Occidental Allegro Playa Grande

I had a great relaxing vacation at Playa Grande in June/July 2004...it was a little empty because they were closing down for renovations the next week, but I didn't have to wait for food or drinks of which there was PLENTY. If you want to party, this is not the resort for you. It's far from town and the disco can be very dry, but we made some friends at the resort who accompanied us to discos in the area. If you're used to bland Canadian food (and like it) you may have a little trouble with the food here. I on the other hand, don't live off of mac and cheese therefore the calamari, paealla, and BREAKFAST mmmmm....I offered to take the cook home for more than one reason (wink) The beach was lovely and secluded. I had an unforgettable time.

To all people: This is a great experience not a great hotel, if you like luxury and pampering this is not your place but if you like unspoiled beauty the best golf round of your life and a relaxing shorts and sandals dinner and cheap this is your place. I am from Puerto Rico and we have the same weather the same beaches but not the same type of places remember the Dominican Republic is a third world island so if you are paying 125 bucks a nigth for two people all inclusive this is great, the food is about a 7 to 8 depending the nigth the shows are a 5-7, there is nothing to do but wake up have a made to order breakfast play a round of golf or be on a beautifull but not too friendly beach have lunch read a book by the pool or play something then have a shower maybe sleep and hour have dinner and see a show that make you laugh not for the comedy but for the quality. But beleive me the Dominicans will try to make you feel good and have fun. Well maybe not the best bed or the best food or the pretiest hotel but it is the best golf, one of the best beer (presidente) good people and the most relaxing time in my entire life because there is no damn line for food no tee time for golf no people screaming or bothering you, if you want heavenly peace and beauty this is the place. And let me tell you something I have been in Cancun Moon Palace 5* $ 200 a nigth great resort, El Conquistador in Puerto Rico good 4*resort $225.00 a night, Marriot Los Sueños Costa Rica $225 a night 5* and other places(no food included) and none have gave me the peace of this 3* star hotel wich doesnt open is summer because is so slow that they close. And for you golfer this is the best golf in the world 10 of 18 holes rounding the seas no foursomes in front or back maybe, caddy and going from 12 to 13 you can literally stop walk to the hotel grab a snack and kiss your kids and wife on the pool or beach an go on and play. For me this is heaven

I don't understand why anyone would hammer the Playa Grande resort. I stayed for a week from Aprill 29th. Weather was marvelous and the resort has it all. From the scenery on the golf course which is to die for and the course is not called the Pebble Beach of the caribean for nothing to the nice pool area and varied food served in extremely clean restaurant areas both buffett and specialty Italian and Brazilian. People running the resort from wait staff to the cleaners are all very helpful. Entertainment in ther evenings is fun but resort was not busy enough to open the disco which brings me to why I can't understand how the promotion of this resort has failed as not promoting the huge almost unihabitated beach and the golf course should be more than enough to get Canadians running in that direction. Only downside is other than the Presidente beer you should think of bringing duty free booze as I find the local rums to be of low quality. I took my wife and two kids and two oth their friends and we really enjoyed the spot and think the negative reviews are silly and should be disregarded. Value for the dollar was excellant.

To have a 2 1/4 hour wait at the front desk to register tends to leave a bad taste in one's mouth and then to be told that "they weren't paid enough to help during their lunch break" sends a terrible message to everyone in line..a very poor way to do business. This problem has been reported before but little has been done to change their procedures according to Allegro personel. It must also be noted that the pools were not kept very clean and appeared to need filtering more than once a week. The water was very murky save for the first two days of the week. In fairness to the other employees, we found most everyone pleasant and helpful, to the extent that they could be...

Well, we stayed at this resort from March 12 - 19, 2004. We were sent there due to a travel agents mistake , we were suppossed to be in Playa Dorada but since we were there and we couldnt get into where we were suppossed to be we had decided to try and make the best of it. The one redeeming thing I can say about this resort is that the beach is totally private and incredibly soothing and beautiful. However, you cannot safely swim there, the waves are huge and the undercurrents are too strong, I dared to go in and was knocked over many times and gave up. The servers at the buffet are good about clearing your plates and bringing water but the food is GROSS. We all got seriously ill and are currently being tested for all the nasty things you can get there. We are still sick and have been back for 10 days. While we were there there were about 27 people sick, one man was on IV in his room and luckily got well enough to go home however a young girl and her family were unable to travel due to the seriousness of her illness, they were stuck there and that girl was on IV as well. I have never seen so many people at a resort eating rice and toast. The resort is a good hour and a half from Sousua and 2 hours from Puerto Plata so getting to those places cost us $70 American but we had to get out because we were bored, there were 6 of us travelling together, we are all in our 30's and we felt ISOLATED. The store there is very expensive, $2 American for a choclate bar and bottles water was usually unavailable at the bar so bought that for $3 American as well. The entertainment was a good attempt by the staff but alot of it was just plain stupid. One night they did bring in some Spanish Dancers and they were exciting except I didnt feel all the girls wearing thong like outfits was neccesary. Children should NOT go to this resort, the food is bad, the pool small and the beach unswimmable, Adults - unless you dont care about your stomach you might like it but I really believe it is for the quiet couple who plans to bring there own food and swim in the pool. Would never reccomend it for anyone. Its rated a 5 star but went to Casa Marina which is a 3 star the year before and was far better.

Booked our honeymoon here in 1998. From the other reviews, it sounds like a lot has remained the same. It is a long way from the airport, and if you get a bad cabby it can be scary. The liquor was watered down, so stick to the beer. The choppy water was fun, ,but be careful-we saw a couple people get rescued. The food was ok. All that being said, the beauty of this place is second to none. The overhanging cliffs to the Atlantic offer majestic views, ,and the beach is magnificent mile. If you go too far down, you come to a market. They try to get your money, ,but not everly so. I'd recommend it for a nice, quiet, romantic stay.

I am writing this review after visiting the Occidental Allegro Playa Grande from Mar 6-13 2004. In the past I have visited various islands and resorts such as Sans Souci, Jamaica, Decameron Panama, RIU Tequila Mayan Coast etc. This was my fourth trip to the DR with past visits to the areas of Santo Domingo, Boca Chica, Punta Cana, Puerto Plata and Sosua.This resort is located a good two hour drive East from the Puerto Plata airport. It is located just past the town of Rio San Juan. The next closest resort is located about 40 minutes West and is called the Bahia Principe. The drive to the resort gave you a great opportunity to see the buetiful Dominican countryside as well as view a few towns such as Sosua and Cabarette along the way.The week we were there the resort was very slow. At most I would say there were maybe 100 people staying there. On the bus trip to the resort there were only two people going to Playa Grande. The remainder got off at Bahia Principe.Our room was basic but very clean and had two double beds. The view from the deck looked out onto to Pepita?s Garden. Some rooms did have golf course views and partial ocean views but most looked onto garden areas. The rooms had everything that you would need including a safe and satellite television. Our maid did a great job of cleaning each day and on a scale of 10 I would rate the room a 7. A small fridge in the room would have been nice.The food for the week was very good. We ate the buffet each night for supper. There are two specialty resteraunts at this resort: an Italian and a Brazilian. We did not make it to either during the stay but others commented that both were very good. Each night the buffet had great variety. Most nights there was seafood (my favorite) available. During the week I had shrimp many times, squid, octopus, and many varieties of fish. As well they had duck, roast beef, steak, spare ribs, chicken etc. to choose from. I ate lunch most days at the beach barbeque. Here you had a selection of chicken, pizza, hotdogs, hamburgs, pork chops and sausages. The chicken with ?salsa picante? and pork chops were great. The pork chops were cured like bacon and were probably the best I have ever had. The service at both the buffet and beach were both outstanding. Never did make it to breakfest so I am unable to comment on it. I did however consume a great deal of their Great Dominican coffee which is always a treat ?uno caf? Negro Por Fabor?. On a scale of 10 I would rate the food a 9.The best part of this resort is the beach. It is truly picturesque and probably rates as the best I have ever visited. The beach is about 1.5 miles long with cliffs at both ends. The beach for the resort is located down a flight of stairs and the public beach is located at the far end about 1 mile away. The public beach was very busy on the Sunday with many local families enjoying a day at the beach. There are food and cerveza stands located at the public beach. During our stay we saw the ocean go from very rough to calm to very rough again. We had two yellow flag days, two green and two red flag days. The boogie boarding was great. During the yellow and red flag days, we saw some waves as high as 14 feet so caution should be taken swimming here. Snorkeling was limited because of the high surf. This beach is a definite 10. One of the best I have ever been to. The beach bar always had plenty of bottles of Presidente and pop to quench your thirst after doing battle with the ocean. A must see beach.Bar service was also very good. Bartenders Sammy Sosa, Cecelia, Armando and Junior were always happy to see you and gave us to notch service. For friendliness and service I would again rate the bar service a 10. Had a great time with all of my new amigos.The only down point to this resort was that the pool was nothing special. It was okay but lacked the appeal of many other resort pools I have been to. The shows as well were only okay as half of them involved audience participaton which in most cases turns it into an amateur affair. Closest casino is located at the Bahia Principe. A trip into Rio San Juan is worth while. Also heard from other guests that the trip to Samana to see the whales was incredible.I am going to write a separate review on the golf course in the golf section. The golf here is definitely rated a 10 out of 10. A must do if you are into golf at all.I was very pleased with this resort and my stay here. The highlights are definitely the people, the beach and the golf course. For the money this resort is truly a great value. I will definitely return and would give it an overall rating of 9 out of 10. If you are into the beach and golf, you will have a great stay here.If you would like further information, please don?t hesitate to email me at twhitehead@wightman.caHasta Luego?

Ok, here it is. I did a lot of research when booking my hotel?. read reviews etc?here is what I wanted to know and I?m sure you will agree. I went to this resort from Feb. 7-14. I went with a group of six (3 couples). If you?re looking for excitement this is not the place for you. We had a great time cause there was six of us so we entertained ourselves. If you want more nightlife, Stay in the Playa Dorada complex. This hotel is a 3 star and that?s exactly what it is. It?s clean, nice & small. The rooms Average but maintained; I didn?t see a bug the entire week I was there, make sure if you want to sleep in to put your do not disturb sign on the door. (They start cleaning early).Food: Fill up on eggs, food looks great and may even taste great but something about it is just not right! Bring Pepto! Fill up at breakfast Eggs are safe and lots of bread! Snack bar was good, fries, wings, pizza all good but something is just not right about them. A La Carte: Brazilian: They bring you six kinds of meat off of squires, good if your a meat lover cause you just get meat and rice here. A different experience, it was fun! Italian: we all hated the Italian, food was awful, pasta under cooked flavourless, but that?s just us?. try it out for yourself. We spent the entire week at the beach, it was AMAZING if you like waves this is the place for you, water was so clear and beautiful. It?s worth the 5 minute walk?get there early if you want chairs there are not no many recliners at the beach but tons at the pool. Plus beach has bottles of peer and pop not like the main bar! Bottom line this is nice for the $$. Don?t expect 5 star facilities, service or food! But the beach is a definite 5 star! This is not a place where kids will have a great time. There a kid club is pretty lame, invest a bit more and stay at the Bahia Princite it?s awesome for the kids!!

If you like golfing,you will love it.12 holes on the ocean.Average rooms,did not have hot water a couple of days.Bar service was slow at times,always run out of beer on the beach@3or 4 pm.Food was alright,but I was ready for a Wendys hamburger when I got back to Canada.Beach was great but not for kids,very big waves and under tow.Entertainment was average at best.

I returned from the Playa Grande a few days ago and I loved it. The people who worked there, although they knew limited English, were very helpful and friendly. The cleanliness was impeccable, every day my room was cleaned, bed was made, and fresh flowers were put on display. The private beach was magestic and stunning, although the water was a bit rough on most days. The pool was also very clean, and very large, so when we got a hankering for water polo or volleyball we went in there. The drinks and food were great, however I did know some people who got sick, although that is know to happen at any resort.I definitely reccommend this resort to anyone looking to relax and enjoy the hot carribean sun!