Just back from a great week at Blue bay. We stayed from 2/9 to 2/16 for those who want to compare to others reports. Please read back several reveiws before making any discussions and remember that some people would whine about finding a hundred dollar bill if they heard about someone who hit the lottery for $10k. "Why can't good things like that happen to me?" And try to weed out the reveiws written by those who are very unlikely to have actually worked for and earned the money spent to take their vacation. They seem to be the most demanding and least appreciative.

The positive reveiws state things very accurately. Its a small resort with a comfortable feel. Everything is within an easy walks distance. The resort is set inland from the water and makes for a cozy enviroment only a short walk across a bridge/walkway (pause here to see birds, lizards, and interesting plant life) to the sand. Think of the value. Add up the costs of six meals a day, all the drinks you want, and a clean, comfortable room in your home town. Thats about what you pay for this resort. Add to that nightly entertainment, beautiful beach access, unlimited food, service, friendly, helpful people everywhere, the list goes on. This place is a bargain.

The entertainment staff is incredible. These people work day and night. In the evening their job requires them to perform, on stage, as a professional entertainer would and while the quality of their performances may not rival those of Michael Jackson in his heyday, they are very good and appropriately funny when intended. These multi-talented and personable folks work very hard to do something for their guests that they cannot do for themselves, even while in paradise with all the amenities and the most important person in their lives with them, keep ourselves entertained. As far as Michael Jackson goes- a professional impersonator was employed one evening and this guy could not be told from in real McCoy. An unbelievable performance appreciated by someone who never cared for the entertainer but respects his talents.

I could go on forever.

Rooms (I think ours was standard)- Neat as a pin. Very plain. White walls, tile floor. Nice, modest, bathroom. Safe in the closet ($15 for the stay, just do it). Iron, T.V. (don't tell me your going the DR to watch TV?) patio w/table and chairs. Basic but nice. Any nicer and I might want to be in the room when there is a whole stretch of beach and an entire island to see. The beds are big and "dense" is the best way to describe them. I slept like a dog by a hot woodstove on a freezing night.

Food- The buffet is a feast for the most gluttonous of connoisseurs. I can't attest to the al le carte restaurants being booked because I never tried to reserve a night. The buffet is constantly varied and proved very appealing to my girl who is a fussy "meat and potatoes" fan, though willing to sample anything I thought she may like. I rate the buffet 9 out of 10. And it came with servers. So you seated yourself and in a pinch you may "have" to sit with a couple you don't know and God forbid........ actually talk to them and possible make new friends. The horror. We did....... once by choice even.

Pools- Two. One with a swim up bar. Never crowded. Certainly big enough for the four or five people who may have actually been in them at the time. They are the standard depth for public enjoyment. Four feet. Largely unused except for the sunbathers and pool activities promoted by the entertainment team.

Drinks- Limited to a few choices of tropical drinks. Not strong. Maybe why we didn't see anyone rowdy and drunk. Just happy. And the barkeep will make whatever you ask. You just need to know what you want. Frankly, we forgot to drink much. Too busy I guess.

I also forgot that I sat on "cheap" (comfortable) plastic seats at times. Must have something to do with the salt air and multiple bee-hinds that prompted this choice of material.

Beach venders- always present. I wouldn't request them but its a fact of life. I found them quite respectful. My advice is; don't ask to look if your not at least a little serious about a purchase. It just wastes everyones time and you put yourself in a position you need to back out of. A simple "no thanks" and they are on there way.

Time share hawks- Read above. Don't play games, just say no. We own a timeshare elsewhere and they still asked but backed off when we reminded them of how we found BlueBay in the first place.

Things I would be concerned about- Having a room near the theater. Some nights were loud, late into the night. Our room was away and quiet so I don't know first hand how the close ones were.

Random thoughts- The walls are thin. Be respectful and keep your voices down a bit. You rented a room, not ALL the rooms.

Smokers (is there a more inconsiderate group of people? generally speaking, I know). I would prefer they were not allowed out of their rooms but a smokers area at the theater, beach bar etc., like at the buffet, would be a good compromise. Its not just here, more of a general complaint.

Look around you. There are little creatures and birds to be found on the walk to the beach and even more if you were to walk the miles of safe, beautiful beaches to either side of BlueBay. I actually purchased a small Leatherback turtle from a local diver who was going to sell it to an aquarium for 50 pescos (about $1.50 US) in order to set it free. He didn't speak a lick of english and I no Spanish, but I can tell you he is a kind, trusting individual who allowed me to free the animal and walked about 1 1/2 miles with us to get his money. One of the highlights for me.

Maybe fly in to Santo Domingo and get a tourbus ride (4hrs) to Puerto Plata. Great way to see some of the "real" Dominican. It worked out for us to be cheaper than a flight to PP and the trip to BlueBay was just that, atrip. Our drivers from Dominican Airport Transfers were excellent and professional.

Take a day tour. Shop around. We went on a buggy tour through Mel's tours. I would suggest trying Felix at the beach instead. Mel's had some persistent equipment failures do to prolonged hard use and virtually no maintenance.

Dominican people are personable and respectful, especially compared to home and some of the clientele at the resort. (more on this later). We speak no spanish and I'm typically the "watch yer back" sort but I felt very safe here. Use good judgement and you will be fine. I was a little surprised to see people up at 6:00 AM to put one of their beach towels on two chairs under a hut on the beach and the other on two chairs by a pool. Then, when the towel gets soaked in a rainshower because its 500 yards from where they are, the complaints begin at the tour center because there aren't any more dry towels to give out. I kept one all week. My advise, if you don't see anyone around, move the towel aside and have a seat. Chances are you wont see them for hours on end.

Tipping- Almost forgot. Want to feel good about yourself? Pick out one or two different people each meal or activity that stand out and let them know you noticed their efforts to make your stay a pleasure. The gardener, maids, servers at meals, entertainment staff. The list goes on. Budget a few bucks. Two dollars here and there to see someones face light up because you actually noticed them for their efforts is priceless. I even tipped the busboy one day. A first for him I would guess by the reaction I got. And do it for the right reasons, not to get specially treatment. Tip after the fact, when you are done with the meal/activity. And keep the dollar store junk at home. They don't want it anymore than you do. Its insulting and embarrassing.

For the management- Maybe a door mat to help keep the sand out of the rooms and a rug or too by the bed for the same reason. Another hook or two in the bathroom to hang wet towels...............Hmmm? Lets see. Some of the incredible, local art on the walls would bring the rooms to life too. Bear with me. I'm trying to think of something that needs improvement................

Be realistic. This is a very depressed country. If you thing you deserve to be lavished like a hero or royalty, (you don't) you may be disappointed. If you realize how fortunate you are to be alive today and wealthy enough to spend a few grand on yourself to relax, you will be suprised just how nice it is to be in the DR and at a great place like Bluebay.

Since I kept things breif :-) and may not have covered your concerns, feel free to contact me at; wasteaway98@yahoo.com

We stayed at Blue Bay from Feb 9th to the 16th. We arrived and had a quick check-in. Our standard room was ready upon arrival, and our keys were given to us on the bus, so this was very efficient.

Rooms.
Plain and simple, nothing special. That said, we were not there to stay in our room so it wasn't my main concern. The only complaint was that we were in room 6104. We were on the ground floor and had an adjoining door. Beware you will hear everything. Also there is a maid’s closet just outside the door, and it does get very noisy sometimes. (7:45am sometimes) Not to easy to get some sleep. It was nice to have a water machine outside our door. (Never ran out)

Grounds
Very very nice. Always someone sweeping and picking up leaves. Never saw any trash lying around. Both serving staff and cleaning staff on the beach were always walking around picking up cups and papers on the beach and by the pool areas.

Food
We had the buffet most of the time. We only did the grill restaurant as I am not a fan of seafood and Asian food. (My lost)
The buffet was good, always something to eat. As others have said, the food was often the same; therefore I would have a hard time calling the buffet 4 star quality. The make your own pasta was good. The omelette station was good also. The problem I had at the buffet was in the morning....(being Canadian, I love my bacon) lol. Sometimes they had it, and sometimes they didn't. You have to ask for it at the omelette station and sometimes they don't have any. The chateaubriand at the grill was fantastic. My in-laws(which traveled with us) tried the seafood and loved it.

Housekeeping
If you want your room cleaned just leave the door handle clear. One the second day I put the sign on the door asking for the room to be done and it wasn't done until 5pm the next day. If you do not put the sign on the door for privacy they will start the cleaning by 8:45am. Happened to us the one day. Turndown services were done most days, with beautiful towel designs.

Staff and Animation
Staff is excellent, and very nice. Most of them are always smiling and seem like they have pride in where they work. Animation was o.k., but the animation staff was the best. Good times had with those guys. Amazing how you see them at 9am and still see them doing stuff late at night. No complaints with them. It's a shame they don't have more to work with. My only complaint of staff, YELLOW GOLF SHIRTS. These guys want to bring you for the VIP sign up, all the time. As said before you have to walk by them on the way to the beach every time and even after saying no at times it gets a little stressful trying to dodge them.

Beach
Nice and clean beach... Towel game is on, if you want a hut on the beach be prepared to have your towels down by 7am. Emanuel will help you with that. He is a great guy. Tonnes of vendors and it can get annoying, a simple no thank you will keep them moving, but you will be asked by the same people a few times during the day. (They are making a living,so we dealt with it)

Drinks
All was good, Presidente for myself and Rum and coke. (Ask for Brugal) much better. Try the drink menu, allot of good choices to try.

Excursions
Talk to Felix on the beach. Checked all his prices, and he can beat your tour rep. for sure. Just tell him you were sent by the 2 Dan's and say "all we do is catch fish". No doubt he will love that.

All in all guys and gals, this a good 3 star at most. We had a great time and have no regrets for the price. Will we go back? No, been there done that. Enjoy yourselves.... we did.

Hi everyone, I really hope my review will answer a lot of your questions. It was my first time in an all inclusive package and i was trying to gather the most information possible.

First, we were 6 persons, 3 couples, between 23 and 33, but mostly in our early 20's and we booked our trip online with Go Travel Direct for 900.00$CA all taxes included.

Even if it's not necessarily recommended by any travel agencies, i would recommend you have your Hepatitis A and B up to date as well as your Tetanos, even better if you have it a couple months in advance the vaccines work better if given earlier on.

Our flight was with Zoom airline, a very small plane, not much leg room for someone over 6 feet, but other than that OK for an 3h45 flight. They serve you a meal on every flight and if it's dinner they give you a nice glass of wine. Also at some point, when you will be watching a movie they will come around to sell some duty free stuff.

We arrived to very humid D.R at night and our Go travel direct agent was there to take us to our resort giving good tips on the ride about your stay, like the water in the rooms at blue bay gateway is not good to drink but is OK for brushing your teeth and the water the hotel uses to wash the food and serve you (even the ice) is made of purified water!

When we arrived we were told to take a safe for 15$US a week where to put all our important belongings, very useful, everyone should have one! The only money they take is US money and D.R money which is pesos. The rate at this time of year was 1$US for 30 Pesos. As we booked all at the same time online we thought we would be put in the same building, but no. They had building 4 and 8 and we were in 2. (have a look at the map picture) I had asked for specifics while booking, but we didn't get what we asked for. If you can, i would recommend a pool view with a balcony. We asked for a big bed but didn’t mind having two big ones ;) The mini bar was filled with a big bottle of water (renewed everyday) 2 beers, a sprite and a coke (all complementary for the first time), but for refill of it it will cost you 10$US (except the water) and the bottle opener is screwed in the wall. My room was right beside the stage where they do the entertainment, so earplugs came in handy for early nights. With all the alcohol we drink in a day and the strenght of the sun, even if you don't think you'll go to bed early, believe me you will! The closet of the room was big enough for me and i didn't need more hangers that we had, i kept all my stuff in my luggage anyway. The bathroom is gorgeous but brings your own soap and shampoo. I left a gift everyday on my pillow, but i couldn't tell if the maid was happy as i never got swan towels as my friends who didn't leave anything for their maid.

They give you a blue towel for the pool/beach, but don't loose it or you'll have to pay for it. You can get a fresh one everyday in the morning at the towel cabana in exchange of your old one.

The bars open around 10, the pool bar unfortunately is the one that closes the earliest at 6, otherwise the other one by the buffet closes at 10 and the beach bar is open all night. Once the bars are closed and the diner finished (also at 10) you will have to go to your room or to the beach to drink a glass of water. The pool bar is very nice, Juan the barman (who we told was a super star as his picture was on the resort website) will make you very strong drinks, as every barman there! If you are a shooter kinda person, i would recommend you bring your own glass, cuz you won't find anything like it there. At the beach bar, Giovanni is the best!!!! Ask him anything he will be up for it, even to take a shot with you. Julio will serve you the BEST cheeseburger of your life and i personally enjoyed the chicken wings we could order at every hour of the night!

As for the buffet restaurant, the food was excellent, i could always find something to eat that i would enjoy, especially in the morning! As for the restaurant à la carte, make your reservation early, the Oriental one was gorgeous and the food good, the grill restaurant was not so fancy but very good especially the filet mignon, but the seafood restaurant was very bad, everyone in my group felt sick the next day.

Be sure to always be hydrated, because you could be sent to the hospital like one of our friend who had a diagnostic of dehydration and stayed a complete day at the hospital. Be sure to have good travel insurance cuz you never know. The hospital services were very good, friendly and professional.

The pools were great and the beach is nice except for the water that is troubled and not so nice on that part of beach. But you can walk for about 15 minutes on your left on other resort and find gorgeous blue water. You can lay there with your towel as long as you do not take their chairs. Or do like we did go for a taxi ride to Sosua beach GORGEOUS!

There is a lot of activities that were offered by the travel agent there, but if you are quick enough, some you can do cheaper by yourself. Like visit the Brugal Rum factory or go to Sosua beach(flea market). If you walk to the main street out of the Dorada resort and find a gwagwa (old caravan type of car), you can easily deal a trip to the factory for 1$US or 2$US for Sosua (which is 30 minutes from your resort). If you are going to the flea market bring your money separate it in different pockets and bags and be ready to bargain. We were told to cut the prices in 4 from the starting price they ask and to never pay more than half they asked at the beginning. They will tell you all the stories they can find to make you feel sorry for them, but believe me they know you have money and that's ALL they want. I fell for it and could have bought more souvenirs like my friends. A t-shirt you should get at 7$US, a pack of 10 cigars for 5$US, 2 bracelets for 4$US, a large bottle of Vanilla for 3-4$US all this i learned too late :S The asked price on a shooter glass made in China is 8$US, so no wonder why they all have the latest cell phones :S LOL Also for cheap rum go to the rum factory (30 minutes walking distance from the hotel) or buy it when you go on the safari outback tour.

We did 2 activities when we were there. The outback Safari tour which was great, they bring you to the country side and you will visit a typical house, a school, a fruit plantation with degustation and a river to take a swim in. You will stop for lunch at a crocodile zoo, then you will stop a local shop and finish your day at a gorgeous beach where you will learn to boogie board! (79.00$US/per person). The other activity we did was the Dolphin swim at Ocean World. The entrance is 55$US, if you want an encounter with the dolphins(sealions and sharks are also available options) it's 100$US and a swim is 145$US. The swim is a bit mechanical, you don't actually swim with the dolphins, they make them hug you , kiss you, pull you, jump over you, etc. a bit like the encounter but twice as long. Of course it's a great experience once in a life time and it gives great pictures!

There is so much more i could say, but i hope my comments were helpful. Overall i was very impressed with the resort, very clean, always had hot water, no bugs in my room, friendly and happy service. Great adult resort!

We spent our honeymoon from Feb 5 -15 at this resort. We paid full price through WestJet for a Standard Plus package (with balcony or Terrace). I also ensured that the TA made note that it was our honeymoon and hoped for a quiet area and I emailed the resort and a direct email to Mr Lora prior to arrival stating the same.

From what I gathered, the hotel was over booked. We were given a standard room (no balcony/terrace) instead of the standard plus as were another couple. While arguing with staff, a different couple were actually downgraded to a different resort. After being told that we could not have the room we paid for until the following week (it was only Tues), I asked for Mr Lora who wasn’t there (nor was he a few other times we requested to speak to him). After a rather lengthy fight which finally involved our Westjet rep at our insistence, we were given a villa the next day unfortunately in a very busy area but better than we had.

We are a middle aged couple and have been to many all-inclusives in several countries including the DR so hopefully I can give you an accurate review of this hotel.

Location: in Playa Dorado, right next to the Mall… it’s a good location
Reception: other than the obvious issues we had the first night, most were pleasant. For some reason after our 7 days, they kept locking us out and we had to get our cards recoded everyday. There are 2 laptops for people to share free for the internet which was nice. The internet went down quite a bit though.

Food: The ala-cartes were pretty good, 4 star food and service. The Chateaubriand at the Grill was very good. Book the ala-cartes immediately. They were all booked up for several days when we first got there. The Buffet was understaffed sometimes and maybe just not big enough for the resort. We are used to someone escorting you to a table and then having a waiter take care of you and that way he knows when you are finished or not. This buffet was chaos some days. A tip would be to bring a sweater to leave on the chair when you go up for desert so you don’t lose your table. The food was ok. I think there should have been more hot items to choose from. I don’t like fish and I struggled finding supper a couple of times. The quality of food on this buffet compared to other 4 star resorts we’ve been to was around a 3 star. Service was a 3 as it was near impossible to get a coffee sometimes but they were very quick at pouring water and cleaning up. Breakfast was always good but a few times at lunch, the main foods at the buffet were the same burgers, hotdogs and fries you can get at the snack bar.

Drinks: domestic only. All the tropical drinks start with 1 or 2 slushie machines and none were very good. I was very disappointed in this area and it was the same at the 3 main bars. After several days, we tried a drink at the Spa bar and were shocked to find that in this one place, you get a real drink made from a blender.

Rooms: the standard is a very basic 2-3 star. The villa was really only a 4 star. King bed, 2 chairs and a full bathroom. The air conditioning works well and we never ran out of hot water. We did tip the maid nightly and the room was always very clean with a few nice touches such as towel swans. The walls are paper-thin so maybe not the place to be on your honeymoon, LOL. You can hear everything in the next room and I mean everything.

Pool/Beach: The 2 main pools were side by side and were adequate for the size of the resort. The quiet pool was very small with a small sitting area. This was the one area that rated a 4 star though. Better service and drinks but hard to find a spot there. I thought the beach was great! Not as nice as in Punta Cana but we were happy with it.
The towel game is in full force here so save your spots early. Lots of beach vendors though. They need more beach towels period… you could never get a clean one until morning.

Entertainment: repeats every 7 days so if you are staying for longer, can get boring. It was ok – good. We really enjoyed the magician.

Spa: nice spa. |We booked a special couples massage for $100.00 which was very nice.

Timeshare hawks: brutal. Everyday, they hunted us down, telling us we were family and how they were disappointed that we wouldn’t “help them” by going to a timeshare meeting. It got very annoying after a few days.

Overall impression: lots of middle aged couples here. It’s a pretty quiet resort all in all. Due to its small size, there isn’t a lot of do on the resort so if you like a lot of activities, this isn’t the place for you. We spent time off the resort as well going to Puerto Plata, Sousa, Cabarete and taking the Outback Safari excursion. There is pride in this place and you can see that. We would not pay full price again but would return on a sell-off. If they serve better quality drinks and picked up the food in the buffet a notch, it would hit a 4 star rating but right now, I see it more comparable to a 3.5 star. They need to do something with the buffet.. maybe do what some cruises do, have a place card that reads “table taken” and on the flip side “table open” so you would know which tables are being used. We had a great vacation and really enjoyed Puerto Plata.