May 1, 2005
08-03-2005 8:32 pm
May 1, 2005
color=#0000ff> Iberostar Message BoardHi Ya'll-
We just returned from a 5 night stay at this fabulous resort. Our motto before going was we hoped there were "no surprises". Well, we were surprised, it was even better than we expected.
The airport - We flew into La Romana, everyone was extremely friendly and it was a quick trip through customs and into our transfer bus. The ride was only about 1/2 hour with one stop at Sunscape Casa Del Mar (glad we didn't pick there to stay).
The Hotel- Check in was a breeze, took about 30 seconds and then we were handed our frozen fruit punch with rum and led to our room. The grounds were spectacular - cleaner than clean and open and tropical. No windows, beautiful breezes and warm. Our room was exactly like the pictures, but the bathroom was even nicer than expected. The shower was huge and the water pressure was stronger than at home!
We went immediately to the snack buffet and met a great couple and had some drinks and explored a little as they had just arrived as well. We had dinner that night at the mexican restaurant - very nice - served Coronas which made my Husband happy. The food was better than I expected, great appetizer buffet. We also ate at the Japanese, the Steakhouse and the Gourmet - every dinner was wonderful!
I was very surprised at the lengths the staff went to make the dining experience a pleasant one. Whatever you wanted they tried to accomodate.
The staff was so nice - I would have to say that the staff was the most shining part of this resort and the resort is so spectacular. I have never seen such happy people and they geniunely want you to have fun. We could not walk more than 100 yards without bumping into one of the bartenders or star friends and they would call to us to come and talk or have a drink or participate in some activity they were having. No pressure though - but I did get talked into an arm wrestling contetst at the pool bar one day which I won of course :)
The beach bar was such an experience - I don't know where in the world you could get a drink and just watch such a beautiful sunset. The Bloody Mary's were fantastic, especially if Benito made them, got me through many a rough morning! :)
The beach was so nice - we always got a beach "Palapa" (shade hut) even though we got there at around 10:00 am.
The only recommendation I can make is to watch what you eat during the day...the "daytime food" as we called it was a little different, especially the dairy, so we really ate just breakfast and dinner. However, they did make a Paella and an oyster dish two days on the beach and both were fantastic. I cannot even call this a negative, as my husband and friends ate the pizza everyday and loved it. I am just a little to picky sometimes.
We did take a 1/2 day snorkel trip to Catalina - very inexpensive - $37 US - included a boat ride to an island, and a cooler full of rum, coke, sprite and water. The snorkelling gear was also included. We saw "flying Fish" which we had heard of but never seen before and once again everyone was so happy to make sure the trip was pleasant for us.
The weather was great - the first two days a little cloudy, but we were thankful for the clouds as we did not get sunburned. The rest of the time was bright blue skies and sunny, about 85. The water was so warm and the sand was soft and somehow did not stick to you as much as it does here on the east cost!
This was the best vacation and we are already planning our return visit for next April - the couple we met are also returning with us. I think this says alot. Every good review you have read is true and it is probably a little better than the review can express as it is hard to get across in words how great this place was.
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