We arrived at Breezes Puerto Plata on May 23 for our 9 day stay. Since we would arrive on our 16th anniversary, I had contacted guest services prior to our arrival to let them know about our anniversary and make our room requests. I received a response the same day indicating they would do their best.

Since our taxi brought us pretty quickly to the resort (less than 20 minutes, I believe) we arrived a little later than 3 pm at the hotel for check in. After a short wait in line we received our room keys, safe key and towel keys. We were assigned to building 4 on the ground floor (room 4012). I knew that bldg 4 was pretty close to the 24 hour bar however, it didn’t bother us at all. I had requested a king bed (not two twins pushed together); ground floor room since there is no elevator, in a building fairly close to the main areas. They met all our requirements. For our anniversary they provided us with a platter of fresh fruit, a bottle of champagne, robes and slippers. A nice effort since I didn’t think they would remember.

Inside, our room had the usual items – king bed (not two twins); dresser; large TV; 2 night tables; table and chair; armchair; safe; mini fridge; shelves and closet.
On the porch there were two chairs and a table, although because of the mosquitoes we never used the porch for lounging – only for drying clothes.

On arrival, we noticed that there was a huge pool of water in our bathroom and when we looked up, we could see beads of water on the ceiling. I immediately called the front desk and they said they would send a plumber. Nothing changed and the pool of water grew the next day forcing the maids to leave additional towels. I called again and was told that the plumber came and we had do not disturb on the door. A clear fib, since we never even moved the do not disturb sign from hanging inside our door. Plus, the cleaners had been able to come in each day to clean without a problem. I requested to speak to a manager and was told that a repair person would stop by. Suffice it to say that the problem was somewhat solved since the drops became less frequent. However, the day before we left our ceiling sprang another leak – right in front of the door. Since we were leaving, we left that problem to the new occupants. It had been mentioned that many of the building 4 rooms had been renovated. I find that hard to believe unless they’re starting at the top and moving down.

As others have stated, the resort is showing its age. We found our room to be fairly dark even with two (dated) wall lamps and a light by the front door. Since there were no sheer curtains behind the heavy curtains, we could never solve that problem. With sheers, we would probably get adequate light from the outside and privacy as well. The TV screen was also very dark. We never found a way to adjust it properly.

Security never seemed to be a problem. We stayed at the furthest end of the beach and there was always a security guard there with his gun so we came and went as we liked.


Tips
• If your trip comes with free transfers – great. However, since ours didn’t we were whisked away pretty efficiently on arrival to a taxi. For $30 we got there in a few minutes and we didn’t have to wait for anyone else or go to more than one resort.

• Email in advance of your trip with any building or room requests.

• At check in, please request the remote for your TV. After check out, it appears remotes are returned to the front desk. Had they told us this when we checked in, we could have avoided an extra walk over to reception in the heat.

• Bring bug spray. We bought Oro at the gift shop and it wasn’t cheap. Save some money and bring your own. Depending on the time of year you visit and the building you get, you could see mosquitoes. We saw them a lot on our porch and in our bathroom (despite keeping the bathroom windows closed at all times). We suspect the bathroom was not as sealed as we would expect. At night before we left for dinner we would spray both our room and the bathroom and close the door. By the time we got back, many of the mosquitoes were dead and the smell had dissipated. Depending on the building you’re in, you will likely see other bugs of the crawling nature. We just kept all our luggage and bags locked up tightly, particularly our snacks and all was OK.

• I know buildings 10 and 11 are the furthest away, but they have apparently been renovated first. They were newly painted, and although a bit further away, if we had our choice we would probably choose one of those buildings. To get to the hotel you cross the parking lot and walk through the reception area. No biggie in my opinion.

• Leave one of your air conditioning cards (your room key really) in the a/c unit at all times. We were never told that so we would take it out each time we left the room. Bad idea because we would come back to stifling heat! Also, if you aren’t getting adequate cooling, speak up! After 2 days we mentioned it to our maid who had a repairman stop by. Problem solved. We never yearned for cool air again. In fact, it got so cool we left with colds.

• We did the Ocean World tour (did Shark and Stingray encounters) and a Puerto Plata City tour (a must do if only for the cable car ride and to see Isabel de Torres) through the tour guides at the hotel. All went well and we had a good time. The prices were all pretty affordable. We never took the shuttles to Sosua and Cabarete. We went through Sosua several times as we did our tours, and didn’t see the need to make a special trip.

• We weren’t really impressed with the snacks at the 24 hour beach bar as they were often not hot and not tasty at all. We would suggest you only eat there if you arrive at a time when Jimmy’s is closed for lunch and it’s too early for dinner.

Pros
• A definite plus, was the affordable price for the resort. For the little we paid via an online auction, we believe we got excellent value. However, had we paid rack rates, our opinion would of course be different because our expectations would be way higher.

• The fabulous staff. Everyone we encountered from the grounds people to the front desk staff and the maids – they were all friendly and helpful. We always said hello and conversed a bit in Spanish and they responded very well. Ronaldo, one of the waiters at Jimmy’s Buffet was especially fabulous and would often have our drinks sitting at our table before we left the buffet! Our maid was just wonderful to us. We’d taken some gifts (school stuff like pens, crayons, pencils etc) and also gave her cash at the end of the trip and she was so grateful. One of our pictures shows the towel sculptures she often created on our bed.

• We never ate at the a la carte restaurants because quite frankly, we found Jimmy’s Buffet more than adequate. Even my husband, the somewhat picky eater could find several things he could eat at all three meals each day.

• Ease of finding a palapa in the shade each morning.

• Apparent large number of chairs and umbrellas at the pool. We’re not pool people, but there are large numbers of chairs and umbrellas visible.

• Fairly wide range of foods at the buffets.

• The ducks and peacock that roam the property are a nice touch.


Cons
• The resort is aging and that is very clear.

• I also see a little reluctance to take care of the details. A continuing joke was the fact that in the lobby, the tea area was cleaned and restocked daily – yet a clearly dead plant remained perched on a pedestal on the same table for the entire 9 days we were there!

• Presence of bugs and mosquitoes.

• Not the resorts fault but I do have some concern about the number of locals who are pushy and rude at the buffets. You’ll know the day and weekend trippers by their wrist bands. Apparently lines mean nothing and taking turns is a non-existent concept. Of course, we realize that we’re visiting YOUR country but courtesy and good manners have never gone out of style in my opinion. If I am courteous to you, shouldn’t you be the same to me?

As you can see from my pros and cons list, the benefits outweigh the negatives of Breezes Puerto Plata. My husband says that he would visit the resort again since our problems were minor. I agree to an extent. If I were to be guaranteed a truly renovated room, then I would have no problems staying at Breezes Puerto Plata again. Feel free to email me with any specific questions or concerns. Happy travels everyone!

Girlfriend and I stayed at Breezes May 16 - 23, was both of our first time at an all-inclusive so didn't have anything to compare it with but overall we were quite impressed and had a perfect vacation.

Check in went smooth, arrived at 11 AM so room wasn't ready but by 1 it was. Stayed in building 5 with a view of the ocean from our balcony. Room was clean and comfortable, 2 single beds pushed together, bathroom worked fine - towels changed daily - TV 80+ channels in 4-5 different languages. Didn't have a remote but didn't bother us, CD player didn't work but when asked for a new one was changed within 15 minutes.

Beach was average, we were always able to get a hut and chairs, near end of week was green flag so we were able to take the snorkeling equipement out which was cool.

Pool was the best part of the resort for sure, 2 small waterslides, volleyball net, pool bar and lazy river, brought our own tubes from home - if not you can buy at the store at the resort for 8$. 3 or 4 elevated hot tubs - only 1 was hot. While we were there the pool was not crowded at all able to find sun or shade all the time. The DJ did play the same 7-8 songs over and over again though.

We tried 3 A la carte restaurants (japan, Italian and Mexican). The chicken at the Japaneese was by far the best we had all week, Italian was good but at the mexican the beef tacos were not that great. Otherwise the buffet always had something we liked. The food at the beach bar was pretty bad though, it just seemed like it had been out there for a long time each time we ate there.

I took the scuba lesson in the pool then went to Sosua for a 45 minute dive (10-12m) while my girlfriend snorkleld above, first time scuba diving and felt very safe with my guide and well worth the 65$.

Definitely recommend walking around Sosua and even spending some time at this beach as it is much nicer than the resort.

Evening entertainment was excellent, Casino was very quiet - went in only once. Otherwise we just sat in the piano bar area and had a few beers under the stars.

No rain few clouds 32C weather the whole week, resort which was only 50% full (if that) lots of room to be on your own but still near the pool, staff were for the most part friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend Breezes for couples young and old as well it seemed like there was lots for kids as well.

We definitely felt like we got our money's worth at Breezes and will be going back again.

Feel free to contact me if you more info.

This was my first time in the Dominican Republic. I usually travel alone, so as a one solo traveller to others that travel alone, take my advise and go to this resort with freinds or familly. Though I did have a good time It seems to be a resort where people have more fun when they know each other from back where they came. I did have one bad experience on the trip, and heard of others while there, though these expieriences did not half to do with the resort itself. So lets start with the bad.

THE BAD: On the second day there our tour rep. let us know that if travelling into nearby towns(Cabarete, Sosua), it was best to go with a group and stay together, as most local mercants were very agressive. She continued to tell us of a couple tourists that got there arm broke, and one even got his throught slashed. As horrible as these stories were, I question them because after telling them she tried selling us her travel companies tour pkgs. Which consisted of visiting said towns and was suposedley safer because you paid to be with that group??????
My expierience happend on the 5 or 6 hole of the resorts small golf course. As I waited a local man jumped over the wall and proceded to serch my pockets for money to apparently buy me Cigars. luckilly that hole is beside the front gates and the army clad security guard came over with his sub-machine gun to scare the man off after ha herd me arguing with the man.

THE ROOMS: The rooms were clean, and renovated and had enough room. My only complaint is with the safe, it was a key operated safe, so maby that can be upgraded as even the govenment owned reorts in Cuba have punch pad safe's or room key card safe's.

THE FOOD: I dont know what everybody complains about this hd to have been the best resort buffet I ever ate at. It had difernt selections every night, and more than enough to choose from. For a third world Country this was a great buffet. If your one of the people who coplain about food at resorts then stay cooped up at home so mommy can feed you, and let the rest of the world enjoy what those poor people in other counties probably only wish they had what you had on the plate of food you sit down with at these resorts. Oh and the drinks were good to:)

THE ENTERTAINMENT: Although the waves were awsome and fun to play in, I prefer the cystal clear turquoise water and white sand beaches of Cuba more than this beach at the resort.
the entertainment stafe were ok they only really had games things to do, likr rock climbing and trapeze, when the kind of felt like it. Thats why I recomended that you go with a group, because the pool was more than big enough for a group to create there own fun in. And the pool was probably the best resort pool Ive seen>

So that pretty much sums up my trip Puerto Plata. Like I said i'll only return to the Dominican with a group. I recomend Cuba if traveling alone, its more friendlier and no locals bother you in town. It also seemed to me easyer to meet others in Cuba. Going Solo go to Cuba (sorry no Americans allowed)

Wow what can I say about Breezes , it was awesome ,myself and 4 other girls went for a week from April 20- April 27 .All the staff there were very helpful and polite.The bartender at the looby bar was great his name was Alberto.The food was exceptional, the pool and the beach were wonderful.We had an excellent time and would return next year for our holidays. A big thank you to all the staff at Breezes Superclub Puerto Plata Dominican .


P.S. the entertainment was hilarious as well !!!