Iberostar Dominicana Hotel

I just returned on 1-22-04 with a group of 36 people I took. We go to a different place every year. iberostar dominicana was just great, the food was all good with many choices of food and restuaraunts. The grounds where unmatched the people are some of the nicest at the hotel and abroad.The check in manager Mr. Medina will do whatever he can to make you happy. if you have kids make a request for room 4056 it is the only 2-bedroom room in the hotel. The only small problem might be the size of the place it is huge so there is alot of walking from one spot to the other. Don't let some winey cronic complainer steer you away from here because out of my group of 36 people all said they would return. The weather is also no issue warm and sunny alot if it does rain it wasn't very long. Last but not least don't just stay in the resort take a safari tour ar one like it. The people in the country are very nice so don't miss out.

I just got back from a 1 week stay at the Iberostar Dominicana in Punta Cana, Domincan Republic. The good: Beautifully landscaped resort & beaches, large & clean rooms, wonderful entertainment staff, easy to speak with almost everyone (in English), great excursions to the safari & swimming with sharks, excellent nightlife at the disco... all of the above surpassed by expectations for the trip (and the Temperature was great in January: highs in mid 80's; low in mid 70's) The bad: There were 19 people in our group & I can honestly say that at some point during the week ~15 of us got sick. Most of those occurences happened around day 4 or 5. We tried everything from Immodium AD to some blue pills that are sold in the pharmacy at the resort designed to kill bacteria, with success ranging from minimal to none. There was no particular meal or thing that we could pin-point the problems to. Beware! I read a review on this site about eating yogurt & taking pepto bismol daily... might be a good idea to take that advice.

We went in August 2003. The hotel was really nice. Rooms were clean and the food was good. We did not get sick but we did eat yogurt every day for 2 weeks prior to our trip per our travel agents suggestion, and we took pepto tablets twice a day. We drank bottled water supplied in the room and pop and juice in the buffet. The food was really good. The Steakhouse was excellent. I would reccomend it highly. We mainly ate at the buffet and the choices were many. The beach was great. You do have to get out early if you want a spot up front. The guys at the desk do speak some english and were very helpful. Our Apple agent was also fluent in english and was also helpful. This was my first trip out of the US but I went realizing I am the visitor, the foreignor. They speak spanish so we learned a few words and tried speaking to the staff. The people were very nice and overall I would go back again.

I am a native Dominican that just went back after 5 years of being away from home. I spend 2 days at the Iberostar Dominicana. The hotel itself is beautiful. The rooms are very spacious and clean and very comfortable. The people of the Dominican Republic will be one of the friendliest and nicest people that you will ever come across in your travels, I guarantee that. The staff at the hotel was no exception. They learn a little of all languages just so that they can ask you how are doing and how you like your stay. The beach at Dominicana was just gorgeous and the pool at the facilities are also very inviting. My only complaint with this hotel is the food. Although there was a lot of variety I must say that the food was pretty bland. I was shocked to see that there were no "dominican" foods at the buffet. This hotel would get much better reviews if it wasn't for the food. I can't understand why there was no authentic dominican food. It's one of the more delicious cuisines in the world!! While I was there there was also a power outage that lasted for a at least an hour. I had never seen that happen at a hotel. But I think that was a very rare thing to happen.

My husband and I spent 6 wonderful days in Punta Cana. The beaches were beautiful. The food was delicious, the service at our hotel was fantastic. We went on the Kon Tiki party boat and had a ball. It was the first time we ever went snorkeling. We also swam with the dolphins at Manati Park. It was fantastic. Everything was perfect. We would go again in a minute!

hey guys well i got back last night and dr was nice and relaxing the beach was nice and sand was so soft i wished i could have stayed there the people were very nice a lot of people from europe were there i rented atvs and went on a monster truck sarfai i saw the sugar cane a witch doctor house and a cock fight the food was good i had emailed the hotel liek 3 days before i left asking in spanish for a suite and they gave me with no charge the airport is like 30 to 45 from the hotels i would have rather had a direct flight it pays to have the food and drinks included but right outside the hotel is the slums and poor people but i would go back there in a second

I have been to the Iberostar Dominicana 2 times. We were there, once in April of 2003 with my family, and again in August of 2003 with my family, friends, and even my aunt and uncle. We LOVED it.Food: The food isn't bad; you just have to be open to trying new things. And if youre like me then take your garlic shaker. Its all a little on the bland side. They have pizza and French fries for those who aren't so venturous.Wait Staff: The wait staff was absolutely wonderful. Sometimes it may take them a while to get to you, but they are serving other people than just you so just be patient. They are all very nice, and even joke around with you. I would advise everyone to know a little Spanish before you go because language barriers aren't good.The Beach: BEAUTIFUL! The beach is kept very clean, and the water is spectacular. You can stand up to your neck and see your feet plain as day. Wear strong sunscreen and reapply as the day goes on. I have very fair skin, and burnt fairly badly. Thats a sure way to ruin a vacation. Getting a chair was never too hard for my family, but my mother gets up early and heads to the beach for an early start.Activities: There is always something to do, but you won't be nagged if you don't care to participate. The Star Friends work so hard and just love their jobs. They always have smiles on their faces, and love to make you have a good time. Starting early in the morning, they have games like volleyball, mini golf, archery, soccer (way to hot to play my brother did and got very sick), then it goes to dance lessons, aerobics by Yamilli, water Gymnastics. It just never ends. The Star Friends greet you at dinner, and then put on a fabulous show. They rotate the shows every so many days, and it just so happens that both times I have been there the same shows have been on. But they are good so I won't complain. After the show my brother and friends, would head to the disco. The music isn't too bad. Theres a lot of Spanish, but what can you expect in a Spanish country where Americans are the minority. They have dance contests in the club, but good luck winning if youre not the partner of one of the Star Friends. Our vacations wouldn't have been the same without these fabulous people, look for them when you get there. Frankie, Jonathan, Yamilli, Jack, Rolando, Frank, Hose, Rocky, Ostami, Gabriel, Jonas, Naomi, Casalingo, and the rest of the Iberostar staff. The guys might try to get a little fresh, but just let them know your not interested and they will back off.Room: The room is nice. The bathroom is all marble and beautiful. The maids come everyday and are very quick and through. We didn't tip them everyday and they still were wonderful. DO NOT do anything with the water EXCEPT shower. I accidentally brushed my teeth with the water and was sick for many days. I have never had a problem with my balcony view. It's a beautiful place to be.Overall: The Best vacation I have ever had. I have been to Aruba, which is beautiful, but more laid back for married couples maybe even a honeymoon. The Iberostar Dominicana is more for around the younger ages, although my parents are in there 50's and love it. We loved it so much that we actually sent a couple there on their honeymoon that also loved it. My aunt and uncle joined us on our last journey there. A former boss of mine went with a small child; she loved it but would recommend not taking small children. I have had friends join me, who also loved it. We have already decided that we are going back in May. We have made great friends with the Star Friends group, and are still in touch with many of them. I would recommend this vacation to anyone. It is WELL worth the money.

Resort grounds are beautiful. We were upgraded to a suite at the Bavaro, which can easily be accomplished with a $20 U.S. Tip upon check-in. Just have it translated to spanish and printed out and show it to the worker at the check in desk. Food was marginal at best. Same food everyday for breakfast and lunch, dinner was possibly the worst meal every single day. Even the specialty restaurants were bad. Beer is ok, nothing like Mexican beer, which I was expecting a similar taste. Drinks are not slushy at all due to heat. It rained at least once every day, but never did disrupt out vaca, as it only rained during the day once, and I was so hung over that day, it did not matter. 4 of the nights after 9 pm it was a terrential downpour. The beach is great, and if you like BEach volleyball and water polo, which I played daily, then you will enjoy. It is a very depressing country though, as the resorts are amazing, the avg citizen lives a lowly existance in small shacks and crappy towns. I would highly reccommend Play Del Carmen Mexico over this location.

My husband and I stayed at the Iberostar Dominicana from 11/8-11/15. This was our first all inclusive vacation, so we have absolutely nothing to compare it to. We thought the hotel was amazingly beautiful,the ocean was awesome and the excursion to Santo Domingo was simply breath taking. If you get a chance to go to the city to see the Cathedral--it's worth every penny!! We went to the Disco a couple of times and had a lot of fun--we were with a group however and I can see that if you were alone you might feel uncomfortable. Don't expect that they are going to play American music all night--alot of European and Salsas. If you're going for the drinking--WOW you're in for a real treat!! You can drink from sun up to sun down--It's all inclusive 24/7!! We did get tired of the food, but one thing to keep in mind is the first thing that we saw coming into Punta Cana--right down the drive way of our Hotel was a SYSCO semi. Now I know that SYSCO is headquartered in our neighbouring town, so alot of the food that us Americans are complaining about could just be from America! The meats are preserved with salt--it was quite the site to see when we went to Santo Domingo and the water even botteled is softened with salt. I was quite bloated from all of the sodium for the first couple of days but when I got used to it the retention went down. I ended up coming home needing Immodium, but it's probably not because of a bacteria or bug--it's probably all of the salt I ingested mixed with all of the alcohol!! We took Travlers Checks and should have just taken Cash--there was absolutely no reason to fear any of the staff or locals robbing you. Our Apple tour guide made a good point--If we went back home and told our friends that we were robbed in the D.R. they are going to tell all of their friends and then the locals that are making a mere $148/month(or less) are going to start making even less because tourism is their top revenue. Our Tour guide told us he was more likely to be robbed than one of us, and I totally felt safe when we were in the City and at the Resort. If there was ever a question of cleanliness in our room it was taken care of immediately without any questions asked. There is maid service on the grounds for at least 18hrs. a day--their lights to the maids quarters were on 24hrs a day. The specialty resaraunts were O.K. but try going to them early in the week otherwise you'll be disappointed no matter what. By the end of the week you just want to eat something farmiliar and most likely nothing is going to be excellent unless it's a grilled hamburger or fresh chicken like at home. The Mexican Restraunt was our favorite, but the staff was very rude in that particular restraunt. Everywhere else the staff was very pleasant!! If you are planning your vacation and have not yet set the dates plan around the full moon!! The tide is high closest to the full moon--we got there the day before full moon and there were several days when we were not allowed to kayak and the snorkeling wasn't good. But the day we left the tide was down and people were telling us how great the snorkeling was. The staff did refund us for our snorkeling excursion that was a $20 deal about a half of an hour off the shore of Iberostar Dominicana. The pool was clean and relaxing!! We played water polo and at times found our selves lost in time just sun bathing next to the pool. We got great color in a week--and it was over cast almost everyday with rain briefly but the sun always came out!! I have to say that I will never forget our first all inclusive vacation and I'm glad that our party chose Iberostar Dominicana!! We are considering to take our children with us next time--it definately had family oriented qualities. Enjoy your trip if you have any question please E-mail me at chellebelle_1977@hotmail.com

we had the best time... the beach is awesome..the pools were very nice(you do need claim your spot early). try to join in with the staff on a activity,we played darts and i won a metal.i was the worse player =-).. we also joined stuff on the beach like tug of war in the pooring rain we were wet anyway..we had alot of laughs. (it rained everyday at some point but the sun always peeked in..we got nice color in 5 days). if your a drinker bring a insulated mug with lid it saves from run to the bar all the time..you can drink and eat anytime you want. we ate stuff that we knew what it was..there is always something you can find!! people crack us up when they complain about the food i'm sure the familys you see on the way in that live in one room tin homes wouldn't complain. be greatful you have a choice. we went snokeing..the water was choppie and took in too much salt water got taken back to beach with 2 other couples while the event continued..they took us back by taxi..=-( everyone we came in contact with were always very helpful and try to please you, special resturant was the steak house and the steak was good the salads i skipped. the casino is not AC we lost about 300 at roulette not your normal loud exciting action quiet,small,and no smiles guess they don't like throwing money away. go to right down the beach to the blue tents and buy gifts from locals..offer half of what they ask for thats about what they will sell it for..start to walk away you'll see =-) GO WITH A OPEN MIND do what you want and be happy..DON'T GO CRAZY EATING AND DRINKING thats what gets you sick the same as if you were home.. WE LOVED IT AND PLAN ON GOING NEXT YEAR FOR NEW YEARS EVE.. I ONLY LEARNED ( O LA---hi in engish)but bye and have a great time email if you have any questions (spoiled36@yahoo.com) patty & dan with friends