Puerto Plata Village And Beach Resort Reviews

ok we went to ppv on 08.10.2008 and can only say we had a fantstic time. the acomadation is fine, you only sleep there after all. the food was very good with plenty of choice. the only down side is no baked beans for breakfast, the animation team pictured are fantastic, willy, popeye, kojak, peter flow, salami and jasmin. there was 11 in our group age 10 to 45 and we all enjoyed the holiday and everyone joined in everything.

october is out of season so there was only about 50 people in the complex which can acomadate 900. dont get excursions from the rep, go to the shopping complex the rep will charge you $90 for scubering at the complex it's $42 and the same for any excursions.

while on the beech you can use kiyaks snorkeles and bodyboards plus there is a snack bar which dose drinks and food, though the food is 11am till 2pm there is a type of golf cart that takes you to the beech and back it runs just about every 10 mins and you still get the animation team down there getting you to do competions.

take plenty of bite cream as your legs get eaten not sure if its moses or what but everyone gets bit except my missis.

we did scuba diving $42 each, paradise island, waterfall and horse riding $20 each for 2 and 1/2 hours not bad:)

time from airport is about 20 mins, dont forget it costs $10 to get in and $20 to get back out and it must be dollars, we did not know and had to go and change some £ at the airport, be careful as there are people waiting to carry your bags for youand then want paying £4 but after you get your bags its about 30 feet to the reps also on the way back they try but this time its 20 feet to checkin.

recomend this place and will be going back.

After reading the reviews i was quite concerned about this holiday but must say it was great and would do it again. 14 of us went ranging ages from 9yrs old to 65yrs old. the standard rooms are just standard but comfortable and clean, we were upgraded because our room did have a leak, but we didn't have to complain alot, the staff were accomadating and pleasant. the food was gr8 we all had dodgy stomachs but nothing bad and nothing to ruin a holiday, the animation team, Willy, Kojak, Elvis, Popeye and the rest were lovely and great fun to be with, they came and ate with u, they knew your name after a couple of days and always went out of their way to make your holiday memorable. Well Done to them.

The downfalls to this holiday village is if clothes are left on the balcony at night they will go missing, The dominicans at the weekend are a bit of a pain, but you have to remember that it's your holiday aswell and don't let them push in. Teenagers will get bored unless they are really into watersports or sunbathing.

If you want to do a trip look for Dio on the beach he is great and will work out good deals for your trip. But if he tells you the trip is for an hour then don't believe him really it's dominican time which you are looking at 2-3hrs. Also he doesn't hassle you like some of the others

They say take american dollars out there, but it is much easier and you will always get change back in spanish pesos, which can become very confusing.

Playa Dorada resort is very clean, and beautiful but the people will constantly approach you asking if you want a ride, can u book a trip, would you like to buy their wares, but once you say No they do leave you alone.

I would recommend you take lots of bite creams, and sprays as it is all inclusive and you will be eaten alive.

I went to PPV on 27th June till 11th July this is the 2nd time we got married here in 2001 we had no problems with anything the only rude person was the so called customer service manager she was appaling, We met loads of really nice people there of we have kept in touch with, but the best thing was the animation team Kojak and elvis was brilliant they are wasted there, we all got involved in all the games on a evening,karoke bingo, competitions i won miss puerto plata ha ha so i was given a bottle of rum we won 4 bottles in total my son who is 16 enjoyed it the weather was boiling hot

This place was awful i would not put a dog in this hotel.From the minute we walked into the lobby i wanted to return home.

The place smelled awful.We were taken to our rooms and it was awful.There were ants all over the bed ,black creepy crawlies in the bath and basin the air con did not work mosquitoes were getting into the room through cracks in the door.We tried to put a brave face on thinking things could only get better.We went to the buffet the food was shocking.We couldnt eat a thing.Birds sat on the bread rolls eating them ants crawled all over the food,food was cold and not cooked through.We went to the small gift shop in the hotel and bought crisps to eat.We went to the reps welcome meeting next day and told her we was not happy.She did not want to know and fobbed us off.

The bar is next to the toilets and everytime someone went to the loo maids had to mop the bar area because the toilets were leaking.The smell was horrible.The snacks turned out to be a piece of pizza or a hot dog nothing else.The poolbar was dirty with tiles missing very run down.The entertainment was garbage.The locals invaded at weekends and were very rude they kept taking whole cakes and putting them in boxes to take home.We ended up trying the mexican and got food poisioning we were very ill passing blood etc we got the rep and filled out forms ,the next day all the food was tested and samples taken.Lots of people were ill and complaining.We asked to move hotels but the rep didnt want to move us.

A lot of people got together and demanded to be flown home.We got moved that night to the occidental allegro ,what a fantastic place.We moved on the friday and came home on the monday,if we had been in this hotel from the start we would have had a fantastic time.All was not well for me though,the first morning on the way to breakfast a cleaner was hosing the stairs down and i slipped and fell from top to bottom i split my elbow open and suffered severe bruising to my arm and back.I then had to see the rep to fill in more forms, it meant i could not spend the last few days swimming etc or going on the beach.We got talking to our new rep and she told us she had taken lots of people out of puerto plata village and first choice had decided to take no more bookings for it.

We came back on the 25th september and we are still feeling off colour the doctor has told us it can take a while to overcome food poisioning.Our advice to anyone thinking of going to this hotel is forget it , it needs bulldozing.

In one sentance, not recommended.
resort filthy , food awful,accomadation awful,staff rude and unhelpful.
over 50 holiday makers moved out on one day the standards were so bad.
the pool contained everything you don't want to imagine ,all clothes turned yellow after going into the pool.
entertainment was so bad it was funny.the pizza and food hall had more flies in it than food,thats if you were not pushed out of the way by the hoards of locals that were allowed onto the village with weekend passes.the so called a la carte restaurants did not open.
the so called beach activities did not always open and were so below standard it was un-true.
on arrival one room had no electricity in it for hours had to unpack by candle light. the cockraoches and other insects had a field day in the dirty rooms.
so appalled by the whole ordeal.
after spending an awful amount of money on what should have been a wonderful holiday it turned out to be the holiday from hell.

We visited this hotel from the 11th June to 25th June 2006 and apart from the bad flight experience we arrived at the hotel. From the first appearance everything seemed nice and we was greeted with a fruit punch drink and immediately told our rooms were upgraded. Sounds good so far until we got to our room.

*ROOMS*

The doors had massive gaps leading out to the balcony where a regular infestation of mosquitos would fly in and make a meal of you in your sleep and yes we had every mosquito device in there possible. The beds were hard and too small for a couple to have a comfortable nights sleep. And the pillows were lumpy and hard. The television had the worst reception. Channel 5 when it first started was better.

Enter the bathroom and you have a jungle safari with the toilet and walls being covered in small ant like creatures and a rather evil looking spider. Asked for the room to be fumigated on more than one occaision, and finally got it done the day before we were leaving. To get the lights working we had to give them a tap to get them working and the wiring is sub standard.

For one day we had no water at all in the bathroom and for a further two days no hot water full stop. After enough complaining we were given a set of keys to go and shower on the other side of the complex. A fifteen minute walk away.

Don't hold your breath in getting your room made before lunch, on many occasions our room was not cleaned until gone 3pm, and we had to call reception to chase things up to get this done. (This was during the quiet period)

*ATTITUDE*

We had a football field 25mtrs away which during our stay a helicopter decided to land on it. We thought there may have been an emergency as it was not a designated helipad, but it stayed there overnight and in the early hours of the morning it decided to shake our room and wake us up by starting up the rotors for a good 30 minutes. My boyfriend promptly told the pilot to lift off or shut down as he had woken us all up. Complained to reception and unless you are dominican you are not treated as priority. They even go off and talk to someone else whilst dealing with you. The helicopter and pilot was actually the owner of the hotel complex who should know better.

*FOOD and DRINK*

The food was inadequate and very similar every day, and pineapple looks so nice with ants all over it and the bread looks really good with birds flying in and sitting on top of it.
The food was raw in the middle and the drinks were awful. Everything it seems has to have coconut in it. Even the mash potatoes in the a la carte restaurant.

*LOCALS* *(PART 1)*....

We had paid extra to go to a quieter hotel instead of the fun tropicale, and at the weekend we had over 250 locals enter the grounds and stay there. (So much for a quiet resort)

Staff are helpful but locals are the opposite, rude arrogant, and go for food like vultures. One dominican actually grabbed food from the tongs I was using. You could not get to the bar and there was drunk and disorderly people all over the site which was really impressive for my partners child.

*ENTERTAINMEMT* ( 0r Lack Of )

The Entertainment was dire and if you ever hear the ";Chocolate"; song again you will scream. They couldn't dance, mime or sing, or even speak clear english. The ones that could speak clear english did not even use the mic.
The animation team decide to ask ladies to shake their boobies and other sexual gestures and the only prize was brugal rum, which was referred to as dominican viagra. Not good in front of a nine year old.

*LOCALS* *(PART 2)*.....

As for the first weekend being overcrowded with locals it didn't get any better the second weekend with over a 1000 locals arriving in a hotel that has 386 rooms. CRAM THEM IN.... Trouble was brewing at the hotel and the First Choice holidaymakers were getting to the point of exploding and our rep was pulling her hair out. The hotel could not cope.

*TRIPS and SHOPS*

When you go on trips all the tour guides seem to mention is the ";Carwash"; which is their reference to a brothel. All the shops have signs saying we sell Viagra, even can be drunk by women.

*HEALTH*

Be warned if you feel ill as the medical centre stings you for every penny they can muster out of you even if you have got travel insurance.

*ON SITE*

The market stalls inside your complex try to rip you off, they wanted to charge 5,000 pesos for a photo album which works out approximately £85.00 and they tried to charge another couple 27dollars for a small doll. Bartering is ridiculous and you have to be on your guard, and you get hassled left right and centre.

AVOID THIS RESORT AT ALL COSTS!! As I am sure Basil Fawlty must have bought a timeshare here.

just arrived back, would definately go again, complex immaculate, wide range of food in buffet also three restaurants, italian, mexican and oriental but you have to book in the mornings at the buffet,

please dont book tha tours unless you want to sit on a bus for hour after hour, we booked three, grand playa beach(1 hour 20 mins to get there, a beach lunch, fish chicken and salad, you get constant hassle off the locals trying to flog there goods who wont take no for an answer, then two hours sat on a beach, you have to pay for sunbeds,,,no toilet anywhere! then to a fruit plantation , they also try and sell you things and get rude when you dont buy anythig, then two hiurs back on the bus,.
paradise beach,, thre hours on bus, stop at roadside cafe, on to a speedboat(not safe), and onto a tiny island in the ocean that was packed! brill snorkleing!back onto speedboat, back onto bus , stop at little restaurant, hassled by locals again, a salad lunch then 3 hours back on a bus,
funny bikes(quads), this trip was fun riding your quad through the sugar cane feilds but you stop at a local village where your pressurised into buying sweets for the local children(1000 pesos £10 for a bag)the kids fight each other trying to get them, not very nice to see,,.

the entertainment staff were ok, the best was Lenny, he was really friendly spoke very good english, the others were more interested in showing off to all the young girls than actually playing games, there was a show on every night around the pool, mostly dancing and some aduld games, there was a lot of canadiens and french there and also locals come into the disco at night,,

the little cart that you catch to go to the beach runs every ten mins which was handy but make sure your quick getting on cos they push in front of you getting on and your left standing there.

dont change your currency at the hotel, go to the plaza , a big difference in exchage rates,.

constant hassle on beach from people selling stuff, if your not interested say no straight away or you cant get rid of them.

Go kart track good fun but you have to tip the staff to get them to make the karts go faster or you;ll tootle around at walking pace, 100 pesos(£2) going rate.

ive moaned a lot but i still enjoyed it and would go back now i know what to expect, just say a stern NO unless you really do want something and then haggle at least %50 off what they say.

When we got to the place we were kept waiting for an hour while the room was ";prepared";, we kicked up after an hour and were upgraded FOC, I would hate to see the room they were going to put us in.

We were already warned about the rooms but we were still very disapointed with the upgraded room. The first night my wife closed the curtains and they fell off the wall, held up by a bit of pipe, walls were dirty, the bath had rust marks in it. We did not feel very safe, one hard push on the door and would have opened. We were being bitten at night and thought it was mossies but it wasn't, we were infested with ants, the room was fumigated but did not do much, we ended up spraying the doors and windows before we went to bed with insect repellent.
We thought we would get on with the holiday.

Food at the place was a bit boring, we had never been AI before, we all suffered with stomach cramp and diarrhea the second week (plenty of diacalm), and at times it was very painful (we were dreading the plane journey home). we ended up having toast for breakfast the second week and really watching what we eat for lunch and dinner, especially the beef burgers and any meat, some was not cooked properly.
Some staff were OK but most were ignorant and would make you feel uncomfortable, they seem only interested in the adults who would tip, kids forget it, not interested in them.
The excursions were very expensive, I fancied the paradise island but it would have cost £170.00 for the day for 4 of us, what a rip off.

The beach was nice,plenty of beds and the kids loved the shuttle bus, you did keep being pestered by people selling chains, ornaments, clothing and all that, it seemed like a different one would approach you every five minutes. The sea is very warm, the waves are a bit rough at times, we were expecting a mill pond (stupid of us), there is no snorkelling off the beach unless you swim about a mile, I was very disapointed with that. We only used the kayaks twice and that was quite hard work because of the waves, also the staff at the beach were always trying to get you on the banana boat, the sea taxis and anything else they could charge you for.
The pool was quite small, it looks bigger in the brochure but it was never very busy, I think most people used the beach. The animation staff were good but would talk to you and then in mid conversation would shoot off if a girl walked by they liked.

There were very few English people mostly French and Canadian.
We did not find the locals much bother, it was nice to have kids for my two to play with.
I would get a safety deposit box without question. Towards the end of our holiday we realised that my wife's underwear was being stolen and after we found out we kept our suitcases locked and since we have returned home we have found that some of the kids clothes have gone to, we thought they had been in the dirty washing.
We would not return to this resort and to be honest it put us off the Dom Rep.
It is only rated at 3+* but i don't see how I would not give it much more that 2*.
If you have booked and can change I would if I were you. Very Disapointing

We stayed in a superior room with balcony, I cannot stress how disappointed we were with the accomodation, there was nothing superior about our room. There was flaking paint on the ceiling, broken painted drawer sets and a tv in the room which can only be described as an antique. When we spoke to other guests it was apparent that the other rooms were no better so we decided to stay in the room and make the most of our holiday. On the second day there was heavy rain, which we expected at times, the rain water poured in through gaps in the bedroom and bathroom windows. Below the bedroom window were two badly fitted electrical sockets, we had to use our clean bathroom towels to stop the rain coming in and clean up the flooded bathroom floor, I must point out that the windows were closed at this time.

The service in the buffet restaurant was good the first week although the food left a lot to be desired, however as it was a buffet we didn't expect anything better than a variation of the same dish which is exactly what we got oh and rice, rice and more rice. The service the second week was terrible as the staff focussed their attention on the new arrivals. The whole family suffered terrible stomach cramps and diarrhoea for the full of the second week and we were popping diocalm tablets like sweets. The Mexican/Italian and Gourmet restaurants were nice and the staff were very helpful and courteous.

You should also be warned that the hotel opens to the locals at the weekends, while we were there a religious seminar took place, the buffet restaurant was over-run with what seemed like a couple of hundred Dominican people, the queues were out of the door and we could not get into the restaurant. When we went for lunch the next day and we could not get to the food as the Dominican people do not have any manners at all and have no understanding of a queing system, my 8 year old son was pushed out of the way with a bowl of hot soup which he spilled down himself. We were eventually allowed to have our buffet breakfast and lunch in the gourmet restaurant upstairs however there was not as much choice as there would have been had we been in the main buffet restaurant and because the food was outside on the balcony there were flies all over it. The entertainment on the Saturday was a main stage religious performance for the locals (the Jesus show) and we were asked to move to the indoors convention centre for our show, away from the only 24 hour inclusive bar.

The rep advised us that the locals were very poor and had saved up all year to come here, despite this fact there was a Merc, BMW and several new 4x4's parked in the car parking spaces. She also advised that this was mentioned in the brochure and that we should have known about it however, I booked online and there is no mention of this on the website.

The entertainment by the pool and in the evening can only be described as repetitive garbage, if you are looking for a butlins holiday in the sun then go to this hotel. Take plenty of medication for stomach upsets and be prepared to see adults urinate in the pool by the pool bar, be prepared for electric shocks from the shower and if it rains, take a bucket to bail out the water in your room.
My advice would be not to book this hotel and if you have already done so then I suggest arranging for a move to another hotel.

When I booked this hotel it was rated a 3 plus, however we have since found out that it has been downgraded to a 3 star, I am not in the tourist industry but I have been on enough holidays to know that this hotel is not of 3 star standard, probably a 2 star.

Flight and transfers great. Chaotic on arrival at hotel, our rooms and everybody elses were not ready. After one and half hours we were taken to our two rooms and found them not to be anywhere near the level we expected, or indeed did not look like anything in the brochures. The rooms had a frosted window (hence no view of anything), flaking paint on the ceiling, cupboards falling off their hinges, bathroom very poor, no outside chairs or table or anywhere to dry swim wear/towels. The reception staff were very friendly and did show us alternative rooms which we thought were no better. We could have upgraded to a Superior room at a cost of approx £450 - however we were still not impressed with these rooms or to have to pay more on top of the £5200 we had already paid.

Our next point of call was with the First Choice representative who was extremely pleasant and helpful and immediately managed to sort us out alternative accommodation (if we liked it) at a different hotel. We jumped in a taxi, leaving the children to feed on pizza to view the alternative hotel Fun Royale and Fun Tropical 5 minutes away. We were immediately impressed by the well kept gardens, friendly staff and most of all the rooms were interconnecting, clean, with fridge, hairdryers and we had small balcony areas. We made the arrangements to move through our rep and moved within an hour.

Although we were not expecting 4 or 5 star accommodation when we booked and we had read all the reviews previously submitted on this site we were not prepared for what was presented to us. Very disappointing. We later found out on our return flight home that some further 15 families requested to be moved. Only book this hotel if you are happy to stay in a prison cell.

Got back from Puerto Plata Village 2 days ago. The weather was absolutely scorching, in fact it was too hot, if we hadn't have had air con in our room we would have had to have seriously booked a flight home!

Ok, the hotel does look lovely in the first instance, we were satisified with our room which was a standard one, we heard a lot of complaints from people who demanded to be upgraded but we had no problems with our room, it was basic but had all we needed and was kept clean.

I have to say concerned with food and the bars the hygiene was not so great. I didn't think I was a fussy person until seeing the kind of things that glasses are cleaned with (filthy brushes) and the amount of cutlery that you have to keep swapping in order to find some clean.

The food is very specific. The buffet has a themed night each night which includes oriental and dominican, you have to be very open minded to eat absolutely anything on most of these nights besides boiled rice and salad.

We basically lived off the snack bar which serves pizza and hot dogs. After seeing the way that the pizzas are left out till someone wants them and the amount of flies that park themselves on these, I really wish I hadn't, but we would have otherwise starved.

In the buffet there are ants crawling through the pile of plates so if anything like this would put you off, there is just no escape. We totally understand that all insects get to places but there was simply no attempt to prevent them and also no shoeing away, they are left to land.

We tried 2 of the 3 restaurants, the italian and the gourmet, however we were told that the nicest one had been the mexican (typically).

The first meal at the gourment was admittedly delicious, we had beef fillets in pepper sauce and it really was lovely, plus you don't get to see insects etc. when it is served to you so what you don't know doesn't hurt eh?! however the next time we went back and ordered the same, by the way all times we requested 'very well done' beef, and both meals came quite raw, so we told the waiter who was very apologetic and took both meals away, quickly returning with 2 new ones. Unfortunately these were 5 times worse and blood was literally mingling with the sauce and very off putting. Yes some people like their meat cooked raw but we certainly don't and we couldn't explain to them that this was definitely not 'very well done'. Anyway we learnt our lesson and didn't return.

The Italian restaurant was fine, no complaints, we stuck to a 4 cheese pasta, nice and simple but nothing special.

All resataurants have minimal options, there is not much to choose from at all.

The entertainment team can get quite annoying sometimes if you want a quiet drink and to just watch the shows, but then someone has hold of you from behind and you are halfway to the stage area to take part in competitions and dances, which is all in good fun yes, but sometimes as I say, you would like to be left alone.

There seem to be a lot of black birds that like to hang around the main bar and snack bar and are not afraid to get close up and practically on your plate.

be careful how much you mount up your room phone bill too, ours was almost 100 dollars they day we left, its almost a quid a minute and soon mounts up, just keep a check.

Anyway besides all this we definitely have to recommend Ocean World and the Dolphin Swim, it is the best experience of our lives ever! and the catamaran trip is worth its money too. If you fancy a night away from the hotel, Hemmingways is a local bar near the plaza, but beware the prices of drinks as they are famous names and really sting you, it cost us 29 dollars for a vodka and coke, a jack daniels and coke and 2 bottles of croner.

The beach is lovely, the only thing what makes your holiday carribean like, the rest is very spanish and not far different from anywhere else. Also as for the locals at the weekend, I was quite worried after reading reviews but we were lucky, the first weekend there were a few and they do get preferential treatment and are quite disruptive but apparently we were told that was nothing! the second weekend was fine, a max of 3 families arrived and went within a day so no trouble. however on the sunday evening, because there hadn't been an influx of locals, they classed themselves not busy and therefore decided not to open the buffet without notice or any signs or anything on that night and people had to force themselves upon the restaurants (which have to be booked first thing, first come first served basis) or had nowhere to eat that night which i thought was very poor.

Anyway, we wouldnt go back. If you are fussy in anyway with your food, don't go, if you are easily bored, don't go as the hotel and beach is all there is to offer, if you are hygiene fussy, don't go and if you are going for a relaxing break and like nice quiet night drinks, don't go, as you will definitely be on stage before you can say no!

This is the worst hotel I have ever stayed in.

ROOMS - dirty, poorly maintained, old broken furniture, infested by ants (our room was fumigated twice, but was still rife), faulty air conditioning dripping water. We spoke to many other guests who checked in at the same time as us and they suffered similar problems with their rooms. Water was cut off twice during our stay, leaving us unable to wash or flush the loo.
STAFF - most were ignorant or uninterested in customers. There were a few exceptions (Francisco and Alberto).
MEALS - average and repetitive, with cleanliness lacking - our party of eight had food poisoning for most of the fortnight. The 3 'reservation' restaurants were better with good service, but again the food was repetitive. When we booked the hotel was listed as allowing unlimited use of the reservation restaurants, but they tried to impose a limit of 1 visit per week as the hotel was near capacity - however this was resolved by Karl (First Choice Rep) who did his best to solve the many issues he was presented with!

WEEKENDS - the hotel became overrun with locals who dumped their children in the pool and went to feast in the restaurant. Many of the locals had no wrist bands on and were escorted from the premises when the security guards eventually noticed them.
The only good points were the flights by First Choice which offered good legroom and facilities. The £5 per person 'day before departure' check-in was excellent value for money and meant we could avoid the queues on the day of departure.
Also good were the excursions we booked through the rep. The Catamaran was excellent - the crew looked after everyone, good food and fantastic snorkeling.
Ocean World was wonderful - great facilities, close contact with the Dolphins delighted the children and good food was available.

Do yourself a favour, avoid this hotel!

The rooms are discusting and if you want to hold on to the clothes and footwear that you take on holiday with you avoid ever staying in this hotel. We arrived in this complex on Saturday the 25th of June. On Sunday the 26th A lot of items were stolen from our room which had not been broken into. Two gameboys, seven games, trainers, clothes, jewellery, sandals etc were all taken. Great start to a holiday eh. Still we decided to make the best of things and went to the nearest town on the following Wednesday to replace some of the goods stolen only to find that on our return the room had been done again this time leaving my daughter with no tops at all and my husband had only four left.

The manager of this complex told us he did not know why we were upset as we had plenty left and that was what holiday insurance is for. This does not help a child who is sobbing her heart out because she has no clothes to wear and an 8 year old who has had all her Bratz stolen.

This was the worst place i have ever stayed in my life. we were only in our master suite 12 hours when the room was violated and have our clothes went. Not happy they came back 3 days later and took the rest leaving my daughter without any t-shirts at all.This place was a joke food was rotten locals had the run of the place and it was not very clean at all. Do yourself a favour and dont go near this hotel.Staff were not iinterested in our break in which was with a key so not technically a break in. If your booked for here cancel and go somewhere else.

We had an absolutely fabulous holiday here. I cannot recommend it enough. It was amazing! The staff cannot do enough for you and they are so friendly Yeah, they are working for a tip at the end of your stay, but not in annoying way and they do seem to thoroughly enjoy being a fun part of your holiday!

We didn't have children with us but a family we met there did and they had a great time. They loved the kids club and mini disco. he animation team were fabulous and great fun. they made the days really fun, encouragin you to join in the games but also leaving you to do your own thing if you wanted. the beach is literally round the corner it takes minutes on the shuttle bus they provide for you! You can also walk if you like. All of your inclusive facilities are there and you can egt your hair braided at the beach ( I wanted to know where I could get this done!)

Speaking of the beach, we booked our trip to Ocean World here. Tour operators advise youy not to but we did. We found an official rep with all the badges etc and we booked to go including the Dolphin encounter for $50 less than at the hotel. I highly recommend you do this trip - It was amazing to hug the dolphins, kiss them etc. Also do the sea-lion encounter, we didn't but we watched and wished we had booked it!

The food at the hotel was great. The Italian wasn't open while we there but everything was just beatiful. We had one problem on one evening meal in the buffet but a quick word with the manager and he arranged for the chef to cook us a meal personally. He was great. There's a bar man called Dario who normally works on the pool bar, that we feel we should mention. He was lovely, he was the best bar man there and he was so friendly.

The animation team were great fun. They put so much effort into the shows that they did at the evenings - nothing extravagant but still fun - you couldnt help but appreciate it. The dancing was amazing and none of them are trained dancers. I would like to recommend that you find Lenny and do his aqua -aerobics in the mid-mornings. He is great fun. Also Romey and Elvis were like a couple of school kids just having a laugh - they were hilarious. Alberto was really cute and so nice and he was one of the best dancers on the team. I recommend you go to the beach party on the night they do it because that was great - but book your tea in early to get there on time!

There was a downside - on one weekend an influx of locals came to the hotel and they OVERTOOK everything. Literally. Sorry to generalise, some were very friendly and chatty but as a majority they were rude and made for an awkward atmosphere. Some friends we made out there took the opportunity to go out into the plaza for the night and eat and drink out - ok they had to pay but they had a better night for it. However it was only from Sat AM - Sun PM. It was bearable.

We didn't do any other trips apart fomr Ocean World ubt juding from friends we made you should do the Jeep Safari but not Paradise Island. From this hotel it was apparently 3.5 hours on the coach, 1.5 hr on a sandbank with nothing to do and 3.5 hours back. The couple said it was very disappointing. But the Jeep Safari was highly rated, perhaps not for those with very young children but amazing views and activities.
The rooms were fine, we had a standard room, just big enough for the two of us with cable TV, WC and shower and air con - KEEP YOUR AIR CON, ON ALL DAY - trust me if you forget to do this you will kick yourself when you go back to your room!

All-in-all, an amzing holiday, we will be back next eyar. Hi to all the animation team and staff, especially those previously mentioned and hi to Claire, Craig, Megan and Jack, the lovely family we teamed up with for the whole holiday!!
So see you there next June!!! Enjoy!!!