My boyfriend and I went for our first vacation in September, and were less than impressed over the course of the stay. The food was greasy, the beach was tiny and unappealing, and the entertainment almost nonexistent. Our room, on the other hand, was beautiful. But when we went to check out (we had won a free week stay and were paying nothing) they informed us we owed them almost $1000 for a "room upgrade". We refused to pay because we had never agreed to an upgrade and had not even been aware we were in a "spa" suite. We asked to see our check-in papers to prove that we agreed and they "couldn't find them". To make matters worse, they called the police and told us we could not leave until we paid, despite the fact they had no proof of their accusation. Eventually we paid the money so that we could leave the property.

It was great, they treat you so well there. When my son fell asleep at dinner, they brought over two chairs and put them together to make a little bed for him. In the States, if I take my son to a restaurant and he cries they act like it is a huge inconvenience. In the Dominican, they just asked what was wrong and if they could help. When I walked by one of the staff in charge of babysitting, they always asked me how he was doing and if he could come back to go play with them. Everyone loved to hold him, dance with him, talk to him etc. It was a wonderful experience.

Whilst I was there I played volleyball, walked along the beautiful beach and swam in several of the pools. At night I hung out with friends at the disco and had a ball. The drinks were delicious, I never liked coconut but they had the best Pena Coladas there! I recommend going whenever you get the chance.

We booked this resort as a last minute, so we were prepared for it to be a little below our normal standard, however this was not the case. It is a very good 4* hotel. The rooms, (must admit we did NOT! have a standard room) were very good, cleaned every day, with fresh towels and sheets every time. The food was good in all restaurants, our favourite was the Tia. The Buffet always had an excellent variety, and if you could not find something there you liked, you must be very hard to please. There were 3 of us, and none of us had any problems with our health for the 2 weeks we were there.
There are a lot of steps, and our rooms were on the third (top) floor, so to get to the reception, we had to go down 32 steps, then up a slope (quite steep, but not that high) then up 38 steps. If we wanted, we could short cut up the road, but we managed the steps, and my husband and I are NOT keep fit fanatics, it just helped burn off some of the calories.

We booked a holiday for 3 people for 1 week to go to the Riu Bachata after staying in a Riu last year. One week before travel we were told the Riu Merenge etc had a viral infection and we could not go. We were along with many other british travellers sent to the Sun Village. Food in most of the main restaurants was excellent, the Thai?, not sure why it was called a Thai as the food was not close to Thai cuisine was the only let down. Go for the Citrus or the mexican as they are great!! Service from Winston in the Citrus was first class. Some chose to buffet every night, i am told, the meals were different each night. The only reason food did not get full marks was because of the Thai restaurant and the Beach snack bar.

The standard rooms are run down to say the least. While not damp nor infested with creepy crawlies have seen better days.

ALL THREE OF US STILL CAUGHT THE INFECTION THAT HAS BEEN GOING ROUND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FOR A FEW MONTHS AND HAVE BEEN ILL FOR A FEW DAYS SO FAR..... I will go back to the Dom Rep but not for a few years until we are confident any stomach bug has been iradicated.
Going the other direction for a decent Thai meal :-)