Grand Flamenco Puerto Plata By Occidental

By Roger Gendreau from Cambridge, On •

Overall Rating: 2   Location [5] • Room [1] • Service [1] • Value [1]

	Tour operators were very knowledgeable and friendly
	Aggressive vendors on the beach

This is what I paid for. (Grand Romance Deluxe Room Types Feature Special Amenities Which Include A Bottle Of Champagne, One-hour Massage For Couples In The Room, Breakfast In Bed The First Morning, A Romantic Dinner, Turn-down Service, 10% Discount On A Spa Treatment, A Surprise Gift And Special Romantic Amenities. Grand Concierge Deluxe Rooms Include Special Concierge Service, A Fruit Basket, Bottle Of Wine, Turn Down Service, Spa Treatment Discount And Bath Robes.)

We arrived in the evening and once at the hotel it was very disorganized. Only one cart to take people to their rooms. Once in the room there wasn't even a bottle of water in the bar fridge. The bed looked like someone had slept in it. I woke up in the morning covered with flea bites. When I had a shower there was scum around the drain and the water would fill up around your ankles with dirty water. It took a couple of days before we could get a maintenance person to look at it. The front desk didn't seem too concerned.

The Grand Romance Deluxe Room package was a surprise to even the hotel manager. Our representative Isabelle did not even know what was included. There were no robes, no chocolate covered strawberries (which we were told we were to get, no massage in the room, no surprise gift (unless they are talking about the fleas), no fruit basket, no bottle of wine, no breakfast in bed the first morning, romantic dinner was at the oriental a la carte which was no different from anyone who booked the oriental a la carte.

After three days of complaining to the front desk and our Air Canada rep finally bringing Isabelle to our room and showing her the bath tub which was plugged did we get a plumber in with a plunger and he took hand fulls of hair from the drain after plunging for about twenty minutes. We finally got a bottle of champagne mid week. We got a massage around the end of the week (not in our room but down by the beach (was booked by the hotel manager after our rep Isabelle spoke to the manager twice but when we arrived they did not have us booked). We then had to complain some more and finally by Thursday morning we got a massage down by the beach. They came in Friday evening and turned down our sheets for the first time in the whole week. After heavy rain, water was running down the walls in the room and the floors were wet. The whole ceiling was was wet. We were on the bottom or first floor. We mentioned this to the front desk and they did not seem to care.

Needless to say we are very, very disappointed. Especially when you upgrade and pay for services which you do not receive and have to fight for. We did not even receive any apology from the hotel management. We went on holidays to get away from stress.
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By vinniemouse03 from toronto • Did the package say 'free water works in room?"

Overall Rating: 8   Location [10] • Room [2] • Service [4] • Value [4]

My girlfriends and i were very excited for this trip and experienced the best trip of our lives, but no thanks to Grand Flamenco (GF). We arrived at the hotel at about 12:30 pm on Sun July 31st and the people at the front desk, who were very kind and helpful told us we would have to wait until 3pm to get settled into our room. At this point we are being bombarded by the men who deliver the luggage to everyones room. Firstly, if we don't know where our room is how do they? Secondly, we were robbed in the DR last year so we surley don;t want a reaccurance. So we sit tight for the next hour and a half and checked out the grounds. We had to waste our first afternoon waiting for our room which made us feel quite unsettled and really ticked off. Finally, we get to our room which, let me warn you is very deceiving on the virtual tour. The double beds looked smaller than a double and the bathroom? Well, let's just say that they went to suite to shoot the bathroom. So we got into our room, unpacked a bit and headed out. We got back from beach/pool and we washed our bathing suits and wanted to put them outside to dry. The screen door doesn't close!!!!!!!! We finally got it open but then to close it you have to aligne the lock from the inside to the hole in the door. So we had to call maintainance and they came straight down, aligned the doors and taught us how to close it. LOL, 101 door handeling!!!
SO we really get to enjoy our first day, right? WRong!! The day was very hot and muggy so we wanted to come back to a air conditioned room.. Instead, we received a pool as soon as we walked in. The airconditioning right at the door had some sort of problem. So we called for maintainance (again. They knew us very well) and for more towels by housekeeping. See, we never really ordered towels for ourselves, it was more for the water absorbtion. MAintainance people finally came hooing and haaing cuz they had no clue what the problem was. So they said 'let's get you a new room." Who wants to move all there stuff on vacation once it been designated a spot? Not I!! So the girls and i lugged up our stuff and thank goodness our move was right next door. Guess what???? It has happened again...Yes, water from the air conditioning. At this point we have learned to live with it.
The maintainance people came in once again to 'figure it out' but no go. Sat rolls around, our last day/night in the DR. The closet where the safe is kept we see water spilling out of it. There is also a door inside with pipes in there. Could it possibly be the pipes?
Anyway, we took the necessary precautions of putting clean towels on the ground and being extra carefull not to fall and break our necks. MAintainance comes once again with the housekeeping (Housekeeping is in there for witness purposes) and can't figure it out but mops it up for the umteenth time this week. See ya guys!! To our surprise, the super comes as well because now we're furious.
All he says is that he can accomodate us by giving us another room and we can talk to guest services on moN at 10am. This is Sat night and we have lesss than 8 hours in this country. Brilliant idea!! Like the gentlemans name and his boss, the numbers, etc. He was cooperative but no customer service skills what so ever with anyone. We dealt with the matter on our own and we are currently on our way to filing a complaint. Not to mention we spoke to our rep and she didn't help us out either.
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By All-Caribbean User from Brooklyn, New York • Great Vacation Getaway

Overall Rating: 10   Location [10] • Room [8] • Service [10] • Value [10]

This hotel was awesome. The pool was huge and they cleaned it all day long. The drinks (especially the fruit punch) were great. I'm only 15 so i couldn't exactly "drink". The food was great, especially in the Brazilian restaurant. Everybody was sooo nice. The beach was sooo cool. It was literally a 3 minute walk from our hotel room. The sand was so soft and the water was clear. The entertainment was great. I love Chocolate who i did water aerobics with. He is very funny. The night entertainment was very cool, also. I LOVE Max the dancer. He was just sooo cool. I videotaped him so much. I love the accent that the host, Johnson, had. He was cool too. The only thing i didn't like was the room service. They were late with cleaning the room, and they didn't even clean our room the day before we left. We ran out of shampoo and body gel and they never refilled it. Well, besides that it was a great vacation and I would recommend it.
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By MONIKA from OTTAWA ,CANADA • I WISH I COULD STAY THERE FOREVER!!

Overall Rating: 10   Location [10] • Room [10] • Service [10] • Value [10]

this place was a great experiance because :
the beach was beautiful and there was plenty of stuff to do like snorkling , wind surffing and so much more
the hotel rooms were always clean and they had nice views from the balcony
in the restaurant there was always alot of selections to eat and all of it was delicious
the people that work there were always kind and smileing it just made you feel very happy and made you want to smile even more !!
the activites there were always keeping you busy there was :
beach volleyball , horse back riding ,fun clubs and basically everything you thought of
i really enjoyed my time there and i want everyone who can to try and go there it's extremly nice !!
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By ashley from ontario, canada • AWESOME!

Overall Rating: 10   Location [10] • Room [10] • Service [8] • Value [10]

This was an awesome vacation. It was my first time at an all inclusive resort, so I don't have anything to compare it to. I went with 35 people for my sisters wedding. The service was great, the food was pretty good, and non of us got sick. The rooms were large and clean. The location is awesome, about a 3 minute walk maximum to the beach. The catamaran trip is awesome (especially booked through people at the beach, not sunquest). The only thing that I would warn you about is that the swim up bar only serves beer as their alcoholic drink, and the pool closes at 5pm. Other than that, It's a great place to go of all ages, it's very clean and it is a great place to go for a wedding or family vacation.
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By All-Caribbean User from CANADA • NOT THE RIU

Overall Rating: 4   Location [6] • Room [6] • Service [4] • Value [6]

	none
	service/communication

we were a group of 14,8 of us were family ,we got there from airport at around 12:00,went to the desk to find that none of our rooms were ready,with no place to keep our carry ons so we could walk around,we sat in the reception area till 3:00 pm.i was put in building 9,where as other family members were in 10,14. i aked if i could be in tghe same location as we were family. i was told no rooms, kinda of strange as none of the rooms were ready.i had a long walk to beach and pools,the only request that was done right is i was on the ground floor as i have a hip problem.with the weight restrictions,soap and shampoo etc,you only travel with travel sizes,so when you run out most hotels have complimentry soap and shampoo,they do here
you would think when the maid cleas your room she would fill ,not here.it took three trips to the desk,three days in arow to recieve.
room cleaniness was terrible,al she did was make the bed and clean bathroom,i guess the tip we left daily was expected without job
done.we were actually scheduled to go to riu bacetta,however with their issues we ended up here.you also had to pay for water,yet you can't drink water,they had cullegan style jugs one machine for each building.they say in the on line that they have mini fridges,not so.i have travelled yearly for the last 10 yrs,this is not acceptable.
also i fell on their slipperymarble tile and uneven drains and scaped up my knee,we reported to a staff member walking by,no acknowledgement... totally unacceptable...
will never return to this resort or any other
by occidental
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By Judy from Canad a • Watch out for Theft

Overall Rating: 6   Location [6] • Room [8] • Service [6] • Value [8]

	on the beach, two pools, lots of bars and food choices
	pushy onsite peddlers, theft, some deskstaff limited english

The food was pretty good with lots of variety. The place was clean. Husband got his wallet stolen, strongly believes at the internet kiosk by staff members as they interrupted him several times. Reception refused to lend us a pen when we wanted one to call credit card companies and cancel cards - until I freaked out demanded one. Very indifferent that we were robbed. Hotel hosted what they called a "authentic dominican art show" which turned out to be one pushy peddler blocking the door to the exit of an upstairs reception room demanding I pick something out. When I did, he quoted me $145 US. When I walked away, he jumped in front of me later in the lobby begging me to give him $50 US for it. If you go, keep your eyes on the staff, your credit cards and your cash...and bring your own pen!!
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By All-Caribbean User from Philadelphia, Pa • Great Vacation

Overall Rating: 8   Location [8] • Room [8] • Service [10] • Value [8]

I went to this hotel from Jan. 12 to Jan. 17 and it was great! Especially the service, the staff around the hotel just come right up to you give you a high five, and if your not energetic they make you laugh and have a great time. The front desk only has two to four people so if there are lots of people checking in or checking out it's a hastle, but it only takes about a minute. It was very clean and orderly, the only problem was that there were ants in the bathroom. Only a couple but still it freaked me out alittle. The food was magnificent especially the Italian, and at least one bar is always open so you get drinks anytime, and the restaurant on top of the pool is always open in the afternoon for snacks. The pool was great and it's practically never closed. At the beach there weren't many salespersons. There is satelite tv so there are a couple of american channels. I even watched the Eagles Vikings game(GO EAGLES THEY'RE GOING TO JACKSONVILLE super bowl XXXIX)
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By yarleny from NEW YORK • Very good

Overall Rating: 10   Location [10] • Room [10] • Service [10] • Value [10]

I found Occidental Grand Flamenco a very nice and comfortable hotel. Even do the place was packed because of spring break, my friend and me enjoyed the time we spent in the Dominican Republic. It’s a beautiful country. Hola Dominicanos!!!
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By Madhuri from New York, NY • Avoid like the plague

Overall Rating: 2   

Avoid this resort--it is the worst! We just returned from our stay and I am so happy to be home. It takes at least four hours to check in, the food is beyond horrible, the drinks are bad and the guests are even worse. We witnessed several fights during our stay, one resulting in a woman being attacked by two other guests and having glasses broken on either side of her head! It was unbelievable. I would highly recommend staying somewhere else if you must go to Puerto Plata--that is unless you enjoy staying in rooms where the ceilings leak water, the rooms flood when it rains (and it rains ALL the time) and light fixtures fall off the walls and almost knock you out.
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By AnonymousUser0 from New York, NY • HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Overall Rating: 10   

We had a fantastic time at this all-inclusive. The hotel was beautiful...designed for pure relaxation and fun. The food was unbelievable. With so many different restaurants, there was always something new. We walked up and down the beach for quite a ways and believe that this hotel has the best beachfront of any of the hotels in Puerto Plata. The staff was very friendly. Be sure to order CocoLocos!
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