Hotel Don Andres — Hotel in La Hispaniola

The stay was a Friday 9/4 - Wednesday 9/9 stay; 2 double beds, pool view rm 2226

CONS - MAJOR ISSUE - THIEVES!!! We had a small reception of about 30 for a wedding and the only 'outsiders' anyone noticed was staff. 1 gift bag with a necklace & jewelry box with several gift cards was stolen. Later the hotel informed the bride & groom the bag "had been found on the beach" with the necklace & box but of course all cards/money were gone.

1. AC unreliable - it would only blow cold air for part of the time and seemed to be controlled by the card in the card reader thingy but we couldn't tell exactly how. It gets very humid and hot in the rooms. My dad went into town to buy a fan.
2. we had 1 roach incident
3. bathroom was GROSS! Tub was dingy and stained with some kind of dark drip marks; shower curtain gross; grout and calk was gross; ceiling vents gross
4. power went out during dinner 2 different times but came back on within a min or so; sometimes
5. 1 set of friends changed rooms 4 times in the 1st 48hrs

PRO'S

1. Pools Beautiful!
2. Beach area Beautiful!
3. Food was slightly better than what I expected from reading other review IF you're used to different kinds of food
4. most staff was helpful but we spoke Spanish; other friends that did not speak Spanish found it more difficult (and of course we believe it was a staff member who stole the gift)

OTHER NOTES:

1. GREAT DIVING/SNORKLING! Felix (diving) & Louis (snorkeling) at the dive shop were GREAT!!! I would highly recommend them. My dad was diving for the 1st time in a few years & had great diving experience with Felix who even erred on the side of caution by not taking my dads money for a shipwreck dive due to his lack of experience. Louis was GREAT too. He took care of my mom, who was apprehensive about snorkeling, & towed her around with the life preserver the whole time.

2. WATERFALL EXCURSION - BE WARNED! This is a TOUGH climb! Ask questions if you're not a very active person. I'm not in great shape but I work out at least once a week and it was strenuous for me. Its is a very long vertical climb, nearly all stairs. You are wearing a life jacket & helmet with 1 bottle of water for the climb. Shoes can be rented but something like Aqua shoes with a good sole is good. Best outfit was spandex shorts & tank. Women's bathing suit could leave your butt red from sliding down on rock; real shorts are just too heavy once wet. There is one free-fall jump that can be by passed & the tallest slide+free-fall can be by passed but there is 1 more slide+free-fall that is rather tall that could NOT be by passed; it could be scary...

My experience was horrible .. nothing like the description that was mentioned on Groupon or by travel by Jen when I spoke to the travel agent .. where do I begin .. well transportation from the airport from the hotel I was told would take a half hour .. no it took us three hours to get to the hotel .. ok maybe I would of let that go until I got to the room .. horrible room looked nothing like the photos .. room and bathroom was filthy .. air didn't work .. and no hot water .. went to the front desk to complain and they switched us rooms ... the second room was ten times worse .. bathroom dirty .. dirty mirrors and no hot water .. not to mention the lamp shades had some kind of yellow stains on them and phone didn't work .. absolutely unacceptable.. again complained again and was switched a third time ..room was a little better but still no hot water ..at this point it was day two of switching rooms and not being able to enjoy what I thought was going to be a great vacation.. we just gave up and roughed it .. closet had six hangers and no where to unpack .. we were living out of suitcases the entire time .. Groupon said access to 6 restaurants .. lol no we had access to one restaurant the whole time which was buffet .. food was average if you wanted a drink you had to ask the servers that cleaned the tables for drinks.. you were only allowed wine and beer .. el presidents beer was the only brand , wines came out of a empty milk gallon.. bars were at least a mile away from the beach and the drinks were watered down .. example my pina colada tasted like watery milk bath ... strawberry daiquiri tasted like pepto bismal.. the outside scenery was beautiful and the beach was ok .. mentioned 3 infinity pools which were not just regular pools .. at dinner we were disgusted with the countless prostitututes that were with their wealthy business men .. have some class there were families their with their children ..I could keep going on but I think you get my point .. horrible place to stay would not recommend !! See my photos as well .. UNACCEPTABLE !! Oh and not to mention we had to listen to construction that was going on to the other side of the hotel .. failed to mention that part .. I would of never...

We went in October and it wasn't packed. Friendly staff in restaurants, they have filtered ice and bottled water at this all inclusive resort. The customer service upfront wasn’t too friendly, and they didn’t want to give the gasoline promotion that was sent in our email. We reserved 8 rooms for the family, and each room eventually got the credit, but it took over an hour, and a call to upper management. They also got our dinner reservation mixed up, and there’s 15 of us, and it seems as if the staff is confused. Also, checking into the hotel and during check out, the front desk give attitude because it was a lot of people. Customer service at the front desk gets 0 stars! Besides the mixup and the attitudes up front, the resort was really nice, and their lunch and dinner food options were great! Breakfast is bad because the food isn’t hot, the meats were cold, the scrambled eggs are cold and have eggshells in them, gross! So it’s best to wait for the lunch buffet. Overall, it’s nice if u just plan to come, tan and relax. I would just figure they would be much nicer as I am also in the customer service industry and their attitudes were completely unacceptable!

The rooms were nice, but dirty. My sheets needed to be changed because I saw long black hairs that obviously weren’t mine , so I had the maids change everything. The nightly entertainment from the performers were excellent! Every night they had a different show. The only show I didn’t like was their magic show because of the way they use the animals, they were scared and not treated so well.. I am an animal activist, and I think the magician was good and should consider leaving out the animal acts in the future. Otherwise, as an American, I felt safe at the resort and comfortable. I also left the hotel to walk around the town with my boyfriend and went to the local store and pharmacy to get some meds because I randomly got a bad cold. The locals are nice, but a bit pushy for you to buy their products, just beware of anyone begging for money, just ignore those people like you...