Right from our arrival at Victoria it was wonderful. We had no wait upon check-in and we taken immediately to our room. We didn't bother upgrading and our room was fine. It was very clean and quite comfortable. The only complaint about the room if I had to come up with something is that there are no dressers for your clothes. Worked out okay though. The mini bar was refilled daily and always included lots of bottled water.
The staff on the property were always friendly and helpful. Everyone from the front desk, servers, bartenders, animation, and beach always said hello and were ready to help. After a few days since it is a smaller property, staff came to know you.
The food was surprisingly good. The first night the buffet had lobster tails!! The beach restaurant had the best ribs ever!! In fact everything served there was great. We did spend one day at the beach at Grand Ventana. The lunch there was not nearly as good.
We went for dinner one night at the Casa Colonial. Beautiful propery, amazing food, however high prices. If you are looking for a really nice, romantic dinner this is definitely the place to go.
There is always someone at the beach waiting for you to get you a chair and a great location either with shade or without depending on what you want. After a couple of days, he actually would save a place for us to ensure we got what we wanted. Never had such great service.
I have read about lots of properties where it's hard to get a chair on the beach or by the pool. This was never the case here. Not sure if that was because the property is so small.
Nightime entertainment was only ok but about what expected. This is not party central however if you want to have a good time it's definitely possible. The plaza is a short walk from the hotel which has 3 bars. Staff from Victoria would take you there or it was no problem to go on your own.
The golf club house was a short 5 minute walk from the property. Got a discount by staying at the property. Don't need to book tee times. You just walk up and go. We never had to wait for more than 2 groups to go in front of us. Not a problem at all in fact came to like the fact that you could just go whenever.
All in all, I would highly recommend this property if you are looking for a nice, relaxing vacation.

Booked through First Choice, with no option of upgrading the room, I contacted the Victoria directly where a very helpful lady helped us upgrade to the honeymoon suite and we paid for the upgrade on arrival. The room was spotless and kept extremely clean all week, with great views over the golf course and a lovely jacuzzi outdoor bath which we used loads!

The mini bar was mini in every sense of the word, with just a couple of beers, a 7up a coke and some water. But it was replenished every day and if you caught the cleaners they would give you extras.

The bed was HUGE and so so comfortable.

The food was average. Edible, but not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination. All the staff were friendly and helpful.

Extremely quiet, tasteful hotel. Mainly older couples and honeymooners although there were a few families with older children.

We preferred the beach to the pools and the Victoria's beach is absolutely lovely, very clean and well cared for.


All in all I highly recommend this hotel for a quiet getaway. Do not be expecting late night partying or anything particularly entertaining in the evenings. We didn't think much of the entertainment at all in fact. This was our first foray into all inclusive, and we won't be doing it again, but that's more because we like to have the variety of different restaurants than the fault of the hotel.

We booked our February 16-23, 2008 vacation through JetBlue Getaways. At first we were booked at one of the Lifestyle Resorts, but after reading about the resort via TripAdvisor , promptly called JetBlue and asked to switch to the Victoria Golf Resort as it was close in range for the dollars we spent.
We are soooo glad we did! The resort was small, and was mostly occupied by couples. As this resort is small, it worked out perfect and as they say, not child friendly with alot of activities.
The food was good, and we loved our everyday breakfast omlettes or eggs done right before us to order, not to mention the fried cheese. I had never had this, and although it was a cross between fried mozzerella cheese, quite different and buttery and melt in your mouth!!! The fruit was amazing as well, and we indulged every morning on that and the rich Dominican coffee! We always had lunch on the 'beach' at the Victoria's restaurant there. Everyday we enjoyed mexican burritos, flauta's, chili and numerous other delectible entrees within this all-inclusive resort! And guacamole??? Well, hear this. You will NEVER, ever hear of this former So. Cal gal eating 'guac' without fresh lime juice in it!!! That was but only one of the treasures of our dining experiences.
On an unfavorable experience, the 'upscale, upstairs, fine dining that you can only book for 1 nite restauarant'. Well, let me explain. The salad, appetizer, and dessert were great. The main entree, WHICH we had to pay an EXTRA $30 each (Lobster Thermador) was the worst I had every had!! And I'm not talking for 1 experience. I have had Lobster Thermador from Cape Cod, Maine and San Francisco, excellent. This...awful!! Overcooked, rubbery, yuk. And, every worse, the waiter said (when I sent it back) the chef 'agreed that it was overcooked in the broiler/salamander, but could not correct it". Ah, ok. So, order anything else, but NOTHING you have to pay extra for, and you should be very happy.
Other dinners varied throughout our 1 week stay, and many themed nites we had entrees both new and old. We especially LOVED the brick oven pizza place!! We both agreed that we had the best pizza ever! We have eaten pizza all over the place including NYC, and this was THE BEST!!! As you will probably read others reviews, you will hear the same thing. I don't know why this is, but boy is it true and don't miss it.
I also read about tipping. We DID tip each and everyday to the maid, bartenders and waitresses/waiters. These little American Dollars meant the world to them as others stated in previous reviews and I'm glad we found out about it. I also brought make-up samples for the women staff members, as I had read these items too are loved among the staff. And Boston Red Sox t-shirts, hats and other items etc. are appreciated from the male staff.
We did bring a TON of supplies to a school, teacher and especially students. These kids not only responded to the school supplies (crayons, pencils,coloring books, chalkboards, chalk and erasers, paperclips, etc.)but especially the punch balls we brought. When we all started blowing them up, the kids faces just lit up with amazement. It was apparent they had never seen them, and when we all started 'punching' the balls with the big elastic bands on, they giggled and screamed with joy! We too had not only smiles & laughter that hurt our faces, but tears of joy to their delight. A MUST to bring these little ones! Not only supplies for their classes, but something new and special in their lives!
On shopping, we took a 2 mile hike down the beach to a 'flea market/shopping area and made incredible deals not only on soapstone statues, but t-shirts and tank tops as well. I did purchase Larimar at the airport as was stated from previous TripAdvisor travelers, and saved much much more!!
As we departed with JetBlue Airlines, we did NOT have to pay the $20 departure fee, it was included.But as others did, we had to have the $10 arrival fee in hand.
A word of caution on Rum and bringing it into the USA (if you have a connecting flight). As all may know due to 9/11, you cannot have liquids in your carry-on. So, when you leave the DR and feel you MUST purchase at the airport....they ARE the cheapest...and put it in your carry on, be sure to take the rum OUT of your carry-on at your connecting USA flight and re-PACK it in your check in. Upon arrival on a CONNECTING FLIGHT BACK INTO THE USA, you retrive ALL your luggage from check-in and then go through customs, etc. So, repack before you go through TSA, once again between flights. A hassle??? "Ahhh, YUP" as we say in Vermont, hee hee.
Overall our trip was divine, the people incredible and experience with the local 3rd world nation , a trip that will replay time and time again in our lives. We all take for granted sooo many things in the USA, as these people struggle, make do, yet have smiles and give you cherished memories you will not forget.
Enjoy the DR, and especially the little, laid back, intimate Victoria Golf and Beach Club Resort. You won't be sorry.

We stayed at the Victoria Golf and Beach for one week (March 8 - March 15).

It is a quick trip from the airport (about 12 minutes). On arrival, we were quickly served. At first, we had a standard room. It was on the second floor. The room itself was fine, but the balcony had very high walls. You couldn't see a thing, and since we always like to sit outside, we upgraded to a junior suite.

I would highly recommend the upgrade. It is about $30/day at the resort, but it might be cheaper if you book before you go. The room was huge and the view - onto the golf course - was lovely. Everything in the room was great. We always asked for extra water in the room (and left a couple of bucks) and we never had a problem. Also, with the upgrade, you can use all of the facilities at the Grand Ventana.

It is a short and very pleasant walk to the beach. The beach area is really great. We never had a problem getting a chair. The washroom is close and clean, and the restaurant is good.

I love to swim in the ocean and the beach and ocean there did not disappoint. The water was beautiful and you can swim out for quite a distance. Also, you can walk barefoot forever! We did a two hour walk - past the resort area - and it was great!

We had lunch each day at the Grand Ventana, since it was a quick walk from our beach spot. Everything was great. We also had three meals at the three Grand Ventana a la carte restaurants. They were okay, but the a la carte restaurant at the Victoria was by far the best (it was very good). However, being able to have the variety to move around the two resorts was definitely worth the extra cost and it definitely made our stay extra enjoyable.

The buffet meals that we did have at the Victoria were tasty. The pizza shop is super. We never waited for a drink at any of the bars and everyone was friendly.

The Victoria is a quiet place and is best suited to adults who aren't looking for a lot of noise or partying. We had a great time and would highly recommend it!