Horrible. Not a 5-star resort, but a 2-star, or less.

First problem is the staff in the lobby. Usually, check-in takes maybe 10-15 minutes maximum. Here, that was the time it took for them to locate anything. Upon asking for an upgrade for “ocean view”, we were told that there weren’t any rooms available for today. Luckily, we were able to see the room before booking it, and that was honestly a laughing matter - “ocean view” was simply loud swimming pool view with a barely-there smidge of the ocean through the trees and other buildings. Reception staff seems far from knowledgable and there is barely any urgency to serving guests. Also, their language abilities are far from sufficient for first-contact workers at a 5-star resort. I don’t expect them to speak my native language, but barely knowing English and struggling to communicate in it was just ridiculous - I thought that was supposed to be a universal language to make things easier for everyone? Last time I visited the DR there was no language issues, so it seems that the problem lies within this hotel’s employees.

Next, the hotel’s app that they have you download is just… Unusuable. The restaurants’ closing hours are not up to par with real life, but what is worse, the hotel’s map doesn’t work - and, upon saying that to a bald guy from the reception stuff, I was laughed at and told that it’s my issue and that they don’t have any paper maps available. This is the first time in my life that a resort doesn’t provide me with a map, nor a tour around its premises.

Moreover, the service around the hotel is just a miss overall. The staff at the bufet sometimes just doesn’t care at that you’re there, not even bothering to fill up your water glass even though they’re walking by you all the time. They are also very swayed by tips, and you can see them being “nicer” to guests who have given them money. With that being said, there’s maybe like 3 decent workers out of 15 people there, and the rest is 5 manager-looking guys who stand around looking angry and doing nothing. What kind of impression is this supposed to give the guests? Very unwelcoming. Also, the staff at bars (except for the lobby bar, that one had decent drinks and bartenders) laughs and curses to themselves in Spanish while serving you with barely-there English, thinking that you don’t understand them when they speak between themselves. The staff at the beach bar Coconuts makes some of the worst drinks I’ve seen in this hotel, as they are very inconsistent and ingredients seem to change. Also, when they ran out of rum, they exchanged the alcohol to something else without telling the guests - and if I hadn’t seen them do it, I wouldn’t be aware at all. The photographers on the premises are also annoying and they bother you in the weirdest moments for pictures. The staff walking by never greets you, except for the builders or cleaners - which says a lot about how the “higher” staff was trained.

Another bad thing is that the hotel, although supposedly new from renovation, is just dirty. There’s paint splatters all over the balconies or the floor in your room, some pencil-like writing on the walls. There’s lots of issues, e.g. Door not closing, tap in the bathroom moving around, sewage smell in the bathroom. After cleaning, there are hairs in the shower, too. The TV programs are all blurry or don’t work at all. The maintenance lacks, and everyday, there is more maintenance work being done right in front of you. If the hotel is not done being repaired, they should close it down and open it when it’s ready.

The food in the buffet is fine, but repetetive and sometimes cold.

A funny issue is that the minibar, after your first day, is restocked with water and no soft drinks, which they tell you only upon check-in. Money-saving much? I’ve never seen this practice and it was weird.

What is good about this hotel is comfortable beds, the beach and lovely greenery around the premises. The beach is beautiful and big, and the water is gorgeous and nice to swim in. But you could find a nice beach like this elsewhere.