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| Hotetur Dominican Bay |
Hotetur Dominican Bay: Hotetur Dominican Bay Reviews |
| Total User's Score 3.3
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| Based on 7 reviews |
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| Good Beach but Hotel not the fanciest |
| Hotetur Dominican Bay |
User Rating:
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stephanie >
1 contribution(s) United Kingdom |
| Feb, 2010 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
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Stayed for 1 week with my husband, we were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary and decided to go to Boca Chica as it has one of the best beaches in the dominican republic, the only downfall to staying here is that our flight from Manchester only flew to Punta Cana Airport so we had a 3.5 hour transfer to the hotel, i personally enjoyed the trip the bus we had was air conditioned, we stopped half way for a drink and something to eat and the driver we had was very informative.
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| Your Arrival |
upon arrival to our resort the Hoteteur, the reception area was lovely and was all open plan, first impressions were good and it didnt take very long to get our room key and towel keys, the staff at receiption were very friendly and polite
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| Rooms |
we stayed in block 15 room 104 and we had a ground floor room with garden facing and verandah, we were opposite the buffet restauraunt.
the room itself was rather dated, old furniture and could do with a fresh lick of paint and some touching up of the plaster in the bathroom, but the room was very large with two double beds, a large wardrobe with safe inside (you have to pay around 14 dollars for a week rental of the key for the safe), chest of drawers, large bathroom with shower/bath but was clean which was the main thing, the air conditioning however was immensely noisy and we found that we didnt really need it on during the evening as it was cool enough anyway, cannot imagine going there in the hottest season with that noise anyway. |
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| Restaurants and Bars |
the buffet restraunt was opposite our hotel room and had a very large variety of foods available each evening, unfortunately the food was always luke warm or cold and my husband didnt like anything there at all, i myself could find something to eat each time
you do get an evening in one of the a l'acarte restraunts and tehre are two of them, there is the italian restraunt at the beach and the carribean restraunt in the hotel grounds
the food at the italian was nice, we had the soup to start (minestrone) and i went for pizza for main course althoug we did go with another couple and one of them had the seafood linguine which he said was lovely and for a change, this food was piping hot, the staff were good there and very friendly |
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| Beach/Pools/Grounds |
the Beach of the hotel is located at Boca chica beach which was an absolutely stunning beach, there is a section cornered off from the mainn beach purely for hotel guests and they have lots of beds (although most of the beds were old and saggy) and they have some sheltered beds there too, as long as you dont go on one of the beds near to the small wall which separates the private beach to the public beach you will not be bothered by the locals who are trhing to sell you anything from fresh coconuts, boiled eggs, calamari, 6 foot paintings, scarves, sunglassess etc... there is a bar at the beach also that is part of the hotel so if you are all inclusive then you can also use this bar, the italian restraunt located at the beach is also a buffet lunchtime doing some salad, burgers and chicken dishes each day
to get to the beach you have to walk across the road from the hotel (they have an armed security guard who watches you cross) then you walk through some lovely gardens, its probably a 5 minute walk to the beach and a lovely one at that, it was also secure with armed guards in the gardens and at the beach - dont however think that you will be able to snorkel there and see loads and loads of fish, i saw 3 the whole time we were there but i have been spoilt as i was in Sharm El Sheikh in november 2009 and saw the most amazing fish/corals
there are 2 main pools at the hotel and each has a smaller pool for children, the pool water was lovely and they did games at the main pool each day like water polo, volley ball etc, we had a lovely time, always lots of beds available and there is also a bar there which does lovely hot dogs and burgers with salad available lunchtimes
the grounds are really nice with lots of trees and bushes and flowers and are kept really really well by the gardeners
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| Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel |
when we got to the hotel and had our welcome meeting with Hulio Ceesa, he offered us the various trips and excursions etc... but as we were only there for 1 week we only wanted to go on one trip to go snorkeling and he quoted us around 120 englisn pounds for the two of us, we decided to wait as this was only our first day and when you are down on the beach there is an excursion company there who will do it cheaper, we paid approximately 75 english pounds for the two of us to go to the Katalina Island tour which included pick up at our hotel at 7.30am, bus drive to la romana port which took approximately 2.5 hours (with stop on the way) then the boat to the island, we did stop off for a 45 minute snorkel which was really good then went to the island, the trip included all our drinks on the boat, soft and alcoholic, all snorkeling equipment including life jackets, snorkel mask, pipe and fins (although we took our own masks) and it also included a BBQ style meal on the island which was really nice and had a good variety of salads, hot and cold side dishes like potato's rice and spaghetti and then pork chops and chicken bbq, the staff were nice and we didnt feel pressured at all on the island, we were however disappointed tthat we couldnt explore the island much as it was very commercialised and was really just a small beach on one side of it with some small huts selling craft wares and souveneirs, the beach however was really nice and although there are a few corals there, you have to swim a long way to get to them and there were quite a few fish at the corals, there were a couple closer to shore and if you take some bread, they will feed from your hands
the hotel also had entertainment nightly, some of it was really really bad and the highlight was the Michael Jackson night, this was great, they also had a karaoke night which wasnt that good, and nightly bingo sessions |
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| Other Comments |
to be quite honest, we didnt feel safe out of the complex as there was a lot of poverty in the area and lots of armed guards everywhere so we didnt go to the town itself, the only places we went were the grounds of the hotel and the beach and i did go to the ATM Machine in town to get money to pay for the trip, nobody there seems to accept mastercard, the ATM was a drive through however i felt quite safe there as the guide went with me
I did however have food poisoning on the last but one day we were there, not sure if it was undercooked omelette for breakfast but i was as sick as a dog and stayed in bed for 36 hours
i wouldnt dismiss this hotel for someone wanting just a quick break however i'm sure that if you could fly to Santa domingo this would be a great place to go however the food wasnt the greatest and as we didnt venture outside the hotel we are unaware of where you can go do eat
when we do go back to Dominican Republic we are going to stay somewhere near to Punta Cana Airport, i quite fancy Bayahibe, it looks lovely and we will be paying more for a hotel and going for something a bit more fancy with more choise of ala carte restraunts, will probably book a 5 star or something similar
apart from the bad food, my food poisoning and the not venturing out of the hotel, we did meet up with another couple from England and at least made some friends out of it, the majority of the people who stay here are french, german, american, canadian and french canadian
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| Old Reviews - Hotetur Dominican Bay |
| Hotetur Dominican Bay Resort |
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Hi there,
I just came back from the Dominican Republic and let me tell you i had a blast!!!
My friend and I stayed at the Hotetur Dominican Bay, rated at 3 stars, though i would give it an extra star! We booked with nolitours, and they explained everything to the letter. From the tourist visas to the transfer to the hotel to the activities. Just as described! we were there 7 days, though it did rain one full day but it was refreshing, and it didn't stop anyone from jumping into the pool. i have to say the rooms were rather surprising! from the reviews i read i was expecting worse! they were surprisingly adequate. the food 3 meals a day plus snacks, were tasty and satisfying, its obviously not Le Ritz but it certainly beats airplane food!
the staff were friendly, funny, and very knowledgeable some spoke up to 5 different languages!! the beach it self was great!! except for those pesky vendors! but they got to make a living too right!! id have to say the club (the meeting point) was actually a lot of fun!! we make lots of friends and had a super time!!! from the reviews i was expecting a lot worse, but in my opinion they have made a whole lot of improvements through out and i think its earned an extra star in my books! id give it a 4 out of 5!! i would go there again! and the walk to the beach its not that bad!! its a nice stroll!!and the view from the bridge is great!!
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| Hotetur Dominican Bay Resort Boca Chica |
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Four of us ( two mid forties couples) just returned from a one week stay (April 10th to April 17th/06) at Hotetur Dominican Bay Resort and here is my review:
Reception upon arrival: Under staffed and disorganized. No one at the reception area was fluent in English.
Rooms: We were assigned to building #15. The phone did not work, the toilets leaked, and the balcony door did not lock.
All of these problems were straightened out within 24 hours and only after repeated trips to the front desk. Also, the 1500 block of rooms has a resident rooster which sounds his alarm every 10 minutes from 3:am to 7:am.
We switched our rooms on day three.
Food: This is a 3 star resort with 3 star food.
Beach: Hey, I don't mind a walk, but if you want to sit outside of the hotels enclosed area, be prepared to spend up to $5.00 to rent a chair.
Additional costs: On the second night we were there, I was sitting in a resin chair by the pool, when one of the legs on the chair broke. A security guard escorted me to the front desk and I was asked for my room # so that they could bill my room for the chair. The four of us were astounded!!! Finally the manager told me that I would not be held liable for the chair. I then went to my Nolitour Vacation Rep, (Victor) for assurance that I would not be charged, and when he looked up my room #, he told us that based on what we paid for our trip, that we had ro right to complain. At that point I should have also mentioned that we had been hounded by one of the resident prostitutes that stay there, but I think I already know what his answer would have been to that.
Anyway, we booked this trip last minute. We paid $297.00 pp plus tax, and got our monies worth of food, booze and sun.
Would we go back??...I can't see this resort in our future vacation plans. |
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| Hotetur Dominican Bay Resort Boca Chica |
Lynn
Hamilton, Ontario
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| February 2006 |
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Just came back from the Dominican Bay Resort and were not impressed at all.
Its rated a 3 star but I don't know if I would even give it that. It was nothing like the pictures on the internet.
Have done a lot of travelling, 90% of it last minute and this was a disappointed place.
TRAVELLING TO AND FROM:
Landed at Punta Cana Airport ... WOW, a long bus ride, 3-1/2 hours there,
4-1/2 hours back AND NO BATHROOM ON BUS. Was told by travel agent only a
1-/2 hour ride (even that would be too much for this resort, 5 minutes would be too much).
FOOD/BARS
Bland but okay, no one got sick anyway. It always seemed like you were moving from bar to bar as one would close the next one would open, didn't find this real convenient for a vacation.
BEACH:
Very beautiful but quite the hike (were told my our travel agent resort was on the beach), its actually across a bridge across 2 streets, at least 5 minutes. Bothered constantly by vendors and locals selling souvenirs or themselves. The water was beautiful and the sand nice & white but some garbage around and hard to enjoy when you are always being bothered.
If you do go here, you have to take the walk about 5-10 minutes down the beach to Cesar's Pizza, BEST 4 CHEESE PIZZA I've ever had. For $10 you get a huge 8 slice with box and its amazing.
ROOMS:
Very poor condition, no fridge, no blow dryer, very little lighting. Some of the shutters do not close all the way which lets in a lot of noise. One of the beds was slanted, the pillows were not comfortable, some were hard,
some soft, some falling apart and lumpy. Even the shower curtain was
smelly. Toilets had to be flushed about 3 times before they would work properly. But at least we had hot water well if you waited till after 10am and even later on the last day.
ALL INCLUSIVE:
This it was not, had to pay for all water sports, pool table, foosball table even to play bingo with the entertainment staff (another joke) at night you had to pay.
LEAVING:
Our rep told us they have a locked room for luggage and a courtesy room to shower in before you leave (check out was 1pm but bus left at 4:30pm). No locked room (just the so called lobby) and the courtesy room, for 2 people you had 1/2 hour to get showered and ready ? ?
STAFF:
Bar and restaurant staff very friendly, entertainment staff kind of pushy and not very entertaining, staff at desk did not know a lot of English, vendors were better versed. I would think especially the front desk staff should know English, maybe not so much the others.
Cleaning staff did a great job with what they had to work with, always clean towels and clean sheets but still the same lumpy pillows.
All in all we made the best of this vacation but 2 of the 4 would probably not go back to the Dominican because of this resort and I know to keep with at least a 4 star when I travel.
I would NOT recommend this place to anyone.
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| Hotetur Dominican Bay Resort Boca Chica |
Sunshine4jo
Canada
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| February 2006 |
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"Would rate this Resort (econo)"
Just came back from Dominican Bay Resort Jan 23rd-31st 2006. Had a great time, didn't know what to expect so we were pleasantly surprised. Anyone looking to get away for a sunny vacation on a budget, this is the place to go.
The grounds were very well maintained, very clean, the staff were friendly. Some spoke 7 languages and some only spoke Spanish. For the most part we didn't have any problems communicating. The reception is small for the number of rooms so the wait is long for whatever you need.
The rooms looked exactly like the picture. There's cable TV but no remotes for the television, there are no fridges, no blow dryers. The rooms are basic but I found them to be clean and adequate. We tipped $2.US everyday on the pillow and we had plenty of clean towels, fresh flowers detailing the bathroom and towels made into the shape of Swans on the bed. You can rent the safe for $20 US and $10 you get back at the end when you check out. We bought ourselves 2 beach towels for the same price as the deposit on the towels. It seemed complicated to get Beach Towels there so we just bought our own. We didn't have any bugs in our room.
The food at the Buffet was adequate, basic stuff and variations of the same food everyday but we never got sick. I liked it because it was completely closed in, there were hardly any flies, it was clean and the table clothes and napkins were linen. 2 of the bars served food too. The poolside Bars & Grill served Hamburgers and Hotdogs all afternoon and the one at the beach just at lunch time. I liked the fact that at the bars you could serve yourself for water & soft drinks. There were always a stack of plastic cups to help yourself. That way you're never waiting in line unless you want an alcohol drink.
The Beach is not private, it's about a 300 meter walk to the beach crossing 2 roads. There's a wooden enclosure you walk through to get to it. There was plenty of security everywhere. At the Beach, the Resort has an area enclosed where the vendors are not allowed to come in but they wait outside of there for you to go out. For the most part they hassled us for a day or 2 and then they left us alone (they just need to make a living)
Boca Chica Beach has the clearest, cleanest water I have ever seen, the water was warm and there were no waves because the Coral Reef blocks the tide from coming in and out. It's White sands, beautiful snorkeling, you didn't even need snorkel gear, just look down and see the tropical fish to the naked eye.
The town of Boca Chica is a 5 minute walk, I found it completely safe by day but wouldn't go without a group or local people at night. You can buy all your souvenirs there, tones of gift shops and vendors, get ready to barter though!!!
I have taken lots of pictures but I won't post them on here, anyone who wants more information or has questions about this resort, feel free to email me and I'll email you back. Please put "Dominican Bay" in the subject line.
sunshine4jo@rogers.com
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| Hotetur Dominican Bay Resort Boca Chica |
Kelley
Owen Sound, Ontario Canada
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| January 2004 |
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We just returned from a week at the Dominican Bay Resort in Boca Chica. I have not much good to say and this is not long enough to list the negatives. Listed at 3.5*, really a 2.5*.
Food
Very bland and no variety in buffet. 2 BBQ's but only had hotdogs and hamburgers. Italian restaurant okay, Chinese restaurant horrible. We left the Chinese restaurant before we finished our meal.
Bars
One bar closes, another opens so you are forever moving from bar to bar. No variety in the drinks, I couldn't even get a strawberry daiquiri. Combined, you can find a bar from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.
Service
Very good. The staff were friendly and tried to be helpful.
Maid came at no specific time of day. One day morn, one day late afternoon.
Activities at 10 and at 3, not very organized.
Rooms
Not very clean. Very old furniture. The ceiling above the shower just about fell on my husband's head as he was showering, the shower above us was leaking. The maintenance man came within a couple of hours to supposedly fix the problem. By the morning the ceiling was dripping into our tub again. We heard some additional horror stories about some of the other rooms at this resort from other people; cockroaches, no air conditioning, no hot water, etc.
There are two blocks - 18 & 19 - that are new and those people had no complaints.
Beach
Five minute walk to beach. Lovely white sand. Lots of loungers. Blue turquoise waters. You could swim out to the coral reef and do some good snorkelling.
Town of Boca Chica
Dirty. Night life everywhere but you need to be cautious in town.
Currently the Dominican Peso is not worth much. We received 50 pesos to 1 - US dollar, and 30 pesos to 1 - Canadian dollar. However, the price of the gifts in the stores were raised and the shop owners were not willing to barter a lot.
All in all, the weather and the beach were lovely. Would I return to this resort? No, there are other resorts in the area that much nicer.
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| Hotetur Dominican Bay - Boca Chica |
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| My wife and 8 friends booked last minute to stay at the Dominican Bay Hotel in Boca Chica,and were pleasantly surprised. This group books last minute every year and we have 3 priorities, all inclusive , on the beach, reasonable accommodations. We consider the fun and the rest up to us, the Dominican is the Dominican remember. It started out initially very poor as our rooms weren't confirmed and unavailable until 2:30 AM. (we arrived at 11:30PM ) Once the Sun arose the next morning so did our spirits. The rooms were clean and air conditioning worked well, water was hot with good pressure, we of course do not drink it, a handy jug of processed water is recommended. All buffet meals were very good, better than ones previously had in the Dominican. The restaurant meals were not better only a change of venue. There's 2 pools with bars, the beach is a fair hike but very nice and it's bar remained open as long as you were there even th! ough their web site says open till midnight only. We kept them open most nights to 4:00 AM. We had a blast. The entertainment is mediocre at best but this is a 3 star resort and more than adequate. There's plenty of shopping close buy, no Casino, but they do bus you to the nearby Hilton if your so inclined. Staff was good and again because we were a group of ten who looks after ourselves no problems occurred and everything was fine. One thing to consider is the distance from the airport, the bus ride is approx. 1 1/2 hrs. Convince the driver to stop for drinks and all is OK. We would recommend this resort for those that are happy with a little less accommodation and but a good price / value. Also the trip to Suona Island is recommended, our second.
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Dominican Republic Hotels with CARIBBEAN TRAVEL NETWORK
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