Iberostar Punta Cana July 16-23rd-going back again!

[JohnandAnnB]

Our family (husband, myself and 6 year old son) will be heading back to the DR again in July.  We loved the DR so much last year.  Of course, an Iberostar resort is a must.  Flying out of St. Louis-can't wait!  Happy Family-maybe our kids will meet at the kid's club!

[amelen]

Did you stay at an Ibero last time you went?

[happyfam4]

Hi Guys!! Glad to hear another family from the US will be there the same week we are. Our kids will definately have to get introduced at the Kids Club. We will be arriving on the 15th of July and are really looking forward to our first All Inclusive with the kiddies.  Did you stay at this resort or another one in the DR last year?? We were at the Melia Caribe 2 years ago and enjoyed it!

Any tips on what to bring for the kids?? If you were at this resort already, how did you like it? How is the food for the kids? If we wanted a king bed for us and 2 cots for the kids, will they accomodate that? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.  Oh, BTW, Happy Mother's Day!

[JohnandAnnB]

We stayed at the Iberostar Punta Cana last year and loved it!  We are truly addicted to the Iberostar chain.  We've stayed at the Beach and Quetzal in the Mayan Riviera also.  They are very family oriented and have lots of activities for the kids.  Bring floaties for the pool-we bought cheap ones and left them for other families to use.  We also brought our own sand toys-they are very cheap to purchase at Wal-Mart and our son used them a lot on the beach.  Bring lots of snacks and sunscreen.  They have plenty of kid friendly cuisine-pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, nachos, ice cream and popcorn.  We arrive late in the evening on the 16th and are going back a week later.  So glad to know that other US travelers will be there when we are.  Do you have boys or girls or one of each?

[happyfam4]

We have one of each, our son is 7 and our daughter is 41/2. The kids are really excited and we will check into the kids club and see if it is worth having them engage in the activities. Has anyone used the babysitting services at the hotel?? How much do they charge for this? Also, is there a strong comfort level of leaving your kids with the sitters they have? How far in advance do you need to reserve a sitter?  We will definitely bring some pool floats and beach toys for the kids, any other necessities we should consider?
Looking forward to the trip and seeing the gorgeous beach everyone keeps talking about!!

If anyone has some recent info or reviews, please post them.

Thanks.

[JohnandAnnB]

We used the babysitting service at the Paraisio Beach in 2002.  The cost then was 10.00 per hour.  We felt comfortable with the sitter.  It took about a day to arrange for a babysitter, she came to the room and stayed with our son.  The resort finds sitters, usually they are girls who work at the resort and babysit on the side to make a little extra cash.