Well, where to start? Before going to the Dominican for the first time I was a little leary - especially given the fact that you read so many mixed reviews on various websites.

We (my husband, myself, and our two boys 6 and almost 4) had an AWESOME time here and were pleasantly surprised!

NOTE: I have been reading some of the reviews since our return and I have to say that if you are going to this resort and are looking for online advice - keep in mind that everyone has different expectations and opinions, so you have to take the good with the bad and go with an open mind and make your own assessment.

Don't let what the reviewers say sway you one way or the other. One review posted on another site was from someone who stayed there the same week as us and yet we (and several other people that we met there) had an entirely different experience....I'm sorry they were so unlucky and yes, it could happen easily (thefts, things breaking down etc), and I'm not saying it didn't, but I think that could happen anywhere and at any hotel. It is surprising though, that one person could have such an entirely different experience in the same week at the same place.

Anyway, having said that...here is my humble review and my many reasons why I would recommend this resort....

1. The Flight: Our flight was with Sky Service out of Toronto and we have no complaints at all. We had a very slight delay leaving from TO but it wasn't that big of a deal. The flight was very smooth and going through customs in PP was not a problem.

2. Bus Ride: Ok I was a bit worried about the bus ride given all the negative 'press' it has received here but like another reviewer posted, I at least was mentally prepared. I have to say that even though our drive was FAST and a bit bumpy it was not at all scary. I mean we had two little boys with us so of course I was worried about the ride.. but guess what? They slept the whole way!! So I figure if two little boys can make it without any complaints - then so can the adults! Go to the bathroom before you leave the airport if you really think you can't wait out the ride and look at it as part of the adventure!!!

3. Check in - Hotel: The hotel staff was pleasant and efficient on check in and a porter helped us with our bags to our room. We got in very late (1 a.m. I think) so there was not a whole lot going on and our first night was uneventful. They had put us in building 1 - central to the disco, bar and pool - which they thought would be good with us having little kids - but the noise through the night was not good. I went to the front desk the next day and asked if we could move to a quieter building and they accommodated happily. I had to go back more than once before the room was actually ready, but it wasn't a big deal - they were always very nice about it and when we did change rooms we were very happy.

4. Rooms: Building #4 is farther from the action but worth it...we had a third floor room which was also very nice because it had vaulted ceilings and appeared a bit bigger and more spacious the way it was laid out. The rooms were VERY clean. I did not see one bug (and believe me if I did you would know about it!!) and certainly not any rats like someone else had posted! Where were they????
The maids did a wonderful job keeping our room clean and fully stocked with toilet paper, kleenex, and towels - lovely swan shapes and fresh flowers every day. I did leave a little tip every other day on the bed ($1 US and sometimes a little gift) so that may be why we got such good service? I can't say for sure b/c the service was the same on the days I didn't leave anything. Maybe we just got lucky? I do know that a couple of people we met had strangers enter their rooms unnannounced and for unknown reasons? If that had happened to me I would have freaked! So, be cautious and aware. Happily I have no complaints here at all. I actually also found the whole resort to be very clean. Maids were always cleaning in the public bathrooms and in the hallway, the pool was very clean and kept up and there was never an issue for us when it came to cleanliness.

5. Grounds: The location of the resort itself is very peaceful and remote. I felt safe (always security guards patrolling the grounds- they were very subtle though) and I was very relaxed here - even with having two little ones to watch! The beach is SOOOOO beautiful here and worth the walk down. Okay - here is another area that I have to write about - the STAIRS! I was extremely worried about the stairs and whether or not my kids would be able to trek down every day. Seriously - it' snot that bad! There are about 80 steps (give or take a few) - with landings every six steps or so. One landing is actually very big and spacious (great photo opp) and a spot to stop if you are really that tired. But, like someone else posted - unless you have a physical impairment or real adversity to steps - they really aren't a big deal. Again, judging by the fact that our two little boys could do it without complaining....you get the picture!

6 Food - I thought the Buffet was very good. There was always something for everyone - with different themes offered each night.. Every morning there were fresh omelettes (or however you wanted your eggs - even plain scrambled as we did for our 3 year old was not a problem for the chef! Just ask and you shall receive) We also enjoyed the pasta bar at every lunch and dinner time (again, you could have the pasta made to order - even if you wanted it plain with parmesan cheese!) I didn't find the food very exotic - kind of bland even - but that was good - it meant we didn't have to deal with heartburn or unwanted reactions to unknown dishes! There was always some new things to try and service was good at most times. Some days we saw missing cutlery or napkins, but really - not a big deal people! We were on holidays so we sure didn't let little things like that bother us. Food wise for the kids we stuck with what we knew and never had a problem. We also enjoyed the burgers, hot dogs and fries at the pool snack bar and the fresh fruit (mangos, pineapple, bananas, watermelon) was DELICIOUS and something I couldn't resist!!
We only had a chance to try one a la cart - the Italian - and we found it to be good- taste wise. Not an outstanding experience - but it was still nice to get a bit dressed up and enjoy a 'family' dinner together. We didn't have a chance to try the Brazilian.

7. The Pool/Swimming - I thought the pool was a great set up for families with children of varying ages. There's a smaller pool sectioned off that our 3 year old loved playing in and the bigger kids made great use of the other pool area which I think was no deeper than 4.5 feet....It was good b/c you could swim if you wanted OR the kids could pretty much swim on their own while we lounged closeby. Never worried about their safety as the layout of the pool area is pretty contained and so there was no way they could get too far....
Beach swimming - the water was rough- but it wasn't a big concern b/c of the age of our kids...they were content to run in and out and play in the sand. If you are going with plans to swim be prepared that there are often a lot of red flag days. Again, we didn't have any complaints in this department. It was amazingly beautiful and really one of the nicest beaches I've ever seen!

8. Kids Club/Staff/Animation Team: We checked out the "Kids Club" on day 1 and decided we weren't going to leave our kids there! It wasn't that there was anything wrong with it, but there was a language barrier, which I thought might pose a problem. The kids that were there seemed happy though and well attended. The girls that run it are very kind and friendly and they did make a point of meeting and greeting our boys every time (even with kisses!!) The staff is all very friendly and we enjoyed making new friends with them!

We just got home at 3:00 a.m. today from our week at the Occidental Allegro Playa Grande. My husband, my 16 year old son and 13 year old daughter and myself booked this trip through our travel agent. We were mostly thrilled with the vacation mostly due to the people we met from Canada that were staying there also. We established some lasting friendships.

Our biggest complaint was that there were only three or four staff members that could understand and speak english which was a big problem. It was very frustrating. They should teach them to be able to understand the basic questions guest would have such as; " may I have some red wine please? Can I have a napkin?, Can I have some water please? I had to request 5 times that one of our two rooms at least have a televison. We finally got one after three days, the other after 4 and neither worked. On the fifth day we had two tv's working. All could have been taken care of much easier if the staff understood what we were saying.

The music played at the pool each day was terrible. Much of the afternoon music was filled with obscenities which was very inappropriate for a family resort. They played the same thing every day, did the same dances, and the same MC spoke so fast in every language that noone understood anything he said. The dancers at the pool and in the evening did the same things over and over again and there was no where to go to escape it especially in the evenings. The last night there (Sunday) the costumes worn by the women were ridiculous. They were big women and they wore thongs!!! It was not pretty. There was no where quiet to sit and talk once the restaurant closed if you didn't want to watch the "show". The disco was too loud and the music again was terrible. Our kids were old enough to still be up at 11:00 but weren't allowed even with us at the disco. There was no choice but to go to bed at 11:00.

The brazilian restaurant was OK but needed more variety with the meat. We never got into the Italian as it was always either closed or booked. The buffet all day was great. Always something good to choose. Always hot!

I will write a somewhat extensive review as there are very few for this hotel.

Travelled from Feb.04 - Feb.18

Just to give a comparison and idea - We have travelled to Mexico several times ; Punta Cana and Costa Rica. We do not have high expectations when we travel abroad as we understand the differences etc., so in my review I will be as honest as possible.

Flight & Departure
We flew Skyservice out of Regina leaving a half hour late @ 07:30. Skyservice has never been my preference but when you have only two charters (Air Transat) you don't have a choice. Depending on what tour company you purchase from that's what you get stuck with. As normal Skyservice has not updated their seats - they are extremely uncomfortable for any flight over 5 hours. Please...just take a moment to put your hand on them and give them a push...they are almost like sitting on a wooden chair. We stopped over in Winnipeg to pick up a load also. Flight was smooth as we arrived in Puerto Plata a little late. When we arrived we were starving as we were only served breakfast yet we arrived in Puerto Plata at supper time. The charter flights are getting cheaper and cheaper by the year. O.K. enough venting about Skyservice.

Arrival
Arrival was smooth and effecient as we were wisked to our bus and off in no time. We arrived at our hotel about 2 hours later. It is one of the furthest....which we wanted to be away from Puerto Plata, Sosua & Caberete----the busy tourist areas.We arrived at our hotel and were given our room immediately. Safety deposit box was $32.00 for two weeks. A porter was called and took our luggage as we followed to our room.

As most of our room problems were encountered upon our arrival I will add the comments in this section. Like I said we never have huge expectations when travelling to the carribean as their customs and culture are much different. Upon getting into our room it seemed normal as any other. It looked clean, maybe a little dated with a few things broken etc., which is usually expected whether your at a 3 star or 5 star. After a few minutes we found that there was no screen on the door which unfortunately was going to be a problem as we like leaving the door open always. Secondly there was no remote for the t.v. No big deal I will just mosey on down and be polite and ask if they could possibly get a screen on the door and ask for a remote.So I went down and asked politely and they said they would see what they could do tomorrow ( we all know what that means) and they did give me a remote. We were their for two weeks so it might sound stupid but the screen was a big deal. While we were back at the room I found the remote they gave me did not work, secondly we looked in the bathroom and found most of the tiles coming off the wall which were rotted and moldy underneath.......As I said we understand the differences but this was actually gross to look at everytime you were in the bathroom especially showering. I always said I hate those people always complaining at the front desk.............well here I was, one of those people for the first time. Went back down and got another remote.

So at this time we are absolutely starving and need to eat.....Remember, first impressions are everything !!!!We get to the buffet and grab a plate without thinking and seeing if there are any tables first. No exaggeration we walked around the entire buffett about 5 times with full plates looking for a place to sit.If there was a table it was full of somebody elses left food and dirty glasses. Nobody stopped to help us or even clean a table. It was actually quite embarrassing as you started to feel like you were being watched. All I kept thinking was what did we do in booking this resort...Oh my God we are here for two weeks!!!!!HELP. But I kept a straight face and a positive attitude for again my wifes sake. Finally we just sat down at a dirty table and were asking the staff if they could please clean it and bring us some glasses and utensils. We also did this in a very polite way knowing you get what you ask for and it surely is not their fault. Well we did have the table finally cleaned but no utensils...We literally waited about 10 minutes at the table until we ate.......Our food was cold and we were very unhappy.

After having a somewhat of a small bit we left the restaurant to sit outside for a drink or TWENTY. At this time we were finally relaxing and said the first day or two is always about figuring the resort out etc., it will get better. So we had our drinks and were tired and went up to the room. I was about to open up the bed when I don't know why because it was very hard to see on the bedspread.......but there was a PILE of very small ants on the bed. Like I said we always expect a bug or two in the rooms whether you are in a 3 star or 5 star that is just the way it is but I just could not handle this on my bed. Needless to say I slept like a stiff rock all night covering my ears. I think my wife was ready to cry. We both woke up the next morning more tired than we were the night before.

I just had to try and change rooms....I hate doing this but I had to.....I went down and explained to them that it would be really appreciated.....Anyway to make a long story short they changed our room and it was like night and day. We were VERY HAPPY. It definately made our day...........That is one thing I can say is that this front desk staff seemed to more accomadating than other places we had stayed. I can't even describe how good of a feeling we had that day. So please judge for yourself as we just might have had some really bad luck with our room as the couple we met had no major complaints at all about their room.

Bars
They really only have one bar running during the day which is right by the pool. The beer is cold (No bottles) but I will have to stay this was the worst resort when it came to tropical drinks etc. Everything was pre-mixed in big jugs.....really sweet and they all had this horrible after taste. So it was pretty much rum and beer. It was too bad for the ladies as they would have liked to get some fresh fruit and rum drinks etc., even if they would have charged for them? The service was good if you were polite. This bar closed at around 11:30 I think ( I really was not keeping track of time) and then the disco opened which had a bar and served the same thing. There was also a bar by the tennis courts which I spent the majority of the holiday at. Very quiet and they served bottled presedente !!!!!! It was a great place as not too many people new about it. Jesus was the bartender and he was a fantastic individual......I got to know him very well. If you see him tell him Reggie says Hi.!!! This bar seems to open sparodically to know rhyme or reason...When opened it opens about 17:00 and closes at 23:00 or earlier, Just depends.

Rooms
Back to the rooms......excluding my first comments. The rooms are normal as the bathrooms if anything could use some TLC. Sorry I forgot to tell you about one more thing on our first room.....the toilet would take about 20 minutes to refill after flushing and the gurggling and humming almost drove you nuts. So in essence if someone used the toilet you had to wait about 20 minutes to use it again and lastly our air conditioning banged all night (there was metal on metal hitting somewhere) I can't believe I forgot this part as this added to us almost going crazy the first night. O.K. back to the regular room. Everything seemed to work fine and they had satellite t.v. that actually worked. We even got to watch tidbits of the olympics. We had hot water most of the time. I think there was a couple of days when we had to shower with cold water...Nothing knew. In our new room we did have some ants coming out of the overflow drain on the sink. We just plugged it up with toilet paper and it stopped ? Other than that we were happy with our room and did not expect much more.

Pool
This pool is very basic as there is no meandering water ways etc., No problem with getting chairs in the morning. You did not have to be up at 07:00 a..m. to get a chair although you could not wait until noon and expect to get one. The worst thing about the pool area is the music they play every single day.......The exact same CD for two weeks straight...I was ready to smash it...and then the guy gets on the microphone every two minutes and screems and shouts in spanish....He barely spoke any english so it was quite annoying after awhile listening to this guy trying to make out what he is saying. Oh well!!! and I'm not even that old yet. That's about all I can say about the pool as their is not much too it.

Beach
Absolutely awseome......Rough, yes. But awesome. It was a very nice change to the calm waters of Punta Cana.........This area of the coast can have some huge waves coming in and their was indeed some days with these big daddies......People have to very careful as one of the days a guy got taken out and was screaming for help. He had to be saved and brought in. Very decieving and dangerous.....be careful. The beach and sand are great very nice and soft. Very nice backdrop with the cliffs and you can also take a nice long walk all the way to other end which is the Playa Grande public beach. It is too far away to even interfere with the hotel beach. The hotel beach is nice and private. Go down a little earlier and pick out some chairs in a nice area. There are indeed alot of stairs to go down and climb back up but no big deal....It's not like your going back and forth all day. They have a bar set up with a lunch area for salads and simple BBQ stuff. Bathrooms are also fairly clean so there is everything you need down there.

Restaurants
Buffet - The usual.......Nobody should ever complain about these buffets. There is always something to eat. Salads galore, soup, bread, vegetables and all kinds of other dishes including the pasta bar. If you go hungry then you have a problem. Is it the best buffet I have seen...No. but like I said if your going hungry you have a problem. Stay home cause your way too fussy. The house wine they serve at this resort is probably the worst I have had. I think it is watered down or something. Nonethless I still drank it.

Italian - Nothing special. Pretty cheesy a la cartes. Probably the worst a la cartes we have been to. We went here twice but personally I would not waste time dressing up and putting on pants when you can go casual to the buffet.

Brazilian - Nothing even close to special. All meat. We went once and did not go back. It was obvious everyone else felt the same as throughout our two weeks I don't know how many times they were walking around the pool area trying too fill the restaurant up as nobody was signing up. (although full to them is about 15 people)

Like I said I would not waste my time at the two a la cartes. Even the atmosphere is real cheesy. I know much should not be expected at these resorts but these one took the cake!!! Deserts are brutal... Not taste to very few and if there is it is not very good. This is opinions from all four of us and honestly I can usually eat any desert.

Disco
The disco was as normal as they all are. Loud and big and never packed. I am not too much into this anymore but nonethless we had went two nights....one with all four of us and the other was just me and my buddy... A disco is a disco....I guess they can all be a little fun or the place to hang when your tying one on which me and my buddy did on one of the nights.
I will not put in too much detail as my review will probably not get printed just in case the hotel reads it........But what I can say to very clear is that the bartenders are fabulous, whatever bar it may be.........The problem I have is all the animation (Fun Club) staff you see all day doing all the activities.............well they think they are better than all the other workers it seems. Many of them are usually in the disco at night attempting to "dazzle the girls" or whatever...The one night all four of us were there we put 4 chairs around a table, obviously for the four of us. My wife got up to go to the bathroom and withing seconds one of the "funclub" girls walked over and grabbed the chair moving it over to the next table. (It was very obvious that we just walked in and got these chairs for the four of us) She never said a word or even looked at us. So I got up and walked over to the guy she was sitting with ( another hotel worker) and said we are using that chair. I think he got the drift cause there was no problem and I took the chair? Secondly, the night me and my buddy were there we were getting very intoxicated by the end of the night.......It was obvious these "fun club" guys still some with there shirts on were stalking us to see how drunk we really were. When we were about to leave we got approached by one of them to pay for "some action" and another to pay for "some stuff"........No word of a lie..........The fact that they approached us was not the problem as "whatever". But what peed us off is these guys were walking around thinking they had control over the resort or something. Anyway the words we gave them I can't print and they backed off in a hurry probably fearing for their jobs. I need to reiterate if anything, the bartenders were taking care of the tourists and making sure they were safe, happy and having a good time. THE BARTENDERS HAD NO INVOLVEMENT IN ANY OF THIS. It bothers me that these "funclub" guys are so nice and happy with all the little kids and of course young girls........yeah right. The hotel better get a grip on this before something bad happens. Anyway enough about the disco I sound like an old man.

Golf
I have recently just started golfing but the couple we went with our golfers. Anyway we all played a couple of rounds.....Absolutely amazing course. The scenery is breathtaking at times. That's about all I can say. If you golf go......If you don't go anyway. We were told by another guy that on one of the days both Brad Pitt and Robert De Nero landed with a helicopter and played a game.

Tours
We are sick of the touristy tours (jeep safari etc.,) so we took a private tour to see the real domican and back country that most people would never see. We went to a local pool hall and played some pool with the locals over a few cerveza. We then went to a local cantina where within minutes I think the entire town was there as they must have heard some westerners were their. So they pumped up the music and we were dancing and buying everyone cerveza. We went to a local dominican house for lunch where his mother cooked up some fish........It was very sad to see the living conditions yet they were so greatfull to have us all in their "home". We of course left her some money for having us. I will never forget that. When your driving to the resort you will see a huge house on the right hand side off the highway up on the hill. As the owners were away and our tour guide new the people looking after the house we were allowed up to take a look. Just Beautiful. The owner is apparently one of the Richest dominicans. Apparently the dominican government will not allow him to buy anymore land in the country as he owns so much. We did many other things as it was a great experience and we learnt alot.

General
As we like checking out different hotels I probably would not go back to this hotel right away. It's very iffy if I would recommend it, although in saying that we actually ended up having a great holiday. The beach is definately the nicest on the North coast, I would say better than any other hotel you will find coming out of Puerto Plata, so that in itself makes a difference. If you looking for tons of activities and many good restaurants etc. this probably is not the place. We like booking hotels away from the tourist areas such as Puerto Plata itself and Sosua and Caberete and we got exactly what we wanted in that regard. Away from everything else and secluded.We were looking for a smaller hotel and something quiet for a relaxing two weeks and this hotel fullfilled our needs. If you are young and looking for continious action this probably is not the place. I definately would not rule out going back sometime in the future just for it's quiet, secluded location.

We spent the week of March 16th at the beautiful Occidental Allegro Playa Grande. We were quite concerned about what we were getting ourselves into because of some of the negative reviews and the cheap price, but without a doubt this was our best family vacation to the Dominican. We have stayed at the Jack Tar, the Gran Ventana and the Dorado Club and this resort was far better than any of them. It is very remote and very quiet, unlike hotels in the Dorado complex. Our trip for four cost less than $3,500 CND and because there was no price break for kids we had two rooms.

We flew down with Air Canada vacations and everything went quite well. The seating is much better than other charters and you can reserve seats without paying the ridiculous price charged by other carriers, this relieves so much stress having to worry if you will be able to get four seats together especially checking in at the circus in Puerto Plata. The only down side of our flight was there was no duty free coming home and two of the washrooms were out of order (Thank God no one had the Aztec two step) Remember to grab a couple beers and soft drinks at the airport for the drive.

The hotel is very well laid out and is extremely well kept. Our adjoining rooms were facing the ocean/golf course and they were spotless. We had a problem with the AC and it took a couple days to get it sorted out so the manager sent us a fruit tray and two bottles of wine. The rooms are nothing fancy but the whole idea is not to be in them so who really cares.

The pool is quite large and is very well laid out. The pool games are at one end and the kid area is at the other, so no problems when the games are on. No one seemed to rush down every morning and reserve chairs so you could always find a two spots together.

The beach is amazing! It is close to nine stories to get down to it so you want to make sure you bring what you need, you don’t want to be running back to the room for anything. If you walk to the far end of the beach there are small food stands and of course cold cerveza, well worth the walk you can have a lobster lunch for less than 20 bucks. There is a small souvenir shop on the beach so you can get all the junk to take home you need.

I wasn’t going to golf but after seeing the course I had to. I went after 3:00 twilight with clubs, green fees and caddie it was 100 US, not bad for one of the nicest courses you will ever see. Don’t buy your green fees at the hotel, it is cheaper at the club house. They let my 12 year old son come with me. He drove the cart and had a great time.

We did two day trips, snorkeling and shopping in Cabaret. The snorkeling was excellent and well worth the price. I don’t know what people are complaining about when they say the taxis are too expensive our shopping trip was over an hour away and the driver waited for us for two hours. It cost us 60 bucks for the cab but when you think about it, it cost more than that for one way to the airport and our gas isn’t 2 bucks a litre.

The food was ok, no one starved and my kids are fussy eaters. The two restaurants are quite good. The Italian wasn’t the best so big deal we went to the buffet later and filled up.

My advice for those going down is to remember you are in the Dominican so don’t expect a Holiday Inn. We took lots of junk food, air mattresses, and pool toys so we didn’t have to buy them at the expensive hotel store. If you don’t want to pay the inflated prices at the store bring what you need with you. Hotel stores are expensive where ever you go and here is no exception.

We just returned from a week at Allegro Playa Grande booked as a last minute deal with Air Canada Vacations.

We enjoyed our stay at the hotel – it is a small one with about 300 rooms. This gave us the opportunity to get to know more of our fellow travelers than I think we would have at a larger hotel. There were people from all areas of Canada, France and Germany.

The rooms were very nice – very clean and well kept. On the week that we went they were having some difficulties with some main plumbing lines so there were days when we didn’t have hot water at some times. At first it was annoying, but when I saw the workers trying to deal with the problem and not having a proper shut off valve for the hot water where they need to work I knew they were trying their best. The front desk was quick to tell us what was going on and we didn’t get any run around.

The food at the hotel was fine. There were a few people who needed Imodium, but I think that is simply the mix of different food and lots of drinking all day. We ate well everyday and there was a good variety of food for everyone. For picky kids, there was pizza most of the day. They had a food station at the beach with hamburgers and hotdogs. At breakfast they had 2 egg bars and fruit smoothies. The Brazilian and Italian a la cartes were very nice – we especially enjoyed the brazilian. You book the a la cartes in the morning of the day you want to go.

The staff was very friendly and provided very good service. They were willing to accommodate special requests and went out of their way to make our visit a pleasant one. We have spent a week in Punta Cana at a 4.5 star and I found this staff much friendlier. Most staff spoke some English, but if they didn’t they would quickly find someone who did so that every need was met.

The pool was very nice. It was kept very clean and there were always activities going on at the pool – volleyball, aerobics and water polo. Staff encouraged everyone to try. They had some fun games in the afternoon with teams that were great. There were plenty of chaise lounges by the pool.

The beach – if you don’t like to walk down stairs you wouldn’t like this resort as the beach is a walk from the hotel and about 90 stairs down (hotel is on the cliff). We didn’t mind. While the beach is beautiful, it is not really a good swimming beach. There were very strong waves every day – the kids had a blast boogie boarding, but that was about all they could safely do out above their waists. We had one yellow flag day and the rest were red flag days. The beach area was clean with lots of chaise lounges and a beach bar/grill. There were also washrooms so you could spend the whole day down there. They do have a lifeguard out. Windsurfers and kayaks were available, but the water was too rough. I would caution anyone with small children to not let them go in the water on a red flag day as the undertow is very strong.

Several people at the resort lost their glasses in water (after being thrown by a big wave) – both prescription and sunglasses – when they were only out a bit above their knees. If you go and meet someone who this happens to they can go to the tent store and they can find someone who can use a metal detector to help find them (for a small price).

Being a small hotel, there were not a lot of activities going on. I would have liked to have seen some stuff directed at the teens. They were able to participate in activities, but there was nothing specifically for them. I think this will change over time. Occidental only opened this resort under their banner a few months ago.

Side trips – we went snorkeling with the people from the water equipment hut - $30 – and got the same tour as the hotel $45 one. It was really good – went to a yellow coral reef and deeper blue pool as well as to a beach where we were able to mingle with locals most of whom were not selling stuff. It was nice to see kids from different countries and speaking different languages playing together.

Would I go back? I might, but I think I would try another place first as I have not traveled a lot. Would I recommend this place – yes I would, but would caution that it is pretty remote and you can’t just walk into town to look around. Golfers loved it!

Just returned to Ontario following a 1 week family vacation to the Allegro Playa Grande in Puerto Plata Dominican Republic. I only have one word that truly describes this place. FABULOUS""""Having travelled to several islands and DR 4 times,this resort was pleansantly surprising condsidering some of the negative reviews I read. What is wrong with you people? I think some of you need a serious touch of reality, and get off that high horse you are on. Some of the complaints I read about this resort would not even come close to ending up on my list of complaints. There is nit picky and then there are nit pickers like you and I can not stand people like you. This resort was wonderful , food great , entertainment very good, beautiful beach, warm friendly staff doing everything possible to make your stay enjoyable, clean rooms, well airconditioned, beautiful pool, games room , disco, shops on sight... and the list goes on and on.

If I were required to list some complaints , or suggestions, I only have a few minor recommendations. First , it would have been beneficial to have a washroom on the bus travelling ninety minutes from the airport, for children especiially. My kids are usually very patient and co operative but my son had a hard time waiting from airport to hotel. Also my 3 kids were sooo disappointed that they were not allowed to go to the disco, following the nights entertainmentn which started at 9 45 pm. I think it would have been nice to have a kids disco between 8:00 to 9:30 during that lull time after dinner before entertainment. This way the kids would have something to look forward to during that time. My kids luckily hung out at the games room during this time, but not every one likes doing that. They were in Cuba last year, and were spoiled because they went to disco and had a blast. I had 3 long faces for several days when they found out they could not go to disco, My only question is WHY NOT?

My husband, my mom and myself visited the Dominician February 26 to March 5, 2005. This was our first winter trip to somewhere warm and were very impressed. The 1 and a half hour bus ride from the airport was a real eye opener. You see how these people live and can't believe it. Their houses are basically shacks right on the side of the highway but they are always clean and dressed well. Made us appreciate what we have. My husband was a little worried at what kind of place we would be staying at but was very relieved when we arrived at the resort.

We read the reviews from other people before we left and don't know where they stayed. This place was more than we expected.

When we got off the bus, we walked up a step to the lobby. It's open on all sides with a roof made out of palm tree branches and the floor was marble. Very nice. The restuarant was the same way. Our room was a typical room with two queen beds, balcony, air conditioning and towels folded into swans with fresh flowers on them. Each day we would leave a dollar for the maids. When we came back to our room everything was clean and our shoes were lined up. Our stuff hadn't been touched.

The food was very good and plenty of it. Each meal had a variety of everything. There were somethings that we didn't like or care to try like the mashed bananas but there are things at home we don't like either. We always found something we liked. We didn't starve. You could eat at almost any time of day if you wanted to, there was always food somewhere.

It was hard to decide what to drink, the names are different from what we are use to. You just had to try them to find out what you liked. Pina Coladas were the best at the Moonlight bar, just like a milk shake. We didn't see anyone falling down drunk. With all you can drink we thought there would be.

They had entertainment everynight on the stage. Some of it was so funny, my face hurt from laughing. Some shows we didn't care for. Becareful if you don't like to volunteer, the staff pull people from the crowd to go up on stage. The staff love to dance and will ask the crowd to join in. The staff were so friendly and happy and they seem to remember you when they saw you each day. They didn't expect to be tipped for anything.

The resort is off by itself unlike other resorts that are right in the towns or close by. The closest town is San Juan, about a 10 minute drive. We visited San Juan with people that we met at the resort, Karl and Nicole. We took a cab (van) that cost $25 US for as long as you wanted. The driver stayed beside the cab until you were ready to leave. It was an experience to see this town, lots of shops, their supermarkets, people sitting along the streets on their motorcycles, selling fresh meat on the streets, a very different kind of life than we are use to. Having the resort away from that was nice. You didn't have the locals hanging out around the resort.

The beach was beautiful. It's a nice five minute walk. You have to walk down about 80 stairs, about 6 at a time then a landing, but the view on the way down is worth it. They have umbrella's made of palm tree leaves and quite a few trees for shade. It was so hot in the sun that it was really nice to have the shade. There are lounge chairs but you needed to get down to the beach pretty early to get one. Or wait until someone leaves. The water was so nice and warm even though the waves were so powerful. We were in the water everyday even though some were red flag days.

The pool was refreshing after you were done on the beach. It's plenty big enough, you weren't bumping into each other. It also has lounge chairs but no shade during the day.

Ola Amigos!

My boyfriend and I (aged 23 and 21, respectively) stayed at the Allegro Playa Grande from February 26th to March 5th, 2005. We’re both university students, and were looking for a vacation that was relaxing yet fun. It was my first trip to the Dominican Republic, having already travelled to St. Lucia, Mexico and Cuba, and my boyfriend’s first trip down south. Compared to the 5 star resorts I have stayed at in the previously mentioned vacations, this 3 1/2 star resort lacks very little, if anything, in terms of provided an amazing and memorable vacation.

We booked with Air Canada Vacations, and have no complaints with the flight or booking. Everything went as smoothly as it could.

The trip from the airport to the hotel is a little long, about an hour and 15 minutes or so, but well worth it once you get there. The transfer was of course pre-arranged through Air Canada Vacations, all you had to do was look for the rep, and they directed you to the correct bus. The bus is air conditioned and comfortable, and I never once feared for my life. The driving is quite different from what we experience here at home, but I’m assuming the drivers are well trained and very experienced.

We didn’t arrive at the hotel until late Saturday night, around 11:30pm or so, and check-in was a breeze. I got in line while by boyfriend waited for our bags to get off the bus. We were in our room within 15 minutes of arriving. However, they only gave us one key, but it never posed a problem throughout the week.

Resort: Relatively small, only 300 rooms, but I found it a perfect size. It wasn’t too much of a walk to get to anything (other than the beach, and still, that wasn’t bad). The grounds were kept almost immaculately clean. There were always staff members out there early every morning, and all throughout the day, picking up any fallen leaves or anything else that didn’t belong. The pathway down to the beach is lined with palm trees and is a beautiful walk in the early evening.

Food: Sometimes great, sometimes good, but never terrible. I had a few complaints, but that’s just me. My boyfriend loved everything he put on his plate. Breakfasts were great, with a fantastic egg bar and fresh fruit smoothie bar (tip: definitely try the smoothies, they’re amazing). The sausage was kind of like hot dogs, but good nonetheless. Never ate lunch at the buffet, but ate the wonderful pizza at the pool snack bar, and they had burgers, hotdogs and pork chops at the beach snack bar. Dinners were wonderful as well. One night they moved the entire buffet outside and had all the tables set up on the pool deck with candles. A very nice ambience. We ate at the Brazilian a la carte restaurant, which was delicious, however, only for meat lovers. They bring you about 7 or 8 different types of meat on skewers. Hint, go hungry, it’s a lot of food! Overall, food was about a 3.5-4 out of 5.

Drinks: All fantastic. Presidente beer was delicious, although light. Mixed drinks were always made strong enough, and if you wanted more booze, all you had to do was ask. Never had to wait long to get a drink.

Entertainment: Always entertaining. Sunday night was the most amazing magic show I’ve ever seen (with Fernando), don’t miss it. Some nights were better than others, but they were always good for a laugh. Also, before the show starts, the male staff are always seeking out willing female participants to dance with on stage. Those Dominicans are amazing dancers, really fun to watch.

Disco: Usually a pretty intimate affair, not too many people made it. I suppose the sun really sucks the energy out of a lot of people, including ourselves. We’re pretty big drinkers, but only made it to the disco twice. By the time the show was done at 11, I think most people were ready to pack it in. However, if you do make it, drinks are included, the music is good to dance to, and if you’re hungry when you get out of there at 2am, the pool snack bar stays open as late as the disco for those drunken binges we all succumb to once in a while ;) The night we arrived, the disco was closed, however when we walked down to the beach, the party seemed to have been moved down there. That was pretty neat, considering a late night beach party isn’t something that we can often engage in around home.

Room: Average, nothing too special. Comparable to a normal hotel room. We didn’t spend a lot of time in the room anyways. We had requested one king size bed, and arrived to find two queen size, but it wasn’t a problem. The sliding glass door to the balcony was a tad broken, but again, we didn’t really mind, it still opened. Very clean. Hot water sometimes unavailable, but sometimes a cold shower feels great after a hot day in the sun.

Pool: We spent some time at the pool, but more at the beach. However, the pool was very clean, a perfect temperature, and about 4 ½ feet deep. There was pool volleyball, water aerobics and water polo everyday for those who enjoy water activities.

Beach: Fabulous. The view from the top of the cliff is breath-taking. Absolutely gorgeous. It is a bit of a walk, but nothing that would kill you. Including the wooden steps, and the stone ones at the bottom, there were 96 steps to the beach. It seems like a lot, but it really isn’t that bad, and so very worth it. If you want a lounge chair, you need to be there pretty early to save them with towels. I went down at around 9ish everyday and there were usually plenty available at that time, but went fast. By 10am, you’d probably have a hard time finding some. The waves are rather big, but most people can handle them. Personally, they took me down a few times when I wasn’t paying attention, however, I’m pretty petite, and I saw kids out there my size and smaller that were having a great time with no trouble. There was a yellow flag from Saturday until Wednesday, and Thursday until Saturday was a red flag, but the red flag days didn’t seem too drastically different from the others. My boyfriend still went boogie boarding on Friday and lives to tell about it today. Overall, you will not find a better beach, it’s just gorgeous.

Golf: We didn’t golf, it is very expensive. However, those who we talked to that played it said it was very challenging, but just beautiful. I walked around it a bit in the evening when players were finished their rounds and the scenery was breath-taking. Watch out for the security guards though, apparently some people who were walking on the course taking pictures were escorted off, luckily, I managed to avoid them.

Staff: Fabulous. The most energetic, polite and fun staff I’ve encountered on any of my vacations. Always there to help with any questions or concerns as best they can. Most of their English is understandable. They put on a club dance a few times a day by the pool, and after the show every night. It’s great fun, and by the end of the week, you’ll know almost every move. Although, you may get a little sick of the song!

Extras: If you’re interested in travelling off the resort at all, be sure to attend your orientation where they tell you about your options. We chose to go on the catamaran cruise. It’s pretty expensive, 75$ US a person, but worth it. The only downside is that the catamaran is kept at a resort back in Puerto Plata, so it was an early (6:30am) van ride to the resort from which we departed from. We cruised to 2 locations where we could snorkel, and saw some beautiful sea-life. If you like boating and snorkelling, this is the excursion for you.

Overall: A fabulous resort. We would go back in a heart beat. I’m not sure if you’ll find another resort where you get so much for so little money. The resort far exceeded our expectations. If you do chose to vacation here, which I highly recommend, have a great time!!

Just returned with my wife and four daughters (aged 17,16,16,12). Would reccomend this resort to my closest friends (and have) and would return in a heart beat. As with any vacation it's all what you make of it, not what others make for you!

Anything positive you have read in the other reviews I and my family would definatley second!

A smile, a por favor and a gracias (thankyou - even in your own language whatever it may be, because alot of the staff speak upto 4 languages) go along way for these hardworking very professional people.

BTW - we fed 6 people (4 pretty finicky daughters) and no problemo here. There was something for everyone. There was always lots of choice, sometimes prepared how they are prepared in the dominican. Complaints about the food - as far as I am concerned are unfounded. My best advice is: If you want to eat like your at home then stay in home.

Tips??? Never seen one emplyee at this resort with thier hand out. You got the same service whether you tipped them or not!

Allegro Playa Grande - "Large Beautiful Beach" (nice try new brunswicker ;-)

From the minute we got off of the plane at the airport to boarding it the following week it was fantastic. Reading the other reviews posted I had to wonder when was the last time these people had their eyes checked. Signs were posted with all of the activities and times plus they would announce them 5 minutes before. The nightly entertainment was hilarious and with some of the staff in the various shows it made it all the more enjoyable. After a long and dark bus ride from the airport our fears melted away when the staff greeted us with smiles and greetings of “Welcome family from Canada”. The rooms were magnificent. Nice and cool with the air conditioning running. We didn’t have any problems getting minor things repaired quickly, a burnt out light bulb. The maids were courteous and helpful pointing us in the right directions in the beginning. Their towel arrangements with the local flowers made us race back to our rooms after lunch to see what had been created.

The food was generous and the variety was incredible. Each day it was a different theme night and yes it was posted in the lobby for everybody to see. I got tired of listening to the whiners about how there wasn’t any hamburgers or hot dogs or fries. Once again we had no problem locating these at various grills around the complex. We generally avoided them wishing to keep our appetites for the daily surprises. Our hats went off to the chef many times as we experienced delight after delight.

The beach was incredible. It was a pleasure doing the walk there. Going down the stairs gives you the time to admire the landscape. The sand was the best that I have ever seen. We had 3 days of red flags but that didn’t stop us from taking a dip in the waves. There is a strong undertow when the tide is going out so I wouldn’t recommend it for smaller children. With full facilities, bar and a grill on the beach you can spend the whole day there. The golf course was stunning. I am not a golfer but just the layout of it was breath taking. When you ball goes out of bounds it stays there as there is a 50’ drop to the ocean.

We were approached only once by a vendor but he kept his distance as he wasn’t allowed on our section of the beach. In talking with people from other resorts who were on some of the tours that we took this isn’t the case with them. At the more developed hotel sites the beaches are public access so you get a lot of vendors pestering you. At Playa Grande this was the least of any problems.

Hola!

My girlfriend & I went to the Allegro Playa Grande in Puerto Plata from Feb 25 to March 04, 2005. This being my first Dominican vacation, I was really excited.

The transfer to the resort went fine, it took us like 75 minutes to get to the resort, but that isn’t because it is far, I think it has most to do that the roads are a little rough at some points. But our driver was cautious and got us there safe and sound.

When getting the resort, Janice got out of the bus and went straight to the counter to check us in, while I waited for our baggage. (That is one tip for you). Since we got there in the middle of the night, we did not get a chance to experience our first Dominican anything before the next morning.

Food – The food was excellent, I did not eat everything, but there was always something there to eat, so for you people that are really don’t like to try new things, well there is always bread, fries, and chicken wings.

Drinks – All drinks at the resort are very good, but be careful for the Scorpion drink, it is very strong, believe me I know....hehehehe

Entertainment – The entertainment was excellent, every night they did a different show, and they did a really good job at it. One of the best shows I’ve seen since traveling to resort. Even better than the 5 star resorts I went to in CUBA.

Beach – This is one of the best beaches I’ve seen in a long while, even though that the water is a little rough, this beach blows away some 5 stars beaches. This is a must see beach, beautiful views from the top and bottom. Even though it is a little walk from the resort to the beach, believe me it will not kill you to walk it. I did a test (since people given reviews said it is too far to walk), I walk from the pool bar to the beach bar, and it took me 6:09 minutes, plus I was bare feet, and I help one of the staff push a cart over the hill. Janice counted the stairs and there are only 88 steps from top to bottom, but they are not all one after the other.

Room – The room was excellent, nothing wrong with the room at all, since I only went there to sleep and shower.

A la Carte – There are two a la carte diner restaurants, but unfortunately we only went to the Italian restaurant. It was excellent; I really enjoyed the food there.

Staff – The staff is excellent, they are very helpful with people that are nice to them. If you want to be treated with respect, you need to give respect. There was these people from one province (that they think they are their country) that were very ignorant with the staff, and complained at them because of the service, well if you don’t respect them, they will surely not respect you, I am the same way. The staff works very hard, they get up for 8am, and work until 3am for 11 days straight, and they only get 3 days off, and then back to work for 11 days.... I applause them...

My family and I went to the Allegro Playa Grande from Feb 21-28, 2005. This being my first journey to a sun destination, I was intensely excited to experience news smells, people, culture and food. Getting off of the plane was fabulous- I was instantly rewarded with an entirely foreign quality of air, it was thick and fragrant. My hair immediately became full-bodied and attained that just got off a motorcycle look. A good start.

Transfer went fine, the bus ride not at all scary or dangerous- Montreal drivers are far more reckless. We drove through a very impoverished rural area to get to the resort. It was difficult for me to see homes that are smaller than my kitchen. Guilt immediately swept over me.

Upon getting to the resort, we waited in line for quite some time with the other city dwellers from la belle province, and the mood was tense. We all wanted to get to the privacy of our rooms and back to the comfort zone of solitude that we North Americans are so fond of.

The room was exactly as the picture on numerous web sites, right down to the artwork on the wall. It was clean and spacious and the chamber maid left beautiful local flowers tucked into our bleached bath towels.

For some reason, I had imagined the resort to be filled with world travelers from exotic locations, people with a grand perspective on life and avante garde fashion choices. Eighty percent of the people were from Canada- the most exotic folk hailed from Newfoundland. (A Canadian breed of their own, surely and proudly.) Alas, no existential conversations by the pool with... anyone. I did, however, have a near out of body experience whilst imagining pulverizing the drunken idiots who were running around pouring beer on each other and terrorizing the staff. They were truly a smear on the face of Canada.

The food at the buffet was plentiful and fresh. Our room faced the restaurant, and I would be wakened before the rooster crowed every morning by the smell of cooking meat and the sound of the staff working hard. I think what most people failed to realize is that it is such a treat to not have to cook or clean up for an extended period of time. I would eat canned stew for a week if it meant a break from the drudgery of every day chores. I especially liked the tomato salad sauce... kind of a salsa, kind of a salad dressing. I contemplated smuggling some back home, but feared getting caught by the bloodhound or the disgruntled customs officer. We went to the Brazilian restaurant- not an easy feat. Requiring a pre nine a.m. wake up call (a near felony while on vacation) my fiancé braved the line up for reservations in the lobby. The meal was delicious and it was a pleasure to be surrounded by fewer of our co-resorters. My son is a vegetarian, so he politely declined the 6 kinds of meat on a skewer. By the end of the meal I thought I was going to burst and pay dearly for mixing my meat. If it can happen with booze, why not meat? I can confidently say that the food at the resort was well prepared, and not one of us fell ill.

The beach was so powerful. Literally and figuratively. The warm blue water had a bite! Every day was wavy; I'd expect nothing less from a northern coast. I had my sun burned face dragged along the bottom of the ocean and came up gasping for air and dove right back in. Marvelous. Unfortunately, if one were to go a little further down the beach to have a little privacy from the beach chair hogging hoards, there was garbage everywhere. Used oil containers, plastic drinking cups and styrofoam plates. A lovely fingerprint of humanity indeed.

The entertainment was fun at first, became boring, then intolerable, but ended with a great magic show. It was interesting to see how the Dominicans interpreted North American pop icons of the early nineties. Island time is muuuuch slower. Nuff said.

We went on the jeep safari and had a great time. Our tour guide was excellent, and very cute to boot. I asked him about the local job economy and the dichotomy of class and he had very realistic and sincere responses. This outing could have been a little less "tour" oriented and more of an intimate look into the real Dominican Republic, but I suppose we don't go to all inclusive resorts to have enlightening experiences.

By the last day of our stay, we were ready to go- the resort is quite isolated. Had there been a town closer than an exorbitantly over priced taxi ride away, it would have been more fun. The people at the resort were precisely what we were all trying to escape from. Each other.

We stayed here from February 19-26 2005 and we had a blast. We went on our second Honeymoon after being married for 10 years. We have been to Mazatlan 3 years, and my husband convinced me that we should go to the Dominican, which wasn't too hard considering the price we got on the vacation.

The hotel is beautifully set on a cliff overlooking the ocean, what more could you ask for. The food was great, although the buffet got a little repetitious at the end, and we did get bummed out of 1 A La Carte because there was some local convention there that nite, which was the last nite we were there, so maybe get the a la cartes out of the way the first few days.

The beach is awesome, we had a puppy come daily at 2pm, and he would eat the chicken bones from the amazing bbq chicken served on the beach (note: the kayak on by the food is full of fruits and salads, it's not just for show).

We met great people, and he nice thing about being 1 1/2 hours from the airport, and Puerto Plata is that the resort guests are much more friendly because you are around them all week. It was great being a Canadian there, felt right at home. The Air Canada bar was perfect at 5:00pm when the chicken wings appeared and fries (although the ketchup wasn't great), and the Moonlight bar was nice and relaxing all evening. The beach is a hike, but very well worth it, the waves were great, just wish that they had the boogie boards on the beach instead of having to hike them from the pool all the time.

This is my fourth trip to the DR and I have stayed in 3 and 4 star resorts in Puerto Plata, Sosua and Punta Cana and I can say unequivocally that this is by far the best resort yet. The food was very good with lots of variety and something for all tastes. I could nit pick and say that the coffee was too strong, the pasta was hard or I didn't like the fish...but hey, I don't like fish anyway. Suffice it to say there was always something good to eat. The staff were pleasant and accommodating and like anywhere else, treated polite people politely. We asked for a fridge and got a fridge, asked for a remote for the TV and got a remote for the TV, asked for ice delivered to the room and guess what.....we got ice delivered to the room! We wanted a balcony overlooking the ocean, but they didn't have any. Poor us. I would have liked to have had a Tim Horton's coffee in the morning and a mini bar filled with Molson Canadian, but it just didn't work out that way. We had a lovely room on the ground floor, yes, the ground floor, overlooking the court yard and we survived. No bugs, very clean and well maintained. The grounds were immaculate and the staff worked hard day and night to keep it that way. The bar staff were top notch and we found that the service was consistently good, whether we tipped or not, but they were always well received with a bright smile and an appreciative nod. If it only cost a dollar to get a big toothy grin from people in Canada, I'd start carrying a bag of loonies to work every day.

The golf course was absolutely amazing, if not spectacular. I've golfed on many courses in Myrtle Beach, PEI, the Dominican and elsewhere and I was blown away by this one! Well worth the price!

The only down side to the trip was leaving. We had a late night flight, had to check out at 1pm, but were given a safe place to store our belongings and given a hospitality room to shower and get ready later in the evening. The bus ride from the resort to the airport was long , but we knew that going in ... a day trip to see the country side would have been nice, but we would have missed out on those last few precious hours in the sun around the pool and would have had to contend with the long line-ups at the airport.

We were at the resort from Feb 7th to Feb 14th.

We have been to the Dominican the last 4 years in a row. This year we decided to bring our 3 children and due to cost we were looking for something a little more reasonable. We generally stay at a 4 or 4.5 star resort. This resort is classified as a 3.5 star.

We were not disappointed! I cannot believe the bad reviews!

Golf Course
I am a golfer but did not golf because I wanted to spend time with my family, however, the itch was there. The course is spectacular and the golfers were raving about it. If I ever go back, and I would, I will definitely bring my clubs.

Meals
We enjoyed pretty much all our meals. Surely, there will be items on the menu that are not as tasty, but you try them and you move on to the ones you like. My son is a fussy eater and he had no problem finding something he liked. Contrary to some reviews we found the Italian restaurant excellent, both service and food. We had 5 different main dishes and they were all excellent. The Brazilian lacked a little pizzaz as we are not big meat eaters this one was not to our liking, ah well, a couple of extra cervezas fixed that problem.

Rooms and Service
No complaints, rooms were clean, maid service was excellent and front desk excellent. Maybe the fact that we are pleasant when making requests that they are quick to fulfill our needs. When to front desk for blow dryer and he informed me that housekeeping would bring one up shortly and 10 minutes later.....voila....and I had a hard time to get her to accept a tip. No problem getting remotes for both our rooms. I had asked in advance for adjoining rooms away from the nightly shows and that is exactly what we got.

Entertainment
Aside from a couple of your regular "adult" type boring ones they were pretty good and what we have come to expect. These people do their best and work very long hours. Hats off to Abel, who also takes a University course at 4 in the morning but always has a smile and to Maximo who was always friendly and smiling. Great job guys!

Beach
Yes it is a good ways from the resort, and yes there are 90 plus steps and yes we could only actually swim 6 out of 7 days, but WOW! It was beautiful. We still spent ½ day every day at the beach. They had great lunches a great bar and decent washroom facilities. The lifeguards were very pleasant and always had an eye open for the safety of children. The day we were able to swim was fantastic and so much fun. I really enjoy swimming in the ocean and this was probably the only minor negative I have for this resort.

Overall
Very satisfied. We paid $600 per person. Equal to any 4 star we have ever stayed at. A trip is what you make of it and we met lots of nice people and staff. I would recommend this resort to all!

We were at this resort from Feb 6th to Feb 12th 2005 and if we had been paying full price we would have been livid at the accommodations provided.

The Golf Course Is Unbelievably Spectacular
The one saving grace of the vacation was the golf course trailing around the cliff sides in spectacularly difficult fashion. The stroke difference in my already high handicap went up by 4 just by playing this course over my home course. Nevertheless, the 4 very different tee set-ups provided ample opportunity to moderate the difficulty to a very considerable degree. The scenery was spectacular and the tee to green set ups provided wonderfully satisfying opportunities to play well while providing sufficient traps to penalize the poor shots. The condition of the course was generally good although some greens were rather rough and bumpy in spots. The rough did not have to be punitive in order to create extra strokes for the poor shots so even a high handicapper like myself was not frustrated with an inability to make a particular shot – just by my own ineptness and I am used to that.

Meals were Sickening
The buffet style meals were so slathered in coconut oil, too heavily seasoned in salt and so badly overcooked that it quickly became inedible. Breakfast was durable as we ate only cereal, toast and boiled eggs. The buns and breads were excellent. The rest of the time we stuck with the salads which were fresh, crisp and tasty – even some of the made up salads such as an excellent potato salad. There were only two specialty restaurants, a Brazilian with a fixed menu of several sword skewers of several meat roasts (which prevented choice in degree of cooking and a resulting blandness in taste) and an Italian restaurant where my pasta was left under the heat lamp for so long it had become crisp (desirable in a salad but not in pasta, even al dente). My partners choice of the lamb entrée was a disaster as the description of the animal as being a young lamb was obviously false advertising and the result was greasy mutton.

Small & Intimate is Not So Good
The hotel is very small which results in fewer activities being available. Some of the activities were poorly, if ever, advertised (we never did find out what time archery was available). Activities that were made available revolved around music where the philosophy seemed to be that the louder the more likely they would experience participation. This was not born out in reality although the smallness of the hotel meant that every occupant was involved as it resounded throughout the complex, including the disco until 2:00 am.

January 29 one week

Word of advice, DO NOT GO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!

We booked a last minute vacation my self and my 18 yr old son. We knew it was only a 3 star and didn’t have high expectations. I will give you the positives first.

The hotel is very clean; maids do a good job cleaning your room. Just don’t leave anything out that you don’t want to go missing. They must think if it’s out on the table it’s for them.

The food was ok; there was always something you could find to eat being a 3 star it was what I expected.

If you want a vacation where you are going to do nothing this is the place for you.

Or if you are travelling in a group you can make your own fun. The resort is very secluded and there is no night life at all.

Taxi’s are very expensive make sure you find people to share with you.

To sum up our vacation I would have to say we had fun, because of the people we met at the resort, some really nice people.

Would we return…..? NEVER

You can not swim at the beach most of the time. It is a fair walk to the beach And over 80 steps down, it is a very beautiful landscape but if you like to swim in the ocean you will be disappointed. And remember you have to walk back up again

The pool is large and there were lots of chairs available. We met people who had articles stolen from their rooms.

If you have a late flight like we did don’t take anything into the courtesy room with you, have someone watch your stuff. A young man my son met had his carry on bag with him when he went to shower and when he came out his Discman was gone. You needed a key to get into this room. When he approached the management about it he was given the brush off, he became very upset. Instead of management trying to fix the problem they called security. This young man had given away all kinds of stuff to the locals. Shoes tee-shirts, he was very generous. And those same security guards bummed cigarettes after cigarettes off of him all week and asked him to get them food and drinks because they were not permitted to eat the resort food. And in return he was treated so terrible. I know had this been a white male over 30 it would have been handled differently. And believe me, had it been my stuff stolen I would have gone nuts. But this was a young black male on vacation with his white girlfriend. (Get the picture) How these people can be raciest is beyond me. It was atrocious the way he was treated. And how they disrespected him in regards to his girlfriend who the staff openly hit on daily.

My advice, pay the extra money for a better rated hotel. Or stay away from this part of the country. We have been to PuntaCana twice and things are much more civilized there. Believe me when they are smiling at you, all they want is your money. They know how to turn on the charm.

2nd time there, previous in 2000, said we would go back in a heartbeat because of the golf course & the beach: finally made it. Because there are so few reviews of this place I will try to be very thorough.

Getting there - Air transat, a little more leg room than I remember them having. Flight delayed from 11:40 PM to 12:40 AM, something about the plane leaving St Martin late to go to Vancouver. Reasonably smooth. Overnight flight so food service was some kind of breakfast mcmuffin concoction towards the end of the flight. Who expects decent food on an airplane anyway? Arrived about 9AM DR time. Breezed thru immigration/baggage pick-up, quickly spotted Air Transat rep and were on our way in a large bus within 45 minutes of landing. Usual entertaining ride, stopped at Bahia Principe to let most of the people off and about 10 of us carried on to Playa Grande. Arrived about 11:30 AM. Quick registration and room was ready.

Layout: Playa Grande is a relatively small resort, 300 rooms, and is pretty compact. The hotel and golf course are set on a plateau 100 feet above the ocean. A few holes of the golf course encircle the hotel and on the golf holes bordering the ocean there is a straight down 100 foot cliff to the crashing waves below. At the east end of the hotel there is a winding, spiralling staircase which takes you down to a mile long, crescent shaped beach with soft/deep golden sand and often surfable waves. As you walk thru the open air lobby straight ahead is the pool. It's pretty large but basic, about 4 - 5 feet deep all around with a cute little island with palm trees in the middle and a kiddie wading basin at one end. Always kept clean, just the right temp, warm enough to play around & swim in but cool enough to be refreshing. A few yards past the end of the pool is the 12th fairway of the golf course & on the far edge of that is the cliff. To the left of the lobby is the 2 a la carte restaurants, the stage area for evening entertainment, the main bar called "Banana Bar", the buffet restaurant and one of the 5 3-story buildings which contain the guest rooms. To the right as you leave the lobby there are a few small shops: a cigar store, hairdresser, internet cafet (which seemed to be open till about 9:00 PM, not sure how much it cost) a souvenir shop & the convenience store which had the typical t-shirts and outrageously priced snack items.(I was amazed how well my Pringles & Miss Vickies travelled in my suitcase). Past the shops is the snack bar & beyond that the 4 other buildings containing the guest rooms. They are clustered in a sort of a circle with a little courtyard in the middle. These 4 buildings are closest to the beach There was evidence of a kids program but I don't have kids and didn't hear any comments about it so not sure how good it was. Each night at 8:30 they had the kiddie mini-disco which went through the standard 1/2 hr set of sing-along/dance-along songs. Evening entertainment varied between the usual audience participation stuff to a couple of different travelling dance troupes. Some of it was pretty good, some good for a laugh. Usually a pleasant diversion anyway, didn't start till 9:45 PM. There are 2 tennis courts, lighted at night. They looked to be in good shape. Also have a newly surfaced basketball court. The seating area in front of the stage is not covered, a couple of times an evening shower would hit when the show was going on and people would scramble for cover near the bar or near the lobby. The resort is somewhat isolated, about 20 minutes from Bahiya Principe & about 5 minutes from a little town called Rio San Juan. Taxi's are expensive. In the 2 weeks we were there I didn't hear any complaints about mystery illnesses or food poisoning.

Weather: A little better would have been nice, 2nd week definitely better than the first. About 8 ideal/perfect days, about 4 that were a mixed bag(generally nice but some showers coming through) & about 2 days were pretty much write-offs. If you book during hurricane season, don't complain if a hurricane hits, if you book during the rainy season don't be surprised ..............

Room: fairly basic with 2 double beds, we were on ground floor with an ocean view. Rooms very clean. never saw any bugs in the room, hardly saw any bugs at all the whole 2 weeks we were there. My wife said she saw 2 mosquitos, I don't remember seeing any. Maid service was mid morning every day, no trouble with towels, TP supply etc. Left $2 tip each day and always found either towels folded up into bird shapes or extra flowers. One day we found a fruit basket, not sure who left it or why but it was appreciated. Extra fee for room safe (about $3US/day). Had to ask for a TV remote at front desk, quickly provided. Many channels, mostly spanish but did find an NBC & ABC channel. Was able to find the NFL play-offs. Usually had no problems with hot water but a couple of days the water was just warm. May have had something to do with the time of day. No mini bars in the rooms but one day did see some resort workers pushing what appeared to be mini-bars down one of the paths so you may be able to request them, probably at an extra charge. I did not inquire. The corridors seem to act as echo chambers so noise from the nightly shows or people just walking down the hall laughing or talking seems to be magnified. Not a whole lot of space for storing your clothes and stuff but there are a few shelves & hangers in the bathroom area. Small balcony outside the patio doors. Generally the rooms are clean & functional, tile floors, nothing too fancy. Small bottles of water were not available unless you bought them in the store. The maids would re-fill a 2 litre jug in your room each day. If you have your own little bottles you could go into the buffet restaurant at any time of day and refill your bottles from water/ice stations in various corners.

Restaurants/Food Service
Main buffet restaurant: Breakfast: always seemed to have quite a large selection though only saw bacon once in 2 weeks. 2 stations for omelettes/fresh cooked eggs & freshly made smoothies. You loaded your own bread into the toaster, took forever and only cooked one side

Lunch: very good variety again with a different soup each day

Dinner: usually very good, usually some version of beef, pork, poultry, fish (including a couple of fresh carve/cook stations) pasta station, lots of veggie selection, salad bar/breads, soup. desserts looked pretty average. They do a very good job of keeping hot food hot and the cold stuff cold. One night was a dominican theme and they moved the entire buffet outside & we had an outdoor candlelight dinner. You won't find lobster or crab in any of the restaurants. A few shrimp options in the Italian.

A La Cartes: Italian & Brazilian. Allowed once in each/week. Could only make reservations for the same day starting at 9:30 am till about noon for a 6:30 or 8:30 seating. Could try to reserve again at some point in the afternoon but if you didn't reserve 1st thing in the morning all the spots were taken so I didn't see the point of being told you could come back at 3:30 to reserve. The stated mens dress code was long pants, no open toed sandals & your shirt had to have at least short sleeves. One person in the Italian came no where close to meeting the code but he was seated promptly and nothing was said to him.

Italian: only went once, service was quite slow, pretty extensive menu, food was pretty good. Didn't go back because of the poor service & the buffet was usually quite good.
Brazilian: Service was excellent, food is a set menu. First you're directed to a salad/bread bar. after a few minutes you are brought 3 dipping sauces & a plates of french fries and rice. Then they start coming around with barbequed entres skewered on a big sword. If you want some of what's being offered the slice off a chunk and put it on your plate. The selections were ham, sausage, turkey breast, calimari, ribs, roast beef & I think one other but I forgot what it was. Once you've gone thru the batting order they come around again asking if you want seconds on anything. If you know what you're getting into and are a big meat eater, this is a great restaurant.

Pool Snack Bar: Open from noon - 5:00 PM and again late night starting at 11:30 PM. Mini salad bar, pretty good burgers, hot dogs & fries. Thin crust pizza was really good if you got it fresh out of the oven and they were constantly being made. Great chicken wings. A couple of times there were trays of little sandwiches set out. Self-serve pop & ice machine.

Beach Grill: Set near the base of the stairs down on the beach. Salad & fresh fruit bar, burgers, dogs and the BBQ going with chicken, pork chops, sauages. Not an extensive menu but well prepared and good beach fare. Basically self-serve buffet style.

Bars: Main bar near the pool called the Banana bar. at times tended to get pretty busy but I never waited more than 3 or 4 minutes to get a drink. The bartenders seemed to do a pretty good job of knowing who got there first & if they were in doubt they would ask who was next. Saw some international brands but fairly limited. Pretty much a local version of anything you wanted except for Canadian rye whisky. Presidente on tap, no bottles. Banana Mama & Pina Colada in squishy machines which they would add rum to. No swim up bar but bar staff would circulate around the pool and snack bar eating area taking/delivering drink orders. Alcohol was poured liberally at all the bars. It was always fun to order a Margarita because the bartenders would do a little dance when they were shaking them up. By the way, it takes 3 Margaritas to fill up a regular size Tim Horton mug.

Beach bar: Down on the beach right next to the grill. Pretty much a full service bar, had everything the main bar did, the only difference was the beer was poured from a bottle but was not Presidente. Self-serve ice and pop machine. Unfortunately they did not have waiters roaming the beach so you actually had to get off your lounge chair and walk over to the bar or tell your partner it's their turn.

Moonlight Bar: opens at 6:00 PM, set off in a quiet corner of the resort near the tennis courts. Fairly small, could get anything you wanted here. THIS IS THE ONE PLACE YOU CAN GET BOTTLED PRESIDENTE. A cute little open air bar with a thatch roof, quietly playing North American music on the overhead speakers. It was never too busy when I went there. The bartender would request you take a seat then he would come over and take your order. They were trying to make this bar a little more high/class civilized than the hub-bub around the main bar. They were building what appeared to be a larger version of the Moonlight Bar right beside the existing one. The bartender said the plan was to have both operational.

Disco: opened after the nightly show, I'm sure drinks were included. Never made it there. One night they cancelled the Disco & had a beach party instead.

Staff: All staff very friendly and helpful. All bar staff, front desk & some food service staff had good english. Tipping was certainly appreciated but didn't seem to affect service levels.

Beach: 50% of the reason we chose this resort. Gorgeous. The resort sits at one end, it is a mile walk to the other end of the beach where there is public access and a few vendors/food servers. I was told that people from other resorts here as part of an excursion to experience the beach and have a lobster lunch. The sand is a light golden color & fluffy. every step you take your feet sink 4 or 5 inches. Basically you have a cluster of resort guests at one end staying close to the food beverage service & well maintained washrooms with running water and at the far end is a small group of other people using the public access. You can walk the length of the beach with-out crossing paths with anyone. There is no visible development along the length of the beach. There are big waves here with a pretty good undertow. Don't expect to float on an air mattress sipping your beverage. If you like to frolic in the surf or boogie board you will have a blast here. Most days there was a red flag but if it wasn't too bad you could still get a boogie board. With the red flag up you could still go splash around a little bit but if you got too far from shore the lifeguards would whistle you back in. You have to use common-sense and respect the power of the water. It seems you can't protect people from their own stupidity some times. Did see the lifeguards assist one person back to shore. There are kayaks and little sailboat things available, wave/weather permitting. Yes you do have to go up and down the stairway to reach the beach, some people have said it is 99 steps. I never counted them. From the pool area it is about a 3 minute walk to the top of the beach steps. If you have mobility issues this is definitely a concern. If you are able-bodied and love the beach as much as I do, you don't give the steps a second thought. The steps have a bunch of twists and turns with several landing areas and a gazebo type thing 1/2 way down. I found listening to and watching the waves had a kind of therapeutic effect. Sort of mesmerizing like watching a campfire.

Golf: The other 50%. In a word the layout is fantastic, incredible, beautiful, challenging (guess that's more than one word). I will try to write a separate golf review shortly. 10 holes directly on the edge of the cliffs, 7 others with views of the ocean. maintainance was pretty good, greens slower than you might expect. A shuttle circles between the hotel lobby and the pro-shop. Some people might find it pricey but for the experience you get it is probably one of best value-for-dollar rounds you will ever play. Resort guests paid $95 US which included power cart. Other people paid $135. Caddie mandatory till 3:00 pm. Caddie fee $10US per twosome + tip. Some people were tipping $5/person which seemed to be sufficient. I liked our caddie and had him regularly so tipped $10/person. There was a twilight rate starting at 3:00 $65US but depending how fast/slow play was, no guarantee you would get 18 holes in. Club rentals were available, not sure which brand, I think about $25US/round. Driving range: $6US for a large bucket, lighted at night. Apparently a group of Americans from Florida just purchased the golf course (Occidental wouldn't sell the hotel) so no telling what might happen to the price.

Coming home: Of course this is always the worst part of the trip. Because of our charter times we had to be ready to get on the bus at 6:00 AM, how rude is that! No food service available at that time & couldn't find coffee either. Found out from some of our bus-mates that could have requested some breakfast fixings the day before. Picked up a whole bunch of people at Bahiya Principe. Managed to beat the buses from Playa Dorada to the airport so check in wasn't too bad. Flight actually left about 1/2 hour early. Smoothest flight I've ever been on, could barely even tell when you were taking off and landing. A Montreal smoked beef sandwich for lunch.

Summary: If you want to be pampered in 5 star luxury, don't go here. If you are an avid golfer looking for a caribbean golf destination, this is a no brainer. Get here as fast as you can. If you like a great beach with lots of wave action and are content with a smaller resort providing adequate to very good food & beverage service, this might be a reasonable option. One fellow (who was there on a last minute deal) said to me one night in the moonlight bar "this place sucks, the golf course is too hard & the water has too many waves". I guess that illustrates how you can get such varied reviews from people staying at the same place. Would I come back here? In a heartbeat!

Hello everyone! We are from Toronto Canada

My family and I stayed at the resort from Jan 12th to the 19th 2005. Lets start by stating our ages and the price I paid because everyone forgets about that and it is soooo relevant! Steve (dad) is 43, Karie (Mom) is 33, kids are 12 yr old girl, 11 year old boy, 10 yr old boy and 7 yr old girl. We booked very last minute through exit.ca and paid only $435.00 per person plus the $240.00 tax each! It pays to go last minute big time!!

We found the reviews to be fairly accurate but there were no recent ones so we thought we would do our duty.

We have been to the Dominican 4 times before this trip and always had good weather but this time it was very disappointing! It rained every single day! Even the one day we had all week that was totally sunny during the day, it rained that night! Oh well, it's bound to happen eventually. It didn't stop us from having as good a time as we ever had while there though.

The food was just great! I can't believe people can't be happy with the variety of food. 4 star for sure. Try the bbq chicken down at the beach, delicious! I wish they had bacon more than once in the buffet though, it was great but it was only offered on Thursday morning. Try the omelette in the morning. I had one every morning and they were great! Also, try the 2 a la carte restaurants because the Brazilian and Italian were both highly recommended.

The hotel room was fine, air worked, safe was too small for my tiny laptop though and this was the first time that has happened. No remote for the fuzzy tv. 3.5 stars.

The pool was ok but no swim up bar.

The beach was a bit of a walk and the you go down 96 steps until you hit sand. We didn't mind at all but if you are disabled or elderly, you wouldn't like it. It was red flag day every day! The locals state that the waves are the biggest here than any other place in the Dominican! My 10 yr old got in trouble out there and 2 lifeguards and myself had to get him and he is an excellent swimmer! Also, about an hour later 2 other people were in trouble and had to be helped out! You must respect the awesome power of the waves and undertow. People have died from them here!! The sand is a beautiful light brown sugar color and there is a lot of it!

We flew Air Transat both ways and had no problems. Smooth city. You must remember to drain your bladder at the airport in Puerto Plata before jumping on the bus because it is almost 2 hours to the hotel! At least you can see out the windows and get entertained by the reckless driving and see some locals houses and buildings etc.

The entertainment was fun and they did import some talent which usually doesn't happen with a 3.5 star hotel. They do the typical audience participation thing all the time and it is quite fun.

The disco was alright but too loud and I like LOUD music! You won't be doing much talking up there and if you do, you will have a sore throat in the morning! Never got that busy though and drinks are included there and in some resorts they are not. Our kids were allowed up there the first 3 nights and then they were told that they couldn't go up there any more and they were upset with that because they all enjoyed it a lot.

The closest town is San Juan and is only 5 minutes from the hotel. It's a small town and worth a look see. You can go to an internet cafe there too and it's cheaper than the hotel. Make sure you bring some Brugal rum back with you!

The resort has a golf course that surrounds it and some people are going to this resort just for the golf because it is supposed to be that great a course!! Better bring a fat wallet though at $110 US a round after caddy tip!

The people we met were so diverse in personality and that is always fun! We met low lives to people paying for 2 rounds of golf a day! We hooked up with our own click and stuck together pretty much all week. The back "o" the bus click included our family, the twin towers, Gianni 6' 7" and Eric 6' 6", Casey and Petra. We went to the beach many nights and said "Hola" to the security guard holding his machine gun (seriously) and looked up at the stars, drank rum and had a great time! No one got sick in any way either by the way. Great people with very different ages who hung out together and had a blast!