my son, my best friend and I just came back from the Sirenis Tropical Beach Resort, in Punta Cana on August 12th, 2007. We were extremely excited to go to this resort as it was sold to us as a 5-star resort, that had a fabulous suite with all the amenities! Our first impression of the resort upon arrival was spectacular! It had wonderful landscaping, the lobby area was sensational and the staff was A-1. Unfortunately things went downhill from there. Our room was far from a 5-star suite, I wouldn't even call it 4 star. It was dark, mouldy and definitely not the size or look as depicted on the website- in fact they used table clothes for bedding! I will say after a few phone calls to the staff, especially Junior who was amazing, they did what they could do to accommodate us. They quickly found us another room, closer to the beach which was a little better, but still not up to the standard that was sold to us.

We read some of the reviews on this site before booking our trip. Some reviews were so severe that we hesitated some.

The Sirenis Cocotal resort surpassed all our expectations. What more could you ask for? Why would anyone rate this a 2*. It's easily a 4 star resort.

Food is a notch above the rest, 6 à la carte restaurants and 2 buffets, 24 hour snacks, the largest beach I've ever seen, drinks everywhere, entertainment at night, you can walk the beach for hours and hours...

Left Canada March 24/07 and returned at 2:30 a.m. April 8/07; a 14 day stay.

We stayed on the room side of the resort; it was extremely clean, comfortable and we were quite content. The first night we had a problem with the patio door not locking, being two middleage ladies, we were concerned. The security guard posted outside the building saw us trying to fix it and immediately sent a repairman who had it fixed in a few minutes (Canadian minutes, not Dominican minutes) This was indicative of our entire stay. The staff was fantastic, from the maids to the animation group. The nightly entertainment was great. The food was good, a lot of variety, very little recycled. Everything was piping hot, the pasta bar is great, desserts (especially ice cream) very pleasing. All in all, we would certainly return to this resort, no question about it. This hotel was better than the Krystal in CayoCoco, especially food wise. There were so many buffet restaurants, beach, poolside and two at the main lobby. The only negative would be that they really don't have 24 hour snacks, they kind of discourage you to go into the retaurants between meals but people went anyway.

Went with my family March 2nd 2007

five of us, two adults and three children ages 9, 8, and 4 Went really to this resort because it was a five star and because it can accomodate 3 children without having to get two rooms, seeing as our children are young.

We have been to the Dominican Rep. three times. Punta Cana is way better than Puerto Plata.

Punta Cana -
Fiesta Bavaro -A few years ago we enjoyed Christmas and New Years at Bavaro Fiesta. Positive: beautiful white sand beaches. Very well managed and organized, great staff and ambiance. Decorations and food - five stars.

Negative: Very windy (could be the time of the year) and personally we felt uncomfortable with the poor conditions of the cooking staff - long hours in the heat, and not allowed a drink or provided a fan. Not much better than what we saw in Cuba.

Overall: 3+ stars.

Sirenis Cocotal - just came back - Loved it

Positive; Very complete overall 5 Star Resort Hotel. Extremely well organized, numerous options of entertainment, access to sports equipment at no extra charge, and 24 hour services for restaurants, bars, casino, a la carte restaurants (6), dancing, live shows, karaoke, live bands, etc. The staff is amazing, upbeat. There is something going on at all times. It's so big that one can still enjoy quiet and private beaches, never waited in line for more than 5 minutes. They move huge amounts of guests so well because they have many many well trained staff. Excellent management. Restaurant workers work two 4hour shifts per day, as opposed to the longer hours at Fiesta. Gold sandy beach with green-blue water.

Tours to Purchase: Caribbean Festival - Swimming with sharks, but DO NOT BUY THE USD$35.00 VIDEO. You're better off buying your underwater disposable camera. They'll ask you to pay up-front and you can't get a place to watch what you're buying until you are back home. It's a boring endless very poor quality video of empty ocean floor, a fes glimpses of a fish, and many stange faces - not yours. We were told that we were being filmed underwater, waved many times, but I guess were edited out. The video also works at its 25% and then goes black, as if Negative: We can only think of a couple of things: once you check out of your room, they'll let you shower at the spa, but there's only 2 shower stalls and 1 toilet. Maybe this is the same in many other places, but it seems that smokers have no restrictions whatsoever which is umpleasant for a non-smoker.

My partner and spent one week at Sirenis Cocotal Jan 28 - Feb 4/07

Flight: as the others, not very roomy but a good flight none the less.

Arrival at Punta Cana: fast and efficient, better than landing and departing from Toronto. Picked up baggage right away and headed to tour bus. Yes the road is bumpy, didn't bother us, the bus was comfy and had a/c. We took an early flight and got to check out the scenery on the journey.

Sirenis Cocotal: no problem checking in. fast and friendly staff at the counter, drinks served also. It helps to speak a little bit of Spanish. Would recommend early check in. check in is not until 3:00 pm but we had a bite to eat wandered around and then were escorted to our room

Grounds/Beach/Pool: all beautiful. Always neat and clean. Big pool and fantastic beach, really fine sand. Lots of beach chairs, people get up early to reserve the little huts or shaded areas to sit, otherwise lots of chairs if you don't want the shade. We were there for the sun not the shade. Nice breeze on the beach. I didn't notice it being that windy, but without the breeze it would have been really hot.

Rooms: room was fine, tiled, a/c, balcony and clean. Always had hot water, always had enough towels, water and pop. We tipped and brought small gifts for maid and she always had the room looking fantastic when we returned. Beautiful flowers and towel arrangements. No facecloths here, bring some cheapy cheapy ones and then just leave them. Room didn't smell..not sure what the other reviews were talking about.

Food & Drink: I think we ate enough to feed the whole island. An endless supply, you will never go hungry. I loved their pizza and there was something about their potatoes I couldn't resist. We enjoyed the buffets better than the "theme" restaurants, although the Mexican one was our favourites. Loved the breakfasts.We tried everything and never got sick, creamy cold salads, ice cream etc..even the water and ice are purified so you can enjoy. The drinks were good also.. Try the Coco Loco's

Entertainment: always something going on during the day and night. A lot of audience participation if you wanted to join in or not. The animation team work hard and are there long hours. Some of the evening shows are pretty funny. Probably not the place if you are single and looking for some action

Shopping: we spent most of your money on tipping. Wasn't much to buy at the resort or at the beach vendors just paintings, carvings, jewellery, always the same gifts. Don't buy cigars from the beach huts, not sure what's in them, even the jewellery might not be real gold or silver, be careful.

Excursions: we went on 3. really enjoyed the trip to Sanona Island. The drive maybe long but again you get to see a lot of the country side. The Catamaran ride to the island was fabulous and the island itself was beautiful. The speed boat ride back was fun and stopping between the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea was fabulous. Bring a bit of money as they stop at a huge gift shop in one of the town, something our Sunquest Rep never told us. Bavaro Runners was another good trip, although our guide could have been a bit more exciting. The last was the fishing trip by Sunquest…don't do this one, a long trip out to the marina, our driver was late and made up the time, we both felt ill after the ride, that's how bad he drove. In the boat it was trolling and we only caught one fish, it was boring otherwise, not enough rods for anyone, and they cut our 1/2 day short because the driver was late. Sunquest did nothing to refund us.

Photos

Hotel Overall:
Isolated and second furthest from the airport. Minimum 1 hour transport time if no other hotels are stopped at.

Supposed to be a 5 Star, they must rate themselves because there is NO way this is a 5 Star, I'd be hard pressed to even give it a 3* on a good day, maybe a 2* We were transferred to this hotel from a true 5 Star and DO know the difference. It seems the people who like this hotel didn't have to spend very much on their vacation and perhaps they have factored this into their opinion. To me a 5 Star should be a 5 Star whatever you pay for it. We even heard someone say they wanted to physically remove the stars from the walls in the lobby.

We encountered many people counting down the days till they were out of there and had to deter quite a few people basing Punta Cana on this one hotel.

Lots of European and French people (won't say anymore on that subject). We did meet some very nice English people and some Canadians.

Check-In
: Took 3 3/4 hours, got shuffled from one staff member to another. Morale here must be really low to treat their guests in such a manner. It was 3 hours before we got wristbands and were able to get a drink.

Pergola Bar:
Good service and drinks if being served by the male staff. Female staff not forthcoming with service or smiles. Funny thing is, we were sitting at the bar and one of the staff looked at another staff member and pointed to us and said "Bavaro". Still don't know what that was supposed to mean.

Pool:
Looks nice, lots of kids. Small pool bar. Lots of chairs, not very comfortable without the thin chairpads and there wasn't even enough of them for 50% of the chairs. No security to enforce the "No Diving" off the bridge, lawsuit waiting to happen.

Beach:
Sand is brown colour and very littered with cigarette butts, no ashtrays provided and people didn't think twice about dropping them in the sand. People also left their garbage, dishes and drinks on the beach too. No beach grooming while we were there. From the inconsiderate litterers there beach grooming would of been pointless.
Beach chairs comfortable. Sand/beach area on a steeper slope than other beaches.

Towel Hut:
The fist day getting our towels the person TOLD us to get him 2 beers before he would give us towels, he wasn't smiling about it either. We avoided the towel hut after this.

Phone Service:
They dial an incorrect number and then charge you $3 US for the call. Phone messages never made it to our phone.

Shopping:
Even the Reps tell you that the shopping in front of the Sirenis is very expensive, they were not kidding. Shopped at the Bavaro for almost half the price. No wonder a good majority of the shops there are closed for business, I guess they just don't get it. Beach vendor prices start higher here too than other beach vendors.

Rooms:
Nothing fancy or appealing about this room (G105 Cocotal). Our bed had two broken legs so the blood rushed to your head when laying down. Plain bedspread was no better and just as thin as an oversized tablecloth. Furniture was dated and many chips, gouges, burns, rings etc. And yes, I did take pictures of this in case anyone thinks this is exagerated. Boy, none of their promo pictures look like the room we got stuck with. All the promo pics I've seen have floral drapes and bedspreads but not ours. I did like the Dominican art on the walls. We had an oceanview but for this you sacrafice and have to put up wtith the outside noise.

Bathroom:
No facecloths. Toilet ran 24/7 with an occasional phantom flush every now and then. Bathtub area filthy with mold and rust. Ceiling above tub leaked cold water on you when showering and the same from the light fixture above the sink. In general the ceiling was caving in, probably due to water leaking for quite some time. When in the bathroom you could hear your neighbours talking in normal tone and whatever else they were doing. Yuk.

Plugs:
Recessed in the wall prevented some chargers not to fit.

Mini Fridge:
Stocked daily with water, 2 Cokes and a Sprite...No beer in this 5 Star ????

Patio:
Not bad, nice view. Patio door obviously has been pryed open a few times.

Noise level: Terrible, you could hear people coming and going at all hours, you could hear them walking in the above room and whenever they opened or closed their closet doors. One night they had a show at the pool until after midnight, this was very loud and felt bad for any parents trying to get their kids to sleep or even themselves.

Maid Service:
Room never made up before 4:30 each day, no flowers or towel arrangementsand One day no bath towels left, had to steal them from the supply room, but the maids are very friendly.

Room Safe:
No point, someone there obviously has a duplicate key or something as our safe was broken into and two rings were stolen. Nothing done by the security staff either. We talked to other people while there who had the same problem and witnessed other guests leading Security to their rooms. I have written a complaint to Head Office, still no reply and probably won't get one either.

Specialty Restaurants:
Quite a line-up on a twice a day system, the wait could be as long as 1 1/2 hours. One a la carte allowed per week. We went to the Steak House and the Chinese. Both were very good. The restaurants are very small and very hot inside. The only time a staff member smiled was on our way out and the greeter asked how the meal was. I suspect staff moral problems here.

The Gourmet restaurant is an additional $35 per person.

Buffets:
Birds flying through and over food in the buffet. Buffets serve the exact same food as each other so shouldn't really count as a separate restaurant. Food was plentiful but very generic and usually cold, they did however provide microwaves to heat up your food, what a pain that is though. No shrimp or lobsters at these buffets and variety didn't change much from day to day. I'm used to seeing happy friendly cooks in the buffets at various fresh cooking stations, you won't find them here as these stations don't exist at this hotel, they only have the omelet guy, the pasta guy and the carving guy, everyone else is behind the scenes. The serving/table staff here are very friendly and attentive and appear to be much happier, perhaps because there is more management walking around here.

Bread selection I think is worth mentioning as it was very limited. White breads and rolls, no ryes or pumpernickels and very very dry. Dessert selection very limited also but adequate, pastries not too fresh.

Disco:
Drinks not included here.

Casino:
Drinks not included unless you're gambling.

Internet Cafe:
Consisted of 4 computer stations.

General Grounds:
Getting a little tired and beat up, they look like they are trying. Lots of palm trees.

Summary ---------------------
1. read as many reviews as you can - so you can be prepared 2. 7:00 AM dash for beach chairs (this rule continues to hold true) 3. nightly entertainment (9:00 PM to 10:30 PM) in covered theater 4. disco dancing (11:00 PM to 2:00 AM) - latin, english, carribean, reggae 5. safe to walk on grounds at night, after disco 6. beautiful grounds, walkways and rooms are clean 7. food is plentyful and healthy (with lots of fruits and vegetables) 8. windy most of time - bit too much for us 9. theme restaurants were trimmed back - good for avoiding long lines 0. expensive during peak season holiday

Detail Story ------------------
We wanted to return to Punta Cana, DR for another vacation since our prior experience (some 4 years ago) was excellent. All due to many travelers’ writings on Debbie’s Dominican Republic website, we became confident that this hotel was the place to visit. The Serenis Cocotal with its all inclusive package is ideal for travelers who do not want to constantly have to search for a restaurant and nightly entertainment. There were six of us going on this trip. So, basically to make the trip worth while, we asked **ALL** travelers in our group to read the various reviews **BEFORE** taking the plunge. Well, this takes about 3 to 4 hours. Without this reading, the level of expectations for the vacation can vary tremendously. Once the homework was completed, betting on the location and hotel was an easy win-win situation. This time, we bet on Serenis Cocotal. It was very good.

Certain features of Serenis Cocotal appealed to us greatly. The cleanliness and courteous staff (even though we were prepared for somewhat slower paced level from that of a big city), and the freshness and new looking experience of this hotel, proximity to the beach and its beautiful poolside eating areas, barbeque functions and long paths surrounding was excellent. We were also prepared to brace ourselves for the 7:00 AM dash out the room (sometimes half asleep and in pajamas) so as to get a few good beach chairs near the poolside and beach front, all because we knew from prior readings that there continues to be a problem getting beach chairs.

And this was the case for us, too. But, for others who were not prepared, we witnessed lots of frustrations and sad faces (for them, this was not a good vacation). Only thing, the trip was expensive. Prices were high during the peak holiday season (between Christmas Eve and New Year Day). The all inclusive package included meals - a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to balance for a healthy diet. This was important to us, since we did not want to eat an entire cow or pig and return home with a tan but also gaining 5 lbs around the waist line. Yet, we were dissapointed at the trimming of poolside theme restaurants as compared to 4 years ago. Other reviews grind the point that the hotel does not have a four star menu, and this was correct. Guessing that these adjustments were cost saving considerations, we accepted it. For us, this turned out great. Because we did not have to wait on various long lines to make reservations for these theme restaurants during lunch and dinner hours. Instead, we just had fun and sun. We suggest for you do avoid these too. It does not make business sense for Serenis or other hotels to continue theme specialty restaurants, because the number of staff people needed to support this becomes costly to the hotel – and results in a loss of services in other areas, such as good buffet food and service. The lunch time barbeques were consistently prepared in good fashion. So, we converted into this- eating barbeque chicken, pork chops and burgers at lunch. Then, we were leaving the vegetables, salads and fruits selections for our dinner meals. Of course, we had a struggle not to eat too much, and gain the calories. Thanks to the hotel grounds and the activity schedule, we took on the long walking paths, the endless pool activities, and the nightly discothèque parties which allowed us ample opportunity to burn off whatever calories we needed, and to have a fun time.

It was getting hot in here, so why not take our clothes off? (50-Cents song) The disco was hopping. Dancing to current music songs - English, Latin, Caribbean, Spanish and Reggae sounds helped burn off some calories. As far as we were concerned, that dance floor was jammed up for a night of shaking, wiggling, bending and stretching. We were very happy with this set-up.

And, at the end of the evening, we walked back to our hotel room – no need to take a taxi or get behind a wheel of a car and drive. This was a tremendous advantage of the all-inclusive set-up. The nightly entertainment (9:00 PM to 10:30 PM) and the disco (11:00 PM to 2:00 AM) provided all that we wanted in a vacation. On the flip side, we were a bit disappointed that on one night the disco was empty at 11:00 PM, but these things happen.
Possibly, we were lucky it was hopping on most nights because this was the high season (during Christmas to New Year break,) and so there was a crowd.
We loved to party and dance (can you tell?) We also love to swim on the beach,bask in the warm sunny weather and get a nice tropical tan.

But was the wind too much? It seems that this time, the weather at Punta Cana included too much wind. The waters were calm and swimming was allowed, but the winds were a constant reminder that floating on the beach ocean currents and waves was not going to be easy. So, we converted to the pool swimming, and that was good enough. We got the sun and the sun tan. Others in our group thought that the hot weather excitement was dampened a bit because of the strong winds. For example, any reading materials and hats needed to be secured down, or else, they along with the beach towels, always find their way onto the sandy beaches, blown by the wind, some 10 to 30 feet away. The winds were strong. Looking back, we were lucky to bring a few extra carry bags (these were give away items from local merchants in our home town of New Jersey.) The carry bags were used to claim chairs early in the morning, along with beach towels and tee shirts. We made sure to tie them down securely to the chairs, so the wind did not blow them away. As the rule goes, no towel on the chair, then you may loose that chair when returning from that wonderful breakfast buffet.

The hotel grounds and rooms were adequate. Others comment on the slow service when it comes to fixing a leaking faucet or toilet. We agree, but because this was our second trip to Punta Cana, we made note to find alternative bathrooms – just in case. So, we made use of the lobby toilets and washrooms whenever possible. This seems like a trivial point, but worth sharing with you folks who may need to know (so, just don’t get stuck.) The rooms had ample space to put our clothes and beach goggles. We brought the snorkeling gear but did not use it. Funny, basking during the day under a palm tree, getting a great tan, during the warm sunny but cool days and party dancing at night seemed to be enough vacation for us. While walking on the beach, we noticed a few abandoned homes which appear deteriorating due to the climate conditions. We also think that the materials used to build the home may not have clean concrete. If they used local concrete, which was salt minerals, and these minerals were not cleaned from the sand before turning into concrete, then the structure would have an internal corrosive factor that will damage the structure quickly. Funny little point we picked up while talking to a few friends back in the United States. Anyway, there were plenty of places for beach activity, but not the same as other resorts, we assume. Maybe the snorkeling and scuba diving should have been planned for a trip elsewhere. Anyway, we were not disappointed. And, the hotel grounds included two large covered theaters for entertainment. The covered open-air theaters were of great value because on one occasion, there was a tremendous downpour, yet the show went on, and many were able to sit down (sheltered from the rain), and enjoy the show. Some even stood near the sides and had a cigarette without disturbing the others at the audience. People were generally very nice. We liked that.

Other reviews suggested the same, that the vacation folks coming to this resort were generally very nice and polite. This was the case. Mostly Europeans and Canadian folks with their well behaved children. What a wonderful sight for us to see – well behaved children. Also, because the all inclusive included alcohol, there were many adults were drinking, but descretely. We did not find vacationers who were out of control, gone wild, and throwing their clothes off - after drinking a few glasses of the local rum. Of course, this bad behavior occurs mostly with folks back home. We folks in New York City and New Jersey know how to get into a party mood, and let it all hang out. So, without this company, we as a group, were a bit more polite and curious to others. This ened nice, really nice. And nobody got hurt. When we were tired and sleepy, other people’s noise did not bother us, and the quiet sounds became an added plus. It was really safe to walk the grounds at night, under the black skylight with bright stars lighting up the galaxy. The peaceful nights were romantic – but this was after the nightly entertainment (between 9:00 and 10:30 PM) ended, say about 10:30 PM. We can talk so much about the value the nightly entertainment has – but it will take more of your time. To say this quickly, because the Serenis Cocotal has this all inclusive which includes the nightly entertainment and disco – we chose this place to vacation over many others. And we were not disappointed. After an evening meal, which includes an espresso café and some sweets, sitting down and watching the staff put on a comedy sketch or musical was just great. OK, the show was not on level with a Broadway musical, yet again we need not have to drive into NYC, park the car for $30, pay $200 per ticket, and still unable to have a coffee while watching the show. Here, at this hotel, we did have our coffee or Pina Colata while watching the show, and that was nice. It was relaxing.

Of course, the $64 question, was it worth it? Personally, we thought the price was a little too expensive, but for the holidays, we had a nice vacation and got away – to somewhere warm. We hope this review was good information for you. We have some pictures to share, but they are similar to others on the photo site.

Photos

Yet, if you have any questions, you can email us, and please do the following:

We are a couple in early 30, experience travelers, with many visits to Cuba, Dominican, Mexico, and Bahamas.

FLIGHT
Skyservice - plane e320 is very small, can feel every little bump & they put people like sardines. No J class. Flight was 4hrs and 25 minutes to Punta Cana from Hamilton. If you flying from Hamilton note that this facilities are very small, and yes - no duty free or smoking area.

ARRIVE IN PUNTA CANA
Prepare yourself to walk from the plane down the stairs. Quick process at the airport. Bell boys not too pushy - just say NO. Ride to resort is another story - they say is around an hour - more likely two hours on curvy, bumpy road. Sirenis is one of the fares one, so be prepare to stop in others resorts on the way there - too long. TAXI faster, but not recommended - not sure about safety.

SIRENIS COCTAIL
Late check - in is a totally nightmare - it seems like they don’t know what they doing, that is why is so long, no welcome drink. Be prepare to wait till morning hours to finally get to your room and even then you cant be sure that there is nobody else already sleeping there. It had happened too many people on our flight - ....and haw many others?? In the middle of the week we were awaken in the early morning by another couple try to get "their" room. Since there we kept “NO MALESTADE" sign outside our door.

Rooms - good size and clean. Be preper that some of the things in the room may not working and it takes forever for them to fix it ( things like - phone, air condition, patio door) thing that takes 5- 10 minutes in here - over there is like 5 - 10 hours and there is always tomorrow. NOTE - if you plan to have some gifts for cleaning people - they are most men, not ladies. We were at “K - coco side" - the best ocean view - just few meters away from the beach & pool.

Food – there are choices of food for everybody, and we didn’t see anybody being hungry. Only disappointment was in a lack of fish. Island and no fish sound bizarre. The “Al Carte” restaurants are in my opinion are waist of the time – most people end up at the buffet anyway. What is the point to serve a chicken at “seafood restaurant” or “sea cocktail” with two little shrimps in it and rice?????

Entertainment - except few shows there is nothing there. Perfect for anybody who like to be in bad by 11 pm. Bar open till 12 am with no international drinks. Daily entertainment is very poor. If you are a party animal look somewhere else. Disco is small, smelly, dark, and you have to pay for the drinks. Going outside the resort at night time is not recommended due to your safety.

Shopping – there are few shops in the front of hotel – expensive, for good bargain visit one of the small shops at each end of the property , right on the beach. Bargain, bargain prices , they usually start from high and you can pay only 20%. Nice paintings.

Grounds – very clean and in good shape – from time to time you can see crew working on something – no problem.

Beach and Pool - beach is not bad, cleaned daily. Coral reef is close to the beach – watch were you stand in the water. Pool is nice, big, two swim-up bars, quiet section, kid’s pool – cleaned every morning. You have to reserve a lounge early in the morning.

Extrusions – there are few trips that they are offer, but really nothing special and way overprice.

We just returned Feb 1 from a wonderful family vacation to the Sirenis Cocotal in Punta Cana. Funny how all the reviews I read prior to going all suggested they visited the same location and yet varied so greatly from "will never return" to "loved it and going back". Well, here is our take:

We are 37 and 38 our children 8 and 9. We have travelled to Santa Domingo, Puerto Plata and now Punta Cana.

SKY SERVICE Flight: Oh boy... everyone who said it was a small cramped plane was NOT kidding! I'm 5' and I got swollen legs from being cramped. Make sure if you are on this plane, you make a couple trips to the furthest washroom just to get the blood flowing in your legs. Both flights were exactly on time, and the staff were amazingly friendly which was a huge surprise after what I had read. (I told them that I was surprised they smiled as well and they laughed). Food however, was... well... gross. The way there was a warm wrap of spaghetti sauce, small carrot/raisin salad, cup of water, cheese and crackers (those were good!) and some sort of cake thing. The way back was similar with the exception of some spicy thing in the wrap. BRING YOUR OWN FOOD FOR THE PLANE. They have movies which can be access via the earphones they sell you for $5 or you can use your own from home.

DRIVE TO RESORT: Yep, it is 60 minutes for sure, maybe a little more and I had to laugh when I read a review somewhere by a fellow with a preg. wife who didn't like the bumps. I guess he thought they were going to take the Dominican 401? They do not have good roads there. Anywhere. I think if I was preg. I would be doing a little more reading up on where I was going before getting on a plane so things like that wouldn't be a surprise. But, yes it is long but at least the 2 buses Sunquest put us on were nice.

RESORT CHECK IN: Here is a tip and I hope it doesn't come back to bite me if everyone starts doing it. I jumped off the bus and headed for the front desk while my husband waited for the luggage. By the time everyone came in, we were all signed in and ready to head to our room. We were greeted with a wonderful glass of juice and off we went.

ROOM: I have to say our room was the nicest we have ever had of any hotel we have stayed in with perhaps the exception of Stage West and the Double Tree west of Toronto. Huge room with a marble bathroom, great water pressure and hot water at every time of day even with 4 of us showering several times a day in some cases. Mini bar was always full, beautiful balcony looking towards the water... what more could we want? (get the safe key for $2 per day at the desk when you check in to save yourself a trip back to the front desk later).

FOOD: Well, it isn't "our" food (Canadian), but it must have been alright because I packed on almost 10lbs in 7 days! We are rather picky eaters, for example, our kids think hot dogs are a treat when they go to a friends birthday party because I don't buy "mystery meat". However, there was always fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, mango, and papaya. Always something to put a salad together as well. Breakfast always served up pancakes and sausages (different than ours) an omelette bar, yoghurts by the dozens (not the same as you are used to), and cereals, smoothies made fresh while you watched, donuts and pastries, etc. Again, these are "their" version so don't go down expecting to get Tim Horton's stuff. Lunch had the same fruits and desserts, breads, soup, hot dishes, etc. etc. and Dinner had at least 3 assortments of meats some carved in front of you, soups, potatoes (I think the mashed were instant though), etc.etc. I have to say, the people that said they couldn't find anything to eat there really shouldn't be traveling. They need to stay close to their own stove. These people go out of their way to ensure the tourists have everything they want, and I find it sad that so many seem ungrateful of those efforts and cannot see the forest for the trees. I love crepes with peaches and whipped cream, but had to settle for plain ones with a syrup. Oh well. It is the same as 10 people bringing a potato salad to a party. I'll bet not 2 are the same. Everyone has their own version, some you will like and some you wont.

BEACH: No words can express the beauty of what you are going to see.

CHAIRS: Not once in 7 days did we "reserve" a chair or have our towels moved while we were at the water. Perhaps we lucked out? Always lots there.

ENTERTAINMENT: WOW. I highly suggest you take part in all the exercise classes though if you are going to enjoy the food as we did. They had stretches and aerobics. Lots of fun stuff to like dance lessons and games and a Mr. Sexy 2007 that was the best 30 minutes I can remember in a long time.

KIDS CLUB: The two women who looked after this were wonderful. Our kids had the option of going or staying with us and always chose to go. 10am to 12pm and then 3pm to 5pm. Some nights the kids met them for dinner and then off to the mini disco or beach party. They even got a Sirenis Cocotal T-shirt to show off to their friends on Monday.

EXTRAS: When you walk down to the water you can walk along the beach to the right or to the left. If you go left, you will see a big white sign for horseback riding, ATV rentals, Fishing, etc. We ended up becoming quite good acquaintances with Ramon there who books the tours and I would even call him a new friend since he was concerned enough about us that he called me when we got home to make sure we arrived safely. You must put aside $40 for the 2.5 hour ATV tour! We went through the town and our kids got to see what life is like for the children there. When they hear the bikes coming, they all run out yelling "olla" and put their hands out so you can give them a "hi 5". I was just about "olla'd" out by the time we got back. We stopped at an underground cave which was magnificent and then at a store in the town were we rested up for a few minutes and got a free coke. It is $40 for a bike so if you double it, it is still the same money. I suggest you pack a bandana though for the dust and if you have swimming or ski goggles, you might want those as well.

Horseback riding was fun and I went 3 times. We have our own trail riding facility of 31 horses, so it was hard to see those horses. I was able to show Ramon though that doing up that back cinch so tight made it hard for the horse to breath, so at least that has changed. The ride was wonderful, $20 for 90 minutes. They also have a full moon ride that you should ask about as well. A beautiful ride down the beach at around 8pm is a once in a lifetime thing. Check it out. If you do, would you please do me a favour and tell him Lorrie or the horse lady from Canada says hi! He only gets paid if he books a tour, so make sure you share the word with others as I have if you enjoy it.

BAD HAIR DAY: Ladies, if you are prone to frizzy hair in damp weather (I didn't realize I was!), pack a bottle of anti frizz hair cream. My hair is normally straight and I looked like I had a bad perm going on for the week. Where'd those curls come from???

MOSQUITOES and SAND FLEAS: Yep, found 'em. Only at night in the specialty restaurants did we have problems though so we sprayed our ankles and all was well. The sand fleas were bad in a couple areas down the beach, but we never did have a problem with any on the resort. Tiny little things that you really have to look for to see.

MAID SERVICE: Our maid was wonderful and as the saying goes "what goes around comes around". We took her special things and made an effort to communicate with her when we needed 2 extra towels (thanks to Debbies travel spanish/english cheat sheet!) we were able to leave her a note and VOILA, there were 2 extra towels. We made sure we always said Olla and smiled and left her special things each day, and one day we came in and she had left us 2 small paintings for our kids and 1 large beautiful one for us! I asked her what she would like from people wanting to bring things and she couldn't narrow it down, just that she would be grateful for anything. She kept pointing to our knock off Walmart special Crock shoes so we left those and she wanted us to leave any of our kids clothes that we didn't want. So, if your kids have outgrown anything, I know where you can take it.

WAIT STAFF: Eat fast or your plate is gone! They are so fast at ensuring you never have a dirty plate in front of you..... always smiling, always willing to help with anything you need.

VENDORS: When you go left on the beach there are vendors just past Ramon's little hut where he books the tours. The don't seem to have as many things as the ones on the other side, but sure worth a check because they have other things. The one thing they all said about our family was that they felt "equal" to us because we would shake their hands and smile and laugh when they called us into their little stores. What a great feeling that was, and again, how sad that being friendly all the time and smiling and taking their had was "different".

COCONUT AND SUGAR CANE: Neither are on a shelf for sale. Ask. The vendors to the right of the beach were wonderful for climbing the trees so our kids could see how they get them! Amazing! Take the camera for that one and although they never asked for money because they knew it made us happy, we paid for everything. Take some straws with you so you can drink the milk and then taste the young coconut. Nothing like you have ever had before. The sugar cane is brought in from town. Tell them if you want 1' or 4'. Again, I always paid since they went out of their way for me. The kids love chewing on that stuff! Anything else you want? Just ask!

SPECIAL PAINTINGS: Have a picture you would like painted in an oil painting? Take it with you and show it to them the first day you get there to ensure you give them enough time to do it. Be very clear on the size you want and the price you are willing to pay before you make the deal.

SIRENIS TROPICAL: Same resort, just on one side of the sidewalk and the Sirenis Cocotal is on the otherside of the sidewalk. However, if you are going to book, try for the Tropical because they are suites rather than rooms for what seems to be the same price. Also mini bar is apprently stocked with rum as well, and includes a bathrobe and a few other goodies. Found this out the last day we were there.

AIRPORT FOOD: Expensive! $7US for a Wendy's small combo. $3US for a large muffin. I suggest taking zip lock bags with you and making yourself a little picnic for the airport if you are between meals with your flights. I'd also make sure you let the staff know what you are doing so they don't think you are hording.

WOULD WE GO BACK?: In a heart beat and in fact, I'm looking into March 1, 2007 right now to surprise my mom, dad and mother-in-law with a trip! Will I eat as much as I did last week? NOPE! Apparently my bikini had too much stretch to it and I didn't feel myself growing into a beached whale. Harder to lose than it was to find. :)

We travelled to DR for a family holiday from Sunday, Jan 7th to Sunday, Jan.14th

We are a family of 4, our teenagers are 16 and 17.

Flew SkyService ....same old complaints, but that part will never change so we will carry on.
I recommend pre-booking your seats for $15.00 each

Went through the Punta Cana Airport very quickly - no complaints

Bus ride truly is about 1 hour long - our bus went straight to the resort, we did not make other stops at other resorts.

Check In was fine - they had all envelopes ready with 2 room cards, power card and towel cards.
We had 2 rooms - they were right across the hall from each other in building E
We asked for adjoining rooms as well as a 2nd or 3rd floor room but were told the resort was full, etc.... Front desk wasn't willing to budge on moving 2 rooms and I did not want to start my trip on a sour note so took what we got and it worked out just fine.
Our rooms were in good shape. The kids had a toilet that sometimes backed up ....but the nice thing about 2 rooms is we could share and not have to wait for it to be fixed. The maids looked after the problem....we never had to go to front desk.
The maids cleaned our rooms everyday and I left them gifts and tips. No complaints at all about that.The rooms were not always cleaned right away - usually after lunch but we seldom went into them during the day.

The beach is absolutely gorgeous !!! There were lots of loungers and the beach bar was so convienant. We parked ourselves within a very close walk to bar and it was great. The beach bar always had bottled water which is nice !!!

The pool is very large, first day we sat on Tropical side of bridge but moved over to Cocotal side as swim up bar was at a more convienant location.

There is unfortunately alot of lounge reserving and some people are very rude. They put their towels out at 7:00am and don't show up at the pool until late morning.
I don't personally like that game but the one morning we tried to get a cabana , a very rude gentleman took our towels and books and left them on a lounger by its self - ( we had 4 ) in the middle of the pool area. So that game backfired on us. I guess we could have made a fuss with him...but he was just the person to give it back and why ruin a vacation.

The breakfast buffet was excellent !! You had tons to choose from. Eggs, bacon,omelettes,donuts, breads, muffins,yogurt, smoothies etc..............

Lunch Buffet - we ate at the pool restaurants everyday. Mostly pizza, pasta, burgers etc......
One day they also set up a BBQ at the beach - which was very nice !

Dinner Buffet - there was always something to eat - It was not excellent but it was good.

We ate at the
Italian restaurant - good
Seafood - OK
Steakhouse - Excellent

There were lots of bars to get drinks no matter where you are at the resort.
I loved the Cocolocos.
The bars in the lounge area have a menu of drinks and we tried many of them- yummy !!

The Casino is little but if you have 10 minutes after dinner and before a show - go in and put $5.00 in a slot - we did this 2-3 times and had fun with it.

My kids have never been in a casino, so they experienced how fast hard earned money can go !!
My kids went to the Disco almost everynight.
They met alot of the resort staff there and had a blast !!

Entertainment was very funny some nights - no, its not Las Vegas ...but it is worth watching and the performers are very hard workers.

We went on The Monster Truck Safari excursion and it was very good. My kids got to see real poverty and I think that is worth the trip alone.

BobFromCanada is one of our hard working moderators of our Dominican Travel Forum

OK, deja vu, almost. Yeah, I know, so many places to go and so little time. It's always a tough call trying to decide whether to repeat a place you enjoy or try something new. Being creatures of habit, this year we elected to repeat yet again. The place works for us and we have been quite happy to return. Being our fifth trip to this property, we were not expecting any real surprises. There were some. With a slightly new management team there is bound to be new ideas. Mostly, these were all positive.

For those of you who have been there before, the fish pond / river that runs down the middle of the property is history. They have filled it and most of the ponds in. The flamingos that were in the pond outside the main buffet have been relocated to outside the lobby entrance. The speakers that played music along the main walkway are also gone. There is also new lighting on the main pathway. I was initially kind of distressed over the loss of the ponds, but once the landscaping started to take shape it started to look very attractive.

OK, on to the review. The hotel still lists itself as a 5 star resort. Sunquest Vacations lists it as a 4 star property which is about right. If you are expecting 5 star amenities and service, look elsewhere. There is no way it can be considered 5 star on any rating scale, unless you are scoring out of 7. I would also rate it 4 star. Over the last few years the hotel has been starting to show signs of lots of hard use and some tender loving care was obviously required. A lot of the fittings and fixtures came from Spain when the hotel was built. These did not stand up to the humid tropical salt air laden environment and are breaking down badly. The hotel seems to be addressing these issues aggressively. While we were there, whole wings were shut down for renovations and restoration. Our room was fine, but we did hear stories of rooms with minor issues. Everything can't be fixed at once, so there still remains at lot of work to be done.

When you check in you'll get two room keys, a power control card, two towel cards. You can also rent a key for the in-room safe. If you want a remote for your TV, it's also available at reception. When you check out these must be returned or you will be charged for the missing items.

To make a long story short, the hotel is still very good value for the money. We had a great time and we would return without hesitation. Since no one else's trip dates overlapped ours this year, we didn't have any 'MEET & GREET' list. So, we met a lot of nice new people, this time via the "Hi, where are you from?" route.

There is a lot of repeat staff there and they remembered us. We found some on our own. Some staff even searched us out in the bars and restaurants. It's nice to be fondly remembered.

ROOMS:
The room included a king bed, two bedside night tables, a desk, a table and two chairs, satellite TV, and a mini bar restocked daily with pop and water (no beer or liquor). There's not a lot of drawer space, but there is a huge closet with shelving and hangers that works very well. As usual, there's never enough hangers, so we take our own and just leave them. It's a large storage area that consists of a full-length closet that covers an entire wall and an in-room safe that was securely bolted to the wall. Like all the rooms, the closet was interesting. Three doors on two tracks, so you have to be careful to avoid collisions.

Like other years, the rooms are bright and cheery, and seem nicely decorated and clean. We asked for the same room as we had last year. It wasn't available but the room they offered us was more than acceptable. Everything worked aside from a few anomalies such as reversed water connections on some of the taps. You just had to remember which one was backwards and which one wasn't. Tough after a "few" cervezas ......

There was also one flaky light switch and a broken hinge on the toilet seat that had been repaired at some time in the past. It was an ingenious repair, but unfortunately the repair was breaking down. I ended up rebuilding it three times. Oh well, such is life. It's a rare event where I leave the hotel room without making an improvement of some kind. This time, Red Green would be proud; on the third repair I improved the design with duct tape. It held together for the remainder of the trip. Yahoo.

As I said, we had no 'major' issues with our room. But we met people that were not quite so lucky with theirs, Most of the issues were pretty minor (air conditioning leaks, TV's not working and things like that). A large portion of the resort was shut down for renovations so it seems they are aggressively addressing the issue. I would expect that when completed, the renovations should address most of the issues. Then again, some people don't care how they treat things because it's not theirs, so damage and abuse occurs too.

TIPPING:
We tipped daily to ensure that the person providing the service got taken care of. Since this hotel is out of the way, the staff work 12 days, then get 3 days off. During the 12 days, most live on site, then they go home. If you are going to hold off your tipping until the end of your trip, you have to account for this schedule. Note that there is NO tipping pool, but I suspect some of the waiters work together as a team by mutual agreement. Other than that, the money goes to whoever picks it up and it is not shared. We also tried to find reasons to give stuff to groundskeepers and behind the scenes people. Also you should note that if you are going to donate anything to your maid or a waiter (shoes, hats, whatever), it should be accompanied by a signed note stating that you are giving the item(s) to them. Otherwise, they can't take it off the property.

FOOD / RESTAURANTS:  We had no real issues with the food; it was pretty basic, but quite acceptable. There was lots of variety from day to day. Since the hotel was at low occupancy, not all the restaurants were open.

Breakfast was served in the main buffet restaurant. There was bacon and sausage every day, scrambled eggs, beans, cold meats, tomatoes, lettuce and cheeses, cereals and yogurt, the omelet station (omelets and fried eggs cooked to order), some kind of potatoes, fruits (mostly fresh, some canned), toast, buns, and a juice bar. I think pineapple may have been out of season. I never saw any at breakfast, and it was somewhat conspicuous by its absence at lunch and dinner. And then it was usually either under-ripe or over-ripe.

The outdoor eating area is open again for breakfast. It's pretty popular and sometimes hard to get a table without waiting. We waited most days and only had to eat breakfast inside once.

You could have lunch either in the main buffet or the beach club. Only one of the beach clubs was open while we were there. Selections seemed about the same wherever you chose to eat. There were lots of choices but it was about the same each day. There were various salads and fixings, pizza, burgers, ham&cheeses sandwiches, grilled meats and fish, pasta dishes (lasagna, spaghetti), french fries, rice, veggies, crepes, fresh fruit, ice cream, ....

I have heard that they are thinking of starting up the charcoal chicken and burger BBQ on the beach this year, but I saw no evidence that it was going to happen. One can only hope.

Dinner was served either in the main buffet or in the specialty restaurants (reservation required). For dinners, in addition to the salads, soups and the hot tray selections, there was a carvery station each night. Every night there was something different served (roast chicken, roast beef, roast pork, grouper, cinnamon ham, beef leg, salmon wellington, dorado). Obviously, over the two week period there were some repeats. Even the beef surprised me. Usually the beef is the typical Dominican variety; great flavour but tough. This year, out of the three times it was served, twice it was tender and once it was 'chewy'. OK, a pack of pit bulls may have had a little trouble. The pork roasts and the chicken were excellent. I'm not much of a fish eater, but my wife enjoyed the fish served at the carvery station.

And just in case you couldn't find anything you wanted, there was a grill station (pork chops, beef steakettes, burger, fish) and a pasta station. The food here was pretty much prepared to order.

Desserts were wonderful. Some of the cakes and cookies were very good.

The wine served with dinner was a little sweet for my tastes, but at least it was potable. Unlike other years there was no problem getting refills.

There is no excuse for going hungry here.