Holiday Reviews > Caribbean > Dominican Republic > Puerto Plata > Puerto Plata Hotels > Puerto Plata Village Hotel > Read Reviews
Puerto Plata Village Hotel Reviews
| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Stein Travel |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr D O''Neill |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
My wife and I are just back from a lovely week in the Puerto Plata. While the apts. are fairly basic, they have all the necessities with cleaning 5 times a week. The common areas are of a good standard with good restaurant, bar and pool with no shortage of sun beds. Taxi to Amadoras beach is a must (€2-€3) or take the cliff walk from Puerto Rica beach. For a romantic evening meal you won't beat Mediterranean on the Amadoras beach as you watch the sun set. Great food, great price and Hector makes everyone feel special. Do take a boat trip to Mogan (little Venice) and stroll the pedestrianised streets or relax on the beach. Friday is market day so pretty hectic.
For great craic and music visit Anto in Molly Malones at the back of the Commercial centre upstairs.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Sunworld |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms E O''Brien |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
Just back from Puerto Plata and oh my god what i would give to be back!!!!!!
Really clean if a bit basic but you only want a place to lay your head.
Staff really helpful with my very basic Spanish. Well located, stroll down to the main center in about 15 mins and taxi back up for €3.Some cockroaches in the walkways but none in the rooms (our gang had 2 rooms). Can't wait to go back next year.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Sep 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
First Choice |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss J Swain |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
I've been to Puerto Plata village 5 times now and will be going back there again.
The rooms are lovely and the suites are massive, couldn’t ask for a bigger room. In every room you get two double beds, TV, safe, coffee machine etc. The bathrooms are pretty basic but I have no complaints.
The food at Puerto Plata village is lovely, you always have so much choice, and the staff can’t do enough for you.
The staff have to be the nicest people I’ve ever met and they are always happy to help and always smiling.
The weekends you have the locals which can be annoying at times, but if you go early for breakfast and eat in the a la carte restaurants you can’t complain.
Basically, I'd recommend this hotel to anyone.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
First Choice |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss J Houghton |
| Overall
Rating: |
2/10 |
| Comments: |
We visited this hotel from the 11th June to 25th June 2006 and apart from the bad flight experience we arrived at the hotel. From the first appearance everything seemed nice and we was greeted with a fruit punch drink and immediately told our rooms were upgraded. Sounds good so far until we got to our room.
The doors had massive gaps leading out to the balcony where a regular infestation of mosquitoes would fly in and make a meal of you in your sleep and yes we had every mosquito device in there possible. The beds were hard and too small for a couple to have a comfortable nights sleep. And the pillows were lumpy and hard. The television had the worst reception. Channel 5 when it first started was better. Enter the bathroom and you have a jungle safari with the toilet being covered in small ant like creatures and a rather evil looking spider. To get the lights working we had to give them a tap to get them working and the wiring is sub standard.
Don't hold your breath in getting your room made before lunch, on many occasions our room was not cleaned until gone 3pm, and we had to call reception to chase things up to get this done.
We had a football field 25metres away which during our stay a helicopter decided to land on it. We thought there may have been an emergency as it was not a designated helipad, but it stayed there overnight and in the early hours of the morning it decided to shake our room and wake us up by starting up the rotors for a good 30 minutes. My boyfriend promptly told the pilot to lift off or shut down as he had woken us all up. Complained to reception and unless you are Dominican you are not treated as priority. They even go off and talk to someone else whilst dealing with you. The helicopter and pilot was actually the owner of the hotel complex who should know better.
For one day we had no water at all in the bathroom and for a further two days no hot water. After enough complaining we were given a set of keys to go and shower on the other side of the complex. A fifteen minute walk to have a shower.
The food was inadequate and very similar every day, and pineapple looks so nice with ants all over it and the bread looks really good with birds flying in and sitting on top of it.
We had paid extra to go to a quieter hotel instead of the fun tropicale, and at the weekend we had over 250 locals enter the grounds and stay there. (So much for a quiet resort)
Staff are helpful but locals are the opposite, rude arrogant, and go for food like vultures. One Dominican actually grabbed food from the tongs I was using. You could not get to the bar and there were drunk and disorderly people all over the site which was really impressive for my partners child.
The Entertainment was dire and if you ever hear the "Chocolate" song again you will scream. They couldn't dance, mime or sing, or even speak clear English. The ones that could speak clear English did not even use the mic.
As for the first weekend being overcrowded with locals it didn't get any better the second weekend with over a 1000 locals arriving in a hotel that has 386 rooms. Cram them in. Trouble was brewing at the hotel and the First Choice holidaymakers were getting to the point of exploding and our rep was pulling her hair out. The hotel could not cope.
The food was raw in the middle and the drinks were awful. Everything it seems has to have coconut in it. Even the mash potatoes in the a la carte restaurant.
Be warned if you feel ill as the medical centre stings you for every penny they can muster out of you even if you have got travel insurance.
The market stalls inside your complex try to rip you off, they wanted to charge 5,000 pesos for a photo album which works out approximately £85.00 and they tried to charge another couple 27dollars for a small doll. Bartering is ridiculous and you have to be on your guard, and you get hassled left right and centre.
Avoid this resort at all costs as I am sure Basil Fawlty must have bought a timeshare here.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2005 |
| Tour
Operator: |
First Choice |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss N Adams |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
By far the best holiday I've ever been on.
Rooms are like small bungalow type buildings, so you don't have to worry about any noise whatsoever at night times.
The staff are extremely friendly and welcoming.
Disco at night was fantastic also.
Hotel runs a free open top bus that runs to the spectacular beach. Free bar & food at the beach as well. Along with the use of fun equipment that can be used in the sea.
Food was top notch. I couldn't have asked for any better. Along with your alcohol, they also server the most delicious array of cocktails.
Didn't use the golf course as it's not my kinda thing.
Sooo many activities in the hotel. The beach party they had was so spectacular! :D
We went on a jeep safari. Body boarding. Swam with dolphins. And many more.
Would definitely recommend to everyone!
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2005 |
| Tour
Operator: |
First Choice |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs F Wray |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
What a friendly complex the staff bent over backwards to make sure all the guest were happy nothing was to much trouble all the staff were so happy.
The activities team joined in all the sports etc and made u feel so welcome you cant help joining in what ever is going on.
The nightly entertainment kept you glued to your seat.
Overall a resort the whole family, couples, singles will all enjoy.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
May 2005 |
| Tour
Operator: |
First Choice |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs L Findlay |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
Excellent holiday for a reasonable price.
Hotel: Very clean and well looked after. Staff very friendly and cant do enough for you. Rooms a bit dated but clean and tidy. Some bugs but what you would expect in a hot climate.
Entertainment: Very low key but there is always something going on. Good entertainment for the kids in the kids club (excellent playpark). Staff always get you to join in.
Pools: One large with pool bar and waterfall and one good-sized kids pool with stairs at each corner. Not too deep perfect for a 3 year old.
Food: Excellent choice. We usually consider the buffet as being the fallback but it was the best part of it. Every night was a different theme (Dominican/Seafood/Italian/BBQ/
Mexican as well as standard buffet fayre). Repeated the next
week. Breakfasts were fantastic. Omelette station every morning. They also had 3 other restaurants Mexican (nice but the Mexican buffet was better). Italian again the Italian buffet was better. International had excellent chicken and steaks. Can’t complain about anything I even ate well at the seafood buffet (cant stand seafood) and my 3 year old was well fed each day. Also snacks of pizza and hotdogs available.
Beach had a BBQ but I wasn’t too impressed with this
Beach: 10 min walk away but the bus travels all day and its 2 mins away. We never had to queue but it was pretty quiet when we were there. Beach is really nice right in middle of the cove and definitely the best part. Jack Tar Village was to the left but their beach wasn’t too pretty and right nice to a market which was a bit slummy.
Full marks to the resort the only downside was at the weekend when the Dominicans came. It was just really busy and too many kids in the pool (my daughter ended up just sitting at the edge).
But the Dominicans themselves were really nice and friendly they played very well with my daughter and were really good to her even with the language barrier.
Her pool toys disappeared all the time but only when she wasn’t playing with them and they always gave them back to the extent of running after you when you went to the bar to ensure that you didn’t leave them.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2004 |
| Tour
Operator: |
First Choice |
| Submitted
By: |
jaimieramsay |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
Me and my husband stayed here for two weeks. We got married while we were here.
The service was second to none. The staff were so friendly.
I managed to badly sprain my ankle, on the 3rd day there. We were already staying in one of the lovely villas, but the staff decided that we should move room to one that was closer to reception, the restaurants, the shop and the swimming pools.
They used one of the little golf buggies to take me and my husband to look at a different room. We loved the new room. It was perfect. The member of staff said that we couldn't accept the room until we had seen all of the available rooms. so that we could make sure we had one we liked. After deciding on a room, I was helped on to the sofa, and brought a drink, and told to rest. The guy than went with my husband to our old room, and helped pack up everything, took it to the new room, and than helped unpack it again.
This process took a couple of hours of the guy's time.
We tried to give him a $10 note as a thank you. He refused it as he had no change to give us. We explained that we wanted him to have the whole $10's. After a lot of persuasion, he finally accepted.
My hair, make up and nails where all done at the onsite salon, the morning of my wedding. It took 3 hours in total. They did a perfect job. I couldn't wish for anything better. The grand total of this came to under £12.00.
The wedding took place in the gazebo above the pool. (there are plenty of other places available) The decorations where wonderful. The wedding really was my dream wedding. I am really nervous and shy, and only went for the pool gazebo as most days the area around the pool was quiet. However what I didn't know was our wedding was the first one of the week. So all the other holiday makers wanted to watch. As staff were decorating the area, word spread around the hotel of the wedding. When I arrived, I almost doubled back to the room. Every sun lounger was taken. Loads of people were standing, almost every hotel guest had turned up.
Suddenly the music, that my husband and I had chosen, started playing. There was nothing else for it, I had to walk passed everyone. I took a deep breath, and started walking.
Straight away I knew I had made the right choice. Everyone I passed whispered "good luck" or "you look beautiful" to me. When the ceremony had finished. I walked down the stairs to the pool side. Everyone started clapping, and congratulations us. I was on top of the world.
The hotel is bright and spacious. The rooms are large open-plan rooms, with a sofa, TV, plenty of storage. Everyday the maids place fresh flowers in the room. The grounds are clean and well kept. Flowers are everywhere.
The food is wonderful. We had a choice of American, Spanish, Mexican and Italian food. The pizza place is open 24hrs. You do have a small wait for the pizzas as they are made up and cooked to order.
The drinks are free flowing. Rum being the local tipple.
The pool is medium sized. Clean, supervised and never too busy. The beach and shops are just a few minutes walk away, or you can catch a free golf buggy ride, which runs every 15 minutes. There is more food and drink available at the beach restaurant.
The duty free shop as you leave the country is the only duty free shop in the world where you can haggle over the prices.
In the towns, locals tend to drive dangerously.
You will often see a man driving a little moped, with his wife seated behind him, holding on to two children, 1 either side.
It is said that there is only 1 law of the road. This being a speed limit. There was a survey done a few years ago that revealed only 5% of the population know the speed limit.
We noticed on a regular basis, the following.
As there is no law concerning traffic lights, you can choose to obey them or not. So even if you have a green light, it isn't safe to go, as someone who has the red light might decide that he wants to ignore it today.
The main roads, especially the ones between the Puerto Plata Resort and the airport are simple straight roads, and therefore, do not have many problems on them.
Our coach driver on both journeys, just drove straight down the middle of the roads. Do not let this put you off.
The Dominican Republic is a great place. Puerto Plata is wonderful. The Puerto Plata Village is Paradise.
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