on arpil 24th my girlfriend and i arrived back home from spending 2 amazing weeks at the Ifa Bavaro Village

i live outside of guelph and my girlfeind is from saskatoon. i parked my vehicle at the econolodge near pearson and went to meet my girl at the airport. we arrived in the DR late that night. the bus trip was very short 15 minutes or so.

when we arrived at the Ifa the check in went pretty fast. the sliding door in our first room wouldn't lock so they moved us to another room right away. we then went to the beach disco for a drink and some food { don't eat the rice and chicken balls on the air transat flight, not good }.

we have stayed at the 5 star gran bahia pricipe in cancun twice so for a few days we compared the two resorts, there area few things better at the bahia but alot of better things at the ifa.

we read many reviews about the ifa and not many of them where good but we knew there was construction going on and it would be pretty much completed before our arrival. we learned from a couple that we met from edmonton that this whole resort has gone through a complete makeover in the past year or so.

the food at the ifa was not bad. the pizza bar was amazing, fresh made pizza along with chicken fingers, fries and fresh made burgers oh and yes the ice cream. the buffets didn't change much over the 2 weeks the bacon is deep fried and usually either undercooked or over cooked. we found that the buffet closer to the beach had a better dinner menu. the drink where very strong. they only use small plastic cups so take a big travel cup or mug with you. the drink selection was kind of limited but still pretty good. the beer was nice and cold and mostly poured from a bottle. there are 3 ala cartes, the oriental and the colonial where very very good. the mexican was ok. booked first thing in the morning to get a good seating. the system they have is not very good for booking but you can eat at the ala cartes everynight if you can get a seating. they are not very big.

the communication at this resort needs alot of improvement. most try hard, unless you speak spanish or french. to be very honest the people that tried the hardest to communicate where in the restaurants. the front desk staff where really not that helpful in some ways. trying to get a translation from english to spanish can be a chore. we booked with i travel2000.com . we got bumped to later departure and an ealier time to go back home. we flew with airtransat. a little cramped going down but not bad. the food was not good but overall a good flight. the service from nolitours was terrible. no information what so ever all of the binders that had any info where in spanish. we could find and english one till the day we left. when we got to the airport in punta cana our nolitours rep didn't even know what line we had to be in was a joke. the airport in punta cana is pretty cool. the customs and imagration was a breeze to get through but the food and rinks in departures are a huge rip off. $12 for 2 pops and a slice of pizza.

to make this a bit shorter i will itimize things and say what we thought about them

communication - needs alot of improvement but remember we are travelling in a foreign country so we do have to be patient

beach - the beach was amazing, the water was like bath water it was so warm. powdery white sand. many times we just walked for and hour or 2 picking up seashells. it is such a relaxing place to be and if the main resort is too hot you will love the beach always a nice breeze.

beach shops - the shop workers will greet you on the beach and bring you into their shops. some can be very persistant but mostly not bad. everyone says they are cheapy cheapy. they love us Canadians. there are not prices on anything. we bought a painting that started at $140 and we got it for $45. never pay what their first price is. offer atleast half if not less. we got an idea of prices from the resort shops and the malls a 15 minute walk away. that will give you a better idea.

resort shops - we found the resort shops to be very reasonable price wise with most things. usually you get ripped off at these places but i guess they have alot of competition with the beach shops close by. make sure you bring lots of sunscereen, asprin anything like that these things are very expensive here.

internet - there is internet access, $3 dollars for 1/2 hour. if you are from Canada contact your cell phone provider before you go. i could not get service down there with our wonderful bell telephone but pretty much everyone else did no matter what country you are from. we get ripped off by bell and home and away.

nightly entertainment - the theatre burned down 2 nights before we got there so all of the night time entertainment was at the beach disco. it was not bad not anything like ths hows at the bahia principe. the beach disco is a pretty cool idea. lost of food drinks music and dancing.

rooms - our room was on the second floor right beside the main pool. they have all been redone and they look great. inorder to expand the washrooms the has put the sliding doors on the outer edge of the balcony so no balcony. that was a bit disappointing but didn't ruin our trip. everyday the rooms where cleaned with fresh towels and bed linens. they do not have face cloths so bring them if you need them. no beer or soft drinks in the fridge just water. we took tim hortons coffe along with liquid coffee mate. the coffee in the buffets is very strong and the milk is not very good kinda like carnation milk. after a few days we bought travel mugs so we took our own coffee to breakfast. the rooms where spotless. we saw no bugs but we did get a rain storms one night and the roof leaked so we used the other bed. bring things for the taff there especially the cleaning staff. we took toiletries, socks, veg and flower seeds, pencils, watches things of that nature and also gave a cash tip each day as well.

pools - there are 3 pools here. they are not very big but the do look after them pretty good. the main pool is pretty much always busy. there is water arobics there every morning and that is where they have the dance lessons and things. they could have a few more things to do but overall not bad. the other 2 pools are some what deeper and usually not as busy. we went during the slower season so during the busy season they can be very crowded.

cafes - there are a few cafes where you can get drinks and very good capicino. make sure you are not wearing a bathing suit in them, you will not get served. shirts are a must here.

buffets - pretty much the same menu each day. the selection is not bad a little bit of everything. buffet closer to the beach is the better one especially for dinner.

inclosing the ifa bavaro village is a wonderful resort. we all have to remember that we are not at home and we have to be a bit patient when things are not up the the high standards that we have in Canada. there have been some people that have put some very unfair reviews on tripadvisor. some of them are from when we where down there and i don't see how any of the bad things that they say are just. this place is great value for your money. my girlfriend and i are already talking about go back next april. if you are flying out of pearson airport the econolodge is a great place to do the stay and park package. we had 2 weeks parking 1 nights stay when we arrived back and shuttle service as much as we needed back and forth to the airport. it is not a big hotel but they will look after you every well. my contact was a person named ziva and she was very helpful. i booked everything by email juast go too www.choicehotels.ca/cn568


please contact me if you have any questions i will be more than happy to help out if i can.

brian..

6 of us in early 30s from Montreal went to the IFAocean..dont hesitate to book this hotel..Goodprice value. The beach is wondeful. Animation was good. The Food pretty much the same that I ate at the Bahia principe in september.which is a 5*..same stuff everywhere..same kind of a la carte resto also. I enjoy the mexican one. my favorite
I would recomment the dunebuggy excursion..we had a blast. Just DONT wear white.like a did..

We've book all our excursion with Julio a super nice guy who you can really trust. We took a day to go walk in Higuey which is the real domincan life..you will see the difference!! I ve bought all my alcohool over there..so much cheaper. DONT BUT AT AIRPORT! they double the price. anyways It was a good trip overall. We did visit alot around PC and did way too many excursions..

any question dont hesitate

I'll start by saying that I have lived in and travelled often to the Dominican Republic. I have stayed in local homes; 2 star hotels; and 4 start resorts. My experience at the IFA Bavaro Village failed to meet any of my Dominican expectations.
First the staff. With few notable exceptions, most of the staff members looked unhappy and unfriendly. The animation staff were lifeless. The front reception staff were unhelpful and discourteous.
The hotel was under construction - a fact not previously disclosed by the hotel nor by the tour operator, NOLITOURS. There were construction workers constantly working in and around occupied guest rooms - creating a security concern not addressed by the hotel nor the tour operator. There were construction tools left laying in the hallway outside my room. One day, I saw 2 workers loudly pounding on the floor right outside of a guest room.
I stayed in a brand new room. The toilet did not flush. I advised guest services, and when no one came to fix it, I figured out how to fix it myself. The hot water in the room was sporadic, at best. The electricty in the room was barely strong enough to heat a curling iron or turn on a blow dryer. The electical panel in the closet consisted of untaped wires sticking out of the wall.
The cleaning staff were equally unreliable. There were garbage bags piled in the hall outside my room for 2 days.
I initially paid an extra $230 'single supplement' for a single occupancy room. After the first 2 nights, my boyfriend was able to join me for the rest of the holiday. We changed my room to a double occupancy and paid for him to stay for 5 nights. NOLITOURS refused to refund the surplus single supplement, resulting in me paying for both a single room and a double room for the same week. The over all experience at IFA Bavaro Village was so disappointing that for the first time in my travels, I was relieved when the week was over.

After my holiday, I sent a letter of concern to IFA hotels; to NOLITOURS; and to SELL OFF VACATIONS. IFA failed to respond to my letter in any way. SELL OFF referred my complaints to NOLITOURS. NOLITOURS refused to address my concerns in any meaningful way.

I travel often and am happy to give my repeat business to companies deserving of it. I will be sure to avoid any future vacations at the IFA Bavaro Village. I will also be sure to avoid booking any of my holidays with SELL OFF VACATIONS and NOLITOURS.

I was a little nervous at first when booking the IFA as i couldnt ignore the 3 star rating our travel agent had given the resort, but working with a specific date( my partner was in the navy with only one day of departure) wich just so happened to be the busiest time to travel ! march 11-17th and everything was sold out..so we went out on a limb and booked..I LOVED IT!!! it was amazing every second!would go back in a flash ! left on a night flight with skyservice...it wasnt too bad a little crampy but i had an amzing fajita meal and watched happy feet so i was good to go. landed in PC to a blamy 30 degress loved the outdoor airport- had our picture taken and off we went to our bus, i was bugged by anyone to take my luggage that i can remember, when we got to the resort we had bottom floor with bugs in sink, with construction and a ripped up fence right beside my patio, i asked to be moved and on day 3 we moved to a gorgeous 3rd floor overlooking the main pool. we ate at the buffet most nights because it was easiest. a la carte at med ...wasnt a huge fan kinda made me sick. if youre like me and love the cheap shopping and talking with locals there is a great little market right beside the hotel on the beach it was perfect with some great deals ( a hug goes a longgggg way : ) the beach was amazing we didnt go to the disco sadly we were worn out from sun....went to the show everynight, it was nice to have something to do in the evenings...PIZZA at SNACK BAR BY POOL is my favorite thing it was so good i ate there everyday,,,with my banana-mama in hand.did shop at the resort, the one behind the photobooth had cheaper liquor than the beach vendor inter right on the resort last time i was there it was 2$ for 30 mins... we didnt do any excursions i was too nervous with my first time down there.all in all i would DEFINATLY GO BACK. i keep checking reviews on it, i see some new construction and i cant wait to go back !