Iberostar Costa Dorada |
Rating:  |
Phone: |
Website: |
| Location: North Coast |
Fax: |
E-Mail: |
| City: Puerto Plata |
Contact: |
Value for money: Below average |
| Food: Excellent |
Decor: Excellent |
Service: Excellent |
| Comments: |
 Iberostar Costa Dorada - Larry and Luba - Canada - Jan 28th - Feb 4th - 2007
About Us : We are a couple in our mid fifties who enjoy traveling to the DR. This is our fifth
trip here, second time to the north coast, the other three times to Punta Cana. First time at an
Iberostar resort. Have stayed at Hacienda Andreas (now Lifestyle Crown Suites), H10 (now
Ocean Bavaro), Riu Palace Macao and Bahia Principe Punta Cana. Easy going and adaptable.
We got this vacation on a last minute deal.
Flight : Flew Skyservice. Put in hollow aluminum tube, go over 500 mph while your knees are
up around your chin. Nuff said.
Arrival : Twenty minute drive from the airport. Went to check in, told to come back at 3pm. No
problem as we expected this. Had a change of clothes in the carry on luggage. Went for lunch
and checked out the lobby bar and beach. Came back at three, everything was ready. Had e
mailed the Iberostar four days earlier requesting a room near the ocean and a king size bed.
Room : Got room 1008 villa #1 with a king size bed and ground floor. The room faced the ocean
and being on the ground floor there were no palm trees to block your view. Was the best location
we’ve ever had. The safe used a four number password that you chose. Had to enter it to both
open and lock the safe. Ample closet storage and hangers. Bathroom was fine, bathtub/shower
combo and lots of soap, shampoo etc. TV had some English channels, HBO was one, can’t
remember what else. Fan over the bed and air conditioned. Leave the sliding patio door open and
the air shuts off. Had a drying rack on the terrace like the Riu’s have.
Food : Quality and selection both very good. The open air buffet restaurant El Mercado serves
breakfast 7 to 10 am. Large variety of food, omelettes made to order, was our favorite meal. Also
had lunch and dinner here. Both lunch (1 to 3pm) and dinner (6:30 to 9:30) had at least one
carving station. Looked forward to the buffet meals here. Menu for the dinners was posted at the
entrance on the right side. Continental breakfast (10 to 12 am) was at the pool side snack bar El
Bohio. El Bohio also had lunch (12 to 4pm) and then snacks up tp 6 pm. There are three ala carte
restaurants. El Rodizio (Brazilian), La Hacienda (Mexican) and El Bohio (Tropical and is the
snack bar during the day). Both the Brazilian and Mexican are air conditioned. Took photos of
the ala carte menus for the three restaurants, click on photo link at the bottom of the page.
Drinks : Have a beach bar (10am to 5 pm), lobby bar (11am to 2 am), bar at El Bohio by the
pool, and the bar at the entertainment area (5pm to midnight). Found the best drinks at the lobby
bar. Photos of bar menus on the photo link.
Entertainment : During the day had the Star Friends who did volleyball, dance lessons etc. If
you didn’t want to join in no problem. Worked very hard. At night they had the stage
entertainment, Lion King, Chicago, Latin Night, Mr Iberostar etc. Ran on a two week cycle. It
was alright, they try hard. Some nights the band would play in the courtyard before the shows
started, really enjoyed listening to them. Entertainment is never one of the deciding factors on
which resort we choose, but it was one of the best we’ve seen.
Beach / Pool : We’re beach people, only went in the pool twice. The beach now is very wide and
the small areas of coral in the water are roped off and visible. Take bread out to the coral, lots of
yellow and black striped fish will start to feed on it. Water was warmer than the pool, nice sandy
bottom and the beach is raked every morning. Palapas are on the east side of the beach (by
building #5). We never used them as trees go across the entire width of the property and there’s
lots of shade. The loungers are the canvas type and there are lots of them. Never got to the beach
before 10 am and always got a spot in the shade. You can go for nice walks in each direction.
Right beside the Iberostar on the west side is the Coral Marien. After the its open beach for quite
a while. Was told there are vendors up that way but never saw any. To the east you can see the
point of the Playa Dorada complex, would guess a 35 to 45 minute walk. On the way they have
vendors in their stalls with the usual stuff for sale. No shade so take water if your going for a
while. Lots of people using the sea kayaks and hobie cats, was a yellow flag day the week we
were there. Also have vendors walking the beach selling tours, hair braiding, etc. Just say no
and they went away. Only the two boats from each resorts dive shops out front, no boat traffic
like Punta Cana. Very relaxing area. The pool was large, around 4.5 feet deep with shallow areas.
Also had a kids pool. The loungers were plastic, get pads at the towel hut for them, made a
difference. Lots of palapas for shade, and never too far from the bar. The white columns with the
jacuzzi in the middle does really look great, view it with Mount Isabella in the background for
the best effect. Never ran out of towels and if you’re a pool person will love this one.
Staff : Excellent. It was the friendly attitude plus the way they did there jobs which stood out the
most. As I said at the start we are easy going and we never had one problem the whole week with
anyone. Believe that it was more to do with the way this resort is run than anything on our part.
They were that good. Went through a lot of money for tips, not because we had to but because we
wanted to.
Tour : Rented a cab for four hours one day, at a cost of $45 US total. Went to the cable car ride
at Mount Isabella ($7 US each) and then to a supermacado. There were three of us so the bill per
person was $22 US. Thought that was reasonable. At the supermacado we got rum, vanilla,
coffee and coco. Plus you get to see a bit more of the town. Enjoyed the cable car very much.
They have tours available at the resort, by people selling them on the beach or just rent a cab and
do your own tour. Just get a set price from the driver before leaving.
Conclusion : Relaxing, enjoyable vacation because of the people working here. Have stayed at
other Spanish chains of resorts and this is right up there with them. Every so often you see new
resorts open up with a very affordable price at the start. It can be tempting to book them. Then
you get a last minute deal to an established resort that long ago worked out all the “bumps in the
road” and you just know that you made the right choice. Would recommend this place to anyone.
For Photos go to http://www.worldisround.com/articles/324398/index.html
|
| Author: Annonymous |
Review date: 02/8/2007 |
|
|
