We've stayed at the Breezes Puerto Plata a few times. We were impressed initially by the size and beautiful landscaping. The staff does give you attention. However, the resort itself is starting to age and needs some upgrading..The A/C works but sometimes has a problem keeping up with temperature changes (if you can change it at all). The restaurants that require reservations (french, japaneese, italan) are all good, and pretty much stick by the you gotta have a collared shirt long pants for men, and sort of look you over to decide if you meet dress code.
I was however, very, very disappointed that on the weekends the place turns into a Six Flags Resort that all the LOCALS can come into for the weekend to take advantage of the beautiful pool and all inclusive meals. I realize that they do not have the amenties of a pool, for the kids to enjoy, however, tourists to the resort take a back seat to service and cannot continue to enjoy the resort to enjoy 2 days of their vacaton. They tend to "take over" the resort on sat/sun., and some of them upon conversation get in for free or 33 pesos per Family (1 US$). Please keep this in mind when scheduling, as to plan to take an excusion during those days of your vacation time.

Five of us went to Breezes Puerto Plata in May 08 with RCI. We all had a great time. The staff was very friendly and the grounds was very nice and clean, beautiful pool and beach. The rooms were nice except the first night we stayed in building 11, Rm 11007 and the room was very musty. The lst night my husband had a asmtha attack ( the first since he was a child) and we moved the next day to building 10 in Rm 10007. There was no musty smell in that condo. The assistant manager Portfolio was extremely nice and helpful.
The entertainment was good and fun to watch. The food could be better. It was not seasoned well but there is diffently a wide variety of food at the Jimmy Buffett buffet. You will be able to find plenty to eat that you well like. Be sure to try the ice cream. It was the best I have ever had. We ate at the other four restaurant and the Italian was are favorite. Then the Mexican. Get the Mango Margaritas at the Mexican. That was the best drink I had at the resort. The steak at the French restaurant was hard to chew. It is the only place that you have to dress up for. And do not bother trying the hamburgers.at the beach bar. They have different hamburger meat in DR and it does not taste like the hamburger in the U.S.
There is plenty to do at the resort and in the near by towns. Take advantage of the free shuttle service to the towns of Sosua and Caberete. We would take the shuttle there and take a taxi back which would be about $8.00 for all 5 of us. Sosua is a beautiful bay with crystal clear water. This is where we also took a day trip on a catamaran to snorkel. There is 300 vendors lined along the beach facing the ocean with palm trees on the other side. There is plenty of souviners to buy, food vendors and bars. But be sure to stop at Checkpoint at the beginnig of it or at the end and order a Ceasar drink (Excellent). It was recommended by the Canadian managers. Be sure to tell them the 5 from W.Va. recommended it. They also called a cab for us and we waited there for it. Caberete is a great busy sea side town with palm trees and stores with loud music playing in the streets. The bay is full of wind and kite surfers. We found a great open air bar right on the beach that had the best Mohitas. It was right next to a kite rental place and behind a well known expensive store that I can not remember the name of.
We did the Dune Buggy trip which was fun. They took us to a nice beach to go swimming too. The guy climbed a coconut tree and got each of us are own coconut to drink from it. Be sure to take something for the kids you might see along the way. I took pens and pencils and some old costume jewrly. They were so excited and loved it.
We also took the city tour to Puerto Plato on are own and saved alot of money. We paid $70.00 plus tip for a taxi mini van from Breezes. The city tour would have cost about $50.00 a peice.
He took us to Isabel de Torres which is a cable car that takes you to the top of the mountain 2,500 ft up. There is a statue of Jesus at the top like the one in Rio. You can walk the botanical garden path on your own. DO NOT use the guide. All they do is point and name the flowers that we already knew. They told us we can tip if we want to and we tipped him $9.00 which I thought was to much for what he did. He demanded that we pay him $18.00 which we did not give him. He also had us sit and listen to a band that expected a tip and then to watch a silly magic act who also expected to get a tip. It was only abt $6.00 to go up to the top. The view was fantastic. It is not to be missed. Then we went to the amber museum and to San Felipe Fort. He was going to take us where they make the rum and the cigars and to shop but we declined. His name was Hector and did not speak English but we all seemed to understand each other. He was great and very nice. He would stop where ever we wanted to. Be sure to ask for Hector to drive you.
The catarman trip was great at $60.00 each for a all day trip. We left abt 9:00 am and back abt. 4:00pm. It was the banana republic catarman trip. They took us to two great snorkeling places. The water was the clearest I have snorkeled at and I have been to alot of places to snorkel or scuba dive. They served a great lunch and the drinks were served even after the boat was docked which is very rare. They were very friendly and alot of fun.
My daughter and her friend used a debit card to pay for the all-inclusive fee when we arrived at Breezes. That was the only place that they used there card and someone from the resort behide the desk must have coped the card numbers. My daughter had a $300.00 charges and her friend had $700.00 charges made on their account. So do not use credit cards. Bring travelors checks.
I enjoyed the trip and Im glad we went except for the credit card episode. But that could happen anywhere. I would go back but there are to many other places I want to visit.

My husband & I are in our 40's and our girls 16 & 18 all loved the Breezes so much we are returning again this Nov. When we arrived at our hotel we noiticed that 2 families from the previous year were there again.....arriving on the same day as us...since we had meet them the year before and enjoyed their company we of course partied with them again...we since then have stayed in touch and we are all meeting at the Breezes again the last week of November...the families are from England and Ireland.....We stayed in the Villas which in our opinion are like having your own cottage....our first year we stayed in the Hotel #4 but by far will be booking in the Villa again....We had no problem with a thing, the rooms where just starting to be made over, with new beds, painting etc....since we were only in our rooms to sleep we found the rooms quite comfortable....no problems with bugs, air conditioning or water had it all.....the shuttle to towns were a great feature we used them alot.....we even came home on the local bus a few times....next to nothing...always found the people to be very kind.....I always pack a suitcase of items to give away and we always leave any clothes or shoes that we don't want.....gives us an excuse to buy more for next trip....I always bring down items for the locals that are too expensive for them to buy and are considered a luxury for them....I like to bring nail polish, panty hose, socks, hats, shirts, candy, beach balls, books, school supplies, anything travel friendly and not too heavy....I take them on our ATV trips and I go into town and give to whom ever I want.....the front desk and the staff in general have always been very accomedating to us...we are very easy going people and we find that in life in general you treat others the way that you want to be treated.....I try to speak alittle Spanish, I take my book of translations with me everywhere and the locals appreciate the effort....in return I teach them English.....
We booked through I Travel 2000 or whatever online deal is the best....we always book in about Sept. or Oct. and have always got great deals.....
Having been a frequent travel years ago and now getting back into travelling again I think I will stick to the Dominican, it is very safe, great vaca for the price and people are generally pleasant....
Book it , you won't be disappointed......

this was my first time to caribbean and i would definately recommend it . I have know since been to mexico and others but i loved dom rep the people are the nicest and will do anything to they can to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. we stayed in a suite as it wasnt much more and it was on 2 floors with a double bedroom upstairs with bathroom and living area and beds downstairs with kitchette and another bathroom. The hotel has the biggest pool in the north and is on 32acres of land the brochures dont do it justice and i would urge anyone to look at the hoyels own first it has typical caribbean decor a bit loud but it gives you the sense of where you are . we did the white water rafting and loved it the guys on the trip are great and entertain you all day and you have the option to buy a dvd of the day at the end of your trip. The food was fantastic in all restaurants we ill definately be going back.