My family and I recently spent our vacation at the Villa Jazmin. Upon arrival I was very disappointed. We were not aware that it was located in a residential community. The rooms were not very attractive and needs a lot of updating. The air conditioning system is very poor and the rooms were still hot with the a/c on. There were roaches in the unit in the kitchen area around the sink. Since we did not accept the meal plan we were treated differently from the other guests and felt excluded. You have to pay for water and electric. The cleaning staff had to be reminded daily to provide the correct amount of towels and facecloths. There was 1 day were our room was not cleaned at all. There is little entertainment and no amenities aside from the pool. There is no laundry facility on the premises, no iron or ironing board in the room, no ice machine, had ot buy ice. Overrall, I would not recommend Villa Jazmin as a place to stay for a vacation in Puerto Plata.

We recently spent a week at the Villas Jazmin and found the whole experience to be somewhat underwhelming. The weather was great and we certainly did a lot of relaxing but then there was little else to do.

First of all, the villas are very spartan. We were a little dismayed to find that there was no microwave or coffeemaker. They provide the type of old fashioned stovetop coffee pot that most of us would use on a camping trip. 2 days of that and we were searching out a department store in Puerto Plata and bought a nice coffeemaker for the equivilant of 20 dollars US. Money well spent. About Tuesday of the week I realized that they were selling microwave popcorn in the office and speculated were one popped it. When we asked at the office the receptionist seemed shocked that we were without one and within minutes we had a microwave. Now, doesn't it seem like someone inspecting the room prior to our arrival might, maybe have noticed that? Hmmmm... We did very much appreciate the nice stereo system (OK, big boom box) that was in our villa.

We did not sign up for the meal plan, actually we skipped the presentation. We like to search out the local food and try different places and generally we were not disappointed. Try Don Quixotes or Club Caruso. The two meals that we did eat at the Villas ( a dinner and a lunch) were OK but certainly not what I would have wanted to eat the entire week.

There are lot's of people in this world who seem to think that all-inclusives are the ONLY way to go and that's fine. Just not the way we like to do things at this stage of our lives.

We also had a huge problem with always having to walk through the bar/resturant to get anywhere. We did figure out about Wednesday that if the Internet Shop was open we could short cut through there. Felt like we were teenagers sneaking out at night!

We have a sort of ritual on the trip home where we talk about whether we would go back and in this case we are thinking probably not. We are very conservative people and truly do not expect a lot, a coffeemaker, a microwave, good food at a reasonable price. Constambar is quite far from Puerto Plata and transportation is pricey. We have no problem taking local public transportation but it doesn't seem to exist.

Also, it's been years since I have traveled with children but I can't imagine spending a week at Villas Jazmin with kids in tow. They would be bored to tears.

I feel the need to express the truth about my stay at this establishment for the good of future holiday makers.
Firstly, the good points even though there were very few....
the staff were extremely friendly and I was especially impressed with the cleaning service.
HOWEVER, there were no other English people at the hotel and therefore there was no English influence on the menu or in fact in the whole hotel! Although the food was nice if not sometimes under-cooked I was sold the "meal plan" and therefore we were forced to eat at the hotel all the time and when I arrived home I was diagnosed with SALMONELLA. I've been incredibly ill for the past few weeks and I'm utterly disgusted.
Also, another complaint about this holiday would be the lack of facilities apart from a beach (which was filthy) and supermarket. So if your idea of a holiday consists of boredom and Salmonella book up now!

I do not recemmend the villa during hot months. The only nice thing about it that it is so close to the beach.: 5-10 min walk. We did not buy the meal plan and therefore were treated not as nice as the people who did. There are a lot of restaurants nearby with great food, good prices. Explore the area near by.