We stayed at this resort from July 4th to July 11, 2008. Overall we had an excellent vacation with a few shocking issues and barely tolerable annoyances.

This was our honest experience and observations in a pros and cons list.


Pros...


- beach is amazing. soft sand, no rocks or seaweed and water was aqua clear. we woke up each morning at 5-6am so getting an ubrella (not sure what those things are called) spot for shade was easy. if you get there after 9am they will all be taken and there is no other sources of shade.

- pool is amazing. 3 pools with one main pool that has a swim up bar. the pools are very clean and are cleaned daily in the morning. temperature felt a degree cooler than luke warm bath water.

- security is ample. you feel totally safe on the resort and on the beach.

- resort is very clean. there is always staff cleaning everything from floors to ashtrays. the resort is free from garbage and debris.

- food is plentiful and the buffets offer a wide variety of choices of various types of food. the omlettes are excellent. bread is soft and made or acquired semi fresh each morning. blender smoothies from real fruits are good too.

- checkin took about 20 minutes... not bad in my opinion. checkout took about 5 minutes.

- room air conditioner blew nice cold air the entire time. our room stayed at a non-eco-friendly 70 degrees for the duration of our stay.

- tv has some english channels... cnn, fox news and 2-3 other channels that played movies and talk shows. i didn't go on vacation to watch tv and only checked the news periodically.

- we did not encounter many bugs at all and never cracked open our bug spray bottles.

- bottled water (alaska water) is always available. drink and brush your teeth using bottled water. the resort claims their ice is made from purified water. we had plenty of ice in our drinks over the 7 days and did not get hepatitis or anything else like that. neither of us have our shots either. if you are planning to get hep a and b shots remember that it takes 4 weeks of the drug being in your system before it's effective. the shots (2) are $100 each and available from your family doctor. i was bitten by 1 misquito but didn't contract any malaria or sickness.

- nightly entertainment was good. as the pool shuts down at 7pm there is really nothing else to do in the evening other than drink, eat and watch the nightly entertainment.

- the roads are not maintained at all. i have this as a pro beacuse it's fun to be chaufered though lawless streets, bouncing around in the back of a jeep taking in the true experience of cities in a third world country.


Cons...


- maid service is lacking. even after tipping $5/day we recieved substandard service. for the actual amount of time we spent in our room (typically only to sleep) this was only a minor annoyance and didn't warrent calling the front desk over it. our beds were made but on occassion our bathroom items and fridge were not restocked.

- snoopers are amongst you. the maids seem to look though your bags but don't steal anything. they are not careful enough to place things back "exactly" where they were left. small tests of tiny strings that get moved will prove this to you.

- the glossy brick grounds are extremely slippery when wet. i almost wiped out 3-5 times after a light rain. just be careful and walk slower where it's wet.

- excursion vendors are out of control and have free roam of the resort. this was the worst part of the trip. they are so pushy, never take no for an answer and are always in your face. the best advice i was given was to not make eye contact and just keep walking. street vendors are the same. some days they setup right on the resort with their paintings and junk necklaces. they are allowed to postion them selves in such a way that you have to walk their guantlet to get between main areas (such as your room and the restaurants).

- beach vendors are pushy too. they walk up and down the beach with thier $60 paintings (of which they are all artists and have painted themselves) and suitcases stuffed with necklaces. they intrude your space and make you feel uncomfortable as they too do not understand NO until the fifth or sixth time. if they hang around you too long though, security comes and tells them to move on. *some* of the resort staff (not security) assist them (with english language) in negotiating pricing with you. it appears as though they are all part of the "same team". after intense negotiation i got 2 paintings and two necklaces for $15 and a towel i got from the dollar store.

- some of the staff are drug dealers. i was asked by 3 different staff members if i wanted weed or "white cocain". they all claimed to have the best stuff. one guy wanted $60 for a quarter while another wanted $75 for 1.5 grams...(of weed) hahahaha. if thats your fancy there are rolling papers available in the resort variety store for $4. trust me... don't waste your $$ on a bag of sticks and seeds.

- my girl friend suffered an allergic reaction to something she ate and broke out in hives all over her body. possibly a bug bite but we never were able to conclude. one benadryl and six hours later she was fine. i wouldn't blame the hotel for this.

- all the cigars sold on the beach are wrapped in banana leaves. vendors require a rather expensive license to purchase and import cigar wraps from the usa. i got ropped into buying (for $20) a small box of cohiba's which apparently are wrapped in banana leaf. not the same cigar they will give you to smoke free as a "tester of their goods".


General...


- take tylenol, benadryl, ammodium and graval. the cooking oils are different and your tummy might not agree with some things.

- be sure to get your small american money ($1 bills) 10 days before your trip. you can order the exact donimations by calling your bank. cibc takes 10 days for this. i didn't do this and had to visit 5 banks just to get enough american bills in the denominations i wanted.

- the "bavaro runners" day trip ($175 CDN) was the best part of the trip. from 9 am to 5 pm you are exposed to true dominican culture. an amazing time and highly reccomended for everyone to do. search google for their website.

- drink A LOT of water. it is sooo humid there in the day and at night.

- goto the dollar store and stock up on items to trade for souveneirs. all the beach vendors are willing to trade. just keep saying the prices are too expesive.

- as a general rule for negotiating a price take 1/3 of their price and start there. don't be one of those folks that get ripped off.

- we have never been to an all-inclusive resort before and never been to anywhere south of florida.

- i am posting a few photos in the "travellers photos" section as well.

Arrival/Rooms
My husband and two children ( 9 and 10) stayed at the Occidental for 7 days towards the end of June. We arrived at the hotel and were checked in and in our room within 30 minutes. The hotel grounds are huge and we were given escort to our room by hotel staff in a golf cart, luggage and all. They will also bring the golf cart if you when you are ready to check out, just give them ample time. The room was dated but clean. D.R. is very hot and humid in June,the A/C in the room kept the room nice and cold, but it was hard to escape the humidity, although the room was cold, everything in it was damp. The room had a mini fridge stocked with 2 - Liter bottles of water, 2 Pepsis, 2-7 ups and 2 bottles of Bohemian beer which was a nice change because the bars only serve one D.R. beer - Presidente. We used the bottled water to brush our teeth since the water is not safe to drink on the island.

Food
A lot of people are complaining about the food. I will try to be as fair as possible. The buffets had a large variety, mostly Dominican fare and Spanish inspired. So unless you have a diverse palate, you may have trouble finding something you are used to. We are Americans traveling with children and my children didn't have any trouble finding something they enjoyed. Personally, I don't have high expectations for buffets because it is always food that is in warming dishes for hours at a time. The best protein at the buffet was from the carving station, it was different every night. The pizza there is cooked in a fire burning brick oven and is delicious. Tacos are prepared authentically in flour tortillas and wonderful, not like the Taco Bell most Americans are used to. Table service was OK. Little things like missing place settings, needing extra napkins etc took some effort getting, however, tipping expedited service enormously.

Beach/Pools
The beaches were the most beautiful I had seen. Clear water and powdery soft sand. Although it the weather was hot, the sand stayed cool and was powdery soft. Bavaro Beach is topless, which didn't really bother me or the kids. Americans tend to cover up more than the European guests and locals. However I didn't see any sort of lewd behavior, although I have no issues with toplessness when sunning, it was a bit jarring to see women participating in morning yoga class without tops on.

Shopping
If you are facing the water and walk about a mile to the right, there is a beach mall with local vendors. You can get souvenirs for much cheaper than in the hotel gift shop. I got half a pound of Dominican coffee for 2/$5 and it was 3x that at the hotel.
It is safe to go shopping outside the hotel. However store owners put a lot of pressure on you to look inside their shops. All the stores have the same thing...same art, same rum, same everything. If you aren't into high pressured sales it is worth paying the extra money for items in the hotel shop. While we were there, vendors were also brought into the grounds and were setup poolside for a day. Again, all the same stuff. You can take a cab a little further out and there are plenty of higher end stores and shops to visit without people pressuring you to come look inside their stores.

Staff
Staff was mostly Spanish speaking. The four years of Spanish I studied in high school were very helpful. Despite the language barrier, which was frustrating at times,the staff was very helpful. When we walked by any staff on the grounds (groundskeepers, housekeepers...etc) we acknowledged with an 'hola' and a nod or a smile.

Overall
We had a nice week in the D.R. The island is beautiful and people are friendly. The Occidental was worth what we paid. It cost the same as a Disney vacation for us. I enjoy taking the kids to places in America, but it is good for them to experience other cultures. In the end, you get what you pay for and you get out of it what you put in.

This is resort is huge and because of its size it has its limitations. The rooms are nice, but tropical damp. Our A/C was very effect and because of the drastic temperature change condensation can be a problem on the floor.

We had a problem with our room lacking a bed and although 2 phone calls said it was going to be fixed, it wasn't until I walked to the front desk that a couple of cots were wheeled in.

The staff were polite but typically did not go out of their way to service you. Expect to ask for coffee and/or drinks at every meal, and expect to ask for refills. Service is minimal. One issue of confusion that I have is that coffee seemed to be treated like a commodity, which was strange to me because it is a major export for the country (I must be missing something). Also the coffee at the resort is not brewed, but like vending machine coffee. I haven't been able to figure this out.

The resort food is local food and not the greatest, e.g. meat was always over-cooked, and anything cold was just above room temperature, but the latter is a function of the climate. There is always somewhere to get food. I did get sick with some bowel/flu like bug, but I was able to still participate in beach napping and throw the kids around the ocean and pool. I however, do not know what made me sick as I was very careful with the water I drank and used for hygiene.

The alcohol is bottom-shelf. The beer is Presidente everywhere and Bohemia in the rooms. Bohemia is a better beer and I was unsuccessful getting the maid to stock our room with beer. I tried tipping and writing notes in Spanish with money attached, but no success. Others in the group did not have this problem, but did have musty odors in the room and another had a broken refrigerator that after 3 days of service requests, fixed himself. (breaker board had faulted and we discovered that leaving the light on in the closet seemed to influence power to the fridge, weird)

The beach is beautiful and kept meticulously clean. The pools area was also quite clean, but the main pool just looked gross. I never dared the main pool. The beach pool was much cleaner.

The kids had a great time. They bounced between the pool and the beach and had a fantastic time. The kids (9 & 10) liked the food and always found something to eat, even ice cream throughout the day. The staff were very kids and especially courteous to the children.

We have been to better, more expensive resorts and this was a value-oriented adventure. We have a party of 12 folks and this fit the bill. The local shopping was disappointing as all the goods repeated and outside of a few pieces of jewelry, a set made of the local stone, the rest less than souvenir status. The beech shops, a good walk away, were relentless, but not unlike other 3rd-world experiences; OK, maybe they were a bit more aggressive than other islands we have experience.

One contention I did have was with the oriental dinner which was touted as being the better scheduled dinner out of the 3 available. We made reservations and were discretely told that children were not allowed, consequently had to make arrangement within the family to accommodate caring for the kids which meant splitting the family and one couple not sharing dinner. When we arrived at the dinner children of multiple families were being served and when I queried the policy they looked at me with bewilderment. It is clearly written on the reservation desk that children were not allow at the oriental restaurant. I felt cheated, and cheated, but let it roll as we were on vacation and the damage was done.

We visited a neighboring resort to go to church, which seemed much nicer and with English speaking staff, but it was much more pricey and on the trip back to the airport, the feedback from a couple that stayed at that hotel for a week was similar to ours.

I never eagerly agree to go to any resort twice as I think the world is too big a place not to venture elsewhere and have new experiences, but this is base acceptable for the money. It would be better for us if even a couple staff spoke English (Americans were the minority tourist) and if they were more service oriented at meals, and less hustle for time-share and selling excursions.

I slept on the beach nearly everyday, breaking for meals and drinks. If I were a romance seeking couple, I would not have enjoyed the resort, but it did suit our needs and gave our large party/ family a venue to share space and relax together.

First the good things, Security all over the place, no bugs, great beach. Now the Bad. Salesmen everywhere, your are hounded. Nothing is cheap to do here, the cheapest round of golf is close to two bills. The food was not very good at all, the speacuality resturants were a joke. Your a VIP along with the other 1500 guests. The pool closes at 6 and the deepest part is waist deep. Avoid the VIP dinner, they played the same music for an hour before letting you eat, then they wanted to sell you a vacation. We had our fire alarm go off twice in one week once after midnite, no one from the hotel staff came to check, after 15 minutes it quite alarming, a little scary. We had a jr. suite which a a hotel room with a roll away bed, for three adults.The only thing their is the beach, if your not a huge beach lover it it not worth it.