Dunes Hotel And Beach Resort Reviews

Please think twice about this one it really isnt very good and you will be disappointed.The hotel is very run down and the rooms are cramped and very basic.The food is just about edible.The pools are grimey too so if I were you I'd give this one a miss,total waste of money!!!!!!!!!terrible

On arrival at the Dunes we were allocated a room near the main gate as requested by e-mail. If you were unhappy with your room changing did not seem to be a problem. Room itself was clean with a large bed, shower, bathroom fridge tv coffee maker and safe. A bottle of water was provided every day.

The room was cleaned every day and towels changed and toiletries replaced as required. A bus to the main building runs every few minutes. The front desk was very helpful if you had any problems. We found the food in the main restaurant to be excellent with many choices. You must be hard to please if you could not find something suitable. The beach restaurant also served excellent food with a choice from a menu or buffet or both. We enjoyed our two meals in the Italian restaurant as it was waiter service and the food was nicely presented and very enjoyable. Wine served with the meals was of a poor quality and could be improved. Ask for the rose wine in the Italian restaurant. Drinks in general were very good and the waiter service at the bars was mostly very prompt. The air-conditioned Cubos Bar was a very pleasant place to enjoy a drink in the evening. The pool and beach area have plenty of sun beds and shade but bathing in the sea is not advised as the sea is very rough. The hotel is starting to show its age and a complete upgrade is going to be required soon.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay the the Dunes and would recommend this hotel to anyone who is looking for a holiday in the Caribbean at the lower end of the market.

Not recommended. The rooms are out-dated and very very basic,the food is just ok,the hotel has nothing to offer British holiday makers in the way of entertainment!The bars are decked out with cheap tacky furniture to match the rest of the surroundings and they serve the drinks warm off the counter and fill them with ice which means within a minute or two you have a very watery drink!!!!

Dont expect Cordon Bleu either the food is USUALLY luke warm yuk,it turned my stomach!!!!!!! The staff were friendly but Im afraid its a thumbs down from me.Guanteed sunshine though megga hot so if you're not bothered about food entertainment and hotel then this ones for you but beware the sea is too strong to swim in and its too windy to go to the beach!!!!!!! my rating due to travelling quite regular 2\10 and thats being kind!!!!! you,ll be disapointed.Sandra and Steve from CHESTER

Brilliant place to go if you like the heat.

Dunes hotel is great,a little dated but an excellent place to relax.
The staff are excellent as is the food,pool,entertainment,beach and the grounds.

We enjoyed 2 wonderful weeks in aug/september 2006 and would recommend Margarita wholeheartedly..

We had a great time here!

The flight with First Choice was good. We wanted to upgrade but all of the seats had sold out but it didn't matter as the standard seats had plenty of legroom. Even my partner who is 6'2"; had a comfortable flight!

The Dunes Hotel had sort of faded grandeur, I think it had seen better days. Our room was large, dated and had no balcony but the air con was a godsend and it was kept very clean. Our room was by the main hotel gate, away from the main restaurant/activity area but this suited us. Anyway there was a regular shuttle bus to take you to reception. The food was very good, especially for all inclusive and the hotel staff were really friendly and made a huge effort to ensure that you enjoyed yourself. The highlight of the hotel for us was the wildlife - capybaras (like a giant guinea pig) roamed the grounds, the bird life was fantastic with pelicans and frigate birds on the beach and other brightly coloured species around the hotel.

The hotel beach was superb with golden sand, sun beds, sun shades and a bar. The sea was very rough at times but this made for an exciting swim! The weather was great, very hot and humid, with a few hours rain mainly at night. Boy can it rain out there but it is still warm and quickly clears.

We were told that the island would no longer accept US dollars (something to do with the Venuezuelan primeminister falling out with the Americans again!). However we had no trouble changing money at the hotel and, in reality most places would accept dollars eventhough they weren't supposed to!

The island itself looked like something out of spaghetti western, lots of sand and cacti! The island is obiously very poor and felt a bit lawless. If you venture out on your own keep your wits about you. A couple of young girls from our hotel were robbed at gun point! They weren't hurt just shocked. Like any country you need to be careful and not flash the cash or jewellery. I am sure it would be OK to tour the island on your own (we met people that had) we just didn't feel that adventurous!

Excursions
With First Choice we booked horse riding -this was brillant with eagles flying close over head and you don't need any experience. We also went sailing and there were only 6 of us on the boat includig the 2 crew (I think this was unusual though). We sailed to an island and went scuba diving - it was great.

We also booked tours in advance via the internet with a guy called Walter. He was brilliant, spoke great English (and spanish and german) and he was local. We went on his jeep safari (not for the faint hearted and a love of rum and coke helps!). He also arranged for us to go across to Venezuela - up the Orinoco, a night in the rain forest and then on the Angel Falls. The whole tour was absolutely breathtaking and the main reason we went to Margarita in the first place. It is hot, sweaty and basic but the sites and sounds are second to none. This tour is a must do.

For the price we paid for this holiday I expected to stay in a hovel with rubbish food but this definitely wasn't the case. far from it. It was not one individual thing that made this holiday so special but everything together and it was so cheap to get there and stay there (much less than going to Spain!). Go on - give it a try - just relax and enjoy!

The weather was fantastic. Hot day and night. It only rained twice while we were there. Once in the middle of the night and once for about 15 minutes one afternoon. It stays hot even when it rains. This is a poor country and it is wounderful to see how the people there live and how it is so different from home. The island is tax free. 55p for a litre of rum and its good stuff.

It is perfectly safe to go out of the hotel complex - just don't go out flashing loads of cash and drapped in loads of jewellery - not that anything would happen but remember this is a poor country. The locals were really friendly.
You DON'T need the yellow fever injection and you DON'T need to take malaria tablets. We took the hightest strengh insect repellant but didn't use it once.

It took about half and hour to get to the hotel from the airport.
Our room was very clean and tidy and of good size with a huge double bed. We had air conditioning and a safe at no extra charge. The maid came in every day and cleaned. They do have a do not disturb sign on the door if you don't wish the maid to come in. The maid would leave clean towels when the others were placed in the sink. There was also a hair dryer and shaver socket in the bathroom.They also leave bottled water in your room everyday. The only thing which is a bit off putting at first is there water is a yellowish brown colour. Don't worry this is normal and just how it is out there. You just need to leave it to run for a couple of minutes and it does clear up a bit. It smells really metally too. We were told that it is pumped from the mainland in Venezula.
The sockets are the American two pin type.
The rest of the hotel was kept clean and tidy and the staff were very friendly and always happy to help. There was always staff about doing some sort of job.

All of the food was excellent. They had a different theme each night. Eg. Monday was Italian night, Tuesday was Mexican night, Wednesday was Venezulan night and so on. There is a buffet and they also have chefs out cooking fresh food. For breakfast go and see the chef who cooks the pancakes and omlletts - excellent!!Everything was piping hot and plenty to choose from.Don't forget the beach cafe/restaurant that is open through the day. Couldn't fault any of it. You can drink and eat as much as you like when you like.
You don't have to worry about not getting a sunbed, no matter what time of day it is there is always plenty spare or if you prefer there is sunbeds on the beach which belong to the hotel and there is always plenty spare there too. The beach is lovely and goes for miles. It is the only hotel on that beach. There are a few locals who do live on the edge of the beach in a couple of little shacks but this is further down from the hotel and they don't bother you.
The 2 adult pools were good sizes and clean.

Our rep Milton who was Venzulan and from Margarita could speak good english, was very friendly and was always happy to please you. Although on occasions he did arrive late and leave early.
The currency here is Venzulan Bolivar (BS). We took all American dollars and just changed it in the hotel. They do charge a small commission and they don't change 5 and 1 dollars.
Make sure you go on some trips while you are there - they were dirt cheap and you are well looked after. Our favourite 2 were the Margarita Splash and horse riding - the Margarita Splash was your own 2 seater speed boat. Your not let loose on your own though you have to follow one of the people that runs it in his speed boat. Don't let this put you off. I think I scremed most of the way round. Your out for about 2 hours. What can i say this is not for the faint hearted but is fantastic. Wish we could have done it again. On the horse riding they take you up the hightest hills and you can see across the island for miles. The sights were out of this world. You also ride along a beach through the sea. A couple of us who who have ridden before even got to take our horses for a run along the beach before the rest of the group joined us. It doesn't matter if you have never ridden before, give this a go and you'll not regret it. My fiance had never ridden before in his life and he wanted to go again the next day he enjoyed himself that much. Just wish we could have.

We also did the scuba diving but i wouldn't recommend this if you have never done it before like myself. I felt the group was a little to large for the 2 instructors and the second dive we did I felt it was for the more experienced. I was the only one in our group that hadn't done it before. Although one of the instructors did stay with me holding my hand the whole time we were down. Apart from that I did enjoy my experience. The fish you see is amazing. At the end of each trip everyone always left a tip for our guide/host for looking after us.
Couldn't fault this hotel. Oh watch out for the wild giant guinea pig things round the hotel at night - don't worry there harmless but wounderful to see.

Would we go here again? - we definatly would. It was one of the best holidays we have had and we would definatly stay at this hotel again.

Our stay at the Dunes Beach Resort was mostly very enjoyable except on the day of arrival we were told by the Rep of a new government ruling that only the local currency, Bolivars, was legal tender; in other words, no buying anything with US dollars or Sterling or Euros. Needless to say we had taken only dollars with us and the ATM in the hotel would not accept a Visa Card. Also the hotel was unable to offer a currency exchange service. However by one means or another we changed the dollars we needed to buy a Jeep Safari and a trip on a trimaran to Coche Island, both of which we can recommend.

The other fly in the ointment was our hotel room, the smallest we had ever been allocated, but the Rep got us moved on the second day with no fuss. We understand that this is common in this hotel and several others on our flight did the same.

The hotel and the resort proved to be 4-star in all cases except for room servicing which was inconsistent; this varied between no coffee, no hand towels, no bath towels or bath floor mat, but never all at once. At times, the lack of hot water could be a problem, but we were rarely affected.

The staff we super friendly and nothing was too much trouble, the food well presented and cooked, and always with a good choice. This applied especially to our two visits to the Italian Restaurant where the service was very attentive. The bars, swimming pools, entertainment, gardens and beach were all as expected and it was a first for us to see capybara in the hotel grounds, which were quite extensive, especially if you like an after dinner stroll. Another plus for us was the ability to walk outside the complex in either direction. One way (left) to the local liquor store (good prices) and the other to the next village, Puerto Zaragoza, where the pelicans and the local fishing boats can be seen and there is a nice beach.

We had previously (3 years before) stayed at the LTI Costa-Caribe so had already done some tours of the island and visited Porlamar and Juan Griego, but for us this was a better resort with more to do and see.

We have just returned from a trip at the Dunes resort in Margarita. We have nothing to say but positve things about this hotel, we had previously stayed at 4 AI hotels in cuba all 4*, staying at the dunes being a 4 * we thought it deserved 5*. we have spoken to the manager of this hotel who told us they're going for 5* rating next year.

Go to this hotel whilst it's stll so cheap! it's an amazing hotel!!!!!!