LHVC Resorts Residence Suites — Hotel in Puerto Plata

This review is just about Residence Suites and not the resort itself, I will write a seperate review Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort & Spa.

When arriving check in seems pretty normal, then they ask if you want a key for the safe that is in your room, that was an extra charge (I believe $20 for the week). I ask for the wifi password, they told me that I could purchase the service if I wanted too (I believe it was $60 for the week). Yes they put a band on your wrist and warned you if you lose it that it would cost $200 to replace it, now remember you are at an all inclusive resort. We got to the room and it was a nice large 1 bedroom, average decore and it was clean. The lady keeping your room clean was very friendly and accommodating, beer and bottled water in the small fridge. TV was small and poor reception and no internet, we just left 1 resort that we were at for 1 week and came here (we had internet, a safe and no wristbands, tv had better reception Too, no extra charges). We heard people coming in at all hours of the night, radio or walkie talkies very loud in the middle of the night (security) and the curtains did not block the light very well either (did not sleep very good). This resort is very large, food and drinks very plentiful, we had a small restaurant at our facility. A cat lovers paradise (my wife is allergic to cats), there was a pool there too, I guess they are restoring it, scrape marks all over and algae growing in it, the water seemed clean. They have courtesy shuttles to move you around if you like, we like to walk and you can walk from one side of the resort to the other in about 15 mins or so. The Residence Suites are the farthest distance to the beach and most the facilities are for the VIP Guest, the actual beach area are full of vendors and not very long for walking. Remember this is mainly a timeshare resort, that means they have people everywhere wanting you to take a tour, they approach you at the Restaurants and even come knocking on your door telling you that they have a welcoming gift for you from RCI, NOT! They have a great dog and pony show, 4 hrs later we left and they are pretty hard sale, they get upset when you don't buy and tell you they will lose their jobs too. They have a casino on campus, slots and blackjack (they let us use the internet early in the day) and we left our contribution there with them, we had fun. They have many excursions and of coarse an extra charge, scuba diving was a fantastic price just not very good diving.

To sum all of this up, for new travelers that want to just be out in the sun, eat, drink and party it was pretty good, we have traveled all around the world just about and probably expect a little more. Their evening show were pretty good they even had 2 large parties for everyone but for the most part all we did was just lay around, eat and drink, the scuba diving on the atlantic side or north side was fair at best. The Isabel De Torres National Park excursion was good to go to and Macorix House of Rum was a real treat. We use our taxi driver from before to go back to the airport and our day touring around, just an FYI mark up charges when they call a taxi, the whole time it seemed like we were being nickel and dimed. It is not a 5 star resort b y any means, they move a lot of people through there, their main goal is volume and selling you their version of a timeshare. They have groupon specials that lure you there, we have no problem with that, just be honest with your program and...

Awesome experience!

Booked through RCI

Why 5s?

We (5 people) in a two bedroom suite with one bathroom, balcony, pool and restaurant steps from our door. Bathroom and bedrooms were spacious. Staff added an extra bed in a bedroom, but one person slept on the sofa bed. First thought that only having one bathroom wouldn't be enough, but had no problems. Suite was clean and check-in was quick and efficient. Someone may complain about the age of the Residence Suite, but pay more if you want more. Trust me, I've stayed in Europe, Asia, Central & South America and the Residence Suites were comparable in "size" to an American Mariott Suite (my favorite hotel chain) in D.C., USA - except you could flush toilet paper and less expensive🤗 Someone mentioned about the resort being broken down in "social classes". I didn't feel / see any issue during my stay. You should expect for people who paid more to receive better amenities, such as golf carts, penthouses or other special accomondations. That's common sense. Anybody can have VIP Treatment if you purchase the VIP Package. We didn't but enjoyed the same beach as the rich people, except we didn't know who was rich or poor because we were having fun.

Customer service was fantastic from luggage, front desk, restaurant and tourist staff members. My family was treated exceptionally well. With that said, we tipped generously for good to great service from our arrival. This paid off immediately when I needed distilled water on Sunday for a CPAP machine. The RCI Front Staff coordinated for a tour guide take me to the city and escort me through the supermarket to find the distilled water and back. You never appreciate a great resort staff until you need to find something specific in another country and culture. The Tour Guide Alex was phenomenal, as he communicated with store associates to ensure I received the right product. Along the way we stopped at a cigar factory (awesome / bucket-list) and a local restaurant.

The location was great. Close to city, attractions and shopping. You could remain in the resort, never leave for seven days and have a ball. It's like being on a cruise ship...great food, entertainment, pools, except you can relax at the beach anytime you want.

Dominicans are beautiful and proud people.

Lessons Learned. Don't drink the tap water Don't put toilet paper in the toilet Get all inclusive (worth every penny) Always tip when you eat or receive great service - a little goes a long way here. May have challenge if you require a wheel chair or have challenges walking Be prepared to take shuttles - resort is huge Staff is...

we just completed a week stay at the Puerto plata home resort and by far had the worst family vacation ever. We planned to spend my mothers 50th birthday there and I had made a note on the reservation of that before hand. Our concierge’s Eliana could not even help us book a dinner the day we arrived which was my mother’s actual birthday day and said we were 15 minutes late to reserve anything. Aside from not getting picked up in a VIP transport from the airport. Then we proceeded to check in to our villa CVE 71 which was utterly disgusting. We had guest come on vacation with us and it was down right embarrassing hosting them there. There were pools of water inside, puddles everywhere most of the light switches did not work beds were wet from the leaking roofs gas smells Everytime the maid cooked breakfast, my aunt slept on the couch there due to her wet bed and moldy pillow. My baby has bed bug bits all over him. When we went to speak to someone Friday morning (after we checked in Thursday evening) absolutely no one helped said there was nothing available not even single rooms for us to move into. No manager came by or called. As members paying for this membership our week spent there was extremely sour and my mother has a bad memory of her 50th birthday one we cannot redo now. Your sales people only willingly to help if we paid for another upgrade which is out right inhumane especially after already investing $30,000 USD into your company and then spending $12,000 CAD on a vacation with guest where we were Ignored, overlooked and treated poorly over a simple ask of being moved after spending half of vacation in a run down not maintained villa. Cherry on top of it all was after finally getting moved into CV63 the maid at that villa decides to empty my father wallet and took $200 USD $100 CAD when we filled a report they sent back the same maid the following day. We had locked each room and ask her not to go in there. I understand the level of professionalism a company needs to have when offering a membership as I work for the largest membership retailer in North America, Costco wholesale and as a membership manager myself the importance of providing members with professional experience and quality services as paying members is a what we take seriously. Again no management reached out to us or came to see us. At check out we are just given a letter of “compensation” which we do not accept as we will not be coming back to the home resort anytime in the coming future. I will gladly spend my money anywhere else where service is exceptional for all guest not where as a member I get treated with the...