An honest report from an ex holiday rep...please read....

Me and my boyfriend stayed here from 3-17th June. It was FAB!

Hopefully i will give you as much information as possible as after reading other reviews i was myself quite worried about going.

The outbound flight took 8hrs 47mins and was adeqaute. A little warning- due to us arriving later than everyone else at Manchester we had to sit behind each other as we hadn't booked seats. I believe it costs around £10 each however worth it at least you can sleep slumped next to each other.

I was very impressed by the flight- from May this year thomas cook have increased leg room in their long haul flights and this did make a difference. The in flight entertainment was good and the food was actually very impressive (you do in fact get fed twice for those who didn't know!

Buying drinks is expensive- 80p for a MINIATURE pepsi or sprite and £3 for a 300ml Heineken beer so you are better buying soft drink from whsmiths inside the airport to take on the plane.

Transfere from the airport wasn't even 20 mins and when we got to the hotel they were very happy and helpful.

Now this is a little gem of information; not sure if it will work but worth a try. Prior to going i had read reports that it was luck as to whether you get a room with a fridge that is topped up daily with soft drink and water- think i figured out why. WHEN YOU CHECK IN the hotel staff will ask you if you have been before- if you say no they will give you a green wrist band- try out saying yes you have a few years ago because they will give you a pink band (sorry guys) but after some invegigative work and speaking to a couple who had returned after 10 years they had pink bands and their fridges were topped up daily- try it out and please let me know if this works!! This would certainly help you because in the rooms without this facility you will recieve a fridge and a bottle of water that they will top up for you but no kettle- so when you wake up in the night or first thing dying for a drink you will have to walk round to the buffet area for a drink.
The rooms are fine. they are clean enoughand the beds are huge! Hey you've not paid for 5 star after all and you do only sleep there and i certainly has no problem with the room (other than no kettle)

BEWARE of the staff in white tops with VIP SERVICES written on them hanging around the path by the buffet area- they are there to sell you time ahare and will start by asking you if you woud like a red band... just say no thanks. They caught us the first morning and we said no- the same guy bothered us a few times thoughtout our stay saying he worked form commision for how many people he takes upsatirs for a presentation- but i explained we were on holiday and simply didn't want to sit upsatirs for an hour when we could be by the pool.

FOOD
The food unfortunately is not the best (and i honestly am not a fussy eater) They add tonnes of sugar to almost everything- they are one the biggest places for exporting sugar and the dominican people love sugar) however i didn't starve- they is always something for you to eat even if it does get repetative.

We weren;t told until our welcome meeting that you can only book into the brazilian and italian restaruants once per week per restaraunt. We got round this by making reservations with a couple we met and used to book for 4 people on each room. The Italian is very nice- the Brazilian is okay- lots of meat that is very over cooked. My advice would be to take some money so you can go out and eat at the Plaza a couple of times. They have Hemmingways and Roadways which are american style bars with American style food. The prices are probably just about what you'd pay in the UK but it is definatley worth it when you are fed up of the food. We got 2 beers and a shareable portion of fajitas in hemingways with fries for $23.

Oh- and there is a British bar called PHILLIPS in the plaza (playing the euros 08 matches whilst we were their too) where you can get a budweiser and a decent cider!

The Resort
The resort is a man made resort with 14 hotels purposly built around a golf course. There is barriers either end of the resort to prevent just anyone coming in. This is good in one sense- it is PERFECTLY safe for you leave the hotel and walk up to the plaza (10 mins) for drinks or shopping- EVEN AT NIGHT.

For me i was a little disappointed- i like to be out and about and see what the local area is all about... but you can definately manage to do this with the excuraions.

Now- the excuraions. Dont be folled into buying them from your rep- even after the morning you arrive when you are giddy and they say they is limited space. You NEED to walk up to the Plza and go upstairs to the little shop where they sell them- ask for Oscar or Alex (there is many people selling excursions in the Plaza, however these guys are the most proffesional and there isn't about 5 people who pounce on you from 1 shop. THY ARE FULLY INSURED- (CERTIFICATE ON THE DOOR) and i can 100% guarantee you will pay at least a third less on some trips and up to half on others.- and you can still haggle from this price!
For example- Ocean World and to swim with the dolphins at the hotel was $165- at this place someone got him down to $110. The mega trucks ride was $97 each form the hotel and our friends got it for $58 each! They work just the same- will come and pick you up form the hotel and bring you back.

We went on the River Rafting- it was awesome- highly recommended it cost around $65 from the plaza- we were picked up and taken 2 and a half hours drive up the mountains (amazing in itself as you get to see the real dominican- not just the man made resort- please perservere it was well worth it! given breakfast on arrive at the ranch a 3 hour white water rafting with true proffessionals and then given dinner before coming back to the hotel. you can buy a picture for $10 or they even film it but the dvd costs $35.

The next trip we went on was the puerto plata day- full day- this was good- again gets you out of the resort and out into the real world- a cable car trip up the mountain- spectacular views but the best bit about this trip was going to Sosua. This beach is beatiul- has a flea market down the side and is exactly what i imagined where we were stopping to be like- i wish we'd have booked their- but hey! you can also get to sosua doing the snorkelling trip- definately go it is fab.

The last trip we went on was the Jeep Safari- this was on par with the water rafting. we paid $36 each as opposed to $85 from the hotel . Here you get picked up- taken throught the jungle in the mountains- see a plantation, visit a woman who makes pure coffee, see a cock fight but the best bit was the waterfalls....There is 28 waterfalls altogther all naturally formed and you cave through them with a proffessional team who have to pull you up the waterfalls- but you slide down them like water slides- truly amazing. Unfortuantely on the feep safari you only get time to do 7 of the 28. but did take around 2 hours to get through.I can guarantee this trip is awesome- if you are going to do one trip- do this. The waterfalls made me want to go back to the resort again next year just so i could explore all 28!

We were silly and paid for quad bikes through a dutch guy at the hotel- $95 for a 3 hour ride. Again you get this for $60 at the plaza and they are better bikes. It is a great trip though, you are led through mud so end up very dirty and was great fun.

The Beach
The hotel runs a tractor service all day to and from the beach- even though it is only a 5 min walk away. All inclusive continues at the beach- head down there for your lunch buffet as it is far better cooked and a lot nicer than at the hotel.

You can get on the banana boat for $10- my only problem with the beach was that there is no parasols for you to sit under- so when it is ridiculously hot you cannot get away form it. Also the 'looki looki' men pester you all the time trying to get you to but something- they constantly say you english you rich- again just say no politely and put your head down.

The staff at the hotel have sundays off so there is a beach party every sunday- good for messing around and been silly (beware boys for the drinking games!) and they light a bonfire at the end- very quaint!

The animation staff at the hotel are crazy- good crazy, they are up and dancing all day and night and alwys putting little activiteis on during the day- water volley ball, dart balloons etc... they really are friendly and if you have kids are brilliant with them.

The pools
The pools are clean and large enough- there is an adults only pool around the 24 hour bar with is definatley a lot quiter if you prefere that. However the main pool has a bar in the middle of it and even though kids are in there did not cause us any stress.

Weekends:
At the weekends the hotels sells out any extra rooms to the local people. this can be a bit of a pain beacuse they just all of a sudden seem to descend upon the pools and buffets and they come in large groups- there was no problem with them at all and if you do talk to them they are in fact very friendly- however i am aware of the fact that a few people felt a bit intimidated at first.

overall a fantastic holiday for all- families, older copule and younger alike.

Enjoy you stay and if you want me to answer anything- just ask i would be happy to.