Firstly I would like to say a very firm thank you to all the people who have reported their experiences of this FANTASTIC hotel, for which I found more than useful in making my decision to go. Now its time for me to give something back.
I echo all of what has already been said about the luxurious surroundings kept to an impecable standard

No problem getting sun beds at the beach or pool, we arrived at approx 9-3- to 10-30 each day on the beach mainly, yes there were the few greedy selfish people who reserve but not many, in our view we liked the area on the beach near the archery section as it was nice and quiet, and still got the sun and had parasols. as for the pool area again the greedy selfish slobs who reserve sun beds but there are loads to go around, and the reserved ones were usually by the bar, in summary we are very picky about where we sit on the beach or on odd occasions at the pool and we always found a nice spot to stay.

Nationality of guest's

Approx 10% Brits, 20% Americans 40% Germans 30% French

Animation Team

A smashing set of people approx 10 of them will be seen dotted around the place all day in different locations, one girl may come to you on the beach and ask if you want to take part in the Archery, a swift reply of No I'm just here to chill will send her on her way, with no hard feelings, same goes for Alberto who will come to you in the bar and ask if you want to see the show, again a quick no thanks will send him cheerfully on his way, after a while he gets to know you and tailors his approach accordingly, the others also very polite slapping your hand with a high five every now and again, but none of this felt like nagging.

You have to book the ala~carte restaurants at the guest services desk by the lobby bar open at 08-00 AM you need to queue but never more than 3 people in the queue when we were there, you can only make 2 bookings per visit so say book Monday and Tuesday on the Monday and go back on Tuesday to book Wednesday and Thursday etc... You need to be flexible with times as we had to eat at 8-45 or 9-00 some evenings which worked out well as we stuffed ourselves at breakfast and lunch which gave us time to make room for dinner!!! What FANTASTIC food.
The first day you arrive you will prob need to eat in the Buffet, please don

To all the couples that are getting married here you have picked the best by far. Me and my fiance went to this hotel to get married and what a wedding we had all our family and close friends came along and they are still talking about it 8 months on.

The hotel is picturesque and ideal setting for the perfect wedding surrounded by fountains and water features and not forgetting the swans and flamingos near the wedding gazebo it is truly breath taking and the wedding coordinater was fantasic!!!! you must get the video man to record the wedding it costs $300 for a dvd and the quality is 10/10 and so was the wedding pictures you no longer have to worry like we did.

The hotel staff couldnt do enough for us and they are extremly friendly. the food was fantasic every where we went and i would advice the wedding couple to have there sit down meal in the french restaurant it is the most appropriate setting for a wedding party.

The entertainment was fantasic and all of the shows was well worth watching my favourite was the lion king wow! is all i can say. And of course me and my husband took part in the mr & mrs contest what a laugh we all had.

The hotel location is a quite laid back setting but if you decide to fenture out take a left out of the main gates and your first left again you will come to some shops and bars its cheaper for buying items than the hotel shops and the locals are so friendly and helpful.

If your young and up for partying all night long the hotel as its own night club called captain nemos the dj played any thing we asked for and in the day time it turned into a cinema so we watched a few films.

we had a few older members of our group and they loved to sit in the piano lounge having tea and buiscuits. while the kids in our group we never saw due to the kids club so there is something for all age groupes.

Beautiful gardens and flamingos and although only 2 and a bit years old gardens were very nature and well maintained

Food in buffets (beach or hotel) alwasy hots and geed quality. Japenese and Colonial restaurants good and now Steak or chicken can be chosen at the Colonial which extends the menu. Steak House served dry poor quality steaks and the Mexican although offered a wide selection of entrees the main course was salty.

Evening entertainment fairly typical of all inclusive e.g. Mr Iberostar, Mr & Mrs etc with a few good shows. Disco varied depending on if it was over run with STAR FRIENDS as then all that is played is salsa.

Beach and pool areas both offer plenty of shade and warm water, an added bonus is the swim up bar

Wide variety of nationalities however a few spanish words would assist.

Rooms spotless and you are given an option of the time that would suit you best for cleaning

Excellent holiday but hotel is rather isolated so if you want to be nearer a village you may be better with the Sunscape

See my review in June 2004.

Nothing much has changed except the hotel was far too busy for our liking in August.

Lots of British families and chidren. A lot of the original entertainments staff had left but the new ones where just as nice. We didn't do a lot of the shows this time round as they were exactly the same as the previous year.

Would certainly return again.

Love this hotel and everything about it.

What can I say? An absolutely fantastic hotel could not fault it at all. Everywhere is spotless. Superb grounds inc. Flamingos, Peacocks, Ducks and water features in abundance. We have travelled all over and yet to find a pool as large as this one here which also has a Jacuzzi.

Beach is lovely and slopes slightly to the clear blue waters of the sea which is very safe if you have children as it is quite shallow.

Accommodation is also spot on and very well furnished.
Plenty of choice in restaurants inc. Four speciality ones. Gourmet and Japanese were my favourites but we have to say a bit disappointed with the steak house.

All the entertainment in the day time and evenings is done by the star friends team who work very hard and are all very friendly. If you dont want to join in just say so they do not pester you at all.

To sum it up we had a great time and will return at some time but still lots of other places we need to see.

Iberostar Hacienda was absolutely fabulous with magnificent with decor you can only dream about.

It was so clean with no litter or rubbish anywhere,
in a good location, with excellent staff.

Excellent hotel - rooms spacious bright and spotless. Often decorated with flowers and swan towels etc. They charge for key for the room safe but check your safe first as not all need a key - why pay if not necessary ?

Grounds - well stocked and immaculately kept

Food - very good to excellent quality but we often had limited choice of things we liked in the buffet for dinner. Japanese is spectacular, Gourmet is first class but menu never changes, steakhouse was slightly dissapointing ( once was enough ). For buffet lunch and dinner we often chose what had just been replenished to get a hot meal. Only marked as 4 for limited choice.

Best coffee from the expresso machines in buffets or from the Lobby bar. Best cocktail - "Alexandra" from the lobby bar but only if they have cream to make it with ! They can run out of cream some evenings.

House wine acceptable ( which is better than most caribbean hotels ) and is better in speciality restaurants. Bar drinks excellent inc some International brands.

Beach - lots of white sand and well maintained - Has one of the first "Blue Flags" in the caribbean. Sea slopes in gently and the bathing area is protected by an artificial reef quite close to the shore. Plenty of loungers /pads / and shade if needed.

On site watersports operator ( Dressel diving ) very good - the diving is excellent, cheap and standards are high.

So why have I marked it down in some categories well, having stayed at the Casa del Mar last year the standard of Customer Care shown by the staff is not quite as good. The choice in the buffet is much greater at Casa del Mar and more things are cooked to order or cooked in the buffet itself so there is more hot choice available. IHD just has the edge on buffet food quality, however CdelM had better speciality Italian and Steak restaurants while IHD has better Oriental and Gourmet restaurants.

Evening entertainment in Lobby bar was very popular ( pianist and/or guitarist with vocals ) - occasionally a dire pianist "played" but normally good musicians.

Theatre - Nightly performances - Star Band were excellent but Show Time lacked any originality was was poor in comparison with Casa del Mar which had the best shows we have seen anywhere.

Conclusion - Great holiday - Great Hotel - recommended unreservedly and of the two hotels we would go back to IHD as CdelM still need a refurbishment apparently. If CdelM had been refurbished it would be a tough choice.

Absolutely faultless - excellent food & drink, spotlessly clean, situated on a perfect Caribbean beach, all this & excellent friendly staff. What more could you ask for!

Everything about the hotel was fantastic, food accommodation and staff. The weather was great and the drinks flowed.

The rooms were wonderful and so clean, it was the first time our family had been to the Caribbean and from now on that

I don't think there is a word to describe how fab this hotel really is!!

As soon as we arrived we were met by a friendly face with a fuit juice while we checked in. we walked through the beautiful grounds to our room - which are stunning! So clean and nicely furnished - we were only in our room 5 mins and already had a phone call from reception to see if our room was ok!

The walkways with polished floors were beautiful lots of little fountains hid around the hotel.

The food is amazing I was quite nervous as I have heard bad reports about the food in Dom Rep but there is so much choice, the a la carte restaurants are fab especially the Japanese it is a must!!

Iv'e never met such lovely staff at a hotel they were all wonderful and not forgetting the entertainment.

Usually the Caribbean isn't the best for entertainment but the team here know what good entertainment is! The Lion King show they did even brought a tear to my eye!

Daytime entertainment is great from Salsa lessons to aerobics in the sea! I'm already booked up for next year!