Viva Dominicus Palace by Wyndham, A Trademark All Inclusive — Hotel in La Hispaniola

We’re a family of three from Manchester, UK, and travelled with TUI. This was our first stay at this particular hotel (we stayed on the Palace side but had access to the Beach side), although it was our sixth trip to the Dominican Republic over the past decade. Previously, we’d only stayed at resorts in Punta Cana, so this was our first time exploring this part of the island.||||Arrival:||After a long flight and an hour-long coach transfer, check-in was fairly smooth. We completed some paperwork and declined the $30 safe rental. We were offered a refreshing smoothie on arrival, and our luggage was delivered to our room.||||Room:||We booked a Superior Double Room with a Limited Sea View and Balcony or Terrace. The best part was the view—it turned out to be a full sea view, which was lovely (room 5851, top floor). The room also included an iron, ironing board, and hairdryer. However, the rest was disappointing. The decor was outdated, storage was limited for a family of three, and there were only two sockets, which aren’t travel-plug friendly (a small extension lead is recommended). No English channels were available on the TV, the shower pressure was poor, and the pillows offered no support, causing neck pain. The mosquito screen was ripped, allowing bugs in, and there were no "do not disturb" signs. Wi-Fi in the room was practically nonexistent. Weddings held on-site caused loud music near our room until 11:30 PM. Bedding was supposed to be changed every three days, but it wasn't done until we requested it after a week. The floor was mopped only once during our entire two-week stay.||||Pools:||We expected the Palace side to be quieter, but our first day at the La Papaya pool was anything but—blaring music started at 10 AM and continued for hours. The reps frequently adjusted the volume, making it anything but relaxing. The Trago pool, located between both hotels, was a much better option: peaceful, quiet, and never busy. The infinity pool on the Beach side was filthy, with visible green algae and murky water—clearly not maintained.||||Cleanliness:||Cleanliness was a major concern. Apart from a staff member sweeping sand occasionally, there seemed to be no regular cleaning around the resort. The beach, pool areas, stairs, and corridors were consistently dirty, with sand, debris, dead insects, and food remnants. Water refill stations were unclean, and cockroaches were spotted near the pool, buffet, and snack bar. The buffet restaurant lacked basic hygiene—tables and placemats weren’t cleaned properly between uses. Staff often carried spray and paper towels but didn’t actually clean. The only consistently hardworking staff we saw were the gardeners.||||Beach:||The beach itself offers beautiful views, and the sea is warm and usually calm—great for snorkeling. However, it's poorly maintained. Staff don’t tidy up the loungers or clear rubbish at the end of the day. Loungers closer to the water have no shade, and the hotel provides no umbrellas.||||Food & Drink:||Food quality, selection, and hygiene were the worst we’ve encountered at any hotel. We became ill two days in, and after observing how the food was handled, it wasn’t surprising. Cold items like salads and cheese were left warm and wilted; hot food was barely lukewarm. Cross-contamination between meat and fish was common, and there were long queues due to understaffing at food stations. The Beach side snack bar was filthy, with cockroaches and poor food hygiene. The creperie was a disappointment—staff didn’t know how to make crepes, and what we eventually received was dry and inedible. The coffee shop rarely had juice, despite advertising it. The pizzeria was decent only when the pizza was fresh; cold food was again left to go warm. The drinks were subpar, with cheap substitutes for standard spirits and lukewarm fizzy drinks from malfunctioning dispensers. After three days, we decided to eat all our meals off-site to avoid further illness. TUI UK acknowledged the food and hygiene issues and offered compensation.||||Overall Impression:||While the grounds and beach are naturally beautiful, they’re not maintained properly. The Palace side lacks peaceful spaces for relaxation—even the lobby had loud live music at night. TUI fails to mention that this hotel caters mostly to non-UK guests; during our stay, we saw only a few other Brits. If you have the option, we strongly suggest...

I visited Viva from 12/1-12/10 and have mixed feelings about our experience. There are many great things about the resort, but there were also many areas that should be addressed and improved upon. Rather than write a lengthy post, I’ve decided to break everything down into pros and cons with a shout out section for the staff that made us feel welcome / went above and beyond.

Pros:

Beaches and pools are great Many beach activities (paddle-boarding, etc.) and other activities within the resort (archery, ping-pong, etc.) Food is good with many options (buffets, restaurants with reservations, various snacking locations) Room was always air conditioned and maintained daily by staff. I never met or saw any of the cleaning staff but they did a wonderful job Security staff were very friendly. Always greeted us with a warm smile as we crossed paths Resort was clean and well maintained

Cons:

WiFi was very spotty / hit or miss depending on where you were in the resort. Our room had WiFi most of the time but was very slow. Tied to the above point, when trying to make dinner reservations at the on-site restaurants, staff advised us to use the app on our phones to book reservations. With WiFi as bad as it was it was impossible to book the reservations through their app. Again tied to above, staff at reception were visibly annoyed when we asked for assistance in person booking restaurants. They advised us to use the app, but when we explained we tried that and due to poor WiFi we needed assistance they weren’t very understanding or welcoming. Most of the staff were great, but as mentioned above staff at reception / the help desk were not very welcoming. There was a general sense of apathy to any problems conveyed and visible annoyance in some cases. We also are not Spanish-speaking and got the sense English speaking guests were not as welcomed as Spanish-speaking / European guests. There was a sense European guests are favored here and it shows with some staff. Our biggest problem were the staff in green shirts. They try to get you to join their “club” at the resort and hunt you down relentlessly. We did not have a very relaxing experience feeling we needed to avoid these staff members each day. I understand most resorts have “club” options, but the way these staff members hound guests needs to be adjusted. The staff were friendly enough but this should be a managerial adjustment so they can change their approach and workflow so guests don’t feel stalked during the course of their stay. Similar to above, there was a male massage employee who wouldn’t take no for an answer when he asked us if we were interested in massages. We had to say no several times and he became frustrated when I ended the conversation by repeating “no” over and over again. This again needs to be a structural change from management. You should only need to say no once and have that be the end of it. I understand staff need to push for certain things for compensation, sales, etc. but have your staff make guests feel special rather than pushing too hard. “If you change your mind, come find us over here and I’ll mention to the masseuse you and I spoke if we see you there” or something along those lines could go a long way instead of pressuring guests and making them say no so many times the staff themselves get frustrated. Lastly there were no safe areas from smokers. Even “no smoking” signs and areas weren’t adhered to or enforced so we were constantly surrounded by smoke which felt disgusting at times and made us relocate away from smokers.

Staff shoutouts:

Aya and Julio at La Terraza were great. Above and beyond service. Just watch out for Julio - he’s a prankster! William at the bar near the beach/pool. Excellent service and strong pours for cocktails. Carlos at the Atlantis restaurant. Exceptional service and very friendly.

Overall recommendation: We enjoyed our stay and there were many highlights but due to the list of cons above would not return to the resort at this...

You will really struggle if you only speak English, there is a real language barrier here. When we got to the hotel, there was no one in reception and we had to get our own welcome drinks. We also had to take our own bags to the rooms as all the bell boys seemed to have disappeared. We requested rooms next door to each other and the hotel did not cater, they said they could move us if people left but were not particularly helpful so we just decided to make do. We had the new refurbished rooms and they are awful. Cracked tiles, missing grouting, not painted properly the sink had no plug, the fridge didn't work and worst of all the doors. Both the balcony door and front door do not shut properly. Lots of bugs and lizards kept getting into my room and I couldn't work out how, I thought maybe they were coming in and out with me, and I realised it was the door frame. There was a gap all around the door and under the door, if you got close enough to the frame from the outside you could see clearly into the room, which was worrying. But this was also how the bugs and lizards kept getting in. The smoke alarm also kept going off. Reception was not helpful and quite rude. I had to go back to reception 3 times before someone actually sent maintenance to my room. I also found the cleaners were not consistent, most days they forgot something and quite a few times I was left with 0 towels, which was inconvenient. Palace is advertised as the slightly better and quieter hotel, however, I do not agree. Palace customers are mean to be able to access certain restaurants that beach can’t etc, however I found that no one was checking this and the buffet restaurant was always too busy. The restaurant is not big enough to cater for the size of the hotel. There is more than one buffet on the complex but the better and bigger one is located in Palace and it seemed to be where everyone went. I often went to breakfast/lunch/dinner and couldn’t find anywhere to sit. And as for quiet, I believe it was the opposite. The animation team was so loud and repetitive, I could tell you what time of the day it was without looking at a clock just by what song they were singing. They literally played the same games and songs every day of the week, by the end of the first week I couldn’t bare it anymore and I still had 1 week left to go. Couldn’t get away from it either as they had speakers all round the pool and beach. Could even hear it from the rooms. Another this I found was the hotel/Viva reps were relentless. They are constantly trying to get you to sign up to something or get something done. I am here on holiday to relax, not to be pestered by the staff constantly. If I want a massage, I will book one, don’t come up to me everyday more than once a day trying to make me do something I don’t want to. I would say no and they wouldn’t take no for an answer, again by the end of the holiday I found myself being so fed up I would see the people and genuinely try and hide. Not enjoyable at all. General around the hotel… WIFI is diabolical, it only works when you’re in the reception. There are also 4 geese on the grounds that chase, attack unprovoked, steal food, honk at all times of the night. I would have to walk the long way round just to avoid them. Other animals there, they kept to themselves. The geese are just horrible and people were terrified. Again, not relaxing being chased and bit by geese. I personally don’t think the spa is worth the money. The treatment itself I have no issues, but the room was run down. Damp and mould everywhere, I couldn’t relax in the slightest. The buffet food was meh, not a lot a variety often cold and some food was inedible. I tried all the à la carte restaurants and the only ones that were actually nice was the Dominican and Italian, the others were awful. I genuinely physically couldn’t eat the food.Due to the language barrier previously mentioned, I found staff to be quite rude. Would often ignore us, struggled to order drinks. They would often just walk away and...