Just got back from Perta plata, survived the gardens only for 2 days, all the reports are being kind, birds on the buffet,cold food , no air con, broken tiles, ergh!!!!!!!!!!!!! moved to sister hotel what a treat great .

We have just returned from Lifestyle Garden Club, a holiday which we booked August 2006.
We booked all inclusive due to the fact we could use all five restaurants and all bars (unlimited food and drink), the only additional payment was for shrimp and lobster.
On arrival we were tagged with a green band. A couple of days later we were informed we could only eat at the buffet all other restaurants were off limits to lowly green bands. If we wanted to eat a Chinese or Mexican meal we would have to pay 15 dollars each (not all inclusive). This is not what the brochure promised, (we were told it was an old brochure, remember we booked last August) People booked 2 days before arriving and were told the same thing yet booked from the same holiday we had but from a 2007 brochure ( who’s telling lies?). The booking system for any restaurant was to say the least bias, other residents in the resort who wore yellow or red bands could book from 1pm- 1.30pm, green bands on the other hand could book from 3pm-3.30pm when there were very limited spaces available, gold band wearers could wander in at will and be given priority over anyone else. This is a disgraceful practice and discriminates between groups of people and makes you feel like a second class citizen. I was not aware nor were we told there were different classes of all inclusive.
This was meant to be an adult only resort, kids screamed around and in the pool, one even jumped out and urinated in it, then again he was the reps kid so it must have been ok, the rep was as much use as a chocolate fire guard, numerous guests requested complaint forms, they have yet to receive them as the rep came up with various excuses as to why he could not provide any. I regret I cannot give you his name so you know not to believe a word that comes out of his mouth (you will know him if you meet him). He failed to carry out his function and look after his guests. We will be informing his employer.
Breakfast was usually cold but apart from that the food was not too bad. I am no better than anyone else but I did not book a holiday to eat and live in the same complex as the staff.
We were told that all the changes to our chosen holiday and the facilities was due to a combination of things, mainly the arrival of the Americans and the fact the complex had been bought over and was due to be demolished to make way for VIP villas
You will be harassed by touts trying to sell you VIP villas and holidays from the same people who will treat you like a second class citizen.
This is not a complaint it is simply to inform you of what could happen to you, we are not alone at least 30 other couples had the same experience as us. Take your brochure with you if you choose to go to this complex
Staff were great, very friendly and could not do enough for you, rooms were clean and tidy.It’s a pity that the people who make the money don’t give a toss about their customers well the non American ones that is.

Arrived home this morning, it was the worst 2 weeks of mine and my girlfriends life, we counted the days down to get out of there. On arrival there was drinks waiting and friendly staff which was a relief due to at the airport all they can say is tip tip tip.
When we booked we booked all inclusive which said 6 restaurants to choose from 4 bookable a day in advance, well this was not true, there was 6 but what they didnt say was you get the use of 1 except for snack time, which is appaling for food hygiene due to all being uncovered allowing the ants and birds to get the first share, we also found that the food if not eaten would then appear the next day again being re-heated up to 3 times.
All the people we met there had up set stomachs including us 2.
To book the ala-carte you get a time spot from 3-3.30pm which is after all the other hotels in the complex have booked so generally you got put on the cancellation list but as the food is so bad in the standard restaurant no one does so you done get in even though there could be upto 48 seats available which there was one time we tried and when we questioned that they said upgrade to gold wrists bands which meant buying a timeshare then you can just walk in.
If in the garden you get treated as third rate guests due to wearing green arm bands which basically means if you go to the bar you get disposable cups when wearing one of the other colours you get a proper glass, Also 2 of the restaurants they want to charge you 15USD PP if you can get in which is not on after paying all inclusive. When you check in they give you a sheet telling you whats included and whats not which does not tally up to the brochure and when showing them that they basically laugh at you and say the brochure is not correct, the sheet they gave us says room service 10USD per order but when calling them they stated that this hotel doesnt do room service even though its in black and white. The rooms are very basic with a toilet wardrobe bed and shower which most days the shower is cold water only and some days no water at all and even no electric due to power cuts which happened very frequently. The evening entertainment is a complete waste of time and your lucky if you see any entertainment during the day. The swimming pool is really big and nice but not mantained very well having damaged tiles and cleaned in about 10mins in the morning leaving bird poo floating all day when your sitting in it. The Mytravel rep has his kids in the pool during they day which we had to complain about when one of them stood on the side pulled his shorts down and urinated in the pool and on the side. On complaining to the hotel about these all the said to do was upgrade to the time share or upgrade to the tropical for and extra £125 pp which i think was a joke considering we have paid £1400 already. Also dont remove your wrist band or break it or lose it due to lose of it costs you 15USD or you can not eat it for the rest of the holiday and i happened to have mine break so i was evicted from the restaurant until i walked to the other side of the complex and got a new one even though i had been eating in there for about 5 days already.
I am sure theres more that i have forgotten so fell free to contact me if you want to know anything. Brett & Rachel

We arrived back yesterday after two weeks. We booked the holiday a while ago and when we got back from the travel agents I read the reviews on here and was quite worried.

You arrive at the airport and everything is about tips. A man took our cases off us and spoke to our rep and found our coach which was fine as it was pouring down with rain and we appreciated his help so we tipped him but there was a porter who literally picked our case up off the floor and put it in the coach who also asked for a tip and we refused.
You go through some really rough places on the way to this place. You'll probably drop at some places that look lovely too. About six people got dropped off at our hotel and all had read the reviews on here and we all said at first that we were relieved. The hotel is extremely basic and the receptionist is friendly but not overly helpful. You get given towel cards, info on the hotel and green wrist bands, the info on the hotel contradicts all brochures. The porter escorts you to the room (and asks for a tip) Ours was 1101, Close to the pool, the bar and reception. We got to our room and were just glad of a rest after the journey. The accomodation is very basic again. You have a shower, a wash basin and a toilet. We were lucky it seemed as our AC worked and the fan in the room really is probably the best thing about the room as the heat is ridiculous in the day. We arrived quite late and went and got something to eat. The food was never hot the whole of the stay at the rainforest buffet. Whether you got there as soon as it opened or later it was always cold. The bread table gets attacked by birds as the restaurant is relatively open. Depending on what staff are working depends completely on whether you get offered water and wine. There is always pasta and tomato sauce which is pretty much what we lived on.
Basically the things wrong with this place...

The whole idea of the three hotels in the resort is so they can sell as many time shares as possible. You get treated like rubbish if you have a green band on. There is a VIP world who get gold bands who can do anything they want, eat anywhere and make you feel very uncomfortable about staying there. There are shiny red bands, shiny blue bands and yellow bands and probably a few more colours. Men on a golf buggies hassle you about timeshares and if you go for the trip around they take a card number off you and try to get you to sign a contract, which they wont let you read.
Our brochure said the hotel was not suitable for under 14s and we had children in our pool all the time which eventually after all the english people there had complained enough about everything things did start to get better. The Reps children were even in pool and we complained to our Rep (who was useless too) because his son got out of the pool pulled his shorts down and went to the toilet in the pool. It was disgusting!
Our lock on our door was broken and a safety deposit box was $40 for the two weeks so were hid our passports and by the time we paid for the overpriced trips you probably wont have much money to worry about. The trips are overpriced and we only went to Ocean world as I wanted to swim with dolphins. This was a great day out but cost £145 approx for two to go. The other trips were good from what other people.
The staff in the other hotels called our hotel 'The Pits.' There are insects which you expect but there are really tiny ants that get everywhere. We had fleas in our bed and the bed sheets dont fit the bed properly so they attack you at night. I slept with a towel around my legs once we worked out where I was getting bitten. If you take even water to bed there will be ants everywhere when you wake up. Our room was fumigated but didnt make any difference. The gap between the floor and the bottom of the door is usually quite big so put a towel there to stop the bugs. There are a few other restaurants, Bellinis is an Italian which is a nice change from the food in the buffet but your visits are limited and you have to book the day before between 3.00 and 3.30. The receptionist that comes is always late and the reservations list is kept up at the other hotels all morning so there aren't usually many spaces left. There is a Tex/Mex which is nice but the same booking system is in place.
Out of the six people that came on the same flight and got dropped at our hotel, we were the only couple that didnt upgrade. One couple even though they upgraded spent 10 days being ill but they moved from our hotel due to the ceiling fan falling off, the AC not working and the water in the room not working. I went with low expectations and was still disappointed but you travel a long way and cant let that ruin your holiday. The beach is far from pretty and we know a few people who have been to Playa Dorada and that is much nicer. A couple we met said dont let Puerto Plata put you off the Dominican Republic so I wouldn't even go to this area.



Rachel and Brett here is my email add h_keeley@hotmail.co.uk.