whala!bocachica — Hotel in La Hispaniola

We recently stayed at Whala! Boca Chica for 14 nights, booked through Love Holidays, and unfortunately, our experience was overall disappointing and fell short of expectations in multiple areas.||Arrival & Check-In:|We paid extra for a private transfer from Punta Cana Airport, expecting a smooth and efficient journey. Instead, we were met by a driver who did not speak English and made no attempt to communicate throughout the 1.5-hour trip to the hotel. Upon arrival, we were welcomed by Virhelio, who was courteous and helpful, and we were shown to our rooms.||Although we had requested rooms next to our friends at the time of booking, we were placed on different floors (we were on the second floor, with no lift, and they were below us). When we approached reception, we were told by Estefany that moving our friends’ room would not be a problem. However, it took three separate room changes over three days before they were finally relocated next door. There appeared to be no internal communication or proper record-keeping, as the room that had been promised to them was reassigned to two other couples in the interim. Alarmingly, during one of the moves, our friends were given a key to a room that was already occupied—with personal belongings inside—raising serious security concerns.||Room Conditions:|Our own room presented several immediate problems: the balcony doors would not lock, the shower head malfunctioned, and the main door did not secure properly, meaning anyone could have entered. These issues were reported and, after some persistence, we requested to speak with Deputy Manager Angel. While he appeared attentive during the discussion, no follow-up occurred, and the problems were only addressed after we made further complaints. Additionally, the in-room safe was unusable as it had no door, so we understandably declined to pay for it.||Swimming Pool and Surrounding Area:|The main pool was of a good size, which I appreciated as a regular swimmer. However, after the first day, I chose not to swim again due to the cloudy water, which made it difficult to see the bottom of the pool. At no point did we observe any testing of chlorine or chemical levels, although staff were seen applying large quantities of chlorine powder in the evenings, with no apparent monitoring. Guests were frequently allowed to bring drinks and even food into the pool, leading to multiple spillages. On one occasion, cake was seen floating in the water following a birthday celebration.||There were sufficient sunbeds, but very few umbrellas, which made finding shade difficult. The sunbed area was visibly unclean at the beginning of our stay, with wasps present daily. Although sunbeds were jet washed towards the end of our visit, discarded food and cups left behind by guests were often ignored, despite a regular staff presence.||Bar Service:|The bars frequently ran out of Coca-Cola and lemonade, and no diet or sugar-free options were ever available. Many guests were seen bringing large one-litre travel mugs to the bar and having them filled completely, which may have contributed to shortages. Staff rarely intervened or managed this effectively.||Main Restaurant:|We would like to express our appreciation to Ricky, who was always friendly and welcoming. However, the overall dining experience was frustrating. Some staff appeared to deliberately ignore non-Spanish-speaking guests, including ourselves, walking past without acknowledging requests. On a daily basis, we struggled to locate cutlery, plates, bowls, and to receive a drink with our meal.||The food quality and service were also inconsistent. While one chef prepared fresh pasta, the majority of the dishes placed under heat lamps were often lukewarm or cold. Items that ran out were not promptly replenished, and guests were left waiting for extended periods. On one occasion, after waiting over 10 minutes, my husband politely enquired about when a dish would be ready, only to be told to “F* off” in Spanish** by a chef who assumed he wouldn’t understand—utterly unacceptable behaviour.||La Caleta Restaurant:|This à la carte venue offered an escape from the chaotic main dining area. However, even on Italian night, pizza was never available, which was quite puzzling. On one occasion, staff kindly made one especially for us as a starter. Menu variety was limited, often alternating between Italian (minus pizza) and Mexican options.||Alma Restaurant:|Although advertised as available with a 10% discount, this restaurant was closed for the duration of our stay, with no prior notice.||Entertainment:|The entertainment team made no effort to engage with us throughout the stay, only acknowledging us on the final day when a team member was absent. All entertainment was conducted exclusively in Spanish, with no translations or inclusivity for international guests. The only cultural experience offered was one evening of traditional Dominican dance. The rest of the entertainment primarily consisted of dancing competitions focused on provocative performances, which we felt were in poor taste.||Staff Recognition:|We would like to highlight Armado, a friendly and helpful member of the maintenance team, who consistently checked in on us and offered assistance, particularly during the repeated room changes. His genuine kindness was much appreciated and stood out in contrast to the general lack of care from other departments.||⸻||Final Thoughts:|This hotel requires significant improvement in communication, guest service, cleanliness, and overall management. While a few staff members went out of their way to assist us, the majority of our stay was marred by poor organisation, safety issues, and unprofessional behaviour.||At present, we cannot recommend Whala! Boca Chica, and we would encourage prospective guests to consider alternative accommodations until serious improvements are made.||Rating: 2/5|(Primarily for the efforts of individual staff members like Ricky, Virhelio, and Armado—not the facilities or overall guest...

Upon arrival at the hotel we were given 2 rooms on difference floors, we asked for 2 together & was told to come back the following morning. So we didn’t unpack & then after breakfast went back to reception to enquire about the room.||We were then told we could have the room next door to our friends as asked @ 2pm, to go back then to collect the key, which we did. At that time we were then told the room was still not ready, again told to come back later. My daughter an hour later went to reception & was then given the room key, we had already vacated our 1st room, our cases were then in our friends room. When she went to check on our new room & then move our cases, someone else’s cases were in the room we were due to move into.||We then went back to reception again, to be told they hadn’t reserved the room & that the people in the room were there for the weekend & we could have the room on Sunday.||Again, unable to unpack, we then agreed we would take the room on Sunday.||On Sunday we were booked onto a day trip, leaving the hotel @ 7:30am, returning at 7pm. Before we left that morning we were assured our new room would most definitely be ready upon our return from our day trip. On returning we went to collect our new key, to then be informed the people in the room had decided to stay another day so we couldn’t have the room! At this stage we still haven’t unpacked. At this point we were so upset - asked to see a Manager & was told there wasn’t any & to come back at 9am Monday morning.||Monday morning we went to reception to see Reception Manager Angel. He basically was pretty useless, apologised for what has happened but really couldn’t care less, told me he would personally come to the pool to give me the key when the room was ready - he didn’t do this. At 3pm I went to reception - collected the key myself, he lied to my face & said he came to find me - he did not as all 4 of us were at the pool all afternoon.  Following this, absolutely no duty of care, making sure everything was ok & we were happy.||I would like to add at this point, reception staff member, Estafany, each time we came to speak on each occasion, she smirked, ignored us, spoke about us to her colleagues, she was the person on the Friday morning told us the room was ours from 2pm, so if she had done her job properly in the first instance, none of the above would have happened. 5 days into our holiday, 4 different rooms, we finally were able to unpack!||This hotel should NOT be listed as suitable for English people, we were invisible to many of the staff. They really did not care or make us feel welcome at Whala Boca Chica.||Love Holidays have given this hotel a 4 star, it is most definitely not, I really do feel Love Holidays have mis-sold us our holiday & we are deeply upset.||I have listed below many points that really do need raising.||Main pool area:|Pool toilets disgusting, should be condemned.|Sunbeds dirty.|Pool looks unclean & dated, film on top of water where you can’t see through water when swimming.|Pool bar daily ran out of coke / sprite.|People allowed to eat & drink in pool - birthday cake in pool.|Did not once see anyone check the chlorine level during the 2 weeks we were there.||Entertainment staff:|Did not once approach us to be included.|Would walk all around pool inviting people to join in & come to us & walk past.|Only spoke in Spanish - not once explained what was going on in another language.||Reception:|No aftercare following the upset.|Made to feel very unwelcome by reception desk staff & talked about upon entering.|Each time we approached were ignored.|Estafany on reception was so rude - would laugh at our upsets & where possible totally ignore us, in the middle of trying to explain our problem, picked up her mobile phone & started scrolling.||Bedrooms:|3 of the rooms we stayed in were so dated.|Shower useless.|Couldn’t lock 2 of our bedroom front doors & put a case up against them for our own security.|None of our patio doors locked in all rooms we stayed in|All clothes in draws & wardrobe became damp - in the morning my clothes left out to wear were damp - even without us having the air conditioning on. I had a constant cough all holiday.||Main Restaurant:|Consistently no cutlery.|Consistently no plates.|As white Europeans we were very rarely approached by staff to help us when we were in need of cutlery etc, locals were always priority.|When we asked for assistance often ignored.|Very basic food.|Chef on Monday 18th Aug swore at us when we asked for our food to be hot.|Never hot food in the evening other than what was being offered from the griddle - all meats that should be hot was cold.|Barbecue night, 1.5 hours before restaurant closed no food left - it wasn’t kept warm or covered & fly’s all over, so unhygienic.|You advertise 3 restaurants - there is only 2.||Avoid this hotel if you are white & English, you are treated totally different to everyone else & whenever possible they will ignore you. I felt totally invisible.||We spoke to other people staying at the hotel & they said how rude some of the staff had been.|We asked a tour guide on the beach if the hotel had an issue with English people & he said they are not liked at that hotel. We stopped alerting reception of our issues as their attitude towards us had become upsetting & we felt humiliated, even following our bathroom flooding - they would see us & either leave the desk area or walk away.||Our first holiday in the Caribbean & I am so very upset about the...

My husband booked this hotel for our honeymoon, he didn't know about the terrible experience I had here 6 years ago. So I decided to give it a try and look at things with fresh eyes. We arrived 9/1/2025 were given the wrong room. We paid for a room with a balcony and beach view and instead were placed in a small room with the only "view" being a show they do every night 9pm-11pm where even the walls of the room were shaking from the noise. The bathroom has visible black mold. We were able to switch rooms the following day, after hours of a back and forth with hotel staff. We made it to the "new" room. The doors to the balcony are rusted and dont open at all, there is a leak in the ceiling and water is constantly dripping into the room. Again mold in the showers. Beach towels are also included in what we paid for, they have to be picked up at the front desk. We requested beach towels since the first day, have gone back every day since and are constantly given the run around that none are available. They insist they will reserve 2 and this never occurs. They told us to come back at 11:30am, then at 12pm, then 2pm we went each time and nothing. Please note during this time we saw multiple people with beach towels and again only our white counter parts were the ones being provided a decent service. There is a woman at the front desk that has given my husband and myself an attitude each time. She is insanely rude and should probably look for work outside of the hospitality industry. The food sits out with flies on it they have fans on the wall but I've still seen flies land on the food. The staff at the restaurant again only cater to certain individuals. My husband has had to go and get our drinks and silverware even tho there is "staff" for that. But the staff is usually too busy standing around talking amongst themselves or flirting with the hotel guest. Do not recommend and will not be returning to this hotel. (6 yrs ago)The staff treats people great but only if you're white. Anyone who doesn't have light skin is made to wait a lot longer than those who are white; and many times just completely ignored. I arrived with my family at 1pm and was constantly disregarded. The receptionist wouldn't even look at us, when we finally managed to speak to one he started checking us in but left every few seconds to attend others. Something that shouldn't have taken more than 5 to 10 minutes took 55minutes. Even after our rooms were paid for we waited 3hours to get our room keys. Not because the rooms weren't ready but because they wanted to take care of those that were white first regardless of the order in which we arrived. Once we made it to the rooms there was no running water, we were told the water would be back on within 30 minutes. The water was back Hours later. We then made our way to the pool. The pools are all clean. I went to the bar to order a drink and was again completely invisible because of the color of my skin. It didn't matter that I was paying to be there just like everyone else, nor did it matter that I didn't address them rudely or that I was patient. I interacted with quite a few others who were staying there and many told me that they experienced the same lack of service because of the color of their skin. I have never visited a resort with so many rude, and racist employees. This is the second time I visit and my experience was so horrible that I decided to leave this review. I had a very bad experience the first time but decided to give whala a 2nd chance but it isn't worth it. The employees should be ashamed of themselves for the way they treated us. My 9 year old sister came to me asking me if she was invisible, i told her no sweetie and asked why she asked such a question. She proceeded to tell me that she wanted some water and went to a server and asked multiple time and he didnt help her, she went to someone else and again was ignored. Im not the type of person that even cares about leaving a review, things never really get to me. But this place and its employees are...