3 of my friends and myself spent a week at the BlueBay from May 9th-16th! All I have to say is excellent, excellent, and excellent!
This was my 3rd trip to Puerta Plata (first stay at BlueBay). The BlueBay far exceeded my expectations.

First off the staff were remarkably professional and accomadating. They allowed us to change rooms with no questions asked (so that we could have rooms beside our friends) and helped us whenever we asked. The entertainment staff were also great! They included everyone in their activities and tried really hard to ensure that everyone enjoyed their stay. They put so much work into everything they did! The shows, the daytime entertainment everything!
The waiters at the pool and on the beach waited on us all day and kept smiles on their faces.

The food and the a la carte restaurants were excellent! The food was some of the best I have ever had!
Every night they had different kinds of pastas, meat, salads, (pretty much everything) and the food was really good. The same was the case for breakfast! It was also nice that the buffets had different foods everyday, so that you had a variety and looked forward to the meals.
The beach also had a selection of snack food that you could get anytime of the day!
In all of the restaurants they waited on us hand and foot and got us anything we wanted or needed in seconds
The drinks I was completely 100% impressed! They made anything you wanted mojitos, pina colada, banana mama, daquiri, wine, spanish coffee etc. You name it they would make it for you with a smile! I was particularly impressed by this because my past experience at all inclusive resorts was that they had a few drinks premade in a blender and they were all the same. This place not the case! Any drink you want they made, and they tasted amazing!

The music was also great! If you love salsa and merenge music they often played it live in the evenings!

The whole resort was very clean! The staff cleaned all day and the maids even came to the room twice a day!
The main lobby was gorgeous and very modern!
The beach was also great it had nice sun huts to sit under and if you were lucky enough to get one they even had beautiful beds you could lie in on the beach and at the pools!
They had 3 pools one at the spa (which was quiet non smoking area, a pool to play volleyball and games in and a swimup bar pool(my favorite)!
The other nice thing about this resort was because it was small you were always able to get a seat by the pool or on the beach! (my experience with other resorts was that if you didnt get a seat before 8am you wouldnt get one because there were too many people!)
Another great thing was that it was adults only! This really made a difference in my experience!

The only small recommendation I would have to improve the resort would be for them to update the rooms. They were very clean however they were very old and worn. It was obvious that the rooms had not been updated since the 70's or 80's (with the exception of the bathrooms which were brand new, beautiful granite.
If this resort had new updated rooms it would instantly become a 5 star + resort!

Overall I would recommend this resort to anyone! The staff was amazing and made us feel like we had celebrity treatment all week!

First off we booked this holiday on mytravel.com and paid £700 each for it flying from Newcastle. Also this is not a swingers resort like the other blue bay resorts and that is why some people are giving this place bad reviews on here. All I can say is thank God it wasn't!!!!

The holiday was fantastic. The hotel is spotless and our room was massive with 2 double beds in it which came in handy so we could have a nap in one when we were just grabbing an hour in the afternoon and keep the other clean. Maids come in twice a day, once to clean and give new towels and again on a night to turn down your bed and change the towels again. Pool towels are provided and are changed regularly.

The food was great with plenty of choice, wasn't to keen on the seafood restaurant but thats just personal taste cos my boyfriend loved it, def worth upgrading to lobster. 24 hour food at the beach is similar each day, chips, burgers, fried chicken etc but it is covered up all day unlike what has been written in some other reviews. Also if you are polite to the chef and try a bit of Spanish he will make you other things, we had roast chicken and English breakfast made for us. Remember the saying shy bairns get nowt. Food in the main buffet was always different with plenty of choice, always a pasta station where you decide what goes in your meal. If people struggled to find something to eat they seriously need to get some help!!!

Drinks are fine, you can order as many as you want and waiters come to tables and sunbeds. Glasses are small a good idea is to by one of those large thermos type things to take with you. Lots of the regulars had them and were a bit smug, however we stole some 3pint beer glasses from hemmingways in the plaza and used them at the pool bar which was a good laugh and shut up the smug ones!!!

The entertainment team were brilliant, a really good laugh and kept you entertained throughout the day with their antics. Yes I can understand why some people complain about the entertainment as it is mostly dancing and miming each night but what else can you do to entertain people of all different languages. This is the same sort of entertainment I have seen at all multicultural resorts and if you join in during the day and get to know the entertainment team it makes it a lot better. You must catch the magician who is on during the afternoon, he also tight rope walks and is far better than the evening fella.

The beach isn't the white sands you expect when you arrive but it is clean. The water isn't dirty its just not carribean blue, if you walk around the beach to the left it does get bluer.

The spa area of the hotel looked lovely but a bit cramped so didn't spend to much time there, think this area is far those who are looking for peace and quiet whereas we prefer a bit of life.

Can't actually fault the hotel but please read this next bit

OK here's some stuff that will come in handy

1. Don't book your trips from your rep they are ridiculously over priced. If you are worried about health and safety and stuff there is a hut at the hotel that offers trips far cheaper but still haggle. We did a self drive jeep wrangler trip and it was brilliant you are not taken anywhere to buy things and get hassled like on other trips, its all about having fun with the jeeps and seeing the area, you go to a plantation and learn a little bit then on a boat as well, everything provided, we paid $75 each and was totally worth it.

2. DO NOT USE THE SHOP... on the right hand side at the very beginning of the plaza. The stuff is overpriced and past best before dates. Also if you pay in dollars you get doubly ripped off as you only get 27 pessos to the dollar instead of 33. ALSO the owner got security and threatened to call the police when my boyfriend tried to explain that the paper he had bought 2 minutes ago and paid $10 for was a week old!!!!

3. When you have to pay pessos for something always find out how much money you need and change your dollars to pessos at the hotel before going to pay elsewhere otherwise you get ripped off on exchange rates. When you are given a price in dollars pay in dollars cos when they change it to pessos you get ripped off again.

4. If you need to get more money while you are away only use the cash machines at the front of the hotel they give you pessos, do not use any others and ignore all the guys that try and get you to change money with them. If the cash machines are not working take your passport and cash machine into the bank. Also do this if you need dollars.

Hope this helps and ignore the bad reviews on here, we got far more than we expected for what we paid and that is something that doesn't happen very often!!!

My partner & I stayed at this amazing hotel for 7 days from 5th May & it was brilliant.
We arrived in the afternoon & were greeted by lots of very warm smiles, a cocktail, a cold hand towel & hot weather. We were told all about the facilities in the hotel & that our suitcases would be bought to our room shortly, which they were & within an hour of arriving, we were poolside drinking the hotel’s signature cocktail, a BlueBay which is very, very nice !!

The main buffet restaurant has a lot of choice for each meal sitting, which was good as I’m a very very fussy eater. The Oriental restaurant is absolutely gorgeous food, even if you’re not into Chinese food, you’ll find the Spring Rolls & Lemon Chicken very scrumptious !! I’m not a seafood fan so we used 2 vouchers for the Chinese & the remaining for the Steakhouse ….. this was appalling, if you love your steaks, stay away otherwise you’ll be very disappointed !! I had the Fillet & my partner had Rib Eye, both steaks were mainly fat & veins. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only people who had a bad experience with the steaks.

The entertainment staff are very funny, but for the evening entertainment, they’re not comedians so it might not always be of fabulous laughs, but they do try. During the day, they have activities such as volleyball, dancing, cooking & Spanish lessons, darts & other things to keep you from getting drunk quickly from the strong cocktails !! All the other staff are lovely & are always smiling …. smile back & give a Hola !!

The rooms are spread out around the 3 pools, one of which is a non-smoking (by the spa). Our room was a Superior Double, the bed is very hard, but I slept excellent. 40 channels on the TV, most in Spanish, but as another reviewer stated, they have the Playboy channel free of charge !!

We went on the Jungle Outback Safari trip which is excellent, plenty of beer, water, coke & sprite to keep you going in the heat. Take a hat, suncream & spare clothes for after the boogie boarding. You visit a school which I strongly advise you to take some pencils for the kids.

There is a shopping centre 5 mins walk from the hotel which is full of souvenir shops, bargain with the shop assistants who say, I’ll give you a good price for that. They prefer Dominican Peso’s as payment if you’re going to get it cheaper.

Basically, it’s a fab holiday & it’ll be strange when you get home & go for a drink where you have to pay !!

HINTS:

Book the Al-a-Carte meals at least 1 day before you want to eat, as they get booked up very quickly.

Get some $1 bills for tips.

Get reception to give you a 2nd room card to keep in the air-con devise all day, that way your room is cool when you get there.

Wear a full swimsuit if you go boogie boarding, otherwise your bikini might come off !!

Be prepared to eat with the birds in the main buffet, once you get there, you’ll know what I mean !! But DO NOT let you be put off by this, it’s not worth the worry !!

Hola! We stayed at Blue Bay Villas Doradas from May 2nd – May 9th, 2008.

We arrived at the airport late morning and everything went smoothly. There was a rep desk outside the airport that instructed you to your shuttle to the hotel. Our shuttle was very small, which made me happy as that meant not a lot of people were checking in at once. It was about a 20 minute drive to the front door of our resort. Check-in was a breeze. There was only about 6 other people were checking in at the same time. There was a lady who did a little welcome speech with a package of information about the resort. Also provided were a cool towel and a cold non-alcoholic drink. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we parked our luggage with the front desk and went exploring. They have staff watching the luggage so we felt comfortable leaving it there.

Our room was finally ready about 3pm that same day. A porter brought our luggage to our room which was exactly the type of room requested, a room not on the ground level, facing the ocean. The only problem was the group of 20-somethings that brought their stereo and had it cranked so loud our room was shaking. We got to our room, looked at each other and said “forget this!” Went back to the main lobby and requested a room change. They were very accommodating and immediately took us to another room on the opposite side of the resort. It was on the ground level, but clean and had a king size bed instead of two double beds. The only reason we didn’t want a ground level room was that they have doors connecting you to the next room. Our neighbours were heavy smokers who seemed to sit in their room all day and smoke and being an ex-smoker, it doesn’t usually bother me but we just stuffed a towel against the bottom of the door and it was fine.

The beds are firm and comfortable, with four pillows. The room lacked seating though. There is a safe available to use in the room for $15 US for the week. You have to request a card from the front desk to use it. Also, AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVE and get your welcome package, book your A La Carte’s with Guest Services. They fill up quickly and some days certain ones aren’t open. Just remember not to book one on Tuesday night as they have a Managers Welcome Party along with a very nice dinner in the buffet. The A La Carte's are the Grill, El Dorado, an Oriental Infusion called the Jade Garden and a Seafood restaurant, El Pescador. The food was lovely at all of them, but I enjoyed the main buffet just as much, especially Thursday night when they had a Mexican theme. There was an amazing assortment of food at the main buffet every day. I am a vegan and my husband is a meat eater, but there was enough of an assortment that neither of us got bored. They even had soy milk for breakfast cereals! At the Grill A la Carte my husband ordered the chateaubriand. Be warned that it is meant for TWO people to consume but obviously wasn’t something I was going to partake in. My husband was a bit embarrassed with the platter of food that came out but enjoyed it nonetheless. The Oriental Restaurant is open to other resort guests as well, but they have to pay. My husband had a Thai dish, along with a spring roll for appetizer and complimentary sushi. At the Seafood restaurant he ordered the calamari which unfortunately must have been sitting under a heat lamp for some time as they were so tough but he really enjoyed the linguini with prawns. All of the A la Carte's had vegetarian options that were easily made vegan for me. Also, be aware that your wine glass is bottomless. Every time I looked back, at a waiter was there refilling it. Lol. Also, we chatted with a few other guests and never heard anyone say anything bad about the food, or receiving anything undercooked. The only food we both did not enjoy was the pasta station in the main buffet as we found the pasta overcooked. (Should be cooked al dente, but obviously hard to do that when it’s pre-cooked and then re-cooked on the pan with your choice of ingredients) The buffet section also had a lovely low-fat, reduced calorie section with food tips.

We decided to use the advice of fellow travelers who had posted information about using Felix to book our tours through, and were very glad we did. We wanted to do a horseback riding excursion and the hotel wanted $51 per person for a ½ day trip. They would not do a full day trip as they wouldn’t guarantee the food off of the resort (for lunch). We booked with Felix for a full day at $65 per person and had an amazing time. We rode from 0900 – 1430 with three breaks, two for a drink and one for lunch. The food was amazing! Also what was nice was that the tour only consisted of my husband, myself and two tour guides. (Usually at these you end up with a group of 20 people!) Also the horses weren’t the trail horse kind that just followed the one in front. You had to actually control the horse. Tip though, Felix tells you to wear your bathing suit under your clothes as you get an opportunity at the first break to go for a swim in the ocean. Women: wear a bra under your bathing suit! I was stupid and wore just my bathing suit and was in pain the entire time. Lol

The only downside about the whole trip was the “Yellow shirts”. These guys tried to tell us we had our welcome gift waiting for us in the Blue Bay Villa Hut. Yaw right. Thanks for the tips from the previous reviewers. These guys are your best friend at the beginning of your vacation, asking where you are from and when you arrived. Tip: Whenever they ask when you arrived, tell them “yesterday”. There are so few of them and so many guests, they won’t remember and they seem to leave you alone at the beginning of the week. Figuring, I suppose, that they have all week to reel you in for the talk. We never went for the information. I found myself trying to avoid them but my husband had no problem telling them we weren’t interested and walking away. They get really pushy though, waiting for you outside of the buffet or by the snack bar…..

There are three pools: the main one with a swim up bar, the activity pool that usually had a volleyball net and a basketball net and the small “Getaway” pool. The latter was the one my husband and I spent the entire week using. It was quiet, you can always find a seat and the bartenders make the best bahama mama’s out there. (Yeah Angelo and Francesco!) Also, this one bar and pool area is non-smoking.

Blue Bay is a very small resort which we loved. You didn’t have to walk for miles to get anywhere. The resort is very clean, the maids tidying the room every day (don’t forget to put your sign on the door requesting it to be cleaned), painters refreshing the colours on the buildings and sidewalks, and gardeners always hard at work. We left 200 pasos for the maid every morning along with a few little gifts. 100 pasos = approx $3.00.
The resort is also concerned with health codes and making sure everything is sanitized. There is even a sanitizer dispenser at the entrance of the buffet restaurant!

Remember this is an adults-only resort. Bring your sense of humour as the entertainment guys are absolutely hilarious. The shows aren’t big production but funny and intimate. The Playback show was our absolute favourite. Also great were the Michael Jackson show and the Magician. Try to take part in anything the Entertainment group is putting on. It’s worth it! Tappy-Tappy is great fun!! Wack the Lemon (which is really a lime) was hilarious. Enjoyed being a judge at the Cocktail lesson and my husband really enjoyed the Sushi lesson.

There are posters at all of the pool areas asking people not to reserve spots with their towels (provided by the resort) or with other personal belongings and that the staff are instructed to remove anything left for a period of time. I guess this is my only real complaint about the resort. The staff obviously don’t want to upset anyone and therefore don’t enforce this rule. People come to the pool at 0700, drop off their towels and leave for HOURS. I mean, if you want to reserve a seat and go grab a drink or run to the bathroom, that’s one thing, but hours?? One day at the Getaway bar and pool, my husband and I arrived at about 1030. We got a couple loungers and spent the day reading and swimming. The two loungers beside us had towels on them for hours. Finally, around 1500, a lady came by and straightened the two towels and then left again! No one ever came to use those loungers for the entire day and we left about 1430 as we wanted to grab some lunch. I felt bad as other couples had come to sit at that pool and had to leave as there was no place to lie.

Breakfast is 0700 – 1000, Lunch is 1300 – 1500 and Dinner is 1900 – 2200. The snack bar is open at the beach 24 hours. They make the best darn French fries I have ever eaten and my husband enjoyed the cheeseburgers. No complaints on how they were cooked from him.

There is a plaza about a two minute walk from the resort. If you want to shop for some souvenirs, or need a pharmacy, medical centre, liquor store, etc. They have it there. There are even two pubs and a PIZZA HUT if you’re craving for pizza. Lots of golfing and tennis nearby as well.

I wasn’t happy with the “Orange” Market. We walked along the beach the first day all they way down there (takes about 20 minutes) and when we entered their beach area it was like a swarm of people pulling us into their shops. I understand this is how they make money and survive but I’m more likely to spend my money when I’m not being pressured to do so. We bought a baseball hat and a couple of rings then got out of there as fast as we could!

There are two laptop computers located at the front lobby for guests to use. They connect about 75% of the time.

We had asked the tour rep at the beginning of the week how tips worked here and he had said you only have to tip on the resort if you want to and that no one would ask. That was true at least. Apparently, the resort takes 10% off every guest’s bill and disperses that between the staff at the end of the week. Even though out tour rep told us that most stores accept Canadian, American and Dominican Pasos, we found it was best to use pasos. Also, when you get to the airport, you can exchange your money there. I suggest doing that, as even though there is a money exchange in the lobby of the resort, they tend to run out of money by the afternoon. There are also money exchanges at the Plaza. Also, get lots of 100 pasos and 50 pasos, or American $1.00. I hated the fact we ended up carrying American and Canadian $20’s around. Tipping is a huge thing in the Dominican. If someone as so much as looks at you, you’re expected to tip them, and they have no problem requesting or demanding a tip. We had to tip the driver to and from the airport that loaded and unloaded our luggage, had to tip the porter twice, as we changed rooms. On the horseback riding excursion we had to tip a couple girls who fooled us into doing a braid on our watchbands with some fake hair and beads. Then of course we wanted to tip at the restaurant for lunch, then again the tour guides that took us riding. Then also the taxi driver who took us to the tour and back. Also you’re tipping the maid every day, the bartenders at the end of the week, the guy who took us for a buggy ride almost demanded a tip from us. Sheesh. I was tapped, or should I say tipped out! lol

Most of the age group at this resort is probably in their 40’s although we did see lots of 20-somethings having a great time in the activity pool.

One of the days we were there someone got married. They had a lovely gazebo set up on the beach decorated beautifully. There was reserved seating at the a la carte’s with lovely fabrics and I believe they had the Getaway bar and pool booked for their dance.

All in all, this was our best vacation yet. I give it a 4 ½ or 5 star!! The ambiance and service are wonderful. I’m hoping to return again in December with my mother and hopefully again next year with husband. I absolutely loved Blue Bay and will recommend it to everyone I know! If you have any questions about anything please don’t hesitate to write me and ask.