Date We Stayed: April 16, 2008 - April 23, 2008

Reviewer:


This resort was excellent, our room was was OK there were 2 double beds, air conditioning worked quite fine there are 2 temperatures for that Freezing or warm we didnt use the air conditioning at all . The 2 pools was great except there's no deep end, the whole pool is about 5 feet deep. But great for wading around with a drink from the swim up bar, which unfortunately closes at only 7pm :( . There are always daily activity s in the day time with the Funny Staff. and lots of nightly fun as well . there is a man who comes around with a lizard and takes your picture for $10.00 . you can rent the Safe for 15.00 a week and they tell you , you can use your phone but there is a charge of $1 to use the phone to.. the TVs in the rooms are the Shits. there are English channels there if you can put up with the noise. your mini fridge was stocked daily ( 1 Pepsi /coke, 1 7up, 2 beer and 2 water) if you didnt have it gone by the next morning they wouldn't replace it only what you drank.) . we lost power once for a min the whole time we were there.

The buffet and a-la-carte restaurant Italian was Awful don't eat there unless you like fish. the appetizers was pickled sardines and roasted peppers , tuna something and there was another thing there we passed on it all we didnt wanna get sick and ruin our next day. then they next give you the choose of soup or salad we choose creaser thinking it was like home but FAR from it was gross i ate 2 bites and had to stop. the Main Course was the highlight of the night i choose a Chicken Breast Stuffed with spinach and cheese it was the best dish i had there and of course the Desserts was always excellent there. After out experience with that one restaurant we choose to stick with the pizzeria and the Buffet restaurant with i Highly recommend you get excellent Service and there is always LOTS to choose from

We went one excursion while there we did the Tip Top . It was Excellent it was a beautiful day and hot . If you do they tour i do advise you to bring something along for the Kiddies that you will meet at the Village . they Kids are so adorable . on this tour it takes about an 1.5 hours to get to the snorkeling site we went on a Sunday so we only stopped once for that. then to a village where you can swim to shore or wait for your boat ride. you eat lunch there and then sail back to your bus for the ride home. we left the resort at 9:40 and back just in time for supper. (Banana) was So funny and they were crazy. oh yeah by the was you should bring snacks with you to munch on and some Gravol in case someone gets sick on the boat. and bring Money they give you option of buy a lobster for your dinner for $35.00 and to tip the Staff

The beach was right outside our building, and was beautiful. It was cleaned up every morning most morning before anybody got down there. There are lots of people trying to sell stuff on the beach . The best place to go Snorkeling is on the Left hand side of Barcelo if you are looking at the water just go up the beach a lil ways from the resort so you are infront of the next resort there are a whole bunch or Coral reefs there Bring LOTS OF BANANAS wit ya the fish will eat them right from your hands.

there are lots activity s you can do on resort there is
tennis
Mini golf with a huge golf course along side of you
parasailing
Banana Boat
sea-doos
and it goes on and on


Great place, would definitely go again.

* This TripAdvisor Member:

o Liked — Convenient location, next door to shopping plaza, the buffet was excellent

o Disliked — the pools could have a deep end, swim-up bar and pool close at only 7pm

This resort was excellent, our room was beautiful, had vaulted ceilings, king size bed, great shower, strong and quiet air conditioning. The pool was great except there's no deep end, the whole pool is about 5 feet deep. But great for wading around with a drink from the swim up bar, which unfortunately closes at only 7pm :( . The buffet and a-la-carte restaurants were fantastic, especially the brazilian.

We went on excursions everyday while there, the cascade tour was amazing, we jumped waterfalls and the guide (Pinocchio) was a riot.

The beach was right outside our building, and was beautiful. The women of Puerto Plata are beautiful and smiley ;)

Great place, would definitely go again.

We went April 15-22. Last minute deal, so we got a bargain. Overall it was fine-- especially for the price. Just to clarify the word "premium"-- We got a package through Air Transat-- which included a premium room and a separate check-in desk. This means that you get a bottle of rum, a plate of fruit, and robes in your room. This is different from Club Premium, which are the suites with the private pool area and eating area and internet (1 PC)-- although if you have something that is wifi capable, you could catch the signal by sitting on a lounge chair around the pool right outside Club Premium.

Check in was a little confusing. There's the front desk, but we were told to go around the corner. This was where we got our bracelets, and our room assignments-- but then we had to go back to the front desk to officially check in. Our plane got in around 11:30am, but we were able to go to our room right away... We were in building 12 room 102. Right near the beach... Loud thumping music from the other complex I think, but it mostly stopped around 11pm. Ear plugs are great!!

Free pop and beer and water in mini-fridge. Just watch where you put finished pop bottles-- make sure you rinse them out-- otherwise you'll end up with a bottle full of ants. I'm NOT a bug person, but they didn't bother me... They basically went through the room to get to the other side. No mosquitoes or other insects... We got a little bag of chips and a chocolate bar :-) when we left $1-$2 for housekeeping.

Room was fine. We got 2 3/4 beds. We were on the bottom floor, but didn't hear anyone above us-- even with ceramic tiles. Clean and neat... a bit dated, but fine since we didn't spend too much time there... TV-- had plenty of English channels... Always had hot water, OK pressure. Showered 8-9am and sometimes 6-8pm-- always had hot water. Housekeeping, turn-down service and towel exchange in the evening were all different people... Power went out a couple of times... Mostly at night... Would come back on in under 1 minute. We charged our ipods during the night to avoid interruption-- like when we got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. $15 for the safe. They give you a key, and security "activates" it. You put in your own code.

Food was fine... along the lines of the Mandarin with different theme nights... I'm fairly picky and always had something to eat. Pasta bar is great-- as is the omelette bar. Went to ala carte-- Brazilian (lots of meat), Italian-yummy, and Mexican- I should have picked something else. (My husband liked his entree). Pizza place was great too.

We didn't go to the pool at all-- except at night to sit on the loungers to catch the wifi. The beach is nice. Loungers under the umbrellas were usually taken (near the pool as well) but there's plenty of shade from trees and lots of loungers available at the beach. My husband did some snorkeling-- when you go to the beach, head left... There's a coral patch that's pretty big, but go even further and it's much nicer... Of course he found the nicer one on the last day. A quick shake of the head or no thank you to beach vendors and they're on their way.

Bring a big bottle/ travel mug type thing... Otherwise you're up and down to the bar a lot. (our first AI vacation-- we have learned ;-P)

Staff were great-- really friendly. Security everywhere, especially at the entrance to the beach. On our first night, there were some rowdy guests who had too much to drink... screaming at 2-3am... There was a security guard near the entrance of our building the following night. No more screaming people.

Overall it was fine... 3.5

We (13 of us) stayed at the Barcelo Mar. 19-26 and had a great time! The food was great---buffet always had something for everyone, even the pickiest eater, gotta try the spaghetti! The a la cartes we great. The rooms were clean. Not one of us had any problems in the 6 rooms we had. We stayed in buildings 11 and 12, in my opinion the best buildings to stay in. I was there 9 years ago for my honeymoon and it was just as good as I remember!! Clean grounds, restaurants and buildings, friendly people and the security guards were always around the entrance to the beach to check arm bands. We were not harrassed on the beach--the vendors made it interesting--a friendly "no gracias" and they moved on to the next bunch of people. The trip to Paradise Island was fun. The snorkelling was amazing The trip back was a little long, but you get to see some of the country side.
I would definately go back~~tomorrow if I could!