We were on our fourth trip to Puerto playa this year. We decided to try a different hotel just to see the place from a different angle. So we booked the fun Royale especially since i got a great deal. No, as usual, we were not too sure about the place after reading some reviews. Most of the negative reviews obviously came from winers who are probably never happy and juging by their reviews, they live in the Windsor castle... and the best room at it!

Please be real when doing a review! You get what you paid for...if you expect a brand new room with dozen of slaves waiting for your every wish and they must keep their smile on even if you treat them as trash
...well i guess you'd better book on a six star hotel or something!

Okay enauph about that... let's talk about that place. I'll describe the place by category:

The hotel:
A relatively big hotel for the Playa Dorada complex. The Fun royal consist of four adjescent blocks of 3 stages. The fun tropical consist of a large number of two stages smaller bugallows. The entired complex is fenced out and security is omnipresent. All the grounds are well maintained and there are tons of palm trees and flower bushes. Nice peacocks living freely in the complex. Lobby is small and open area.
There are 3 shops near the lobby but they are a bit pricy...just like any other hotels. The shopping center is 15 minutes walk away and there are two casino near by. Internet is avaiable in the main lobby.

The room:
We stayed in room d348 on the third floor. Altough the furniture is a bit old, everything was working properly and we had a remote for the 20 inch TV. We also had a nice balcony, a kitchennette with a small fridge and a complete bathroom. Hot water wasn't a prolem except for a couple of days during shower rush hour (around 06h00 p.m.). There is a safety locker avaible for 20 dollars per week. We used it and felt safe. Nothing was taken from our room or on the beach where we left our mp3 and other items in a bag near our chairs all the time. We didn't heared any complains about anybody havind something stolen. As a rule, i always leave a dollar or two on the pillow every morning and that ensured us plenty of towels for the 3 of us. Only drawback for the room, the shower window and the thin door let sound pass thru easyly so if you have noisy people in the hall, you will ear them or your next door neigbourg. Fortunatly, people were respectfull most of the time and we didn't had problem sleeping most of the time.

Food:
The main restaurant offer a very large variety of food, you'll always find something to eat. Plenty of fresh vegetable and salads, plenty of cooked meat and a large variety of local specialities. The pasta bar offered a nice alternative as well.If you dont like them...well there is always the hot dogs and burger stand open 24 hours! The pizzeria offered delicious thin crust pizza in the late afternoon, near the main pool.

Coffe was real good and they do offer splenda sweetener! Diet cola is also avaible on all the bars.

The Brazillian restaurant wasn't the most exiting experience we had, but it was worthy of one visit during our two week stay. The italian restaurant was a bit better, but we were satifyed with the main buffet so we only went there once.

Pools:
there are 3 pools in the complex. The main one is where all the activities are taking place. all the animation are concentrating their effort on that location only. Having an autistic son, we felt the place was a bit too noisy so we pretty mutch stayed at the beach all day. There is also the adult beach, i guess the place is mutch quieter altough you still have a bar there as well. There is a kids pool near the playground, we never went that way.

Beach:
This hotel has the last beach strip on the playa dorada complex. It's not the largest neither the nicest of them all. But it suited our needs. If you walked east, you were on deserted beach, still protected by security since it's follows the golf course path. You had to go pretty far before being in an unprotected area...We enjoyed long walk on the beach and this place is perfect for that. you can walk for miles up the the Iberostar if you go west.

The beach is desserved by the brand new beach restaurant and bar. Food wasn,t very diversifyed, but we managed to take all our dinner there and never needed to walk back to the hotel for dinner. By the way the beach is located about 9 minutes wlak away from the main hotel's gate. there is a shuttle, but we preferred to walk...or if you want, there is always the horse carriage for a few dollars. We wish there was more animation at the beach taugh...there is a volleyball field, but it's never used and the animation team is absent from the beach. If you want to play volley ball, you have to go near the main pool where a second volleyball field is well maintained as well as a soccer field.

The staff:
I truely dont understand anybody complaining about he suposably rude people from the front desk. They were curtious and spoke enauph english to be well understood. Okay they aren't jumping on the roof like the animation teem, but who would expect that? All the barmen were friendly and never looked for tips. Sometimes i tipped, most time i didn't and they always granted us the same good service... same at all the restaurants!

The shows:
Uneven in quality, some were simply spectacular, some were a bit basic, but who cares, you didnt paid a penny to be there... it's part of the fun. I would avoid the beach party thaugh...moskitos and sand fleas getting out at dusk made that experience...unforgettable. That was the only time we got bitten...and it was after the first night we got there. Sand fleas only come out when the sun is down, so i'd stay away from the beach at night.

All in all, we had a very pleasant stay. Dont expect lobster for free and you'll have a great time. Custommers were mainly from G.B., some english canadians and a fiew from the domenican republic during the weeks ends. Those who complain about the locals flooding the place in weeks end tend to let you think that the place turns upside down with food starving people...come on! The locals that can aford the stay are the richest people in town...the so called locals dont have that kind of money on hand !

I have been to DR many times and have never experienced any of the things the "complainers" were talking about. I have stayed at Fun Royale in the past in fact we are going back this month for 2 weeks we loved it, we have also stayed at a few other resort in Playa Dorada Complex they have all been good. The resort is clean and the food is great, but remember where you are traveling. THINGS ARE DIFFERENT
As for the comments on safety, I have taken local transit into Sousa with girlfriends and were treated excellent, never once felt threatened.

I've stayed at this hotel at least 8 times in the past 3 years. The first time I stayed at this hotel I came with a friend and loved it!! Within 3 months both me and my friend had returned. I found that the entertainment team are fantastic, fair enough they sometimes have an off day but dont we all! But please bear in mind they only get paid is $300 a month! The rooms are basic fair enough but no where near as bad as some of the reviews on here, if you want to stay in absolute luxury the Marien Hilton is 5 minutes down the road pay the extra and stay there. This hotel gives you great value for what you pay! My husband, who is Dominican, and I have stayed at many of the other resorts in Playa Dorada including the 4/5* ones and quite frankly were bored the whole time! A least with Fun tropicale you actually have fun, and the animation team try and get you involved! I would definately say stay here to any one that asked you will definately have fun! Remember that a holiday is what you make it if all you wanna do is find something to complain about then your not gonna have afun time anywhere!!

I went to this resort with 3 of my friends, and we all have the same thought...WONDERFUL. The food was good, the water was drinkable, the rooms were clean, the staff was fantastic, very friendly. I had read some bad reviews before I went there, and I was expecting the worst, however it was nothing like I'd expected it to be. It was all so great, it was very sad for us to leave. I did only see one cockroach, it was on a tree at night by the pool, that was it. We did not have mold on the beds nor did we have bugs in our room. The nightly enterainment staff are great! They really do know how to put on a show, including people of all ages to participate. All the bartenders were friendly, and not pushy at all. The resort itself was kept clean at all times. During the day the staff invites you to play water sports, like volleyball, frisbee, aerobics, racing against others...there is plenty of things to do. I absolutely loved my vacation, it was the best ever, and i am planning my next trip back there...to the same place, and same resort!!!!