We spent 7/16 through 7/23 at the Iberostar Punta Cana. We are a family of 3, my husband, myself and our 6 year old son. This was our second visit to the Iberostar Punta Cana. We had initially planned a trip to the Mayan Riviera this year, but changed our minds a couple of months ago when we got a great deal on Punta Cana. What luck! Missed Hurricane Emily and the two tropical storms that followed! We had wonderful weather the entire week we were there.
Check In/Check Out
I will start out with the bad part of the trip-here goes. We arrived late Saturday evening to absolute and total chaos. Nobody seemed to know what they were doing or where to send us when we arrived. Our check in packet was short our towel cards, safe instructions, and my son's wrist band. We were told to come back in the morning for these things. Our luggage never made it to our room, it was sent to someone else's room and took about an hour to find. By the time we had our luggage, there was no place open to eat, I had to feed my son ice cream for dinner. When we went to the front desk to get the arm band and towel cards the next morning, they tried to put us off again, but we insisted and finally got them. Before we left, my husband and TA both e mailed the resort and told them we were returning guests and requested a late check out for the next week and a room upgrade. We got neither. When I was making reservations for the ala carte restaurants, I asked the guest rep. about our e mail. She made sure we had our fruit plate and bottle of rum that afternoon as well as an invitation to the return guest cocktail party on Wednesday and also informed us that the manager had approved a late check out. The Friday before we left, we went to the front desk to do the express check out and confirm our late check out. Nobody knew anything about it, the girl from guest services wasn't working and they said to come back in the morning. Went back Saturday am, absolutely no late check outs on Saturday. I told them the whole story again, but was unsuccessful. The lady working at guest services was to get back to me that morning, but she totally blew us off. We ended up checking out at noon, leaving our luggage in the hospitality room and using the showers there. Using the hospitality room was no big deal. They have the two separate, private showers and toilets. There were lots of people leaving, but everybody was quick. My husband and I were more than willing to pay for the late check out. What was so upsetting is that someone told us we could have it and then nobody knew anything about it. The whole thing struck me as disorganized and dishonest. I think the whole problem is traveling on Saturday. It is a very busy day, lots of flights arriving and leaving and is just generally a mad house. Avoid Saturday flights like the plague.
The Resort/Room
We stayed in room 5308. We had a standard room. The beds are very, very small. My son actually slept on the couch which he loved while my husband and I took the beds. The pillows were flat and scarce. We asked for extra pillows two different days and had no luck our entire stay. The room was clean and the mini bar was restocked daily. The maid made us towel swans and decorated the room with flowers and petals. The resort is very pretty. There is always someone working and cleaning. The grounds are perfectly manicured and lush. There are peacocks, flamingos and assorted other wildlife on the property. This resort is really starting to show it's age. There were cracks in the pool, some of the buildings looked a little rough, the chairs and cushions were older and needed to be spruced up and/or replaced. We always had plenty of hot water. The resort has several gift shops where you can purchase toiletries and souvenirs. Toiletries are very expensive-take everything you could possibly need with you. Last year the prices for souvenirs were very reasonable, they have definitely raised them. Its worth a walk down the beach to the vendors to barter. There are two ladies who braid hair by the Dominicana pool. They work fast and charge $20 for half a head and $40 for the whole head. The spa lists hair braiding on their menu, but they don't do it-you have to catch the poolside ladies. They really do a good job. I had mine braided on Thursday, today is Monday and it still looks good.
Beach/Pool
The pool is nice. If you are not into playing the saving chairs thing, don't stay here. You will never get a chair by the pool. One day we asked for a chair (we were told last year, just ask, they will accommodate you) and were told no "no more chairs". The beach was beautiful and cleaned every morning for seaweed. The water was a beautiful blue. There are some rocks in the beach that fish will congregate around. We actually fed them some bread and were impressed with the number and variety we could see. The waves are much rougher in the morning than later in the day. Getting a chair on the beach wasn't a problem if you got there before 9 am. Don't count on finding one under a palapa without saving it before hand.
Food
The buffets were plentiful. The food is very good and always has some variety, but after a week, trust me, you will be very tired of it. They generally serve a different meat every evening. There is always pizza, fries, spaghetti for the kids. One thing to be aware of; well done means medium rare at this place. Watch to make sure meat is cooked thoroughly. The lunch buffets pool side are also very tasty. The Punta Cana side serves grilled/rotisserie chicken that is really good. The hotdog's and burgers (if they are cooked thoroughly) are also tasty. We made reservations at the Steakhouse, Mexican and Chinese. We were not impressed with the food at all. The Steakhouse meats were tough, chewy and undercooked. My husband said it wasn't worth putting on long pants for and would have preferred the buffet. The Mexican restaurant serves cold Coronas-that might have been worth it if it hadn't been so HOT in that place. My son ate from the appetizer bar at the specialty restaurants.
Staff
The Dominican Republic's greatest asset is their people. They are hard working, friendly and go out of their way to make sure you are having a good time. The people at this resort work very hard and seem happy to do it. The only staff member we encountered that rubbed me the wrong way was one of the Star Friends. The resort was having an evaluation and this particular Star Friend was going from person to person on the beach telling them to give the Star Friends good ratings. "We work hard, we deserve it". He also kept telling me his name. I think he thought I would give him some good words; he was wrong. This was rather inappropriate. No please, nothing like that-he was completely serious. One of the ladies from guest services also told us about the evaluation, but it was just an FYI thing, no demanding good ratings.
Excursions
We went snorkeling with the Marinarium tour. They take you out to this aquarium where you snorkel and see nurse sharks and manta rays. Swimming out to the aquarium was very rough; I thought what have we gotten into. What I didn't realize at the time was that a tropical storm was passing and the water was extra rough. We made it and were totally impressed. Our 6 year old astounded us with his snorkeling abilities and we all got to see the fish, manta rays and sharks. It was amazing. After the snorkeling, they serve beer, rum and coke and snacks. We sailed to a sandbar type area and swam, drank and listened to Bob Marley. It was a great day. They took pictures which could be purchased for $10-great photos. Watch out for the jelly fish-my husband got stung on the arm. The people on the boat took good care of him.
Overall Impressions/Comments
Punta Cana is a great vacation spot. The people are wonderful, the beach is gorgeous and the weather and scenery are tropical. We will not stay at this resort again. We have had wonderful experiences with the Iberostar chain in the past and we might use them again. However, it might be time for a change. If you have any questions, please feel free to e mail me at
johnandannb@aol.com.
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