Sunday, May 5, 2013

Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus, La Romana, DR

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My clients (a family with 2 three year old kids) just returned from from Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus and gave this review of the resort. Even though it is just one person's opinion I think it reflects what this resort is about.


5 stars is the highest score
1 star is the lowest score 

Rooms- 5 stars

Clean, nicely done, gorgeous bathroom. (stayed in Building 4). Decent mattress - for the first time I did not have back pain on vacation.
   
Resort look and feel - 4 stars
Beautiful, main area (visitor center and restaurants) was probably built thinking  of Venice. There are flamingos  ducks, swan, turtles in the main "lake", and surrounding water. One can feed the animals, kids love that. There are two issues with that: 1. Smells like swamp. 2. If you have unruly toddlers - water presents safety issue (however, did not see anyone falling in the water).
 
Restaurants-4.5 stars 
There are 2 buffets (One is near the beach area), and 4 restaurants that require reservation. I booked all of them on our second day, so no problems there. They have a feel of a normal restaurant, with distinct atmosphere and food choices. Curiously, in their Japanese restaurant sake is offered after main course, it's not on menu. Food and drinks are of a good quality. Buffet has thematic dinners, on a "sea day" they offered caviar among other dishes. The only thing missing is fresh fruit stand.
   
Pool - 2 stars
I did not like it one bit. Simple (2 holes), old, dirty. The only plus - it's zero entrance on one side. It's made with colored glass tiles. Saw those broken tiles near the pool few times. I cut palm of my hand underwater on a broken tile. Told the management, asking to put a sign so no one else will get hurt. Nothing was done.
   
Staff - 3.5 stars
Very friendly - in a nice way. However, there seem to be disconnect in internal communication. Spanish and French are more easily understood than English. 
Sea - 3.5 stars
Warm, fairly shallow (4-5 feet deep good distance from the shore), with waves. Waves are not huge, but not very gentle either. Water is not very transparent. One can still use mask to see the bottom, but really there is nothing to see - near the shore.
Kids club - 2 stars
Huge disappointment. Even though the management gave us green light to use it (our kids are not 4 yet, but close), there was only one staff member at the club. Her partner was on vacation. The territory of the club of a good size, with a small pool, and in addition kids go to the shore, to the main pool, etc. So the "teacher" can not physically see all the kids. This was not acceptable for us. I doubt I'd use the club even if our kids were 5 y.o.
   
Entertainment 
Day time entertainment is quite poor in quantity. Only few times a day. And they turn on music only those few times. Can not say anything about nights at the resort.
   
So overall, my guess is - this resort is great for adults without kids who don't care much about the pool.

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