
Playa Dorada, Golden Beach Holiday Village
Value For Money
Playa Dorada, Golden Beach Holiday Village
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User Reviews
Playa Dorada, Golden Beach Holiday Village. We Hir
Playa Dorada, Golden Beach Holiday Village. we hired a car for a couple of days and I'd recommend that. It would be easy to remain on site for the whole holiday, but it's worth getting out there and seeing what the island is about. (check out Encuentro - a surf beach between Sosua and Cabarete). We went on one organised trip, the Outback Safari which was good but expensive ( £200 for all of us when you work out the double exchange rate ). our guide was very good, but we felt the trip was a bit salesy, leaning on profits going to the local community - it was difficult to totally buy into that one and slightly annoying to be asked in front of everyone what t-shirt we'd like to order. We politely declined - but it is embarrassing. The beach was where we spent most of our time (I have no idea why anyone would prefer the pool areas but they do!?) - best to do the old towel on the deckchairs before breakfast routine if you want a place under the palm shades. Food - nothing special and expect to get a table unlaid - but it was varied and perfectly edible.In2active and entertainment staff - very good. There's a couple of real stars on the team and they all make a huge effort to make sure everyone has a good time. Our kids did a few of the activities, raft building, top rope challenge and canoeing - it's as low key as you want it to be - no pressure.Value - we paid £3500 for the four of us for 2 weeks all inclusive and I'd have to say that was very good value. Summary - no hesitation in recommending this holiday destination to families looking for sun, beach and plenty to keep the kids occupied on site.
Value For Money
Best Holiday We Have Ever Had, We Have Just Booked
Best holiday we have ever had, we have just booked to go back for the 3rd year running.
Great place for all ages, we have teenagers and they felt safe and entertained for the whole of the holiday, the pool's were excellent and the food was always freshly prepared.
The restaurants were first class and the service could not have been better. The dominican people are very friendly and go out of their way to make you feel welcome and enjoy your holiday.
Value For Money
I Loved The Holiday, Best Holiday I Have Been On A
I loved the holiday, best holiday I have been on and I think it will the best ever holiday I will ever go on. It was amazing if I could I would be back on the plane tomorrow coming back to the same place, Holiday Village, golden beach, Playa Dorada, Dominican Republic. The people are so nice and friendly the holiday was a fantastic experience I am going to come back there one day.
Value For Money
Good Points Of The Golden Beach Holiday Village, F
Good points of the Golden Beach Holiday Village, fantastic buffet restaurant, friendly bar staff, proximity to the beach. Rooms are adequate with air conditioning. Bad points, lousy butlinesque entertainment, over crowded swimming pool. Not a great place to be for a romantic getaway.
Value For Money
I Have Just Returned Back From The Resort And Can
I have just returned back from the resort and can honestly say its one of the best for families with children of all ages. The entertainment group and first choice reps are great with everyone. The food in the buffet restaurant catered for everyone and was brilliant. We went to the Italian restaurant twice and enjoyed the food but they need to slow down a bit and let customers enjoy the food. The Japanese restaurant "The Lotus" was exceptional and really good food. Please go along the the Aquanox Lounge situated near the pool bar. The is for adults only and is totally air conditioned and the host will make you more than welcome. Great variety of day activities and excursions for the entire family or as a couple. All in all this was a great holiday and would definitely recommend this to anyone.
Value For Money
The Bar Staff And Staff Working In The Restaurant/
The bar staff and staff working in the restaurant/s were absolutely brilliant. They could not do enough for you. The food was fantastic, plenty of choice of hot and cold foods. Catering for meat eaters, vegetarians etc.
The beach was no more than 3 minutes (yes 3 minutes) from our room. It was cleaned every morning where a tractor and three operatives made sure all the rubbish left over from the previous night was cleared away as well any seaweed which had washed on to the beach overnight.
The evening entertainment was limited:- something for the kids, bingo, name that tune, Mr and Mrs and an occasional visiting artist.
The 4 a la carte restaurants are a must. The Mexican restaurant was always over subscribed so book early and don't forget your long trousers.
Overall enjoyed our 2 week vacation at the Holiday Village Golden Beach. We took a bus to Puerto Plata to go on the cable carte.The taxi from the holiday village charges US $35 return . It cost US $2 on the bus, and we could see why once we got into what was a transit van with seats and travelled at about 10 MPH. The cable carte is fantastic and once you get to the top the view is breathtaking, you can see for miles.
There are a few shops once you get to the top. Th prices for the goods are overpriced so be prepared to haggle. Don't forget to take your water bottle with you because it is very very hot up there.
The excursion to Santo Domingo was rushed with the travel guide wanting to take you shops which they recommended for obvious reasons.
Had two fantastic weeks in Playa Dorada especially when I won the US $230 playing bingo on our the last night.
Value For Money
I Went In May It Was Fantastic Staff Were Excellen
I went in May it was fantastic staff were excellent very friendly there lots to do rooms were fine, food was alright not great.
Put it this way I had such a great experience I'm going back in October its fantastic!
Value For Money
We Arrived Back From The Holiday Village Golden Be
We arrived back from the Holiday village Golden Beach on the 9th March 2008. I can honestly say it was the worst holiday experience we have had. The brochure states it is 4* rated, we have been to the Dominican twice before and compared to other 4* accommodation I would say that this is more like a 2*. The food was either undercooked or overcooked, very bland, not a great deal of choice. When you had food from what was supposed to be the Hot counter it was cold. Once you had obtained the food you wanted a lot of the time there was no where to sit and eat it because table were not cleared quick enough. Local staff on the resort were very friendly, helpful and pleasant. English staff were at times very patronising and only interested in telling you how good they were. Entertainment in the evening was boring, repetitive and very tedious. Watching name that tune and bingo for two weeks gets a little much and hey you can play bingo at home if you like. Children between the ages of 12 and 18 could not join in the evening entertainment. When asked why the entertainment manager said that it is due to health and safety and they might get hurt but if an adult gets hurt its ok. Don't know where he gets his logic from would have thought they had a duty of care to all regardless of age. The brochure says all inclusive but there are a lot of hidden extras. Over charged for trips price list says one price reps charge you differently for example horseriding was priced at $67 The first time we went we were charged $82. Had to wait a week to get a refund and only after complaining. Our accommodation was away from the main reception had to constantly keep going to reception to have key fobs re programmed.
I could go on and on but you learn from your mistakes we certainly will not be going to any Holiday Village any where!!!
Value For Money
We Have Just Returned From A Two Week Trip With 21
We have just returned from a two week trip with 21 of our friends and family and this resort was fantastic. The resort was very clean, the activities plentiful and fun. The entertainment is family based and not everyone's cup of tea, but I thought the staff were great and worked extremely hard. The best thing about the resort were the staff who are fantastic - especially the bar staff and their legendary cocktails! I would recommend this place to anyone - despite some previous problems I had no stomach trouble the entire time and the food is of a very high standard and variety.
Value For Money
Having Read Some Bad Reviews Of Golden Beach Holid
Having read some bad reviews of Golden Beach Holiday Village on other sites before we went we were all gob-smacked as to the standard of service we received during our stay.
This resort is absolutely beautiful!
We have done several of the Holiday Villages - all were disappointing to various degrees.
I can honestly say we really had to struggle to find anything to complain about - and we do complain when needed.
The resort is beautiful, well maintained and immaculately clean. Staff are constantly cleaning the grounds and facilities.
All the Dominican staff are very friendly. I would say though that if you just wander past staff without returning the pleasantry "Hola!" then don't expect a smile everyday.
The same with the bar staff. I know you're on holiday but manners and politeness is like currency to the Dominican people. Say "Hola!", smile, please and thankyou, take your glasses back to the bar and they will treat you like kings. You may even find yourself getting served before others.
There are three pools - one for the upgraded clients (adult only) - the activities pool - and the Wave pool. They are well spaced out. The activities pool is situated 10 ft from the main restaurant, pizza restaurant and the pool bar. The Wave pool whilst having slides and the wave generator only had a pool bar (that I saw - we didn't go there due to getting a sunbed - and there was little shade) The Activities pool had lots of brollies a HUGE tree and the sunbeds were nearly all still vacant at 8am even as late as 9am there was always shady spaces available.
Lifeguards are constantly on duty.
The main restaurant is excellent. Very few flies - in fact there were hardly any anywhere.
Choice of food is varied and of excellent quality. Note: Dominican meat is usually cooked on the rare side (except chicken) - if you want it cooked longer just ask, the chefs are always in attendance to serve up the carvery and are very happy to cook a slab longer.
Main restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and evening meals on a buffet style. There was always somewhere to sit.
The pizza restaurant served pizza at lunch time - which is a sit down and order style. The pizzas are cooked fresh and to your taste. If it's wrong, say so, they will jump through hoops to get it right. Whilst you wait there is a buffet bar of salads and pasta.
The beach bar serves burgers, baguettes etc at lunch time too - again a sit down and order style - waiter service. The food is very high quality cooked fresh.
There are 4 a la carte restaurants, Italian, Oriental, Mexican and Caribbean. Again excellent quality and service - 5 courses which you need because the portions are a bit small.
The pool bar is well stocked with some very strong (local) alcoholic drinks - there are some premium brands but not many. They will make you a cocktail from the menu or if you know how to make a different one then tell them and they will do their best. Queuing was very rare during the day (2,3 people) and at night it wasn't a problem.
Accommodation:
We had a standard room and family room (with kids den).
The standard room had a very comfy double bed, wardrobe and chest of drawers. Cable TV. Minibar stocked daily with 2 beers, 2 water, 2 cokes and 2 7-up. Coffee percolator (mmmmm). Bathroom with shower. The shower was not very powerful but more than adequate and there was always hot water. Hair-dryer. All the toiletries you need are provided. Air con worked very well - you need it! The lighting was a bit subdued though. Patio had table and chairs and the locks all worked perfectly. Safety deposit box is free but you need to order your key from reception. Free inter-room phones. The roof didn't leak at all even when hurricane Dean glanced past us bringing with it 2 hours of the heaviest rain I ever saw.
Family rooms are not much bigger. The double bed is HUGE. The kids den was not totally enclosed and private - so families with older children wanting privacy might not get it! We used it for our two teenage children who needed separate rooms. All facilities here are as per the standard room. Note: you get a free playstation - but you must collect this from reception on arrival - do it soon or you may have to wait. ps. it's a region 1 (US) version - don't bother bringing your own games - they wont work. Rental of games works out at about £3 per day!!
We asked for our two rooms to be close together and they were in the same block of about 8 rooms all on one floor and about 10 meters to each others doors. Perfect.
Entertainment:
Many pool games and beach games for families and adults only during the day.
Evening entertainment has the usual First Choice kids stuff up to about 9pm. I would have liked to see the stage switch over to adults only after this cos the entertainment was pretty naff. But we have had young children and understand that parents want to stay out with their kids. There should have been a disco or somewhere else that adults and older children could go to that was inclusive.
Unfortunately the disco and casino were for over 18's and not inclusive.
There is an adults bar that is fully air conned above the pool bar that has karaoke and bands on. This bar doesn't close!!! However it's the only place in the Dominican that is no smoking!!
So our only real complaint is that older teens have nothing really to do on an evening.
Excursions:
We got a price list for First Choice and quickly realised we had not brought enough money to do the trips we really wanted. But we had seen people who recommended to book with the locals on the beach. We got a price list from Franklin on the beach that saved us almost £200!!!
The trips are IDENTICAL to First Choice - in some cases better.
We highly recommend the Safari and the Catamaran.
The Catamaran especially. The Banana Republic is a fun packed boat (bright yellow) with a great (completely mad) crew. It has a water slide and diving board. The First Choice boats, whilst newer, don't have the slides and dive boards and we were told by people who had been on these boats that the entertainment and food was poor.
What else?
Check in and check out was fast and efficient with bags and yourselves being ferried to you rooms and back again.
Even the flights inbound and out were great! The 9 hours seemed to fly by faster than a flight to Europe!
Oh - the only bad point. Mosquitos. They were voracious. Most of our repellents seemed to attract the things. You can buy patches from your reps, $15 for a pack of 24. THEY WORK! I found though that I was getting bit at night in the restaurants. So I took to wearing long trousers and socks at night. The patches can be placed on clothing or your skin. If you put them on your shoes or sandals they tend to keep the blighters off your legs at night. Sort the mossies out early and you'll have a ball.
Just go there and enjoy it!
Very helpful review, it gives comments on everything. thanks
Hi.
I found this review very helpful. After reading many bad reviews about this hotel, it was refreshing to read this as I am due to go there for 2 weeks in August with my family and have worked very hard for this holiday!!
Dress code:The a la carte restaurants have a dress code of long trousers for men.Thats about it. Smart and casual I guess you would say.Swim wear is not permitted in any restaurants, but this is due to them not wanting everywhere dripping wet (understandable) so as long as your shorts are dry and both male and female put a top on then it's OK.
I found this review helpful because...it tells me alot of things that i wanted to know as i am going there in august this year with my family. There is only one thing that it does,nt tell me and that is if they have a dress code that you have to wear for dinner in the evening. many thanks amanda.
I found this review helpful because it covered everything I needed to know, especially the mosquitto info!! Many thanks!
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