Playa Dorada -- Fun Tropicale
The reason we were staying here is because we belong to the Perennial Vacation Club, a time share thing.
Fun Tropicale is a 3 star place and it does not pretend to be anything else. The condos are nice, we never had a blackout and the activities never seem to cease.
Our two bedroom place was on the upper floor right by the security gate. The two balconies (one off of each bedroom) looked out onto the road of Playa Dorada. The layout was of two one bedroom places with the connecting doors opened. Instead of two living rooms, we had one and the second had been converted to a dining room. Although there were two "kitchens" only one was stocked with supplies. There were two bathrooms though only one had enough water pressure for showering.
Jennifer (a god-sent manager who made us feel like we were her only concern) says that Perennial only has the three buildings at the front and that they are about to rennovate all of them.
Which is good because during our second week one the the air conditioners developed a leak into the condo and a mildew smell was becoming noticable.
So, walk out of the condo and down the path and there is the tennis courts and Miranda's, the Brazilian restaurant. After that is the Kid's Club and kid's pool. The ATV bikes are parked next but we turn right and go past the on-site Taxi stand and head to the Lobby.
The lobby has three computers in the open air that offer Internet access. There is a Logo shop to buy clothing and a small market with jacked up prices. Right before the lobby is a cambio and surprisingly, the resort's exchange offered a better rate than we found in the "outside" world. When we started the rate was at $42 to 1 but most of the time it was at $44.50 to $1. (One day it was $44.50 but we were in Sosua and could only get $42 to 1 at two different places.)
On the other side of the Lobby is a billiard's table, the pizza place and the main swimming pool complete with a swim-up bar. This is where they give the activities director his bullhorn. The chatter is non-stop. Thank goodness we cannot hear it back at the condo.
Further down the path, past the volleyball and mini soccer courts, past the shuffleboard and horseshoe pits are three peacocks -- two male, one female. Further on this path is the Calypso restaurant -- the AI buffet that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It shares the complex with the disco, the Italian restaurant and the Village Caribe offices.
Finally, past the Calypso is the Adults Only Pool. A quieter place to sunbathe and take a refreshing dip.
A whole crew of cats patrol the area. I collectively call them "Orkin" because of their pest control abilities. We didn't see a mouse, a rat, or in fact, any rodents at all during the two weeks.
The grounds are clean and well-kept. The whole place has a more spacious feel then it deserves mainly because there is no visible divider between Fun Tropicale and Fun Royale.
During the orientaion meeting, we officially met Jennifer. The information she gave was extremely non-biased. Go out and have fun, don't flash cash in towns. Use common sense. She told us about the taxi stand here on site but she also mentioned the gua-guas and what they are like and that she used them herself.
She said to use common sense about outside vendors and their offerings... if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. She said they do have tours they arrange on site, if we want to use them. She said the advantage would be that you can get your money back, no questions asked where outside it may not be that easy.
All in all, no scare tactics. Just information.
As others have noted, a tractor leaves the lobby every 15 minutes or so to take folks to the Playa Dorada beach. Looking out from the beach is like looking at a Caribbean postcard. The water in its subtle shades of blue, aqua and green is simply fantastic. The beach was clean and there was shade if you wanted shade.
Of course, we made the rube mistake of too much sun the first day, but it was all so inviting we couldn't help ourselves. We had two chairs in the sun. Ten paces north took us into the warm Atlantic Ocean. Ten paces to the south took us to the snack shack and "free" beer. It became "lab rat" decisions for me. Hot, go north. Thirsty, go south. And sometimes the wife brought me the beer -- how can it get any better???
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