Cant go wrong with Iberostars.

Cant go wrong with Iberostars.

You can add the Rius to that. The complex in the North is great. Although out of the way there is enough going on between the 3 hotels for you not to get bored.

Have to say my choice of resort is the Iberostar Costa Dorada, North Coast, 6 visits so far.

Angie.

hi, my friend is going to dominican to get married on january 4th, 2 people going dont have passports, is there a certain amount of time you need to have on your passport before you can enter dominican, eg, 6 months validity left

Im not sure what you mean, but hope I have the gist of your question, your passport has to be valid for twice as long as intended stay.
New passports there is no limits on the amount of time on your passport before entering the Dom Rep.

Angie.

Riu resort Punta Cana, 5 hotels and if you go into the Riu Palace you can use the facilities of all the other hotels, but they cannot use the Palaces, the hotel is wonderful, beach is out of this world.

I will second that we went to the Riu Palace Macao in March this year and it was very good and we would return.

I have just come back from an amazing trip to Ocean Blue Punta Cana. I cant believe how good value this hotel is, the service food everything was first class. The only thing I can think is that the rooms are not as nice as the public areas so maybe thats why its cheaper.

Can anyone give some general information about resorts please? We don't particularly like to eat indoors in a hotel in the evening - we like to wander around bars etc and have a few drinks then choose somewhere to eat. Hotel is fine maybe on a B&B basis but where can we go in DR that we can wander about at night? We want the typical glorious beaches etc for daytime but something with a bit of life in the evening. Has to be fairly level too as would struggle with lots of hills/slopes.
Any resort info anyone please?
Also, what works out cheaper - booking direct with the Hotel or a package job?
Oh, and is eating/drinking out reasonable or expensive and what's the local attitude to smokers (just your normal cigs!!) - is it like UK where it's banned everywhere?
Many thanks in anticipation.....

our boot,

You dont have resorts in the Dom Rep that do B&B they all cater on an All Inclusive basis. People tend to go out on the ocassional evening to eat just to have a change from the resort. It all depends which part of the island you are wishing to go to also, the Dom Rep is probably bigger than you think. The most visited parts for tourists is Puerto Plata on the North coast, Punta Cana/Bavaro on the East coast and La Romana on the South coast.

Your saying you want the typical glorious beaches well that is in the Punta Cana region but all that is in that area is a strip of hotels with a few plazas, nothing much going on outside of the resorts at night.

To get night life you will have to look at the North coast Playa Dorada, Sosua, Cabarete for the night life but the beaches are not your typical caribbean beach, they are lovely but not as white sand as on the East Coast.

Package is the cheapest way of getting to the Dom Rep.

Eating out is pretty reasonable its all depending what sort of food you are after.You can get more expensive restaurants.Drinks are reasonable, if you stick to local brands but if you are wanting International brands then they do become expensive to drink off resort, many resorts do have International brands with no extra charge.

Smoking no issues at all, you can smoke where you like, resorts do have some restaurants with no smoking, the main buffet restaurant on resort will have Smoking and No Smoking areas.

Hope this is of help so far.

Angie.

That's really helpful Angie thank you.
When you say,
"People tend to go out on the ocassional evening to eat just to have a change from the resort."
Does resort mean a group of hotels with their own various bars/restaurants as part of the AI?

I guess we should look at the north coast then so that we can wander around shops/bars etc after dinner. Is it fairly level in the north coast resorts and do the towns tend to be within walking distance/short taxi ride?
Clearly I need to brush up on my geography of the Island but at least I have an idea where to start!

our boot.

Does resort mean a group of hotels with their own various bars/restaurants as part of the AI?

Resort means the particular hotel you are booked into for your All Inclusive stay.They usually have a Buffet restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner then anything from 3 to 4 A la Carte restaurants as well.And various bars, pool bar, beach bar and lobby bar.

Playa Dorada Complex on the North coast is a gated complex with quite a few resorts(hotels) shopping plaza, bars restaurants and 2 indepentent night clubs all within walking distance of each hotel.

Sosua and Cabarete is a short 10/15 min taxi ride away.Taxis must be used at night as there is no street lighting on the main roads. Taxis will drop you off then come back for you at an arranged time, you dont pay for taxis until you have had your return journey back to your hotel. Very trusting the Dominicans are.

It is very level on the North coast resorts. Puerto Plata town is about 15 mins in a taxi but you can hire them for a 1/2 day or even a day and the driver will become your guide, which is a great asset. I have the contct details of the people I use, if you decide to do this, and if you decide on the North coast of course.

Dont hesitate to ask for more info. Will be glad to help.

Angie.

Thanks again Angie - this really helps - I can start my planning in earnest ...
Any tour operator recommendations that have flights with maybe just a little room to move in your seat?
We were looking at Cape Verde initially with Thomson but they consider that short haul (5+ hours) so the seats are the standard 28" sandwich.

our boot,

Thomson which merged with First Choice both have good legroom in economy 33" more info in links.

http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/press-centre/33-legroom.html

http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/information/why-book-with-us/long-haul-flying/

and Thomas Cook have the 33" legroom too.

http://www.thomascook.com/about-us/press-centre/press-releases/15-october-2007/

Also you can upgrade with all three airlines to their premium cabins, sometimes you can get quite good prices.

Angie.

Big article on Punta Cana in the Telegraph today.
Some lovely looking hotels and BA have started flying there, albeit via Antigua.