TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I stayed at this resort from June 10th to 24th, booked thru WestJet Vacations. Picked a Superior room package. I think this is one of the first properties that I have been to, on which I disagreed with some of the TripAdvisor reviews that I researched on my visited properties including this one, before booking this trip. So here goes: Overall, this is an average resort, definitely not a 4 or 5 star. Positives: Beach both ways is great to walk. The beach area of the resort isn't the best, but the location and beach area there fantastic. Room Air Conditioning is fantastic. King bed is comfortable. Closet hanging storage is good. Spa pool and area is great. Volleyball pool is large. Main pool excellent size. Resort location is excellent. Resort is small enough to get around easily. Not so positives: This is not truly an "All Inclusive". I think this was mentioned in some TA reviews, but not as much as I think it should be. Depending on your "package" some things might be inclusive, others you find out when you get there. If you want to use the 25 year old in-room safe, $3US per day. If you don't have WIFI included in your package, $3US per day. Only one WIFI device connection allowed per person, if you have a phone and a pad, you pay for the other to use WIFI, $3US per day. Drink wise - the only things included were draft beer, house wine, and from what I saw, a few low end liquor selections. If you wanted a can of beer or any other drink kinds, you had to pay either per drink, or purchase a $25 per day per special drink package. The lobby bar is a hybrid all inclusive bar and a pay as you go bar. Next, the food, I thought was terrible. If you are a foodie, you wont like this place at all. On the buffet, the hot food was cold and the cold food was warm. Usually when the food is iffy at at resort, you can head to the beach barbeque and find a good burger. Not here. The beach buffet was terrible. The main buffet was a semi-savior as the omelet/egg station in the morning and the pasta station for either lunch or dinner where you could have hot food that had some taste. The rest was bad, runny ice cream, fruit flies on the fruit each day, stale bread, lousy salad bar, and lots of overcooked chicken and beef and just about everything else. Drink wise, the draft beer was cold, but all drinks came in those tiny plastic cups. Bring a Yeti, or similar, if you want more than a three sip beer. Everyone would order two drinks at a time. The two a la carte restaurants are the steak house and the Jade Dragon. Tried the chateaubriand as a recommendation by a Captain, nothing on the plate was edible it was so overcooked. Jade Dragon - went there for Chinese one night, when it was the only restaurant open, and had one of the oddest experiences. Was trying to order Chinese, and got a plate of salmon. Lead to long argument about customer service. One of the staff told me that the food was much better, before Covid. Best meals of the week were at the pub down the road and the golf course across the road. Rooms: I was in room 7210. "Superior room". Very old furniture, not enough storage. One of the original mini bar refrigerators. Was disgusting. More on it later. Cruise ship size bathroom. If you have allergies like I do, no kleenex box in room. Shower only, hot water was fine. Put a bar of soap in your luggage. Sign above the sink "don't drink the water". I did look in a regular room, and yes compared to that the superior room was better, but not by much. I did see some larger rooms in other areas, perhaps they were the villas, they looked OK. Room didn't have a Do Not Disturb sign, and the room door had a deadbolt lock, but there no bolt in the door frame, was empty hole. Drinking water: it's hard to get here! In my room there was a 2L bottle of water in the mini-fridge. Once you used that, unless the room minibar liked you, you had to fill it up yourself. They had a few water dispensers scattered around the resort, but to just get some drinking water was a struggle. Main pool: was dirty and had lots of floating crap in it. Pool floor, dirty, pool deck - filthy. Be aware that each weekend, the resort fills up with Dominican locals. Wi-Fi was spotty and slowed down when the resort filled up. Gym: really bad, very small, 3 machines, some free weights, one bench, 5 yoga mats. Just like Blue Diamond Playa, this BD resort doesn't have enough umbrellas around the pool. Other stuff: I wasn't interested in the shows or entertainment, there was lots about that stuff in other reviews. Great staff: Aracelis and "Santa" Cecilia in the Buffet - great ladies! Elvin in the buffet Aaron Cruz in Customer service Liliana at the front desk Adriano in the restaurants Marcelino - beach bar. Not so great staff: Mini-bar guy. When I got into my room - he shows up, do you like beer he says? Yes I like beer and water in the mini-fridge please. He grins and hands me 1 beer! I'm still chucking over that one. Never saw the guy again, and everyday people were asking me, where do get water here? Renaldo in the restaurants. This is the guy who brought me a plate of food I didn't order or want in the Jade Garden. Was surreal. He should be moved to a behind the scene job, out of public contact. Pool cleaner guy - clean it! Would I go back? Probably not, because of the food and the condition and age of the rooms

Overall the trip was AMAZING! The support staff were professional and very friendly. (Pros) Food was superb and the amenities are just as it is advertised. We invested in the VIP Yacht excursion to Paradise Island (worth every penny) and we also invested in the Parasailing activity around the resort. Do it, you won't regret it. Thank you Fransisco, our resort representative. He's your guy for setting up your day activities. Elvin the waiter at the buffet was so kind and friendly; such a beautiful smile. Always ready to help you out with whatever you need. The bartenders at the beach bar were great too! Marcelino and the young fair skinned lady (sorry, can't remember her name) were fantastic! Our drink of choice was Pina Coladas and Coco Loco (must try). (Cons) More attention needed in the rooms; especially the floors and the bathrooms. I think if there was additional ventilation in the washrooms the musty smell wouldn't have been as noticeable. Please invest in your room cleaners. Give them proper commercial, cleaning products like Pinesol, Lysol, Vim, Bleach etc... to help better clean the rooms. Other than that one glitch it was well worth the investment! Thanks for a wonderful vacation!

very nice hotel, clean in all areas, very good service, very tasty meals, I loved this hotel very much, the staff was very attentive and helpful, the drinks and snacks were very good, the room was clean with good air, the pools were clean, good music with Jesus dj, the shows and the disco on the beach excellent games and activities on the beach with mienny I loved the hotel soon thanks for everything

The beach bartenders marcelino and sanchez were phenomenal, amazing service and had a great sense of humour! Our server idiianna at the seafood restaurant was the greatest server ive ever encountered she should be given room to grow within the company because she was the best example of pristine service ive ever encountered this type of initiative should not be ignored. I will be revisiting and hope to see her in a higher role when i come back.

This resort is so amazing! Very clean and the staff are so amazing…. Milenny and Julio are the best.. the food is good and the resort is super clean and well maintained… I would definitely come back here, adults only best place to relax and enjoy the beautiful beaches