Myself and my friend recently stayed in the Fun Tropicale (the first 2 weeks in February 08). On arrival we were put into a room that was not what we had booked with the Agent (Thomas Cook). The reception staff were very helpful and moved us to a different room immediately (temporarily for that night) and were moved again the following day to our final room.

The complex in itself is fine. It is very well kept and exceptionally clean. The room we stayed in was in block 21. It was basic but clean and habitable. The rooms could do with a little upgrading. We did overhear other people complaining about their rooms so it sounded like it was pot luck on what you got.

The food was ok. Yes there is plenty of choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the extra restaurants (Brazilian and Italian, Popeyes Pizza) but unfortunately for us it became very repetative towards the end of the two weeks. However, if you go the the Plaza, you will find a Pizza Hut (very cheap), Roadways (good) but the place to eat has to be Hemmingways. We ate here a number of times and the food was exceptional and very reasonably priced.

The entertainment has a lot to be desired in my opinion. There is only so many nights you can watch a group of people miming/dancing to music. The management should change it up a bit and include other type of enterainment - perhaps talent show for guests, karakoe nights, etc.

Yes the VIP services are a bit of a nuisance however if you politely say "not today" and walk on they do not pester you.

In general it was a nice place to stay but could do with some improvements in my opinion.

Firsty, please don't believe the bad reviews of this hotel, and please don't go there dreading what you may find.
As so many others have, I too read some of the reviews and thought "Oh my god I hope this is going to be alright".

This was the first time I had been long haul, and therefore my first time anywhere exotic.
I can honestly and truthfully say it was fantastic!

The First Choice flight was excellent, going there and back, in fact the best flights I and my friend have been on. Really looked after you and it was comfortable. Transfers were 1st class new air conditioned coaches also.

The rooms are basic there is no denying that, but they are spotless, we had a twin room which consisted of two double beds, a kitchenette and en suite. The fridge was stocked up with beer, pop and bottled drinking water everyday without fail, as well as a gallon bottle of water provided for you to brush you teeth with-re filled when needed.
The beds are very comfortable and in fact I had some of the best nights sleep I have had for a long time, I was so relaxed and snug.
I got bitten twice, outdoors only, and believe me I am usually one that mossies like to munch on!!
I even picked up the wrong 'plug in' mossie killer to use for the room, but we survived! I think the key to this is dont leave your patio doors/windows open for them to get in, and take some quality insect repellent, I used one from boots a gel with 50% DEET in it and worked a treat during the day and night, and don't forget your after bite remedy and then you wont scratch as much and make matters worse!

Overall the rooms were more than adequate with fresh towels everyday, plently of hot water, yes the baths do leak a little but you are in 3RD WORLD COUNTRY so their plumbing standards will not be the same as ours! There was a celing fan and the room had air conditioning which worked perfectly. The rooms did smell a little damp at first, but this will be due to the air con and soon freshend up when you get living in there. No major concerns at all.

The rest of the resort is spotless! The pools are clean and they keep cleaning them through the day, not a tile out of place or any bird poo as someone wrote I can recall!!
Towels are provided everyday for beach/pool which are also good.

The main pool is not overly loud or rowdy at all, if you are nosey, want to know what people are up to, want some fun and a laugh in your day then this is the pool for you. It was great. You lay out on a sun bed, reading, sleeping, sun bathing, whatever you like, dip in the pool from time to time, swim up to the bar and have a drink all with some background entertainment or if your up for a laugh then join in!!
If you do want to be quiet, then the adult pool is located perfectly and far enough away from it all. The childrens pool looked fine to but didnt go to this other than for a welcome meeting. There are no life guards there, so its your job to take responsibilty for your children and quite rightly so I believe.

The restaurant, brilliant! For those who said that they could not find anything they liked I do not believe them, there is loads to choose from!!
Breakfast- fresh fruit, breads,pancakes,muffins,cakes, cereals, cooked breakfast, boiled egss,yohurts, toast.......
Lunch- BBQ meats, burgers, pasta, chips,rices, fish dish, pork dish, beef dish, chicken dish, as much salad as you can eat freshly prepared and edible as it is washed in drinking water, bread.......
Dinner- As above but the dishes are all different.
Sweets- Ice cream, cakes, jelly,fresh fruit........
It is clean, tidy and well prepared. The birds are a little cheeky in the late morning at times and come to join you for a crumb or two! but thery are no hinderence at all and I did not see any mess from them.
The italian restaurant is fabulous and well worth a visit, I am sure the brazilian is much the same.

Entertainment, The tour rep said to us "dont forget we are a 3rd world country and we have to make the best of what we have with our shows" And boy do they! It is fabulous and my god they work hard, but I will come onto the staff shortly.....

We went on one trip, out back safari.
It was BRILLIANT! I fully recommend this trip. For about £40 you get one full day of being entertained with drinks and food thrown in, which they DO NOT skimp on! If you are like me and want to know what there is around you, a bit of history and want to safely get out and see the place, then this is the trip for you. In an open top truck you visit the countryside, a house, a school, a fruit farm with the dominican people and kids there. You have a boat trip, hold and stroke crocodiles, visit a fresh water river and then round it all off by belly boarding in the sea on a fantastic clean exotic beach.

Finally the staff...............What can I say ,other than OUTSTANDING!! They are just brilliant, everyone last one of them make you so very welcome! They work DAMN hard for you, probably not for a lot of money, they always have a smile and a Hola! for you. They are fluent in all languages and go out thier way for you. Excellent. They include everyone in the games and activities, and if you don't want to be sociable and have fun then move!!! They don't pester you, they ask you to join in, its their job!!
(Aqua areobics is a lot of fun)
They turn thier attention to all ages men and women, and I did not see any evidence of the men 'hitting' on teenage girls! There were also some kids there with special needs and they did nothing but look after them and entertain. None of them make you feel uncomfortable and I have nothing but praise and gratitude for ALL of them.

The only gripe I had was the VIP SERVICES, basically time share sellers, they do only ask you once and do not pester you day after day, but they are good at getting you to the office with how they word things, friendly, but we managed to watse an hour of our holiday sat listening to them before we escaped. So beware! if you have a green wrist band it tells them its your first time there, they will leave you a few days and then ask you, they are really nice and when you say no they pester you no more, just miffed I missed an hour of sun!!! The staff are located as you walk to the restaurant! But again they are only doing a job!

So in a nut shell................This place is great value for money, cheap and cheerful hoilday!
Also I had been quite ill before I went here and still taking medication so I cannot consume much alcohol which did not spoil it either, ie didnt need to drink to make it better!
I was totally relaxed, had a fun time, in a place that was clean, friendly with beautiful surroundings and even came off some of the medication!!

The hotel is not a place where I would go for a honeymoon or if you want to be all romantic and secluded with desert island sort of surroundings, but it is great if you just want to get away from it all with friends or family, in an exotic cheap friendly place. And remember! Things are done in Dominican Time, slower and relaxed, so you do the same and chill out from the normal rat race!!! Enjoy!!! :-)

So I enjoyed yet another fantastic stay at Fun Troipcale-Fun Royale!! i have been to this hotel several times with my family and friends. Each and every time just gets better. Unfortunately, this time we were subject to a tropical storm.
Although the winds were high and the rain terrential, this did not stop my Banana family from having a great time.
The staff once again went above and beyond to keep us all entertained. Big thanks to Papi, Kingpin, TacoBell, Andreas, Domingo, Safi, Sweety, Angel, Jose, johanny, Brittany, Angela and to the others I haven't mentioned. Each of the shows were outstanding and I have to extend an even bigger thank you to Hector, who after all my pleading, allowed us to see the Michael Jackson show and Fantasia while we were there.
So to all you people who complain about this hotel, i would just like to say that these guys work very hard to keep you entertained and it makes it so much harder for them to do their job when people dont want to get involved. If you dont want to be bothered, go lie by the adult pool where its quiet or take your children to the kiddies pool! there are plenty of options there.
The rooms are reasonably clean with fresh towels and linen everyday. The food has its days where on some days there was so much choice i had no idea what i wanted, on others i stuck to pasta!
Now you cant really blame the hotel for the bug bites you get now, it'll happen no matter where you go unless you are one of these people who never seem to get bitten! Unfortunately the bugs seem to love me but I never let this spoil my fun.
There are plenty of activites to do, my advice is to book them down at the plaza as they tend to be a little bit cheaper there. The only thing I would advise to book from the hotel is the horse riding. What a fantastic day. the horses are well looked after and they have horses to suit all levels. the guides make sure that you enjoy your day no matter how experienced you are. Its well worth the money.
The entertainment staff offer trips of their own also, which are fun to go on. the City tour is fun, you get taken to the Rum factory where you can buy very cheap rum! The sosua disco tour can be fun too, I have been on so many of them I'm almost an expert!! If there is something you want to do that isnt offered, just ask one of the guys, they are always happy to help to see what they can do for you.
I cant wait to get back there again this year to enjoy yet another great holiday with my Banana Family

Mairi Banana and Her Banana Family

Me and my boyfriend have just returned from a 2 week stay at this hotel and had a fab time. The rooms are kept clean and tidy although the deco is a bit dated we mainly stayed round the family pool area and enjoyed watching all the games even if we did not join in there is also an adult only pool if you would like peace and quite. The food was O.K some days were better than others lots of choice though we went to both the italian and brazilian resturants and enjoyed both. Did the quad biking which cost 55 dollars for two and was one of our best days there had lots of fun. We also went to Ocean World and did the dolphin swim which was fantastic all the shows were great too. The beach is not gr8 but if you walk for about 20mins along you will find a gr8 beach with clear water. I would not recommened the catamaran trip as when we went the sea was very rough and nearly half the boat were being continually sick myself included. Its not a 5 star hotel but you get what you pay for and I would recommened going if you are on a budget, everyone is really friendly out there and met some gr8 people. My bfriend also had a round of golf and said the course was really good.Any questions please message me.