Hi Sue

We have just had a great 2 weeks at the Casa Marina Reef, food accommodation etc was great. We didnt like our room to begin with it backed onto a path at the side of the hotel but we asked the rep if we could change to a pool view if possible, which we were the next day when other people went home.

You pay 10 US Dollars per person when you arrive at the airport to get your green tourist card (we went thro very quick and it didnt take long to fill it in) and you pay 20 Dollars per person on departure.

The duty free is very good I think ciggies were around £8-£11 per 200 but as I dont smoke I didnt buy any.

There are a lot of tours to do but I had read on the internet to take them with Mel Tours (they are the same trips as the tour operator but a lot cheaper and they are insured) which are just outside the hotel but beware that you ask what they are like. The jeep safari was very good, you certainly see village life but to go to the waterfalls on that trip you have to walk thro a river (not deep) and thro streams the waterfalls consist of 28 levels (nothing like the Dunns River Falls in Jamaica ) and you have to climb up seven levels. That part is only for the fit energetic types so that counted me out with a gammy leg.
There is a trip advisor and books with the trips in the Casa Marina Beach Hotel which show what to expect on the trips so look before you book.

The entertainment was good especially the shows that they put on everynight at 9.45pm the kiko team work very hard to make sure everyone enjoys themselves.

Dont take loads of beach towels as they supply towels for the swimming pool daily and you can take them on the beach too. If you do go on one of the trips you you keep them overnight and take them the next day.
You will be issued cards for the towels when you check in.

We enjoyed our holiday and found that the staff were very friendly and nothing was to much trouble for them.

You can walk around Sosua and you will get lots of ladies wanting to braid your hair. There are a lot of little shops on the way to Sosua beach which is a short walk away and the people will try to get you into the shops you just have to be firm and polite.

Hope you enjoy the Casa Marine Reef.

Chrystyrich

If you put in Casa Marina Reef in your Search Bar you will find loads of information and reviews from other people.

we went to Casa Marina Reef "allocate on arival"May 2004. We had a good holiday, food fine staff wonderful helpful & kind. There was a great mix of British holiday makers of all ages, you can walk to the local town just down the road. Remember there are two Casa Hotels side by side and we used the facilities of both. Loved the Italian Restaurant, and the great outdoor Jacuzis above the beach. Entertainment shows were above average. Should have a great time there.

I have been finding out as much as possible about this hotel on various sites and have just found that a cash deposit is due when booking in for any accidental damage. This is the first i've heard of this and wondered if anyone could advise me if this is the case and if so how much is required. Found this info on caribbean-on-line. Would appreciate any help.

This sounds very dubious to me. I've never had to leave a cash deposit in 6 visits to the Dom Rep.

I would always take something you've only ready from only one source with a pinch of salt. I take it you've read the hoards of reviews on trip advisor and debbies dominican travel web site. If it is not mentioned there i woudn't worry about is - just put it down to an odd one-off, maybe those people were scammed a bit by the reception staff.

Thanks for your reply cynical, only ever had a deposit against accidents to pay once and that was in the canaries. Will take no notice unless i see any more reviews like that.

i stayed there 2 years ago and didn have to pay a deposit for that.

HI

We didnt pay any money for accidental damage the only thing that was in our room was if you lost the towels from your bathroom you could be charged for them.

Chrystyrich

Thanks for that chrstyrich, only read about this yesterday and for the first time. Just wanted to double check.
Thanks again, sue

We stayed Casa Marina Reef June 2004. We had a good holiday here the geography of the TWIN Hotels made it friendly & relaxed. There were no charges that I remember, even the daily bike ride was free. But it seems to me all Carribean Hotels charge high prices for "lost towels or wristbands".
We went Thomas Cook "allocate on arrival" and for a "bargain 3*" had very good value. From Casa Marina Reef you can wander into town, visit the Jewish museum next door, enjoy tbe Monster Truck trip, buy great organic coffee (with the statue of Christ on the packet) in local shops, and on the road leading to the town beach haggle for wonderful Dominican Oil Paintings. A far better holiday than when we stayed at The Coral Canoa in the South .
Go enjoy it but guard your beach towels!

Does anyone know if the Casa Marina has locals in to stay at the week-ends?
Cheers
Lynn

hi pixie, this is something i am interested to know too as i'm off to the beach side this week. in the brochure or somewhere i read said the hotel was used by locals at weekends and on holidays and then on the review part of this website it said that security is very tight there and locals cannot come in. so i am confused. i know this hasn't ansered your question (sorry) just thought i'd let you know what i knew. hopefully someone else can help us eh? pinkcurlz x

Although I've not not been there I do believe that you will find that "locals" are allowed in for the weekends at these resorts, when it says that locals can not gain access it means generally speaking.... rather than those who pay to stay at the resorts...

Apparently it does tend to happen at some of the resorts such as these rather than the 4 or 5* ones.

Hope that helps...although probably not lol

Karen x

Can anyone tell me - does the hotel supply beach/pool towels or should we take our own. Going to the hotel in June - any other tips - did you take gifts for maids, anything we should take/need any hints would be gratefully received!

Hi ,
I am going to stay at the Casa Marina Beach for 14nts I travel out on Sunday, As far as i know you do get beach towels but not 100%, The gifts I am taking for the maids are.....Toothpaste, Soap, Tights, Shampoo, Shower Gel, Make-Up, Nal Varnishes, etc. And some colouring pencils and writing pencils and sweets for the children....Didnt really know wot to take for the guys so am gonna just give dollars. I did hear that someone took the guys some caps and t-shirts from where he worked (bit like freebie sponsor ones you get in bars) and they went mad for them, but i couldnt get a hold of any. I will give a full report on Hotels and resort when i get back. Gimme a shout after the 25th if there is anything you want to know and i will do my best to help. #
Love Sweet xx

Hi robbie10 and sweetlikechoc, we just returned from the reef last tuesday. Towels are provided for the pools. You will be given a card per person when you check in. This gives you 1 towel per person you hand the card in a get your towel. Return the towel by 6.30pm and you card will be returned to you to use the next day. Have a great time.

just returned from reef a week ago. Yes they have locals in at weekends. We noticed that some of them were extremely noisy in the early hours. Although the AI bars shut at 11pm the cash bars and the disco are open late and it was usually about 3/4 o'clock in the morning when you were woken up not only by the locals but people deciding to jump in the swimming pool. Security guards patrol and did manage to quieten down anyone that beacame to loud.

All comments/tips/advice will be gratefully received. Just to say have a fab time on your holiday. We booked through Airtours, so again any info you can give us re trips etc would be excellent.

Thanks again and enjoy your holiday!

I received the following reply to my e-mail from the Casa Marina Reef.

Thanks you for choosing our resort for your holiday.
As for your question, we would like to inform you that we also receive
Dominican guests at the weekends, but you will not experience situations
like in previous hotel as here the rate for the local tourists is higher and
therefore the kind of tourist that visit us are middle class, so their
behavior is alright in our resorts.

We hope this information can be useful. Should you have further queries,
pleas contact us again.

so now we know just have to hope they do better than some of the English middle classes on holiday

Lynn

Hi robbie10 we travelled through thomas cook. We did not book any of our trips through the reps but went to mels tours, this is situated just outside the barriers at the casa marina beach side. The more trips you book the cheaper you get them. We booked the jeep safari $25 each (£12.50) and the catamaran $60 each (£30.00). Both trips left about 8.15 am and returned to hotel about 4.30pm. Drinks and lunch included, with various stops on the safari which also included the waterfalls, you need to be fit as you walk through rivers and climb up waterfalls, slide down them and jump 15ft drops ( i wasn't that brave) but wouldn't have missed it for the world. The catamaran trip also includes snorkelling, and entertainment from the crew and as much as you want to drink. Being out at sea you also got a couple of days tan in 1 day, although some people were seasick. hope this info helps and enjoy your holiday.
sue