I know when you are looking to book a resort you check out the reviews and try to pick out the ones to believe, who's being to overly critical and which ones are correct. PLEASE PLEASE do yourselves a favor and listen to this review and completely avoid this place at all costs. I'm not writing this review to receive my generic response from the hotel (I've already received many of these directly), I writing this to save another's travelers money and to ensure they pick a hotel that will hold up to its reviews and provide you with the beautiful relaxing Punta Cana experience everyone enjoys.
Now the experience......
I have stayed in Punta Cana three times prior at absolutely amazing resorts (secrets, now lamiar, and excellence el carmen). I purchased this trip for my mother's 60th birthday, she's never been and poor thing experienced the worst of the worst.
I booked directly through Melia, was never informed of the MASSIVE construction being done and told I would receive 900 in resort credits. Awesome, what a deal! Nope! These credits essentially mean nothing.
We arrive at the hotel and to be VERY fair the hotel is probably functioning at 50%, the beautiful grounds are filled with construction, all of the fountains are dried up and smell. I booked the level because it was suppose to be the "best" which basically means we had slightly less horrific experiences than the other side. The resort is HUGE, we never received a tour and transportation around is difficult to get so we got so lost security had to find us. There are frequent downpours and the golf carts will leave you standing there or fly off laughing at you.
The room....
the room is outdated and dirty. The shower and AC vents have mold. The electricity will go on and off due to construction. The water pressure is high then low, freezing then steaming hot. Your view consists of trucks and building materials. They have a room that just stores all dirty towels, sheets, etc. Every morning you awake to banging and screaming from the maids.
The service...
the rudest, most inappropriate staff I've ever met! These people are overworked and underpaid (believe me they don't mind telling you to guilt you into tipping more). You will wait forever for drinks by the pool, at restaurants, room service (COMPLETE disaster). Room service will give a sigh because we are bothering her with our order, that we'd wait over an hour for incorrect items. The late night manager screamed at me, hung up, came to my room continued to try to get me to stop talking, then took off on his scooter in the middle of the incident (Tommy), he never returned. The bartenders actually tried to get a car to take my 60 YEAR OLD mother and I off the resort, so so so so dangerous and inappropriate.
The food...
The food is absolutely disgusting, I'm currently still sick from it. The breakfast and lunch are the same disgusting options. Everything is undercooked or over cooked, nothing in between. The food is left out to collect flies and stored at incorrect temperatures. The wait to get into restaurants is longggg and you can only make reservations at one restaurant. They run out of many items and are running around like maniacs to wait on tables.
The grounds....
the pool is dirty and when they do decide to clean it you'll be in there. The beach had a lot of seaweed and out of the 10 days I was there I went in once, I understand this is beyond the hotels control. The entertainment is horrible and the night club is in the middle of the bar. The other areas they had allotted for the entertainment/ club is being renovated like everything else.
I emailed management/cooperate almost daily and I was offered a dinner at the habachi restaurant (this is usually included in other resorts), it was mediocre at best. A message at the spa which was okay, but overpriced if you ask me; I'd rather receive a great hotel experience then this massage. They then offered me a trip back and I declined; this is how terrible this resort is! You could not pay me to return here! They say the remodeling / changes will be done within 18 months, do not believe this. There are MAJOR issues at this resort.
I still have not received any calls from cooperate or management so clearly they do not care about their guests or want to improve the resort.
THIS IS NOT A FIVE STAR RESORT, THEY SHOULD FEEL BLESSED IF THEY EVEN HAD TWO!
I know this is a lengthy review, but I beg of you don't make the mistake I made with booking this resort. read more