Cabarete Bay Hotel

[traveller]

From, according to the StarPhoenix, "The coldest place on the Planet"

Wish we were in the DR now instead of sitting at home sick.

Thanks for all your answers. Let us know how it was once you all get back.

We are leaving the begining of March and we much prefer to be at the ocean then in a pool.

Friends in Sousa and Porta Plata now. The ones in Sousa will be going to Cabarete and on their return will let us know how everything is.

Traveller

[Boh]

Hi traveller,
I plan on being in Cabarete tomorrow and checking things out. The weather is great in Sosua. It has only rained one day since we've been here. I'll get back to you on your hotel in the next day or so. Talk to you soon.

Boris

[traveller]

Originally posted by Boh
Hi traveller,
I plan on being in Cabarete tomorrow and checking things out. The weather is great in Sosua. It has only rained one day since we've been here. I'll get back to you on your hotel in the next day or so. Talk to you soon.

Boris

You should have been here on Wednesday, you wouldn't have been walking to M.P. then. Broken water lines somewhere around the 9th floor. Some people in the office pass their flu around and other people end up being sickypoo on Thurs & Fri. How is M&M or MMcE. Lounging on the beach?

Why oh Why did we wait for March.

See you all in a week or so.

[Boh]

Hi Traveller,
Just got back from Cabarete. Took a few photos of the work being done in Estrella Del Mar. They tell me it will be completed in one month. Talk to you soon.

[guy_davis]

Thanks for the report about the Estrella del Mar. I just got off the phone with my travel agent who told me that Air Transat Holidays (ATH) sent someone from Montreal down last weekend to inspect the hotel. They reported back that it is undergoing heavy construction on the pool, restaurants, and rooms. They don't recommend that I keep my reservation there.

This seems to directly contradict what I'm reading about in these forums. Either ATH is totally incompetent or we're talking about different hotels. ATH say they've never heard of the Cabarete Bay Hotel. My reservation is for the Estrella del Mar owned and operated by Starz Resorts. Everything I've read here indicates that they're exactly the same place.

Is there any chance you could post some of the photos you took online? (This site has a photo area I believe) I don't mean to bother you, but ATH is telling me that the place isn't livable and I don't know who to believe.

Thanks much,
Guy

[tomson]

Sunquest Compensation/ Cabarete Bay Hotel

[guy_davis]

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm a little worried by the fact that he indicates the "Estrella del Mar" is a separate part that is closed. My reservation is through Air Transat Holidays for the Estrella del Mar, not the Cabarete Bay Hotel.

Previous posts indicated these were the same place, just multiple names. Now I'm not so sure. Are your reservations for the Estrella del Mar or the Cabarete Bay Hotel?

Thanks for the response.

[appleman]

See my response to your question in the other Cabarete Bay Hotel thread.

[mjkalau]

Originally Posted by guy_davis

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm a little worried by the fact that he indicates the "Estrella del Mar" is a separate part that is closed. My reservation is through Air Transat Holidays for the Estrella del Mar, not the Cabarete Bay Hotel.

Previous posts indicated these were the same place, just multiple names. Now I'm not so sure. Are your reservations for the Estrella del Mar or the Cabarete Bay Hotel?

Thanks for the response.

Good for ATH for being truthful. No other tour company seems to be.

I do however have 2 disagrements with ATH info. (although this depends on when they sent it)

The Estrella Del Mar section IS NOT CLOSED. although all rooms were not being used when we were there from Jan 26 -Feb 2 We were booked for the Cabarete Bay section which is what Sunquest exclusivly offers, but a few in our party got put in the other section even though they too were booked for the Cabarete side. So, go figure. With the new pool being filled the old side will look right out over it which is nice. The new Cabarete side looks out over their new pool which is smaller as I said.
The hotel is operatable, but not all things listed an amenities are finished.
It all depends on what you paid for your trip, or were going to pay.

My husband and I and a lot of our fellow travels got our package - All Inclusive with airfare for under 700 Canadian plus tx. One person got it for under 600 CA.

If you can get a good price and put up with everything not being finished you can still have a wonderful time. We did. Weather was perfect all week. Fooms were nice. food good and beach spectacular. Cabarete as a town as I have said in previous postings is quaint and charming and enjoyable just to walk around in. Photos wouldn't really give you the best idea. If you look at Sunquests postings of the place on their web site and a few other web sites that are selling the packages. The picutres you see are correct. The rooms look just like in the picture and the beach looks the same to. Notice no pics of the pool. The small pool is really nice with 2 hot tubs and the new pool had water going into half of it the day we left. The pool is split into two sections, thats why half could be filled.

I suggest you read all the posts and based on price and what you want then decide. It is definately a place I would like to go back to.
MJ

[guy_davis]

Originally Posted by mjkalau

My husband and I and a lot of our fellow travels got our package - All Inclusive with airfare for under 700 Canadian plus tx. One person got it for under 600 CA.

Thanks for the responses. The price of your vacation is amazing! How did you get such a deal. We booked in early January for an early March vacation through the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) with Air Transat Holidays (ATH) and we're paying double what you describe above. Looking at the Sunquest site now, the Cabarete Bay Hotel at the end of April is over $1400 CDN from Calgary for a week. I expect a bit more for the flight from Calgary than Toronto, but half price is outstanding.

I think we'll probably end up still going and paying full price, as we really need a vacation. However for future trips that we'll be taking, what's your secret? Did you use a special discount agent? Did you get special discounts for booking early?

Any tips you have would be appreciated as we haven't booked trips like this much in the past. As they say, "Fool me once, shame on the travel company, fool me twice, shame on me." I rather not end up paying so much next time around.