Sirenis Cocotal Beach Resort Casino & Spa Reviews

we decided to go to this resort based on the ratings the sites provided. the grounds are beauiful and the ride is pretty. however once upon arrival we were told three different times to go back to reception to check in over a course of 3 hours. the staff in general appear to be lacking enthusiasum, sometimes outright standoffish, and abrupt. service was slow and sometimes out right dismissed. the house keeping gave us back dirty towels and did not replace all towels. the beds were very hard. the food was at best was okay, some of it was out right undercooked and meat was often overdone. drinks seemed very artifically flavored. overall the service seemed to be lacking hospitality. only a handful of staff made this trip a bit more managagable. we tipped everyday regardless. our room keys often didn't work and the door had to be practically broken in to open it. the beach was beautiful and the rooms are very shabby. minibars only had pop and 1 bottle of water. no snacks or liquor. overall this was a huge dissappoinment and although likley will go back we will not go back nor recommend this place. we spent great $$ for lack of welcome and genuine hospitality.

Room Number:
016

Room Block:
mc

Arrival:
Dec 23/2011

Restaurants and Bars:
only main buffet and beach and only 2 ala cartes, mexican was huge dissapoinment for food, our server not the waiter was really sweet. a few individuals serving in buffett area were really nice and we tried to sit in their area but did not always get them.

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
nice

This was our first time in a resort in Punta Cana.We went for our honeymoon.This resort is divided in 2 sections the old section is Cocotal and the new one is Tropical.The rooms at the Cocotal were terrible.Hair dryers are full of hair,bath tub is dirty,pillows are just lumps of foam. That is unless you buy into one of their upgrade programs.Service was great our concierge was Edwing and he was awesome.We had to change the room because it was in terrible conditions.We had other couple that we met at the resort that were staying in the same building and their room was worse than ours,but they did not complain.Their walls had lama ,the refrigerator was not working and it had a leak on the bath tub.They called maintenance and they never showed up.If you go to the Sirenis Tropical is 100% better but the rate is higher.These rooms are given to people from Europe.The other side Cocotal please do not let them give you a room there.There are TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Room Number:
H104

Room Block:
Cocotal

Arrival:
11/17/11 to 11/22/11

Rooms:
Realy Bad.They need a lot of repairs

Restaurants and Bars:
Pretty good.Only one day the food was really bad.

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Great!!!!!!!!!

i travelled to the sirinis cocotal for the first time ever south and i had the time of my life. the place was very clean..the staffgreat and the entertainment team was awesome..there were no bugs any where ..the beach and pools were great and clean..the food and drinks were all awesome.we were a group of 14 and we all had a wonderful time..too will smith..aguna..snoopy..james bond .happy boy..hong kong and too my favorite potatoe..we love you guys and thank you for the wonderful vacation and i will be back next year...soo.mr potatoe i will be looking for another dance ..ola to all

Room Number:
oo8

Room Block:
b

Arrival:
we arrived on feb 4 th 2011

Rooms:
our room was clean and spacious with iron iron board hair dryer and fridge all stocked and a nice bottle of rum

Restaurants and Bars:
all great and had no problems with reservations anywhere and we had 3 of them..steak house..mexican.and the chinese...all excellent

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
all clean and awesome

Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
lots of things too do..loved the shows at night...any one who did not have a good time i say...shame on you

Other Comments:
this was my first time south and i had such a good time here i can not imagine going any where else and i will be back there again next year and have already contacted a travel agent and made arrangements

This is the third time we have stayed at the sirenis in the last 5 years we love this resort this time we took our parents who are seniors. they also have stayed with us in punta cana at many resorts from the dreams to the secrects exellence to the catolonia and also the occidental we were all impressed with the food and the service special thanks to yenice at the main buffet and tommy at the swim up bar.We were impressed with the service at the front desk in previous visits they were snotty and unhelpfull this visit they couldnt do enough for you.Its the first time we went more than one week, we stayed 12 days.They are really trying to improve customer relations the front desk comes down to the pool and does random surveys during the day. We love this place and we cant wait to go back this spring.We traveled on Thomas cook airlines wich is operated by jazz ,air canada lots of leg room for a six foot three guy like me.great vacation.The steak house was good ,seafood was great and the italian alacarte was amazing the lasagna excellent.You cant go wrong with this resort if you are not to fussy ,rooms are clean and staff amazing.

Room Number:
M217

Room Block:
m

Arrival:
only 12 of us on the bus in previous visits it was 50 to 60 only 5 minutes to check in

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
the pool is still amazing the only real swimming pool in the carribean over 8 feet deep it does have a kids end

Other Comments:
great resort

We just came back from a week at the Cocotal. Let me start by saying that we are totally beach people that go away from the resort for 4 to 6 hours every day for beach walks and our activities that we do. I would also want to say that all the resort staff ( EXCEPT THE COOKS AND MANAGEMENT ) are amazing and we are very grateful for all they do and try to do .

Arrival:
Check in

Fairly smooth process but there is a walk of about 200 feet from the driveway , thru a tunnel-like archway ( very beautiful ) to get to the front desk. There was nobody there to greet us and we had to drag our very large and fairly heavy bag through the tunnelway. Not a huge deal but we are usually met at the driveway by somebody in other resorts. At the desk they tell us a little about the place and we pay our $ 50 US deposit for the safe and the $ 21 US for the rental fees from the week. This seemed a little steep , but ,whatever , right ? A guy appears and loads the bags onto a push cart and I grab a few drinks for my babe and I and away we go to the room.
After a tip is given we are going to unpack a bit and head out to see our new digs , but , my bag is not in the room. I call down to the desk and the phone reception is so bad that I cannot hear anything but static. So off I go to the desk and my bag is still on the bench right in front of the desk. I tell the staff that the phone is not working and they say they will send someone.
After 30 minutes we say " forget it " and we go out for the night.

Rooms:
The room was okay , very standard really , but we did email a request and did a request thru sunquest that we would like a king bed and a second or third floor room. We were on the ground floor and twin beds. Oh well , our bed at home has aways been a twin so that doesn't matter to us and the ground floor room had a balconey raised about 2 feet from the ground outside. We sleep with the patio door open and do not want too many bugs creeping in. I tried to open the patio door but the track was warped and even after some spray lube , it was still very hard to close it as there was not much to grab onto.
We had a water drip from the ceiling just outside the bathroom all week and down the wall in front of the toilet and behind the toilet for the week as well. We called the desk and a guy came and looked at the piping above the ceiling tiles and wiped them with a towel and left. I though that was pretty funny. The inner door on the safe fell apart too but he managed to stick a piece of wire in the back of it to hold it. Whatever ? right ?

Restaurants and Bars:
The food for the first 5 days was poor at best. Everything was waaaaay over cooked to the point that even the chicken dried out your mouth to the point that you needed water with every bite. The only things that were not overcooked was bacon and the potatoes. These were waaaay undercooked.
We tried the Japanese al a carte and beef and chicken that was cut to approx one quarter inch thick was cooked for 30 minutes on a very hot grill. Pre-cooked shrimp as you get in a shrimp ring was cooked for about 10 minutes.
Pre cooked rice was cooked for 40 minutes and everything was salted down and then soaked in soy sauce. Basically everything was inedible. The appys they had before this meal were good tho. Cold , but good. We ate in the Mexican as well but that at least chewable. I am sorry to say that the food here is the worst we have had in any resort. For the last 2 days , there was a cooking staff change and the food did improve a fair bit but it was still not " good"
They say " you don't go to Cuba for the food " , well , you don't come here either !
They have bars everywhere but the booze is very very watered down. But I guess they don't want drunk people all over the place either.

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Pools and grounds are very well kept. The staff here , as in all the places we have been to , are amazing. The beach has a lot of garbage on it from the ocean. We beach walk every day and we cannot help to think that if the resort owners that pay staff to clean the beach in front of their resorts could spend a bit more , say once a week to clean the garbage only from the beach between each other.
On the beach walks we got all the Mr. Cheapys bugging us every trip to buy their stuff. Mr. Cheapys are spread out here so it is a bit tedious at times but we did buy a couple of nice paintings and some jewellery and I do understand they are only trying to make a buck so , whatever ? right ?

Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We have done off-resort activities before and were not willing to waste our time again. Unfortunately the wind was very strong and lots of waves so snorkling was impossible. Boogie boarding was impossible too as the coral was very shallow in the only place that the coral reef ,that stretches all along the coast , had a break in it. We did have one day of rain but this was the first time this has ever happened to us so , whatever ? right ?

Other Comments:
The big deal to us , The NOT " whatever ? right ? , was the time share people.
I am an easy-going person , but these people are told BY MANAGEMENT , not to quit,,,,ever !! When you check in , if this is your first time , you get a blue wrist band , others get a white one. We were met by " our " concierge on the first morning and told us of our free gift that the resort gives to everyone and to be sure to get the $ 80 in resort credit that we were supposed to get. He then said that we could get to stay here again for half the price that we just paid and we could get amazing deals on all Sirenis resorts. I asked him " Is this timeshare ? " , he said " no , no way ! "
I excused ourselves and said we are going to breakfast now and we would think about it. After breakfast we no sooner than left the buffet that another person started in on us. My wife and I both expressed to each other that we are not interested in timeshares and we told them so and continued walking as he walked beside us sying that he gets $ 10 for every person that attends a VIP breakfast at 8 am on tuesday and then a short 45 minute presentation.
Again , we say no thank you. We were accosted 6 more times on that day and the next. I even went to their sales office to explain to them with logic and the fact that we paid $ 1200 per couple , airflight and departure taxes included and there is no way that we could could even just fly down there for that and that would mean that they would have to pay us to vacation there at those prices for it to be just even. They did not listen to me at all and more " concierges " gathered around me until I had about 8 people instead of the one I sat down across from. Still , " $ 80 senor , we will see you and your wife tomorrow !!
I laughed and left.
The next morning at 7 am ,the phone rang and I ignored it. At 730 am ,a knock on the door, I ignored it again. At around 8 30 or so we left for breakfast. As soon as we get to the walkway a guy comes up to us and " My friend come on , come on, we go now !! " I had enough by now so I took a couple of steps towards him and said VERY LOUDLY to " STOP ! NO ! STOP NOW ! " One of his managers saw this and ran up to him and told him to stop. From that point on we were invisible to all of the 24 or so " concierges " that are there.
During our time we saw the pressure room for the sales and it was common to see people inside for 3 to 5 hours getting pitched at. This resort has devoted a huge building that was a ala carte and two bars to a pressure room and another huge area beside the seafood ala carte to a pressure room.

Never will I go back , and I wanted to tell about a mediocre resort trying to piss off as many people as they can. We talked to dozens of people during our stay and our tale was the norm. Sad really .

This was our second visit to the Sirenis Resorts. We first stayed in the Cocotal side in September 2001 when the resort was new and at its very best. This time we stayed in the sirenis Suites and must admit that the years have taken their toll on the resort.

Arrival:
On arrival due to the time of the year everyone checked in at the Tropical Suites side of recption. We had the usual fruit punch given to us while we waited. Check in was very fast and without any hassle or selling of upgrades etc as previously mentioned in other reviews.

Rooms:
Do to the age of the rooms there was a couple of minor faults. The mixer unit in the bathroom could do with de-scaling and a few of the floor tiles had a hollow sound to them due to the adhesive drying up. Apart from that they room was very comfortable. The maid service was first class and the rooms were always cleaned to a high standard.

Restaurants and Bars:
Again, due to the time of year, there was only one specialised restaurant opened per night. We did not try any of these. The main restaurant was excellent and always had a wide choice of food available. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Drinks were very promptly brought to the table.

The bars were also very good, in particular the Lobby bar where their was always a friendly greeting and service.

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The pool is one of the best we have seen in the Dom Rep although the tiles are in need of repair and some of the ladders in the pool had missing treads on the rungs. The beach is superb with plenty of beds and cover. We have been to the Dom Rep for the last 10 years and have never seen so many fish in the sea as we did here. Standing in the water with a bread roll you would very soon be surrounded by hundreds of fish.

Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
The shows on offer we very good although at times they started a little late - after 10pm. There was no pressure to take part in any of the pool activities. You were able to just lie by the pool and read if you wanted.

Other Comments:
We had a very enjoyable holiday. Would I reccommend this resort to people? I would have to say Yes although we found the constent harassment from the Vaction Club Salesmen to be very anoying. This went on from the second day right up to the last hour at the resort. Usually in other resorts once you have been approached and refussed you were left alone. Not here BE WARNED they will not take no for an answer!

My father, boyfriend and I stayed at sirenis for a week end of July 2010, which was the best vacation ever. Staff was super friendly. They treated us like royalty. Great food at the 24/7 buffet and Mexican Restaurant (which you have to make reservations). I really enjoyed the freash fruits at the buffet. Grill on the beach was so delicious. There was a bar on the beach. My father would lay out on the beach and just order anything he wanted from the bar without having to get up. The beach is so beautiful, just like the paradise. The water was really warm. This resort had so many activities I really enjoyed the Aqua erobics with MR. Salami.they also had a great entertainment team called" Animacion Super" The room service was so friendly,always left us with clean rooms and towels and flowers on bed and bathrooms. They are very honest too. I left my digital camera on the beach and would go into theocean for two hours and would return with it still being there. also the room service was also honest once i took of my jewlery and left it on the bathroom. I was thinking that it would be gone when i got back. But she just cleaned our sink without even touching it. Very beatiful resort, great beach, great people and a lot of fun. We r definetly going next year back to Sirenis.

Arrival:
Super, awaited with bag carriers and delicious fruit drinks

Rooms:
beautiful clean,

Restaurants and Bars:
loved the mexican restaurant, u got to try the milky cake

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
beach is beautiful, warm ocean water, pools are super cool with a bar in one of them

Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
we enjoyed the aqua aerobics, dance lessons, aqua motorized sports,

I have stayed at many all-inclusives including others in Punta Cana. This is only the second resort I have said I would NOT return to. It is in great need of repair--in so many ways I can't state them all. Even the pool is falling apart, the palapas, Hair dryer blows cool air, pillows are just lumps of foam. That is unless you buy into one of their upgrade programs starting at $25 pp/pd up to $95 pp/pd. They might pay attention to you if you fork over enough money, however the hotel still is in need of many repairs!!! For everything else just fork over the money for amenities that are included at other hotels all over the world!!! The only redeeming feature was a couple of ala carte restaurants--which by the way they said you could dine in 2 times for a 1 week stay...

Stayed at this resort from April4-11 and had a great time. The week was better than what we were expecting.

Your Arrival:
Check in was easy and efficient. Porters were smiling and happy. Did not have to waite to be checked in.

Rooms:
Rooms were adequate. Cleaned daily and had verything we needed. We didn't spend any time in our room.

Restaurants and Bars:
The restaurants and bars were excellent. The buffets had a variety of food and changed daily. There was enough choices to suite every one. The Italian and Steak House Restaurants were great. The Tenderloin at the Syeak House was perfect. Main lobby bars and the swim up bars made great drinks and you never waited long to get what you want.

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The Beach and Pool was magnificent. You have to see them for yourself in order to believe how beautiful they are.

I have to admit, after reading so many negative reviews before going, I was second guessing my decision but the minute I stepped off the shuttle I knew it was gonna be a good one! With all the little shops that lined the drive, the immaculate grounds, and breath taking lobby, I was pleasantly relieved and ready for a great vacation.

Your Arrival:
Check-In
We were greeted with a happy, friendly “hola” from behind the front desk. Check-in was painless and the bellhop was there ready to take our luggage to our room. We were presented with a package listing all the property amenities, restaurant hours, activity schedule, property map, etc. which came in very handy.

Rooms:
Pretty standard hotel room (L-109). Two beds, small table, three chairs, desk, tv with English channels (not the best reception but really, who’s there to watch tv…you’re in paradise). It was dark when we checked in so didn’t realize until the next morning that we actually had an ocean view room...FABULOUS!!! The sound of the waves and smell of the ocean just made our stay that much more enjoyable! We actually left our patio door open each night without incident of bugs or other creatures coming in. Standard bathroom, plenty of towels each day. Shower leaked on the first day but that was our mistake :S Fridge was stocked with water and pop every day. We did leave the cleaning staff small gifts with a note and/or cash each day to say thanks for cleaning up after us. We received fresh flowers on our beds and in the bathroom every day as well…nice extra little touch!

Restaurants and Bars:
Restaurants
Lots to choose from. Tried both the buffets which unfortunately are exactly the same but that’s to be expected when you’re catering to 1,000+ guests each day. Variety of foods at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lunch and dinner were pretty similar and became repetitive after 7 days but nothing to complain about…still lots to choose from. Poolside lunch buffet was really good with different choices (burgers, salads, nachos, etc)…was a nice change. Beach bbq was also really good with burgers, hotdogs and chicken to choose from. We found the buffet hours to be odd – Breakfast 7-10; Lunch 1-3; Dinner 7-10, but again, definitely nothing to complain about, and after all, we were in a different country with different customs and ways of doing things so it was all good. We tried the Italian Restaurant which was very good…super friendly staff…great food…nice atmosphere. We also tried the Steakhouse which again was very good….superb staff who introduced us to the mamajuana (woohooo)…great atmosphere with everyone in cowboy hats…so cute ;D

Bars
ALL the bartenders and bar staff were unbelievably friendly and happy, always singing and dancing…so much fun! I love that! Drinks were great…Coco Loco is by far my new favourite drink…morning, noon and night…mmmm, sooo good :}

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Pool
Pool is huge and goes on forever. Didn’t actually go in and regret that but did watch people playing and having fun, utilizing the swim-up bar, playing volleyball, etc. Didn’t find it crowded at all and actually thought that the pool was underutilized at times. Lots of lounge chairs around but most are saved and often times, vacant for hours on end which is a shame. We had no problems finding a chair on the days we decided to sit by the pool though.

Beach
Absolutely beautiful…goes on for ever and ever. Hundreds of lounge chairs scattered across the entire length of the beach. Other than the first day, we had no problems finding a vacant lounge chair and hut even in the middle of the afternoon. Most people do get up early to save their chair but it was vacation, we weren’t about to get up early if we didn’t have to!!!

Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Entertainment / Activities
Non-stop activities all day, every day from morning to night. We didn’t participate in any of it and regret that now but everyone who did, looked like they were having lots of fun. The Entertainment is exceptional. Sooo good…from the Michael Jackson show to Dirty Dancing to the International Dance…WOW…sooo good…can you hear the enthusiasm in my voice…I was totally impressed and wish I would have captured every moment on video – it was that good ;D. They also did Miss Sirenis 2010 one night, Men vs. Women another, a Circus show which I hear was extraordinary (sadly, we missed that night) and a great Dominican show. The Animacion team works non-stop all day and night with the highest of energy levels, getting everyone involved…they are truly amazing and definitely made our stay at Sirenis memorable. I don’t know how they do it day after day after day but I’m glad they do cause we had sooo much fun just watching them entertain :} James Bond, Will Smith, Spaghetti, Omega, Barney, Mosquito and the rest of the team…super hilarious and extremely talented!

Shopping
There are several little shops on the property just before the main building but three out of the four times we went to check them out, they were closed. There is also a gift shop on site with various souvenirs, toiletry items, etc. No beach peddlers but there are little shops beside the Sirenis beach that you can check out. Most have the same merchandise but aren’t pushy or aggressive which is nice. There’s one really quaint shop called “Banana Beach” (if I remember correctly), really nice, beautiful purses, flip flops, jewellery and clothing…very nice!!! There were also vendors set up with paintings and jewellery on the other side of the property at one point. One night during our stay there were various vendors set-up on the grounds which was great…it looked really sharp and everyone was very friendly and not super aggressive so it was enjoyable to look.

Excursions
Keep in mind that the Sirenis is very secluded, about an hour away from the airport so there’s not a lot of interaction with the locals which is great for some people but for us, we like to experience as much of the culture and life of the locals as possible so decided to do three different excursions. We did the Quad & Buggy Adventure and had such the best time EVER!!! Wow…it was so much fun…we came back COVERED in mud, grinning from ear to ear. Would definitely recommend everyone try it out. We also did the Canopy Adventure which again, was amazing. The trip up into the mountain was interesting and rough but fun! Another must. Lastly, we did the Tropical Storm catamaran cruise…beautiful, breathtaking views, time to snorkel, check out the Astron Shipwreck, have a drink in the ocean…great crew and lots of fun!!!

Other Comments:
Staff
Although the Animacion team is outstanding and front and centre at all times, there are so, so many other staff that go unnoticed who do just as much of an amazing job every day. From the front desk staff to guest services to the grounds keepers, cleaning staff, restaurant and bar staff, my cute little boys who put all the lounge chairs back at the end of every day and changed all the garbage cans across the entire beach (they were so cute, I was just fascinated watching them every day) and my favourite buffet restaurant guy Ananio…such a cutie with an adorable smile :D His side kick was adorable too, always singing and smiling with his cute little dimples…I didn’t get his name though :( The soft spoken older gentleman who handed out beach towels every day...what a sweetheart :) No matter where you went on the property, there was always an employee walking by with a smile and friendly “hola”…truly a great experience and everyone deserves a pat on the back for a job well done!!!