First off I have to start by saying please do not listen to the negative reviews!!!

We stayed at the Breezes Puerto Plata from April 16-08 - Ap.23-08. This was the best vacation spot ever. We had no problems with our room whatsoever. Everything was excellent from the room, the pool, the beach, the food, etc..

The entertainment staff works so hard and are extremely good at what they do. This was the first vacation that i have ever made an effort to watch the evening entertainment along with the afternoon activities aroun the pool, these guys have so much energy and love for what they do. A Big Hello to Manny and Saul, can't wait to see you again next year. These two guys where the best, (they are part of the entertainment staff). The staff all make an effort to go out of their way to make your stay an unforgettable one.

The bars are great, no shortage of liquor there...they get to know you and know exactly what you want as soon as they see you coming and have your drink ready for you.

The waiters at the Buffett are also wonderful, again, they get to know you, and have your drinks waiting as soon as you come in.

If you are considering going to this resort, do not hesitate, it's excelent, and they are great with kids and adults.. Go have a great vacation and don't let the negative reviews reflect your decision on giong there, I honestly do not have one complaint about this resort, other than i had to come back home to reality.

If you need any other information please feel free to contact me at jackiewhite_3@hotmail.com
I will add photos later.

After a lot of research, we decided on the Dominican Republic, and Breezes. I would say it's 3 star by American standards, We were there 4/13-4/20 and stayed in 2 different rooms.

Room 1 was in building 5, and was on the side of the building, with an ocean view in the distance. It was a very small room with 2 twin beds pushed together. This was a "Super Select" category. Upon reading the booklet, most of the rooms, except upper level ones, have twin or double beds together for one bed. That was odd. The next morning, we asked to change rooms, since that one had 2 beds, and the toilet ran loudly all night. So from then on we were in #6211 in building 6. A MUCH bigger room, an actual king bed, and a GREAT view of the beach and ocean - their best room category. This room was a corner too, so we had a balcony with an ocean view, and a view of the courtyard behind us. Only $25/night to upgrade to that room vs over $50/night when we booked. Both the wife and I agreed it was very worth the $150.

The resort itself is beautiful. As others said, the beach is beautiful, and pretty large. But the waves are mostly too much for swimming, especially for kids. (Though their pool is HUGE, with elevated jacuzzis) The food was very good. We almost liked the buffet the best, since there were SOO many options. Book ***ASAP*** upon arrival for all restaurtants, they all fill fast.

The shows were a little below average for us though. Not much for entertainment compared to other Caribbean places. Great local bands though, for a couple of nights.

EVERYONE on the staff was genuinely friendly and very helpful. We did tip the bell boys and some at the restaurants, though it says not to. It didn't seem to give us any better service, but the service was great already anyway. The excursions are only about $5 per person more to go through the hotel vs locals, and we felt more secure paying the extra bit to KNOW we'd get the service. ;)

The Outback Jungle tour was GREAT. It takes you to a home and school, then luch and to see a few animals with a short river trip, then to the beach for boogie boarding (FUN!). We got George, who was a phenominal guide. Open bar with lunch included. Bring candy and school supplies for the kids at the school. Highly recommend this one.

We also went 4 wheeling, which was fun, but over priced. It took us through a local village and out to a beach, where we were completely hassled by locals to buy things and give them tips. ;)

We also took a Catamaran trip with snorkeling. That was great, as they gave lunch and open bar again. Snorkeling was not nearly as beautiful as Jamaica, but was still nice. TONS of fish. Bring bread or bananas (YES bananas) for the fish. As others have said, you could just rent snorkelling stuff there and swim out in the Sosua Bay yourself, but we liked the trip on the boat.

I also went scuba diving, to one of the same spots we snorkeled (Three Rocks). It was still cool, but as stated, not as colorful as other places.

My only complaint about the resort would be the power, which may have been solved. We had a lot of short (5 mins) outages, and one that was about 12 hours. It also could use a coat of paint on some things, but in general it was clean and beautiful. Their spa was nice too, the wife and I both got massages.

Bottom line : I'd recommend this place to most anyone. It's large enough that you can be in party or relaxing mode whenever you want. Lots of stuff at the resort to do, lots of excursions close by, free shuttles to 2 local cities, great service and staff, beautiful beach, good food...maybe not 5 star, but very nice all the same.

Hotel transfer is $30 from the airport, and you HAVE TO pay $10 for a tourist card upon entering the country. Bring some snacks in luggage, as chips and things are a lot there. Also, bring mugs of some sort. Many people brought their own, as the drink cup are a little small. Plus, keeps em cold on the beach.

HAGGLE like mad when shopping in the towns. Sosua has great stuff, but you can hassle to 50% or less on most stuff.

We were at Breezes Mar 25-Apr8. We are a family of 5 with 3 children under 12. We had a fantastic time, I was very scared after reading some of the reviews, but I think this is truly a great family destination. First the pool, what can you say that hasn't been said, it is fantastic and makes up for the roughness of the ocean. If Breezes POP had a great beach, it would be hard to beat. The sand is beautiful, like brown sugar, and the waves are rough, we had 10 red flags and 4 yellow. We all had a blast in the waves, however,hang on to your camera and sunglasses, we saw many people lose things in the ocean. As far as the food, we tried all of the A la Cartes, my favorite was the French, the rest of the family preferred the Italian.( Great cheese pizza there) Our kids all preferred the buffet and there is something for everyone. If you go hungry there, you would have to be extremely picky. I enjoyed trying all of the Dominican dishes, loved the Octopus salad and the cooked bananas . We had great service from all of the employees at the buffet and restaurants. My kids loved the pool tables and table tennis, rock wall and trapeze. Our rooms were in the villa section, oceanfront. The rooms there are very dated, but always clean and we loved being oceanfront and having coffee or drinks out on the little patio, No dressers in these rooms, only open shelving, which was fine with me. The safe is very secure. The villa rooms are yet to be renovated and I heard the Building rooms are much nicer. We were not fussy, AC worked, hot water and clean, like I said, we were willing to give up nicer furniture for the oceanfront view. Yes, the power goes out once in a while, big deal. I did find the drink mixing very inconsistent and preferred the lobby bar the best. I love the Dominican people, always saying "Hola!" and always smiling and friendly. For the money we spent to go here for 2 weeks for 5 people, I think we got a great deal. I would return to Breezes, and my kids definately would return. Relax and have fun, I miss the sunshine as we sit here in a snowstorn!

This was one vacation I will never forget.

Ok, I will start with the room. We had stayed in a Pool View Vista, which you could kind of see the pool. We had stayed in building number 7. There were no problems with the room except the safe. It got stuck more towards the end of our vaction. The bed was very comfortable. There was no problems with the shower or anything else.

The pool was probably the best part of the vacation. There was always something going on from 9am-12pm and from 3pm-5:30pm. The staff was very friendly and we made friends with them. Not many people did their poolside activities but they were still very enjoyable. When the staff was out they tend to play the same two cd's over and over again, but its not too bad. The waterslides are very fun. I would recommend bringing a float or a tube (they are quite expensive there) if you are going to go around the lazy river.

The food was down right bad. None of the meat was good, most of it was like rubber. I had pasta for 4 days straight and after that I pretty much didn't eat anything. The best restaurant was the Japense one, Munasan. The Italian restaurant, Pastafari, was not very good at all. The chicken was dry and the ceasar salad had no romaine and only iceberg. The best food there was the pizza. Paris was pretty good, but everyone I was with didn't enjoy the meat dish that they got. The Mexican was very bad. I got a tortilla soup and it was very plain. I got a chicken fajita and again, the chicken was dry.

The shows at night, in my opinion, were amazing. There was always a preshow hosted by either Manny or Saul and they were always halarious. The preshows were mostly for adults to participate in. But, anyone could get enjoyment out of them. When the real shows started, everything was well put together. The dancing was always together, and they always did some kind of cool trick in the middle of it.

I personally did not like the beach very much. Out of the 9 days we were there, there was a green flag one day. The rest of the days it was always red. The ocean is very rough and the beach is very small.