Juan Dolio Barcelo Talanquera Beach Resort Review

Good Points
Food and drink was good, available all day, most staff very friendly.

Bad Points
Getting robbed, our accomodation seemed a bit damp and smelly, air con not good. Inclement weather.

General Comments
This was our first holiday to the Caribbean, due to the low price we managed to obtain and on a friends recommendation, the Dominican Republic seemed like an idyllic, affordable destination. The hotel looked really impressive in the brochure and on arriving our first impressions were really positive, the hotel appeared well maintained and the food and drink available was to a good standard. The entertainment provided was well... erm entertaining and the staff and other guests seemed really friendly. We had booked a fortnight's stay, our room was robbed on the evening of day 2, we hadn't hired a security box and were real lucky that I had well stashed my cash and travel documents, the items that were stolen were all practical rather than valuable, I would urge all holidaymakers not to take this risk and hire a security box if one is not provided free of charge.. The culprits made off with my electric shaver, my shoes and trainers, tins of deodorant and they bundled all the swag into a beach bag still containing essential holiday items such as suncreams, disposable camera, sunglasses etc.

We had already reported that the lock on our sliding patio door was broken and failed to lock. We were on the second floor and the balcony was shared with only one neighbour, so ultimately I never believed that this was the likely point of entry for the resulting crime. We reported the robbery, an assistant manager of the hotel and an armed guard duly arrived. My girlfriend was really upset and was sobbing, they had found a birthday present I had bought for her, it was her birthday in a few days time. They had actually left the gift behind which in a funny kind of way, I was a little embarrased about. I'm not exactly Jack Frost or anything but I had my suspicions that the perpetrator of this crime was a male member of staff. The assistant manager was very apologetic and offered us an alternative room. We said as this room had already been burgled it was unlikely to get turned over was it and declined his gracious offer. The next morning we went to see our rep if we could claim any compensation, as certain items needed immediate replacement, I had no means to have a shave, we had no suncream, I possessed no shoes and some of the dining facilities had strict dress codes. The rep informed us that a police report would need to be filled out, she would accompany me but to bear in mind that a police station in the Dominican is not the sort of place you want to visit. Her attitude disgusted me, my girlfriend was really dubious about me going along to the cop shop, but we had only brought a little spending money with us as the hotel was all-inclusive. The hotel manager came to offer his apologies and we discussed our quandary. The manager offered us a small compensation so we could purchase essential items. This matter was now resolved and we got back to our holiday. We did however, learn that other guests had noticed the high occurences of when staff made unneccesary or inappropriate visits to rooms. One young lad said he was woken by what he believed was a "maintenance" worker wandering around his accomodation at 7.30am. He had not reported any faults and chased him, the hotel really should look at this. Despite the robbery and the tropical storm during our second week, the hotel was actually really good. Short coach transfer following long flight.Lively bars/nightlife, food ok, plenty of activities during day and in general the staff were great. I probably wouldn't return to this particular hotel but wouldn't really talk anyone out of visiting, I think I was just unlucky. One tip for travellers to this destination is to take small denominations of dollar bills and you will avoid being "stung" at the airport, do a quick reconnaissance of your accomodation and report any faults, however minor.