Holiday Reviews > Caribbean > Dominican Republic > Puerto Plata > Puerto Plata Hotels > Hacienda Tropical Resort Hotel > Read Reviews
Hacienda Tropical Resort Hotel Reviews
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Sep 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
MyTravel |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs HM Reynolds |
| Overall
Rating: |
6/10 |
| Comments: |
Having visited the Dom Rep - Punta Cana in December 06 (allocation on arrival) and having had such a fantastic time, we had no hesitation in booking another holiday there, although this time it was Puerta Plata.
Initially on arriving we were pleased with the hotel and our room. However, soon we noticed that the maid just about managed to make the bed, but no cleaning seemed to take place. Often we had just one towel and had to ask for more. On complaining for three days we had a super maid who cleaned everything every day. Then back to the non cleaning maid. Also on site you were continually harassed by the Lifestyle Reps encouraging you to upgrade to VIP status. This entailed from what we could make out paying them several thousand pounds to ensure a special area with super duper mattresses for sun bathing invitations to musical events on site, which you could not attend if you were a normal 4* customer, being picked up at the airport and a few other extras. This was not your normal time-share however, it only lasted for a set amount of weeks, however you wanted to take them. These men were waiting outside the blocks of rooms at 7.00 am in the morning ready to pounce.
The staff generally were extremely nice and helpful on the site and in the restaurants and we tipped them on a regular basis as their wages are very low (about 200 dollars per month). However, during our stay, it was a Dom Rep bank holiday. For three days the hotel was packed to the gunnel's with DOM REP nationals. Nothing wrong with that of course, but these people took over the hotel. If you did not get to meal times early the special menu food was gone and you were told it was finished. On one such night when we should have enjoyed lobster, smoked salmon and crab, at 8.00pm it had all gone. We bitterly complained saying they knew they had that many extra people and should have provided the food. After complaining to the under manager and the main restaurant manager a huge plate of lobster was produced, but only to our table, which surely isn't right.
The beach was not very good at all, and walking into the sea you had to careful of craggy rocks etc. A little further along in front of the VIP area, the rocks had obviously been cleared away.
The weather was beautiful and the drink plentiful, which was just as well.
The stalls of gifts that were set up outside the main restaurant most nights were a nightmare with the locals trying to get as much as £20 for a little child's necklace. The whole place seemed to be gimme gimme gimme.
Punta Cana the previous year was on the other hand a fairytale holiday (The Sirensis Hotel). We have decided if we return it will be to the South Punta Cana we would go and we don't think we would ever return to Puerta Plata.
|
|
|
|
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Mar 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs A Moreland |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
We booked the villa, and had a wonderful time. The villa was amazing and we were completely spoilt.
The staff could not do enough for us and we did not have to lift a finger.
The resort is really out of this world, and has won lots of awards in recent years.
I have already planned our next holiday there at the end of this year.
I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone.
|
|
|
|
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Mar 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
MyTravel |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss C Shoesmith |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
Wow what a fantastic holiday!
Me and a friend did an allocate on arrival and we were placed in the Hacienda Gardens, although we were supposed to be put in the Tropical but they changed a load of us as the locals had booked up the Tropical!
Our rep was completely useless, but they replaced her in the 2nd week so that was ok!
Oh well we didn't care! We met a brilliant bunch of people and spent 2 great weeks with them!
We found all the staff so friendly and they always made an effort to entertain and speak English with you....we loved Carlos, Spaghetti and Miguel.
The evening entertainment at the coliseum was great fun and we always got involved although unfortunately for me the mozzies also love it there. Great tip for itchy mozzie bites though...use your fingernail to press onto the bite and make a cross mark...it’s amazing!
Meuve la Colita stills rings in my head...what fun though!
The rooms were basic but all you required, comfortable with great air con.
We are definitely going back 2007 and we can’t wait!
|
|
|
|
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Mar 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
MyTravel |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss C J Leese, J S Leese. |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
We went for the holiday of a lifetime. Me and my mum.
We were not let down, we began our holiday in the gardens but unfortunately an opportunist took upon the opportunity to rob us, but the staff dealt with it the best they could and moved us to the hotel, we had a view of a building site but this did not bother us because we were there out of season and we understand that the work had to take place at sometime. The weather was amazing.
We went on every excursion that we could, the catamaran was really great, we had never snorkeled before.
We swam with dolphins that was special and went whale watching, they are colossal!
We went to the casino where we doubled our money, yet another great night!
One Friday we went on as pub crawl with the reps that was ace too.
We really did have a great time. The holiday of a life time! We went shopping on the beach, were good at heckling! The only let down was the safari, we expected to see wildlife but all we saw was poverty, its awful to see kids being monopolized to make money, then the guy who was our guide asked us all for a tip of 20 dollars. He said it was not worth tipping him any less, that’s just cheeky!
We spent all of our spare time on the beach, it was so beautiful! The staff were all very nice and tried hard to speak English and to understand us. There were about 3 pools we went in them all. The local spirits are extremely lethal. They get you drunk without you even feeling it, one minute your ok, the next you’re falling over. If I ever get married I'll do it in Dominican at hacienda!
|
|
|
|
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Dec 2005 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Airtours |
| Submitted
By: |
melissa1 |
| Overall
Rating: |
2/10 |
| Comments: |
Well we booked a holiday to the Dominican Republic for Xmas and New Year staying 3 weeks all inclusive.
When we arrived we were taken to three of the garden rooms, as there were 7 people in our part. We had booked the hotel so went to reception where they told us the hotel was full, so we waited for the rep to arrive who was absolutely useless.
We had to contact the Airtours office in resort ourselves who dealt with the situation, after 2 days we were given 3 rooms in the hotel. We were also promised champagne and fruit for the inconvenience which we did not receive.
After a couple of days at the hotel everybody came down with stomach bugs and we were all fighting for the toilet, this lasted for the whole holiday.
The mosquitoes loved me and I was taken into hospital when I returned home, with the amount of bites I had.
On to the food, well where do I start. The food was always warm not hot and always had flies, birds and cats all over it.
The hotel overall was nice, the swimming pools were lovely but the beach was awful.
This hotel put me off the Dominican Republic so I would never return.
|
|
|
|
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Feb 2005 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Airtours |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs D Lynn |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
Not knowing what to expect as we had read so many varied reviews I can honestly say we were pleasantly surprised with every aspect of our holiday. The hotel in general was much better than we had expected and the staff worked hard to keep up with the maintenance.
Our room was basic but always clean with fresh towels every day. We only had a problem with the water once when we were without for about 30 minutes.
The pool and beach areas were kept clean and there were always plenty of sun beds available. Clean towels were provided each day for the beach / pool which was also a bonus. The beach was nice, it was sandy but not the powder white sand you would associate with the Caribbean and as this resort is actually located on the Atlantic the sea tended to be quite rough, however this just added to the fun.
The people were friendly and the hotel staff were always polite. The entertainment team was also good fun and there was plenty to do if you wanted to join in but we never felt forced to do anything we did not want to. The evening entertainment was average but only because it became repetitive with dancers performing the same routine to different themes every night.
The food was typical of an all inclusive resort, however, the Chinese was excellent and of course we had the choice of the Italian, Grill, Fish and Sushi restaurant so there was no need to get bored with the main restaurant food. It is true you did have to get up early and book for the above restaurants, however, this was never a problem as there was always space and the queues were never very big.
The only people you need to watch out for are the Life Style sales men who seem to have the run of the hotel and if they think you could be persuaded to go along to their offices they will not leave you alone. If you have no intention of buying timeshare be firm right from the start of your holiday and say NO!
There are plenty of excursions you can choose from but these were quite expensive. The only ones we went on were the cable cars up the mountain and Ocean World. Both of these are very close to the hotel and worth a visit. My only regret is that at Ocean world we did not book for encounter (dolphin, seal etc) thinking we could arrange this once there but you can’t. Pay that little bit more and make a good day out even better.
|
|
|
|
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Oct 2004 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
rosemarsden |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
My husband Dave & I went here as guests of our friends Ray and Liz and their three girls. Not knowing what to expect as none of us had ventured here before, we found it to be pure heaven. There is not one thing I would complain about, but numerous things that I would rave about. First of all our three bed, three bath villa was excellent. It had its own beautiful large pool set in delightful gardens. We had a maid who came by every morning and made us fresh coffee, and brought cold meats, fruit etc for us and then would cook you your breakfast if you wanted it. Our villa was cleaned every day, and at night they changed our towels again and turned down the beds. Our fridge was re-stocked on a daily basis with a variety of cold drinks, water and beer. Every member of staff that is employed here makes your holiday a treat. They are all so happy and friendly and can not do enough for you, and you really do miss them when you leave, especially Laidee, Magdelaine and Paula to name just three, but I could easily put down a whole lot more.
The resort itself is excellent with lots to do and a very wide selection of restaurants to choose from, all of which we all enjoyed, especially the Sushi. The beach is right on your doorstep here, and it was beautiful to take a long relaxing walk along and enjoy the vista without it being spoiled by views of any ugly large towering blocks of hotels.
I could just keep on and on about my holiday here, and it would all be good, but why not go and stay in one of their villas (ours was number 55) yourself and I bet you would have the holiday of a lifetime too.
|
|
|
|
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2004 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Lastminute |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss H Williams |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
Visited the Dominican Rep for the first time on 28th July (2wks) in a group of 11-cant wait to go back. I can honestly say I had the best time of my life, didn’t want to leave.
The Hacienda Tropical was perfect, the grounds beautiful, the staff fantastic and so friendly, especially the entertainment crew – Chicken Legs, Johnny Bravo – and not forgetting Super, super Sexy and Spaghetti who gave us an amazing time!!!
The food was delicious and the Blue Marlin, Bamboo & Italian restaurants are def worth eating in. The barmen were lovely and the pools clean and not too overcrowded. The rooms were also cool and clean.
The entertainment in the night was first class and the Hurricane Disco - Wow, what an experience! Even ended up having to buy Chicken Legs’ Club Dance CD as we had fallen in love with the Meringue, Bachata and Salsa music. Brings back great memories at home. Spent most of our time at the Bounty Bar in the night - loved the Banana mama cocktail!
Went on two excursions - the Monster truck and Paradise Island, what can I say??? – Breathtaking, loved every minute – only wished we had taken more for the children on the safari! The food was also great and we all had plenty to drink.
The Hacienda Tropical has left us with a collection of fantastic photos, tanned bodies and unforgettable memories that have left all of us aching for more of the stunning Dominican Republic. Will definitely be returning soon !
|
|
|
|
| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2004 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Direct Holidays |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr C Seddon |
| Overall
Rating: |
4/10 |
| Comments: |
We arrived at the hotel and were told that our room wasn’t ready, after 1/2hr we were taken to the room only to find that the previous holiday guests were still in the room.
We were the told that we had been given the wrong room number., We were then taken to another room which the patio door was hanging off and all the drawers had no handles, also the bathroom was filthy. I went to the reception and complained, I was then told that the room was under renovation and should not have allocated to anyone.
I complained to our rep at the 7.00 o’clock meeting (3.0hrs later) she went to see the manager of the hotel and said that he would upgrade us free of charge to a junior suite.
We eventually got our room after another 1.5hrs and we were promised champagne and nice things over the holiday period but none of this arrived and we had to complain to our rep again. We never received any champagne our nice things as promised even after complaining on many occasions.
After two days we needed to take medication for upset stomachs, we associated this with the poor hygiene and the poor food that was on offer which most of the time was only just warm.
The water and electricity was off on a regular basis so some days you couldn’t even have a shower, also the beaches we filthy and full of rubbish ( I have photos to prove this).
After this experience I would never go back to this hotel or the Dominican Republic (even though the people are very nice).
|
|
|
|
|
|
