Rating:
"My boyfiend, Doug, and I just returned on Monday from our holiday and unfortunately I have to report to you that it was the worst Vacation I have ever been on. We were extremely disappointed with our flight / hotel / and Sunquest services. We travelled through your company to the Dominican Republic from Jan 1, 2012 and just returned Jan 9, 2012. We were surprised to discover how run down the Thomas cook airplanes were. Although the staff was friendly and did try .... the food was horrific the seats were extremely uncomfortable, our head phone jacks did not work for either of our seats, and 2 of the 4 bathrooms on the plane stopped working during the flight !!! Once we finally arrived at our hotel we were shocked to be driven to a tiny hole in the wall room at the back of the resort to wait for 1 and a half hours STANDING to check in. That is the longest I have ever waited to check into ANYWHERE and we were left wondering where the large double staircase lobby shown for the Premier Grand Paradise Bavaro in the pictures was. Once we got to the front desk to the one and ONLY person checking guests in we were given only ONE room card. I request a second because there were two of us in the room and I was told it was not possible but given no explanation why. Some had 3 to 4 people in their rooms and were forced to use one card. We also requested a safe key and said we didn't mind paying the week long charge for it. She told us she didn't have any and said to come back the next day after 12:00 p.m. This angered me because it was the middle of the day on our first day of our holiday. We were sent off to our room in the middle of the resort around 10:00 p.m. The buffet had just closed which we thought shouldn't be a problem because there was supposed to be 24 hr snacks. WRONG, we had just gotten off a looooong flight and now had zero food available on the resort. We had to walk with our luggage accross half the resort because there was no one to drive us to our room. As we were walking along we took notice of how 3 of the pools had no water in them and yellow tape around them so you could not use them. The boat bar in the photo advertised was also "broken" and not open a single day we were there. The sail wasn't even up on it. This was terrible for us because it was the only place to get drinks near our room without having to train all the way to the front of the resort. Once we got to our room I cannot express how disgusted we were. I am not a picky person and I have travelled A LOT before to the Dominican, Mexico, Cuba, Bali. I can honestly say I have never been in a room as bad as this one. We strangely had two small beds for a couple? We had to push them together to sleep together. The lamps in our room were rusted out and didnt work. We had massive amounts of muddy foot prints and chunks of black hairs in our shower. We had ZERO toilet paper, soap, or shampoo, Our television didn't work, the lock on our balcony was broken which was unacceptable because we were in a ground floor room. We then had to March ALLLL the way back to our front desk which was at least a 15 min walk because these resorts are massive and we barely had any idea where we were going because no one would help us. We then found a second line of ppl with even worse complaints about their rooms. Some families of four only had one bed, a couple we met with their two kids had two beds but one was filled with blood soaked sheets!!!! With such horrific complaints everyone including us was told we would have to wait until tomorrow for any cleaning or room changes to be done. Are you kidding me ?!? We then walked with our luggage alllll the way back to our room where I spent the first half hour of our vacation trying to steal napkins from the closed restaurant to use as toilet paper for the night and cleaning our room. We didn't feel safe with no lock on our patio and no safe key for any of our belongings. My boyfriend and I decided to walk around and wandered past the front lobby a third time around 2 in the morning and found a different man at the desk. We asked him why our television didn't work and he said we needed a remote. Not provided or informed to anyone who checked in. We asked for both that and a safe key which he then pulled out a box with LOTS of safe keys and remotes. Why we were not given one in the first place is beyond me. He then requested $40 dollars for the week for them. I explained that we were told television was included and that the lock was only $20 for the week. He then said fine pay me $26. Clearly he is trying to pocket our money. I would expect this from hustlers on the beach but not from HOTEL STAFF. When we woke up early to go to our Sunquest orientation we were hoping to be informed about our a la carte for the week and towel service because no one had even mentioned them when we checked in or gave us anything. Sadly our Sunquest rep dragged on an hour long sales pitch for excursions and wasted our time. We have been to the Dominican before and were aware of everything we were told in the meeting. We then had to walk all the was back to our main lobby and ask where our towel cards and restaurant tickets were. We basically had to argue to even get any. Once we got our meal tickets, three for the week we then discovered one of the worst parts of the resort. You CANNOT book your restaurants for the week. It is first come first serve to be booked at 8:30 a.m. the day before only. This meant we had to wake up EVERY MORNING the day before we wanted to eat at 7:30 a.m. to get to this line up that started at 8:00 a.m. sit in it for half an hour while it started to pile out the door just to get into ANY restaurant. If you werent there early you didn't have a choice where you ate or what time or sometimes they were completely full.... alll of them. Although not a single restaurant we ever ate at was ever full when we were there. Then right after doing this you had to make your way straight to the towel booth at the beach no later than 9:00 a.m. where there was another line. Trust me if you were there early you were not getting a towel !! .... there was never enough towels for anyone. Our room was never supplied with fresh towels or sheets either. They simply made our beds with sand in them and hung our smelly old towels. We never had flowers in our room or a clean tub. We had one staff leave a bunch of supplies in our room and then picked them up the next day. Some of it was strange personal items of hers as well. We love the Bavaro beach and were happy just to be on it but when it rained for two days of our vacation we were very depressed to be in this disgusting hotel. I paid less than when I stayed at the Grand Bahia last year but both resorts were advertised as a 4 star. The Grand Paradise Bavaro is maintained at a 2 star level. When we left we had to fight with reception as they tried to charge us for three collect calls that we NEVER made. They were rude and yelling at us which was humiliating. In the end I feel you should know that this is the type of package you are selling to people and Both Doug and I felt completely ripped off. We had been looking forward to this Vacation for a long time and saved for awhile to go on it. This experience is not what the Dominican Republic is like. We booked with Air Canada Vacations last year and had the perfect Vacation. This package you sold to us left me with a knot in my stomach. I can't get my money back but you guy will be sure to take it and run. I find it hard to believe you have not received previous complaints about this resort and didn't know what it was like."
Reviewer: reviewer6027
Date: Jan. 17, 2012

Rating:
"The worst vacation I have ever been on. The hotel was very dirty and not kept up. The gym is no gym its a sweat shop. The people were very very RUDE. The pictures of the hotel online is very deceiving."
Reviewer: dbarrid01
Date: Jul. 28, 2011

Rating:
"I spent the week from the 5th of may till the 12th. It was amazing and sunny. The beach is great, the hotel is very good. Also the staff are friendly. If you go there you should try to play at the casino also.
"
Reviewer: reviewer4987
Date: Jun. 02, 2011

Rating:
"Upon arriving at the hotel, the wait was extremely long and the attendants at the front desk were not pleasant or helpful at all. The gentleman that we dealt with was very abrupt and he did not make us feel welcome in the least. Previously when booking the trip, we had requested a room on the second floor with a king size bed as apposed to two double beds pushed together. I was aware that this was not a guarantee, however guests that had arrived on the same flight as us but checked in after us received the accommodations that we had requested while we were left with a room that had two double beds. Once we arrived in our room I went into the washroom and noticed that the floor was wet. At first I thought that it had just been washed, but shortly after I noticed that the ceiling was leaking through the light fixture above the bathtub. Myself as well as my fianceé went to the front desk to notify them of this issue and they told us that there weren't any rooms available and that we had to wait until tomorrow. In the end we changed our room three times because the bed in the next room was broken, so we had to move again. The third room that we received was fine, however the mechanic for the hotel had to come to our room because our door lock was broken and the card key could not open it. This left us just stranded outside of our room for hours while we waited first for the mechanic to show up and finally until he finished the job. For the first three days of our "vacation" we must have spent half the day walking back and forth to the lobby and moving our belongings over and over again. Not the ideal way to spend my vacation. The resort itself was aesthetically pleasing, the night entertainment was fantastic, and the beach was great. However I was very disappointed with all other aspects of the resort. The employees were not friendly at all. At the buffet we would request utensils and beverages (which we were paying for like bottles of wine) and the employees would forget about us completely. Unfortunately it was not a good vacation experience. We tried to make the best of our remaining time however this put a hindrance on our vacation. As a frequent traveler, I will not be returning to that resort, nor will I recommend it to anyone."
Reviewer: mgalego
Date: Jul. 06, 2010

Rating:
"Our trip to the Dominican was wonderfull, the wheather was excellent, the price that I paid for the hotel was unbelievable. The food was very good. The best thing that I appreicated was we reached the hotel at 10 pm and we still good food, the restaurant was open till early morning. Entertainment was excellent, We went on a safari which was amazing. I would like to make another trip again.

Good value for your money.
"
Reviewer: reviewer9270
Date: Jun. 23, 2010

Rating:
"Manque de personnel lors de l'arrivée, longue attente, provoque de la frustration. Dans l'autobus avant d'arriver j'ai vu que le représentant Sunwing a donné aux voyageurs d'un autre hôtel leurs clés, pourquoi ne pas faire la même chose. Nous avons eu un problème pour entrer dans notre chambre durant tout notre séjour, il aurait suffit de changer la pile du mécanisme mais cela semblait compliqué pour eux! C'est immense cette place, beau, le personnel sauf exceptions sont aimables et gentils. Bons repas, service lent mais ils s'efforcent de faire mieux."
Reviewer: Anonymous [via Escapes.ca]
Date: Aug. 19, 2008

Rating:
"I've read other peoples reviews and have come to the conclusion that people will never be happy with anything. When going to this hotel, you have to keep in mind the price (we paid $736, all taxes and insurance in) and that is a great price for a 4* all inclusive vacation. We were in the club section, so it was a bit of a walk, not a big deal, its a scenic route and the trolley really does come every 5 minutes or so. The food was not good at all, but its not so bad that you have to starve. The a la carts were great, we had seafood, italian and steak. The service was not good for some cuz no one liked to tip. Tip them a couple dollars and you'll have great service. The rooms were very nice, for the price you paid keep in mind, we had an LCD on the wall, never seen that before in the carribean. We had hot water every day, no phone in the room tho, not too big of a deal for us. There were always towels when we needed them, mind you we were up early morning and at the stand by 9am. The beach was gorgeous, not a single complaint there. If you want shade you need to get up at sunrise, otherwise there's plenty of chairs for all. In conclusion, for the price we paid, we got one hell of a deal. its important to remember that you get what you pay for so you cant be going there expecting too much cuz your really not paying that much. if you want more, pay the extra couple hundred and stay at the Bahia Principe."
Reviewer: Anonymous [via Escapes.ca]
Date: May. 06, 2008

Rating:
"March 21-29.2008 First of all I will say the resort itself is wonderful. The ground are immaculate, beautiful pools, clean beach, and there is noting to complain about the food. (although the 2 a la carte's we did were nothing to write home about - Dominican and Sea Food) Our vacation would have been perfect except for a few problems. We were in building # 8 (Select section). First 2 days the hot water was barely a warm trickle-not enough pressure to keep the shower on , 3rd day a cold trickle, then 3 days of good showers and the last day a cold trickle again. No air conditioning for over 24 hrs. No towels one day, but they were delivered within 15min of calling reception. The bed sheets were too short for the beds resulting in a dirty mattress pad at your feet. When we arrived the bar fridge was stocked with water, pop, juices, chips, candy etc. Knowing that only 4 bottles of pop and the gallon of water are all-inclusive, I emptied out the fridge (into a drawer) and stocked it with our own stuff. The next day, my stuff was emptied and the fridge got re-stalked. We went to the reception and explained that we now had double bar fridge contents. We were told to put everything on the dresser and it would be taken care of and that there would be no charge since we did not use it. The next day one set of contents was removed. BUT... when we went to check out at the end of our stay.... we were dinged with a $71 US bar bill. I guess someone forgot to document the fact they removed the second re-stocking. (PS they charge $3.00 for a bottle of water) They were very rude and ignorant about it at the reception. We were not the only ones fighting bogus bar bills. (I guess this is how they make extra money..... or they have a theft problem with staff, since anyone could have entered our room and taken the second set.... we definitely did not use it) This incident did leave a sour taste in my mouth. Also note, the bar fridge does not function without the room key inserted. (all power in the room shuts off when you leave....if you have meds that need the fridge, make sure you ask for an extra room key so the fridge will run all day, and then tape it in the slot so the maid does not remove it like she did the first day to us) The other problem this resort has is it has expanded (with the club and select sections) beyond its beach capacity. We found the beach too crowed with not enough umbrellas or chairs. Shade was hard to find without encroaching on someone else's personal space. Forget getting up at 6am.... all the umbrellas are taken by 3am on the beach. You might get one by the pool at that time, but by 6:30, they are also taken. (PS. Take off your wrist band and go to the resort next door.... they have plenty of space) All that being said, we had a great time, and as long as you don't run into any problems like we did, you will have a fabulous holiday. PS. I have been to the Dominican 5 times and to Cuba 5 times and this is the first time I have had any real problems. I guess it was just my turn. I am still hoping to resolve the bar issue and get a refund. If anyone wants more info. contact me at beertoal@gmail.com "
Reviewer: Anonymous [via Escapes.ca]
Date: Apr. 02, 2008