First of all, let me start by saying that you really do get a good bang for your buck here! When we arrived, we took a chance by upgrading upon arrival to the VIP section (adults only) . This was a risky move as they coud have been sold out but weren't and for only 110.00 US total, we upgraded for the whole week. If you are two adults who are not travelling with children, I would highly recommend this. There is a lovely adults only pool with a swim up bar and beautiful waterfall and a VIP clubhouse with special amenities such as a special breakfast (served in the clubhouse or on the patio), t.v., bathrooms, snacks, internet, unlimited towels, bottled water, bottled pop. The rooms were a little larger and quite nice with a stocked mini fridge. Much the same as the regular rooms but were closer to the beach. I found the whole VIP section very relaxing and serene. You could also get a massage poolside and slide off to your lounge chair if you wished. There was a special VIP section at the beach reserved especially for you as well.

The al la carte restaurants were pretty good. We found the Lotus
which is the Japanese restaurant the best. There were four al la cartes which you are allowed once a week. The buffet was o.k. There was always something you could eat. I have travelled to the Dominican 8 times and spent most of my time in Punta Cana at a 4 or 5 star so have seen better food but never was hungry or had any tummy problems. You could get snacks (sandwiches & fruit plates) at the VIP club house during the day.

This resort was the old Jack Tar which has been refurbished so the resort was well laid out and had a few shops and variety store etc. The rest of the resort was extremely family orientated. If you are a family who would like to take kids on vacation, this is the resort for you. They had a terrific animation staff who were mainly british who kept the kids busy. There was a fantastick water slide & wave pool with another pool called the activity pool that was fairly lively all day. Unfortunately, if you did not upgrade you could not use any of the VIP amenities, including the pool so you are stuck at the noisier parts of the resort.

The drinks were all local alcohol and you could buy premium liquor for about $5.00/drink. One nice thing was that only Signature Vacations represent/own this property and there was always a rep on duty if you needed to ask or book any excursions.

The beach was a little rough at this hotel, but if you walked down around the point to the Barcelo you could find calm waters as they had a breakwater structure. The sand is not as fine as Punta Cana and not white, but we already knew what to expect.

If you are looking for an inexpensive serene clean safe stay I would highly recommend this resort. Next time I would prebook the VIP section now that I know how much nicer it is. You may have to pay a little more, but it is more than worth it.

We have just returned from 2 weeks at the Holiday Village and we had a great time. Don't be put off by the bad reports it really is a nice place. Yes the rooms may be basic but lets be fair you are not going all that way to spend 2 weeks in your room. They were clean and tidy with fresh towels every day if you wanted.
The food is mainly from the buffet restaurant but there is an Italian, Oriental, Caribbean and Mexican which you can book into once a week. Personally we never had any problems with the food or finding somewhere to eat it.
The staff were all very friendly and polite, Wilson and Faustino at the bar are great and so was Antonio who was mainly in the Mexican with his "Happy Hours". The entertainment team also did a good job. Chocolate in particular will keep you entertained during the day with his fun and games and is one person you will not forget, he is a scream. The team in the evening also put on some good shows. Some people have likened it to Butlins but they seem to forget that it is a family hotel.
The beach is fantastic and there is always a nice breeze to keep it comfortable but beware, the sun is fierce. There are a few people trying to sell you things such as the hair braiding girls or the guys with the sea shells but if you just say no thanks they'll leave you alone.
There was only one thing that was a bit of a pain and that was the number of insect bites, we were all chewed and that was with the jungle spray and many other guests were as well. We saw no evidence of any sickness during our stay apart from the self inflicted hangovers and sunburn.
I would recommend this hotel to anyone with kids, go and enjoy yourselves, you really wont be disappointed if you go in the right frame of mind.
Finally, go to the Aquanox bar between 8 and 9 in the evening and see Stephanie doing her cabaret she's great! I'm sure she'll end up in the big time soon.

We traveled to HVGB Resort April 12-19/08 with our 9 month old daughter. She goes to bed at 7:00 each night so we did not get to take advantage of the A La Carte restaurants so cannot comment.

We had a great time! When traveling with children of any age I would definitely return to HVGB Resort!! Our 9 month old didn't take advantage of all the activities obviously, but the fact that it's a family friendly resort and also offers the BABY PACK (a must if traveling with young ones) it was worth it to go here versus a regular resort. The baby pack included a high chair, play pen, uv sun tent, stroller with canopy, bottle/food warmer, sterilizer, food masher, and a baby bath. Wow - did it ever make my life easier! It was an extra $100 for the week and worth every penny. You get all the bottled water you want, but I also took a small kettle to boil water for her cereal. (Your room is normally stocked with one bottle but we asked at the front desk for extra and our housekeeper gave us 5 a day and they are big bottles).

Compared to the 5 other Caribbean resorts I've stayed at, I would rate the rooms and the buffet food, as well as the wave pool lunch and the mexican's pizza lunch as 3 star only. The hamburgers we got at the wave pool were gross, even my husband couldn't eat his. The pizzas at the lunch at the mexican restaurant were frozen bases and tasted it. (No, I didn't go to a Mexican restaurant and get pizza - they only have pizza and a salad bar there at lunch time.)

The rooms badly need renovating however were very clean.

I noticed someone else mentioned the mosquitoes. OMG My husband did not get one bite, and LUCKILY neither did my baby. But the first couple days I got a couple bites, then the last 1.5 days I got another 15 or more! Aaaah! I've never seen a mosquito in the Domincan before so I didn't get the malaria pills before (and actually, we booked our trip only 3 weeks in advance so couldn't have taken the 6 weeks of malaria pills anyway). Now I'm on fever watch for the next 3 months. I was surprised not to see any mosquito zappers or something being done about them.

Having said ALL of that - we had an absolutely fantastic time! I cannot say enough about the Dominican people - how wonderful! And the wave pool had something for everyone!! My baby and I loved sitting in the shade of one of the palm trees in the shallow end and splashing.

Had a great time and would go back any time I'm traveling with children!!! It was VERY easy to overlook the boring and limited food of the buffet and the shabby rooms with all the activities & amenities, and the cleanliness, and the wonderful locals working at the resort!!

Tip - tip your housekeeper every day. If you wait until the day you leave it could have been one lady cleaning all week and then your departure date is her day off and someone else gets her tip. We tipped 150 Peso's each day which is about $5 Canadian.

Stayed for a week at the Holiday Village from April 13th to 20th. Had a great time. Been to Dominican 3 times, but this is the first time we brought our 10 year old daughter along. Glad we did.

Left from Halifax, 6am flight, but that meant we go there early. Room was ready for us when we got there, more than we expected. Stayed in room 5-32, view wasn't the greatest, saw a bit of the golf course, and overlooked the "construction" area of the resort. It was close to the main building though, and the only time we were ever there was in the evening anyway. Wasn't really prepared to pay 'ocean view' price, so all in all didn't really matter. Clean room, left 2 dollars for the maid every day, as well as another dollar in an empty beer bottle in the fridge, and they did a great job, as well as leaving the 4 beer i asked for each day. Couldn't have asked for more.

Buffet was, as most say, average. fairly typical of the other resorts we stayed. The a la cartes were good though, especially the asian. Italian was good as well, and the Caribbean was worth a look as well. Didn't care for the mexican, nor did my fiance or daughter. Could have been turned off when we were there for lunch, and the birds were eating from the Salad bar. Pizza was good for lunch there though. Just stay away from the food that is sitting out!!!

Pools were great, daughter loved the wave pool. Activity pool was good too. Animation team was really good, First resort i've been too where the entertainers were mostly english rather than dominican. Different, but good as well.

Beach was certainly typical as well. Got there around 900, got a hut. only went the one day, so don't know if that was typical or not.

Bar service was awesome during the day, but really slowed at night. Lots of people for only the 1 bar. By then we really didn't need much anyway. A tip for you is to head upstairs to the 'adults only' lounge, and then bring the drinks back down. I brought down my big bubba keg, and they had no qualms about filling it up for me. Have the kids try a Mickey Mouse, or Shirley Temple so they can feel a part of the whole 'nightlife' as well.

We did pop into the 'royal suites' for a drink at the swim up bar. Contrary to the comments posted earlier, you don't have to be staying in the royal suites section to go to the pool/swim up bar. You just can't bring kids. Which brings me to my main point about this hotel.

If you have kids between 8-12, this is without a doubt, the hotel for you. Our daughter is 10, and we barely saw her after the first day. She absolutely loved the kids club. We actually had to tell her that the last day there she was going to stay with us for the day so we could spend some time together on our 'family holiday"!! The kids club was absolutely amazing. They have free stuff, canoeing, archery, building a raft from scratch and racing it, face painting, etc, as well as $$$ things such as a 'Pirate adventure', and 'Movie nights', that are well worth the price tag. We took advantage of one of the evening club events (cost of 5 american $) to enjoy a romantic dinner at the Caribbean restaurant.

To be fair, if you are single, and looking to meet other singles, there are likely other choices better suited to you in the playa dorada complex. The few 13-16 year olds I saw around seemed fairly bored as well, but if you have children who know all the words to Hannah Montana songs, this is certainly the place for you.

Quick shout out to new friends Ken and Karen from Bowmanville, Trevor and Trevor (lol) from Pickering, and George and Tina from Newfoundland. Vacation wouldn't have been as good without you all.