain to say the least. It made for a hectic rush from the pool to the room to getting ready each evening. Our last few days we resorted to ordering room service to avoid having to line-up for dinner.
A special note on the staff. We found them to be very friendly and hard working. Due to the lack of sufficient staff and the restaurant situation they took some unnecessary criticism. We would like to mention a couple of staff who we found exceptional. I have already referred to Rami above and the others would be Carlos (2) and Ramone who took great care of us at the VIP pool area. They always had smiles, made sure our glass was full and appreciated our friendship. We ate at the Italian restaurant for breakfast each morning and was given excellent service by Eddy. Each time we ate at the American restaurant, Jose was there to greet us and provide great service.
The Sports and Tandra bars were a great place to relax but at times were crowded and bar service was slow. We attributed this to lack of staff. Also it would have been nice to have an on-site disco to do some dancing. We were not into going off the resort for nightlife.
In conclusion we did have some issues but nothing that ruined our vacation. Our first morning we discovered that the shower did not work. We made a call to the front desk and went on our way. When we got back that lunch time it had been fixed. One of the couples had air conditioning problems that were never fixed. The issue of the restaurants needs to be addressed. We did have to take a beeper and we went to the bar until called. We leaned after that all the seats were not taken and this seemed to be the norm. It was attributed once again to lack of staff.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | New York |
I am a Travel agent from New York; we were at this hotel April 11-18. What you read is true.
I wonder if the owners read the reviews and do something about.
I thought the restaurant food and beverage manager was very rude to the guests and staff alike and I witnessed some very unprofessional behavior on his part.
Look like hi own the restaurant, no respect to the guest very nasty personality if hi can say to the guest “I kick you of from restaurant”
This hotel has half the facilities it needs to service the amount of guests it holds.
You do not need a business degree to see that 200 beach chairs and twice the wait staff would help guests overlook the other deficiencies.
The lack of facilities does not make for a relaxing holiday. At the beach by 06:00 to get a beach chairs. Always 10-15 people in line for an omelet. Lunch at the beach 15-20 people in line for the grill. Most resorts take reservations for diner in this resort you get the beeper and wait, but this restaurant half empty when you get in.
Once again its line up and wait.
The staff is very friendly, but you can see that they are frustrated and looking for tips from guest
So, there are too many other better hotels to go to, never recommend to anyone
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Bill |
Check in was easy.
Our room faced the swamp but was not a problem as we only sleep in the room and gone all day.
Every night about 6:30 water poured out of the ceiling around the light fixture. We reported it but no action was taken or any response. There was a constant language barrier if you complained. Room cleanup was done daily but most of the time after 5PM when you are getting cleaned up from the days events. Mosquitoes were present every day. A can of Raid helped.
There were a constant supply of flies on the food in the buffet. There didn't appear to be any attempt to keep them away.
Chicken was usually available and was usually fully cooked , more than I can say about the other meats .Hamburger was always raw on the inside. The vegetables were not always clean as there was dirt in the cauliflower and broccoli on three occasions. Coffee was slow being served but when it came you were entertained by the server. In the a la carte restaurants the Asian was very good.The American was take what you get as there was no consistency to what you order. Medium well ment anything from rare to well done. The French was not that enjoyable as the waiters were arguing and loud. I never got the coffee I ordered.
Bar service was slow even when you tipped regularly. The lobby bar is a big echo chamber and the service is very poor. Twice we gave our order and it never arrived. You could die of thirst before you get a drink.
The chair situation will last forever as the pool area is no big enough for the volume of people. More chairs would only create more problems walking. The beach is nice with mostly sand and little rocks. They attempt to keep the seaweed cleaned up as it washes in constantly. They don't maintain the rule that any beach chairs that have towels or other personal item on them will have them removed at 7AM if not occupied. One security officer did remove items from a few unused chairs once during the week.
I know we are in their country but if they are going to advertise for us to rent their facilities in English, then there should be some effort to have more English or whatever language spoken by more of their staff.
Their attempt at entertainment was quite often the sound of drums which is very nerve racking. One night in the buffet they had the constant sound of a loud drum that never changed. Drums with a band is fine but solo is unbearable.
For me the resort was no ready to have guests as they were constantly replacing tiles in the hallways and the walls and painting was not complete. A major attitude adjustment of a large portion of the staff is needed.
Check out was easy but then who else is up before 6AM at a resort.
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Shannon & Kirk ~ Alberta |
My husband and I stayed at EdenH from March 13 – 20 and I will admit I was nervous going with the reviews being all over the place.
Check in: We reserved a regular Deluxe suite and had green bracelets. There was no one else at the desk when we checked in, so it went very smoothly. We inquired about upgrading, but felt it was not worth the extra cost. We were not treated any differently with our green bracelets than anyone else.
The Room: Our room was in the fist building on the second floor, room 1202. I was worried that we were going to face the outside of the resort, but it faced the fountains. We had a room on the very corner, so there was no traffic going by our room at all hours, it was quite quiet. There were mosquitos in our room on occasion, but I really didn’t think anything of it, I’m from Canada and used to them. I did bring a fly swatter with me (which I left behind) and it came in handy. We left the patio doors open at night a couple of times, as I prefer the Carribean breeze over a/c, so that resulted in mosquitos being in the room – I can’t blame anyone but myself! I ended up with one mosquito bite the whole week and my hubby didn’t get any. Our maid came late most days, and it was usually when we were back at the room for a siesta, so we didn’t get our room cleaned everyday – but that’s not a big deal. Our fridge didn’t get filled everyday, but that didn’t ruin my trip at all. The only complaint – was that the fridge person showed up at 7:30am one day – ugh!
The Food - Buffet/ a la carte restaurant The food was very good in the buffet, with lots of selection. Getting beverages was sometimes slow, but I would usually just bring my own water – I also have no problem getting up to serve myself – I have two arms and two legs and am quite capable. We ate at the beach buffet a couple of times and it was decent – if you like fried foods, not saying that’s all they had though!
There was also yummy fish and chicken. We ate at three of the a la cartes, American, Asian, and Italian. We really enjoyed the hibachi at the Asian and the American was excellent as well. The Italian was ok, nothing spectacular.
We didn’t line up for the Asian – we walked up around 7pm and got a sitting for 9:15pm. We lined up at the Italian at about 6:10pm and waited about a 1/2hr to get a beeper and I believe we ate by 7:30pm. At the American we lined up around 6:30pm and waited in line for a 1/2hr for a beeper and ate at about 8pm. It’s really not that big a deal. I don’t understand why people are in such a rush on their vacation – where do you have to be?!? Aren’t you on vacation to get away from the rushing and hurrying? Sit back and relax!
Bars – I can’t comment much here as we only went to The Tanhtra Lounge once and had way too much fun that we don’t remember anything of the night (it was the next morning that our fridge person showed up at 7:30am – LOL). Obviously the drinks must have been great! We sat at the Sports Bar a couple times having a few drinks, service there was good. The Lobby Bar seemed to be quiet during the day, so it was a good spot to get drinks. Be warned that no bartender makes the same drink the same way – it’s always an adventure! So if you don’t like a new drink you’ve tried, try another bartender! We didn’t do a whole lot of drinking so didn’t get to know any of the bartenders, but they were always friendly when they served us and had no problem filling our bubba kegs.
Beach/Pools
The beach was beautiful and quite clean. It is maddening to see guests that litter on the beach, it’s just so inconsiderate – and the sand is not your personal ashtray!!! The chair game is still going on. We were up every morning by 6 or 7am (except the one day) but we did not resort to the “saving”
of chairs. If everyone would stop saving chairs there would be enough for everyone. If we got a chair – great – if not, we laid on the beach. Most times we could get a chair by the pool. We also would sit in the courtyard during the day and read – lots of chairs there and it’s very quiet.
Tours:
We went on Xtreme Buggies and we honestly thought it was a total rip off and waste of money. It was $140 for both of us for a half day tour. We spent most of the time on the back of the truck getting to their starting point.
They take you down a dirt road on the buggies and it’s very dusty – definitely recommend wearing goggles and a bandana around your face. They don’t provide helmets. They take you to a spot to try coffee and cocoa and then onto a cave that you can swim in, then to Macoa Beach. It was pretty boring. You drive on the paved road for a good portion and that seems to be kind of dangerous.
When I think of dune buggying, I think of off roading.
We also did the Bavaro Safari and it was pretty fun and interesting. It’s a full day and pretty informative.
The Gym/Spa
We used the gym a few times while there. The equipment was adequate. There were two treadmills, an elliptical and an exercise bike for cardio. Then in the weight room there was a universal weight machine, flat bench, two decline benches, free weights, and then there was another room with a chest press and an incline bench. The gym got VERY hot and humid. They have air conditioning in there, but they keep the doors open, so it’s gets very warm. They also have a water dispenser in there. We didn’t use the Spa at all.
The shows
We enjoyed the shows that we watched. The Vegas style dancers were awesome.
The circus act was very good as well. The painter was pretty neat. If you don’t enjoy the show one night, you’re sure to enjoy it the next.
Overall we had an excellent time. If your there to critique every little thing, then yes, you will find things to nit pick, but if you’re there to relax and enjoy yourself and not worry about things, you’ll have an awesome time!
Special thanks to Mike for taking the time to teach us about Dominican Rum and Cigars and for taking us out to the super market. Mike is very helpful and does a lot for EdenH. We dropped off some school supplies and other items to his office and it was absolutely FULL of donated supplies that he delivers.
Thanks Mike!
| EdeNH Real Arena Punta Cana | Robin |
We spent a week at this resort in April. We had read a lot of negative reviews and had thought about switching resorts. We did decide to go there and wish we had not. We had a reasonable time and enjoyed the lovely weather and a chance to get away together but we did not care for this resort. The rooms (Paradise Club) are quite spacious and well appointed but some of views from the balconies leave a lot to be desired. Rooms with views over the construction area should be discounted not sold as premium rooms. There were some issues with plumbing in our room and the room next to us. Maintenance tried to fix them but without much success. There are 4 floors on each building and you can use the stairs or elevators. The elevators have a very strange smell. I had to hold my breath. Better to take the stairs. There are 4 pools including a large main pool (excluding the children's wading pool) with bars at each of them. The tile at the bottom of the pools is a rusty yellow which gives the water a greenish hue rather than the turquoise blue most pools have. But they were clean and did not smell of chlorine. There is a significant lack of chairs at this resort and people get up very early to claim their chairs. The buffet was adequate with salad bar, bread bar, dessert bar, pasta station and carvery as well as a long counter with pre made dishes (duplicated on the other side). The buffet is very institutional in nature. The A La Carte seating system is cumbersome and unnecessary. Rather than pre-booking reservations ( like at every other resort I have been to), they ask you to line up, fully dressed for dinner to get a spot. If they don't have a table they "may" give you a blinker which lights up when a table is ready. This system is not consistent. Our blinker never lit up - we just went back and usually at some point they would seat us. The hostesses seemed very stressed and disorganized. They never crossed names off after they seated people so they had no idea where they were at. Some guests were going on lists at several a la cartes and taking the first one they got called for. If you wish to eat at the sushi bar you can go right into the Asian restaurant. Otherwise you wait for both the Hibachi tables and the a la carte menu tables. The biggest line ups were for this restaurant. The food was fair to good (hit and miss) at the a la cartes and many of the items on the menus are not available. There is a lunch area near the pools and a barbecue on the beach. The lunch restaurant was very busy with long lineups for food. It serves hot dogs and hamburgers and chicken as well as salads and some side dishes like baked potatoes. The barbecue was never that busy. A lady with a big canoe full of fruit is located near the big pool and you can get fresh fruit on a skewer. The drinks at the bars are very weak and service is very slow. They do not have enough bar staff to accommodate all the guests at this at capacity resort. There is a lobby bar which again is very loud - you can't hold a conversation and a sports bar which is quieter (go figure) plus the casino where you can get a drink while you play. The rooftop bar opens late but is quite pleasant and is open to the evening breezes. It gets very busy however and there was only 1 bartender trying to serve all those people. The pool areas are very noisy with loud repetitive music on the speakers all day. There is no quiet area. The beach is nice, deep but not wide and fairly packed with people and chairs. Very few people actually swimming in the ocean. Wavy w