Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio — Hotel in La Hispaniola

WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE!

This is my 4th time to the Dominican Republic and I have to say Emotions was the best hotel I stayed at on the island.

My girlfriend and I took the plunge after reading reviews online and loved every minute. Although a family resort it was so large that between the 3 pools the beach and private pools (VIP Members + Adults Only) there was plenty of room for everyone.

Our personal favourite amenity of the resort was "ONE" an on site cafe that was located in the heart of the resort. Every day at the crack of dawn (9am on vacation time) until dusk (11pm) the cafe is buzzing with attentive staff and friendly service. Rafeline one of the baristas could have given any Starbucks employee a run for their money. With a smile on his face and a knack for remembering your order it was always a joy to see him behind the counter. Luz Del Carmen was another barista who I was happy to see as well! She was always so cheerful, greeted you with a warm smile and made the coffee shop truly a delight. From Lattes to Frozen Cappuccinos they could do it all, and the best part was the beverages were apart of the all inclusive package at no extra charge. WELL DONE EMOTIONS!

The beach (Public) at the hotel was nice! We were lucky to have a few days of crystal clear waters where you could see the sand below you, fish swimming around you and at 6pm see a beautiful sunset that we will always remember. It is however, a 5-6 minute walk from your rooms if you are not on the VIP side of the hotel. For us this wasn't an issue but I can imagine with small children this might be. Especially as you needed to cross a road that divided the hotel into 2 areas. There is always staff at the cross to ensure guests safety so it truly isn't that much of an inconvenience or risk. But for those extra paranoid everyone gets a trophy parents there are pools on both sides which mitigates this issue all together and children can play freely and get involved with daily activities without any worry.

Food was pretty good as they had a variety of options which catered to all palettes. I personally was a big fan of anything deep fried, they just seemed to have a way with the breading that would make Popeyes and KFC shiver in their boots. My girlfriend was a big fan of the breakfast! They had a pancake station, egg station, French toast station, fresh home made donuts and a plethora of fresh fruit (GET THE PINEAPPLE) that had us waking up early to make sure we never missed breakfast. The snack bar was your typical snack bar that offered burgers, hot dogs, fries and chicken wings around the clock (2am shut down).

Dinners were a combination of A la carte restaurants and the buffet. The buffet had some tasty options including: Make your own pasta section, Grill Station, Local Dishes and a wide variety of choices for the pickiest eater (My Gf). The A LA CARTE was the true highlight of the dinner choices as the staff, food and ambience created a memorable experience. Oregano (The Dominican themed restaurant) was by far our favourite to go to. In 7 days we were at the restaurant 3 times. DOMINGO!! MY MAN! The best server In my opinion at the resort, was EXCELLENTE! He was funny, attentive, spoke English well and knew how to read tables. If you were there as a couple he wasn't overbearing, if you were there as a group looking for some excitement he was the perfect party host and all in between were well taken care of. He would see us walking through the door and immediately set aside a few slices of the Tres Leche cake for when dessert rolled around because there was NO COMPARISON to this dessert. It simply was delicious and I can taste it as I type this review. It was AMAZING!

Ive run out of space but all in all the trip was great! I do suggest brushing up on your Spanish and learning how to say no gracias as the only negative was the timeshare salespeople who work on the resort (Quite Persistent) especially if you are within their target customer.

Other than that it was truly a trip to remember! Thank you Emotions! You have me...

LOCATION if you’re like me and usually book hotels without looking where they exactly are situated, note that this resort is about 1h45 away from punta cana’s airport. Keep that in mind!

LOBBY AND CHECK IN Arriving at the lobby, there were 3 employees at the registration desk. They were all busy on their screen and took about 5 long minutes before saying something. No “hello, thank you for waiting, we will be with you shortly” or anything. Once I got my room key, no explanation were given on the resort itself: I didn’t know where was my room, where was the buffet, the main activities, etc. I had to find my room on my own (and as there is many building and I had no map, it was a bit complicated. Another visitor from the resort helped me, when she saw I was visibly lost!

FOOD Let’s start by saying that I am not a picky eater and I always eat what’s in my plate. A la carte restaurants are mostly not worth it. First of all, i travel solo so sitting at a table doing nothing for a long time is a bit boring. In all the restaurants, it took them 15-20 min before taking my order even tho i would close the menu quite fast. The restaurants were never full either only 4-5 tables to serve at the same time. I got the mushroom risotto at the Italian restaurant and it was stiff and thick, not creamy at all. At the Asian restaurant, I got sushi as the main and I received 5 sushi, 2 were chicken and 3 were plantain banana. No fish or veggies whatsoever. The rice was also full of vinegar and dense. Mexican and Dominican restaurants were OK. Buffet lacks variety but has better food than a la carte restaurants. What saved me was the room service. Many things were missing everyday in all the menus. You would ask for the fried ice cream at the Asian restaurant, they would not have it. The bacon at breakfast? Only available one morning. Of course shortage can happen, but every night something I would want would not be available. Note: if you are in the essentia building, 24-7 room service is included! Ask for the menu on WhatsApp as the room service menu of the app is not free and has only 3-4 choices, compared to the I voided menu that has many options with breakfast, lunch, diner and late night snack. Note that I didn’t get any type of food poisoning or traveler sickness - just be careful in drinking only bottled water and no tap water ! Note that the resort serves filtered water in the buffet and restaurant and I drank that all week without any issue.

ROOM I booked an essentia swim out room and it was worth it ! Rooms were kept clean by their wonderful staff but the room themselves are in need of renovation. My shower didn’t had any shampoo holder but I could see there used to be one. My stuff was on the floor. That’s fine to me but could’ve been more convenient with a shower rack. The shower head is way over due here life span and is in deep need of replacement. Also, I don’t know if it was just for my room or for everyone but I never got hot water coming out of that shower, only warm-ish water. The swim out part of the rooms was the best as I needed rest and calm, and that’s what I got in the swim out. The swim outs are not permitted to children and is adult only so you wan enjoy a bit of peace even if this resort is family friendly.

ACTIVITIES I’m used to going to resort where they give you a planning for the whole week, the show playing at night, when is the karaoke evening and where, special nights, etc. This resort doesn’t provide this and say that the activity calendar is only shared at the activity center but I found it very incomplete, lacking informations and didn’t had much days ahead, making the planning of the week a bit more difficult.

STAFF Other than the lobby staff that I found unhelpful at check in and check out, the waiters, bartenders, bell boy, cleaning crew, et , were all very kind and helpful ! I didn’t wanted my room being cleaned everyday as I would not make much of a mess, but the lady taking care of the room always made sure I had water and beverages in my fridge. She...

We stayed at this hotel in March 2024. We were a group of 4 and had booked 2 swim-out rooms ("essentia"/privileged). As essentia guests, you are entitled to a free 30 minute massage. As someone who is pregnant, I could not get this... so keep that in mind, if you're planning to babymoon here! I did transfer it to my friend, so it didn't fully go to waste. There is also a city tour to Santo Domingo - don't ask the hotel or Air Transat representative (should you ever find him) because no one knows anything about it. However, the invitations are sent out Monday mornings and the tours are on Wednesdays. It starts at 9AM and you return to the resort by 1:30 PM (Unless the ghetto bus gets 2 flat tires... but don't worry, they'll only change one and drive the rest of the way with one waiting to explode!). On the tour you'll go to a cave, inside the cathedral (know this because it's important you're legs and arms are covered), a gift shop, and the oldest street in Santo Domingo (that is now just filled with gift shops and nothing else). 2 people of our group did snorkeling for the day, it was $100 US per person. If you want to book excursions, don't bother hunting down the Air Transat guy because we didn't see him until our 2nd last day. He doesn't have an office, and was around the timeshare guys. He doesn't have a sign or anything, you'll likely never know he's who he is. There is a guy with a small little "store" on the beach, attached to the snack bar. He sells excursions for snorkeling, horseback riding, etc. Nothing too exciting. I bet if you had the Air Transat rep be readily available, there would be more options. Anyways, the rooms were basic. Housekeeping was minimal. The swim-out on the essentia side, we booked because the pictures made it looked private, rather than open. However, your side gets no sun and the pool is freezing cold! I think we only saw 1 person in the pool, and it was very brief. The pool is also dirty from the tree's and hardly maintained (only once in the mornings). Very disappointed, as the swim-out was a main factor for booking this resort. Another reason we booked this resort is because it says there are 7 restaurants. I'm pregnant, so this was a major deciding factor when choosing this resort. There are not 9 restaurants. Let's me be clear: there are 3 locations for restaurants, your main buffet (breakfast/lunch/dinner, decent hours, closes at 10:30PM), and 2 spots for A la carts (side by side, next to the essentia rooms). The "8" restaurants (excluding the main buffet) rotate. There is no schedule. You will never know what day the italian, mexican, or asian restaurant is open. So, when booking, choose wisely, because from our experience each is only open approximately 2 days a week. The snack bar.... DON'T EAT THERE! We all got sick for days from the food. The hot dogs sit in water, collecting bacteria, something is seriously wrong with the burgers... just looking at them you know it's not right, but then to try to taste it... I spit it out IMMEDIATELY. The hot dogs were described as tasting like "mush" --- I don't even know what that means, but it's not good. The beach/essentia is across the street from the main areas, which was kind of nice because it was keeping the essentia areas separate from everyone else. I wouldn't recommend ocean view rooms, because the buildings are so low, your view is likely obstructed by trees/beach chairs. The ocean is FILTHY. I have never been to a resort and not spent a day or more in the ocean. It is filled with seaweed. The beach is public, so it is not maintained. The staff definitely expect to be tipped CONSTANTLY. acknowledge us. Absolutely horrible service. Also, the hotel will not give you smaller bills ($1's) so be prepared... which is another reason we were being forced to tip $10 and up. The resort is also open to locals... so be prepared for that. They didn't cause any issues, but it is something to take note of because I'd say majority of the guests for the late night...