VIK Hotel Arena Blanca Beach reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

3.5 Very Good

  • Cleanliness 4.0
  • Location 4.0
  • Rooms 3.5
  • Service 3.5
  • Value 3.5

4216 TripAdvisor reviews

TripAdvisor users rated this property 1 out of 5

Not worth staying even for the least expensive option.

Vimal P on Sep 06, 2024

I stayed few days 1st week of Sept 2024. The rooms and buildings are totally outdated by at least 20 years. The rooms attract flies during rain storms (which are almost daily). AC just makes noise. It does not work. Showers lever broken and unable to control shower flow. Puddles in bathroom after shower. Fresh towels are dirty (no concept of bleach). Furniture in the room is old, cheap plastic chairs. TV is about 24" and static signals. Most of the restaurants they claim are part of all inclusive do not open (only the buffet style El Mirador was open. They are falsely selling (bought through cheapcaribbean.com all the restaurants, activities and on-site entertainment (consists of running old british gas shows on tv). I too was enticed with the price of the resort but it's not worth staying. Drinks are in small plastics glasses (including beer). The alcohol is cheap domestic Classio brand - for liquor types. The list goes. Even the hamburgers at the 'snack' bar didn't taste like beef. Step right outside the property on the beach, you are constantly bombarded with sellers and people trying to make money with services. Security is weak and they don't bother telling these people to move on.

TripAdvisor users rated this property 1 out of 5

This resort has nothing to offer

Romil E on Sep 03, 2024

We came here for our anniversary but Don’t waste your money coming here we booked a week and we are switching hotel within 2 hours. Rooms are so out dated. There’s nothing to do here there are 7 buildings 4 them rooms 1 the main check in and 2 restaurants. Everything is open there’s no closed buildings even to eat. The ac didn’t work basically heat storm in our room the shower doesn’t get hot. Everyone is nice but this is not worth the price to pay. The pools aren’t nice. The bar had limited options and not that good of drinks at all when made it and super small cups. If you looking for a small place with nothing and no one come here but I wouldn’t spend my money on it I’ve been coming to punta cana since i was little every year this the worst resort I’ve come to out of all of them. Food wasn’t bad though only plus but not worth staying I wanted to enjoy a real resort and everything they have to other.

TripAdvisor users rated this property 1 out of 5

terrible

Monica C on Jul 01, 2024

hotel is super old. needs a much needed face lift. rooms were super old hard bed hot AC didn't work well. first night we arrived didn't have towels. there was no shows at night.. when you say all inclusive I would expect room service option . food was not the great had no flavor no taste. pool water was warm no swim up bar. all inclusive in the past I been to have concierges who brink drinks to you. just not good experience .. I will NEVER return there.

TripAdvisor users rated this property 3 out of 5

Some good...Some Not So Good - A potential diamond

Mike C on Jun 24, 2024

My wife and I just returned from our first trip to the VIK Hotel Arena Blanca and our third trip to the Dominican Republic. We booked the VIK resort because it had decent recent reviews and the price was very good. The resort was very "basic" in what it offered and the overall facilities. I will break it down for the good and the not so good. The good: - The buffet - The food was tasty. While the buffet did not have a large variety of food, the food that was there was very good. The gentleman that did the omelet station was awesome and would always give a smile and a fist bump every morning. - The specialty restaurant - They had three different theme nights and had a variety of options for each theme. Our favorite was the Mexican night and the ribs were delicious. - The spa - My wife got sunburned and instead of getting a massage at the spa, she got the sunburn treatment and it helped with the pain and reduced the redness. I got the regular massage and it was a very basic massage and was relaxing. The could be better: - The bars - While it is unlimited drinks, they only have the basic "hotel brand" alcohol, no named brands of alcohol were available. In all of our trips to the Mexico and the Dominican Republic, this was the first that we have traveled to to be like this. That being said, they were able to make a wide variety of drinks. The sports bar by the theatre is open until 5am, but this was not disruptive to the rest of the resort. - The pools - The pool that is closest to the either a pool bar or any type of bar was green our entire stay. With not having a swim up bar, this made it a bit of a hassle to get a drink if you were in or around the pool that was not green. The pools were salt water, so it was nice to not smell of chlorine and as the resort was not busy, there were always plenty of seats. The pools do close kind of early, around 7pm every night. Additionally, the cement areas around the pool desperately need to be resurfaced. It is stamped concrete and the surfaces have eroded away and is many areas it is painful to walk on. Also, be VERY careful when getting your towels. The stairs to the stand are very uneven, and extremely unsafe. - The beach - The first two days of our trip, we were amazed at how the beaches looked. I had made the comment to my wife about how this was one of the best beaches we had encountered on any of our trips to Mexico and the DR. However, by the third night, it was covered with the seaweed that is all to common in the DR. When I asked when it would be cleaned up, I was told "maybe tomorrow", and in fact it was not until three days later that they made any attempts to clean it up, so for three days, the beach was unusable. In addition, the first night I went to the beach to just relax and enjoy the view. I ended up covered with bites all over my legs and arms from some "sand fleas" and ended up with welts that itched like crazy for the rest of the trip. There were many people that also had the same types of bites. When I went for some bug spray, Benadryl, and Hydrocortisone cream it cost me over $60 US for the three items. - The entertainment - There are nightly entertainment events that are okay. Nothing spectacular, but fun to watch. The pool-side entertainment and activities were either extremely unentertaining, or did not happen. The rooms - The rooms are very spartan and while clean, were not much to look at. The bed are a mattress on a slat of boards, no box-spring. That being said, the bed was comfortable. But they did not change the sheets daily, which when you are in a tropical location and very sweaty and with suntan lotion on, it would be nice to have them changed. There is little storage other than a closet and a two shelves. There are no dressers or drawers to put clothing in. I would not trust the "safe" in the room with anything as it looked very unsecure. We could not find a way to lock the balcony doors. Also, if you are above the age of 10, the toilets are way too small and you feel like you are sitting on the floor when you use it. If you have bad knees like I do, it was difficult getting up and down from the toilet because of how low they were. The Bad - The beach - Between the resort leaving the beach completely covered with seaweed to a depth of at least 6 inches for over three days, we could not make use of the beach at all for those days. Additionally, like myself, there were many guests walking around with a large number of red welts on the arms and legs from the mosquitoes and sand fleas. Final overview - The overall feel of the resort is very laid back and calm, but there is little to do on the actual resort. For the price it was a decent resort, it was the people that we met that truly made the trip amazing for us, as we made some lifelong friends from around the world. The resort does have a "VIP" area that is very well maintained, but while we were there, saw limited occupancy by guests. This area shows what the resort could be like as it was beautiful and very well maintained. With some very inexpensive cosmetic changes, this resort could be a true diamond. A fresh coat of paint on the buildings, properly painting the woodwork in the guest rooms, fixing the dangerous stairs, fixing the green pool, and recoating the pool deck area all would cost little capital and cold maximize the visual appeal of the resort. Would we go back, not with the current state of the resort, but it does bear watching for the future to see if the changes are made to make it truly into what it could be.

TripAdvisor users rated this property 5 out of 5

Thank you Vik Arena

milenarQ5312BH on Jun 09, 2024

We are currently in this hotel, the impressions are great. We got a room in building number 5, the room is spacious, the bathroom is big and the view of the ocean is breathtaking. Just imagine waking up to the sound of waves in the morning. The rooms are cleaned every day and the maid leaves enough water. The beach is beautiful, there is not much shade, so you have to be early in the morning to get a spot. There is always room in the pool, both in the sun and in the shade. Both pools are great, not shallow and you can swim quite nicely if you like. The hotel staff is very friendly, we had a small problem with the electricity in the room, they fixed everything in a few minutes. The service can rival even more luxurious hotels. All in all, a great hotel. Big greetings to the representatives of both agencies, they organized great excursions

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