May 15, 2005
08-04-2005 8:33 pm
May 15, 2005
color=#0000ff> Iberostar Message BoardWe had a fantastic two weeks holiday, my daughter got married during our second week, it was a beautiful ceremony and setting, all the arrangements including the photographs and video were handled very professionally, and everything went without a hitch. This was a bit of a relief because the previous week we had 3 days of continuous torrential rain day and night, this would not have spoilt the ceremony but it would have spoilt the beautiful photographs and video, which were done in the gardens and on the beach.
The hotel, accommodation, food, staff, grounds were all above average I don’t think I would class it as five star but it was well worth the money we paid for our holiday, there were one or two little niggles which I have listed in the following review but we still had a fantastic holiday.
Flight.
We flew with Thomas Cooke from Manchester, we did not get the seats we pre booked in the premium cabin even the bride and groom were split up on the return journey.
Weather.
When it rains, oh boy does it rain but still put your sun cream on, I got my back sunburnt while swimming in the rain also this is a very windy area and sometimes in the afternoon we had mini sand storms on the beach but I still came back with the best sun tan I have ever had.
Rooms
We stayed in block 7 at the rear with a ground floor room overlooking the gardens, the room was spacious with a king size double bed, we didn’t get no extras like you read in the other revues but the room was kept spotless and the mini bar was stocked every day. The room was quiet at night but there was a little noise in the morning with deliveries to the pool bar.
Food
It would be hard to criticise anything about the food, we used the main buffet in the evening and the pool bar at lunchtime, and the food was that good and varied we didn’t bother with the speciality restaurants apart from the Mexican, which we visited every night for a late night burger.
Entertainment
Usual hotel fun and games in the daytime for all ages both round the pool and on the beach, night entertainment usually starts off with an hours interactive show specially for the kids then a bit of merengue dancing for those who are up for it (its easy to learn) followed by what was usually a spectacular show, it was amazing how they changed the scenery every day and the costumes what the girls wear, wow! After the show you could either do a bit of smoochie dancing or head for the disco.
Beach
Not as good as the beaches in front of the Costa Dorada Complex but still good, there are plenty of sunloungers, plenty of palm trees if you need the shade, the free water sports were good, you could get a canoe, windsurfer or catamaran more or less straight away with out waiting. It was disappointing that it was not very good for snorkelling given that it is surrounded by reefs because the sea was usually quite choppy, if you like sailing, canoeing, windsurfing the conditions and reefs made it quite challenging. The one thing which spoils the area are the adjacent beaches which are not looked after by the hotels, they are covered in rubbish, the one to the right of the hotel has a fair amount of rubbish on it but if you go to the left past the vendors tin huts towards Puerto Plata the rubbish and filth on the beach is unbelievable.
Tip – give the guy driving the banana boat a tip, you’ll get the ride of your life.
Organised Tours
Ocean World Adventure Park The women did the swimming with dolphins which they enjoyed very much, they had about three quarters of an hour in the water with the dolphins. The sea lion show was also very good this lasted about 20 mins. The snorkelling reef was not so good, it was like a big aquarium, you were only allowed to swim round in a clockwise direction twice which only took about 10 mins, hardly worth the effort washing all the sun cream off before you were allowed in. The constructed beach was closed, as was one of the dolphin tanks. Ocean world is not that big a place and we had seen everything in 2 to 3 hours and due to the lack of sun beds and shade we were ready to go, unfortunately the first return bus is mid – afternoon and there was a stampede of people trying to get on it.
Diving – The hotel has its own diving club, shop and boat. They give free lessons in the pool and if you pay for a diving trip you get further instruction in the pool, the next day the boat takes you from the beach across the bay where you get two 35 min dives. These were absolutely brilliant, the coral reefs and fish were just like you see on the TV. There was only one complaint we ran out of beer on the way back!
Pub Tour – you can book this in the hotel. A bus picks you at the hotel and the drinks start flowing as soon as you get on, they take you to Puerto Plata (which looks like ‘ I wouldn’t like to be there on my own in the dark ‘ kind of place, as soon as you get off the bus you get hassled by vendors, beggars and kids trying to make a few bucks. Here we had a drink at the old fort and then we visited a big car wash bar (good music (loud) dancing and beer. We then headed back up the coast calling at Café Cito which is only about 500m from the hotel at the other side of the main road. Here we had a free buffet and then it was on to Sosua. I felt more comfortable walking round here than I did in Puerto Plata. Finally we went to Cabarate, there were some fantastic bars here all close together and situated right on the beach. Then I woke up back at the hotel (must have been a good night).
Verdict
We had a brilliant holiday, if I went back I would try nearer to Cabaret because I am not a fan of ‘ all inclusive ‘ and I like to get out and about on foot which you couldn’t really do apart from walking to the other hotel complexes. As hotels go you would be hard pressed to get a better one for the same price.
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