Hi, this is for the person that was asking about Casa Marina, Melissa, I think? Sorry, I just couldn't locate your message so I'm posting this here. Anyway, it took me a while to dig this up, but here is a review by someone that stayed at Casa Marina last year.
Also, there are smaller hotels in Las Galeras like Andy's El Marinique, Villa Serena, and Club Bonito. Hotel Gran Bahia (my husband and I honeymmooned there in June '98) is just a couple of miles outside of Las Galeras. It is not really that small, but certainly extremely intimate.
Anyway, here are some reviews. Hope this helps!
CASA MARINA BAY:
Hi There Natasha,
I have been meaning to write to you, but since we returned the busy-ness of day to day life has taken over. I'm glad you wrote to me.
Casa Marina Bay was very nice. We had a standard room with a view of the water from our balcony, although there were many palms obscuring the view. Still it was lovely. It was a little small (me, my husband and our fourteen year old), but it was okay. For two it would be plenty of room. A few problems cropped up. Our bathtub did not drain properly (very slowly so that it was at least an hour before the next person could take a shower), and although we complained very nicely, it did not get fixed. By the third day we decided to be firm and demand that they fix the drain, which they did. A few lights did not work. This took a little longer, and I somewhat resented that I had to spend my vacation time in the room waiting for the repairman. But in general, these things are small potatoes compared to what some people are faced with on vacation.
The food was very good. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were buffets served under a large thatched roof open air dining room. Each meal has a selection of about a dozen hot entrees and a dozen cold ones. We were assured that all foods were washed in purified water--that ALL water, except tap water, was purified, and so we ate everything, including salads, which can be suspect because they are raw. But they were very good. W e never even came close to a tummy ache. The buffet became a bit boring after a while, but when you are hungry, it all works out fine. In addition, our package (AirTransat out of Montreal) offered the optional ordering off a menu, as long as you made reservations for the day you wanted to eat and did so by noon. We did this for three evenings, and recommend it. This restaurant was on the beach, and the service was very good. The food was excellent. I ordered steak, which I rarely do, and I can tell you that it was the best beef I have ever eaten. We too are picky about food. Clearly the Dominicans don't use all the artificial growth chemicals used in the U.S. This is obvious by the beef cows tied by the side of the road just grazing on grass. And the quality of the beef shows. Besides the occasional steak, I lived practically on fruit. What a treat. We live in Vermont and even in the summer, fruit is expensive and not of good quality. In the winter one needs to pick through the market offerings with great care. But in Dominicana, I was in heaven. I ate more than I usually do and lost weight! Of course, I put it back on as soon as we returned. I give the food an "A".
The beach was beautiful--white sand and turquoise water. The pool was spacious and very clean. Actually there were two of them, side by side, but one was used primarily for water aerobics and water volleyball. They were each abstract shapes. There was a bar near the pool and on the beach which also served snacks, primarily greasy fried food--hot dogs, burgers, chicken nuggets, fries. I was disappointed that there was no fruit at these sites. Now that I think of it, I should have suggested. I am sure they would have been open to it.
There were the usual water activities--kayaks, catamaran, snorkeling. If you like, you can take a taxi to Rincon. We did not, even though everyone said we should not miss this. The reason was that we found the beach at Casa Marina Bay (Cala Blanca) so beautiful, and so easy to escape from the sun, that we didn't want to commit to a day in the sun at Rincon. I'm not sorry that we didn't go. My skin doesn't like the sun very much, even with the strongest sunscreen, so I needed to be very careful. It would have been nice to see, but . . .
We walked the beach path into Las Galeras, and we did stop in at Villa Serena. The view from the entrance is just breathtaking. I took some pictures. As you know Las Galeras is not a hub of activity, but I enjoyed it. The people are great. One day we rode bikes provided by the hotel into Las Galeras and just rode around looking and saying hello. It was fun. There is some commercial construction going on there now, which were clearly not private homes. One looked like a small complex of what would be shops, etc.
If you recall, there is a single home at the end of Cala Blanca Beach. One morning on a sunrise walk on the beach, I met the man who lives there. We struck up a conversation and he invited me to visit later to meet his wife, which I did. They were very eccentric and the visit was an enjoyable break for me. They told me that Casa Marina Bay has purchased all the land between their resort and their home and is planning to expand. However, the land is very wet and so construction has been postponed until they can fix this problem. There is also a rumor that a 4,000 room hotel, the largest in the DR, is being constructed on Rincon beach and that a new road is being constructed there. Supposedly Spain is funding this project. I mention this to emphasize that this area is small now, but it looks like things will change in the future.
As far as activities go, they were they usual. The staff was very nice trying to get everyone to participate, mostly in drinking games by the pool. We are not drinkers, but did get dragged into one on one occasion. It was okay. We played darts. My son enjoyed the billiard table next to the pool. There was also a ping pong table there. Everything was on a small scale, which I liked very much. No races for pool chairs, no waiting in lines. The longest wait was for the billiard and ping pong tables. I liked the relaxed atmosphere very much.
Finally, the biggest downside to this resort was the language barrier. I do not speak Spanish, but did buy some tapes before our trip and did quite well with the staff. Actually, we found that we conversed more with them than with anyone because we were the ONLY guests at this time who spoke English. All the guests were German, and Italian, and they kept pretty much to themselves in spite of our efforts, which saddened me somewhat. I found the Dominicans, both at the hotel and in Las Galeras to be so much warmer and inviting. On a few occasions, we walked down to the cervesa bar at the end of the beach and Las Galeras road just to sit and drink a coke with the locals and to bargain with the peddlers, which we purchased goods from. After a few trips, the bargaining became a game and there were many smiles in the process. I think the regulars there got a kick out of us gringos trying to "fit in". We didn't mind at all that the jokes were on us. We enjoyed the friendliness. I do love the DR. We are planning to return next year, and if we cannot find a place that is similar but has parasailing for the boys, we will probably go back to Casa Marina Bay.
I hope all is well with you. If I have left anything out, please e-mail me. It's very nice to hear from you. Love, MiaBella
*******
HOTEL GRAN BAHIA:
Hi Bonnie,
I am glad to help. My husband and I spent our honeymoon at Gran Bahia and had a fantastic time! It was a great choice overall. The hotel is extremely beautiful - the location, the views, the intimate feeling - all make the Bahia a truly romantic spot, if that is what you're looking for, of course. The hotel offers some activities, but don't expect a full scale resort at all. People are mostly couples (mostly Europeans, Dominicans and South Americans) on their honeymoons, mainly in their late twenties. We saw only two kids when we were there. The rooms are standard, but very nice. The best thing about them is the views of the Bay. There's NOTHING in front of you except the sea and the Island of Cayo Levantado. On another Caribbean island, this hotel could probably run you at least US$250 EP per night, if not more.
I know you asked me why I thought this hotel should not be all-inclusive. The reason is (and this is a strictly personal opinion) many resorts tend to loose their uniqueness after they become A-I. Attention is no longer payed to important things like the quality of their foods, drinks, etc. Robert and I like to dine well, and we found the hotel's food to be very mediocre. There were one or two dishes that were fine, but for the most part, since this hotel went A-I, the quality of their food has gone down. The thing that saves this hotel, and this is why we still recommend it, is its beauty, and for the most part the service. Before we honeymooned there, I spoke with another couple via Internet regarding their experience there. They were not all that thrilled, and they were Dominicans. My husband and I, on the other hand, had a fantastic time, and were very pleased with the service. I'll tell you a little story. I recall that when we were there, the person that shot our wedding video had to contact me urgently (he wanted to make sure he had the right song to accompany a certain segment of our wedding video - very important for me :-)) Plus he wanted us to have our video before departing to the US. Anyway, he faxed me a letter, and the people at the front desk were SUPER about the whole thing. They knew how important it was for me to correspond with our videographer, and they helped me out a great deal. We would be at the beach and they would bring me faxes :-) The whole thing got resolved in about an hour, and WOW, they went out of their way! The rest of the service was nice as well. I am Dominican (hubby is American), and speaking Spanish of course helps a great deal.
Anyway, we would go back there again, even if the food is not that great. The hotel is located about twenty minutes from the main town of Samana. It is closer to Las Galeras than Las Terrenas. I personally like Las Galeras much more than Las Terrenas, but that's just me. Las Galeras is a very small fishing village - very Robinson Crusoe type of place. Don't come here for any excitement or nightlife. You come here to enjoy nature, and spend the most romantic time in the world. We debated a great deal where to honeymoon. We were extremely torn between Gran Bahia and Villa Serena. VS is in Las Galeras. To be honest, if I were you, I would go to Villa Serena instead of Gran Bahia. The reason is that while Gran Bahia is great, Villa Serena is just magical! Though we did not honeymoon there afterall (and the only reason why we didn't was because we didn't know anything about the place at that time, plus we also figured that since GB was bigger, we could do more things there like play tennis, which we do avidly), we visited VS several times. This place is breathtaking. I would go here if you want utter romance and privacy. The place is tiny - only 11 rooms, but I understand more rooms are being added. I would call down there to check on this construction.
If you have booked with Gran Bahia, I'd say go right ahead and go! If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail.
Regards, Natasha
http://www.ventureinternet.com/elmarinique/
http://www.tamborahotel.com/english/
http://www.club-bonito.com/
http://villaserena.com/
http://www.interlog.com/%7Einfonet/hsdogran.htm
Review of Casa Marina, Las Galeras, Samana'
