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| Traveling with Children Links Sand Dollar Condominium Resort Family sized one, two and three bedroom condominiums, children’s program and eco-activities for all ages. |
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Antigua Barbados Cuba |
Costa Rica Dominican Republic Jamaica |
Mexico St. Lucia St. Maarten |
Save on All-Inclusive Caribbean Resorts  |
| Rex Halcyon Cove — Ana |
This was such a DISAPPOINTMENT!! On our arrival, we were told that the kids club was closed on Tuesday - fine, no problem, my daughter waited patiently to the next day. On Wednesday, I approached the front desk to find out the hours of operation: opens at 10:15 am and closes during lunch and opens again in the afternoon. On several occasions, I personally walked over to the kids club which is by our building, the room was locked and dark. I went to ask the front desk, and they acted all surprised. After the 3rd day, I realized this resort did not cater to kids. As for the playground, there's a frame for the swings, but no swings and the games room also non-existent. In comparison to other resorts, like Mexico, Turks and even Cuba, it really is disappointing. FYI...I spoke to people who stayed at the Pineapple Beach and St.James, everyone said the same thing - "it must be an island thing" was our conclusion. So, keeping this in mind, DON'T ADVERTISE THIS TO YOUR KIDS, BECAUSE IT IS NON-EXISTENT.
| Turtle Beach Resort — Lee |
Kids Club: Our children really enjoyed the Club and asked to go there every day when we were not out on a tour. They chose to have lunch and dinner in the club with the other children on several days. One of the main attractions was the wide selection of video games. The ladies who worked there were very friendly and the children were kept occupied with games and craft. Video game time was (wisely) limited. During the evening, at 7.30, a film was shown. We have travelled considerably with the children, and stayed in many hotels that operate Kids Clubs, but this is the first hotel we have stayed in where the children have actually wanted to attend Club. It was certainly a treat to eat alone with my husband whilst being confident that our boys were safe and happy.
| Paradisus Playa Conchal Beach — Christine from Toronto, Canada |
They have a great centre for kids of all ages. There a two halves - for children 4 and under and the other for 5-12s. There are playgrounds, one of those inflatable jumping things, a trampoline, a climbing wall, tightrope, rope wall, crafts and more. They have a glossy pamphlet with the weekly activities for kids in the two age groups. The staff dress up as clowns in the evening and get all the kids up on stage for dancing and games. The only thing was there were hardly any kids there. Our daughter was lucky to find another 6 year old girl to play with. Maybe it's busier other times of the year.
| Bahia Principe Varadero — Lynda Gilles and the kids ~ New liskeard, Ontario |
This is our second trip to Cuba. You can check my other review to villa covarubias from last year. We traveled with sunwing from Sudbury. It is very nice to leave from a smaller airport when travelling with kids.
FOR THE KIDS: This resort is very child friendly. Their is many organized activities for the kids all day and into the evening. Bowling, darts, ping pong, checker, tennis, dancing, dress up, playground, just to name a few. I felt safe to leave my 7 and eleven year old at the daycare. The daycare worker was very nice and my kids loved her. The swimming pools are safe for children.
OCEAN: The ocean is just wonderful. Activities includ kayaks, catamarans, and peddal boats.
RESORT: This resort is clean but seems to need some carpets to be changed.(paint and stains on them) The rooms are clean but look a little old.
FOOD: My take on the food in Cuba is if you don't like change then stay home. None of us starved! The kids ate all day, snacks plentyfull, fresh fruit, pizza, hamburgers and french fries. Their was always lots to choose from in the buffet. We all found something good to eat. The a la carte restaurants were very good. The x-mass supper was great! Hey! I'm not going to lie, some food is bad BUT you're in a different country. If you rather eat things you are used to then stay in Canada. As for the beer, crystal is always a very good choice. The mix for the drinks, not so good. You can drink the water in Cuba, we did and never got sick!
TRIPS: Their are many trips you can take daily in Varadero. We did the dolphin swim for x-mass. It includes a day trip in a catamaran, all inclusive drinks, a swim with dolphins, snorkeling, lunch on an island. A must for children. My kids loved this. We also took the kids on a horse caridge ride in the town of Varadero. They got to see alot of different things that they would otherwise not get to see if we stayed on the resort. I went for a walk with my cousin to the markets and felt very safe to do so.
This was a very good trip, the staff was nice, the weather was great, my kids were safe.I will be returning to Cuba.
| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco — Georgia - Canada |
If you go with children:
Take jarred baby food with you, especially fruits and vegetables. Based on our previous experiences in Cuba (once in Cayo Largo, once in Santa Lucia, Camaguey), we thought that surely we would find something to give the baby.
So I didn't pack any baby food. For our dissappointment, the food was bad at this hotel, and very seldom we found something to give the baby. So we fed him toast with butter, platains, and whatever we could find that was cooked enough. The vegetables were cooked canadian style if I may say so, I mean, just blanched and we couldn't feed the baby that. The meat was hard because they use frozen meat which they cook without thawing. Take a bottle warmer if you can because you have to wait a lot for the water to warm. And it's not a pleasant thing to stay by the tap 15 minutes in the middle of the night.
Because we were at the ground floor we could wash any clothes because we didn't have something to hang them to. The kids pool is nice, lots of room for them to play.
There is also a mini-club, but they don't accept babies unless there are no other children to be taken care of. Or they will accept if they'll stay in the stroller. Again, in the mini-club building, tiles on the floor, baby couldn't crawl.
If you want something cooked for the baby, you can talk to somebody from the kitchen and they will gladly accomodate your request. I requested some veggie puree and sometimes I would get carrots with potatoes and chicken, sometimes whatever they made the soup of. It was good taking into account that food that was available in the common serving area was so bad for the baby to eat. I also requested some fruit, which I've put in the fridge in our room.
Pack a peeling knife, a fork to cut and mash the fresh fruit, plastic spoons, a big bottle, plastic plates just for the baby. Aside of bottles, cups and whatever you use for the baby.
| Club Amigo Caracol - Santa Lucia — Janice - Ottawa |
The kids club is described in the brochure as "Supervised kids club ages 3-11". Having made use of kids clubs extensively in the past when travelling to Varadero with our kids, we were very disappointed. This one is quite different. In the interest of informing future families - here is what to expect.
The kids club was non-existant on the first two days. We made several complaints to the signature rep, and made sure many staff from the animation group knew that we really, really both wanted and expected there to be a kids club. There was no facility, or room to meet, which differes from other Cuban vacations we have enjoyed, where there was an air-conditioned facility filled with toys and games, and usually even a tv, and videos. At Caracol, apparently the staff would round up the kids at certain times and organize activities. The official times were from 10:30-12:00 and 3:00-5:00. We pushed and pushed, and finally by mid-week staff from the animation appeared to "baby-sit" the kids at the pool. There were only two occasions where there was an organized excursion to the beach, once to play in the sand and once to visit a neighbouring resort's pool. The resort was obviously having staff problems relating to the kids club and we learned that a student had been operating it for the past 3 months but had returned to school. During our week it was different people each day, and they obviously did not have experience in organizing the kids and providing structured activities. There was an enormous language barrier for the children, as there were children speaking French, English and Italian, and the supervisor often spoke only spanish. I guess its no wonder she didn't venture into any other activities beyond playing with them in the kids pool. There is no way any child over 6 or 7 would have been interested in this. And my little guy was reluctant to go off with a different person each day, which made it difficult for us. And I really felt I had to stay nearby in case things didn't go well, or there was some discipline problem.
The pool itself was a disappointment, again, because our kids are 4 and 6. The "kids pool" was a small square pool that was equally shallow everywhere, (.35 meters). It had absolutely no appeal for my children, it would only be good for toddlers. The other pool, also not very big, was the same depth everywhere with steps leading down, at 1.25 meters (approx 4 feet). My children could not touch beyond the steps. And oddly, there was a wall between the two pools so you could not be in the big pool and watch your kids in the small pool. This is not usually the way it is in a kids-friendly resort, but at least if you know what to expect, you can decide if this experience will work for you and your kids. Make sure you bring floaties unless your kids are excellent swimmers.
| Club Amigo Guardalavaca Village — Art & Jeanne |
We were at the Club Amigo Guardalavaca Village from Dec.31- Jan 14th,2005 with our 2 & 7 year olds. There is nothing wrong with the resort for a 3 star. The only complaint I have is that we booked through Signature because they state in brochure and website that the kids club is for 2 & up. When we arrived we were told that the club is for 4 & up . Major disappointment since that was the only reason we booked this hotel.Of course hotel blamed Signature and Signature blamed hotel.
Our 7 year old still used the kids club but it was very poorly organized. We'd ask in the morning what the kids would be doing and it was never the same as the listing on board by door of club. One morning we were told they'd be playing soccer then mini golf. When we picked up our 7 year old later he told us he'd been swimming. Not only did they take him swimming without permission but he does not swim. He always wears a lifejacket and is within reach of us at all times. They took him to the Olympic sized pool with no lifejacket and 1 supervisor for 14 kids.
On another outing on a train ride to the countryside they also had 14 kids to 1 supervisor. The kids were spread out all over the train with no supervisor watching. We just happened to be there with our 2 kids. They were willing to take younger kids only if you paid them. After this we kept our son with us because we did not trust the kids club.
The resort is fine if you want a cheap place for some sun and beach.They had other things like basketball and ping pong but I heard a lot of complaints about equipment missing. We had read all the reviews on a couple of forums and even asked questions about the kids club but received no info. Just thought I'd send this in to give other people the info we wish we'd had. If anyone has any questions I am Holidaypinettes and you can just PM me.
Just don't go for the kids club because you will be very disappointed!!!!
| Grand Playa Turquesa — Catherine |
The kids club is amazing, very attractive to the kids and well organised during the day. The mini-disco at night was not always a success depending one the creativity of the animator but still a high light for the girls. Perfect for our age range… don’t know how it would have been for younger or older kids. They also loved the carito rides around the resort (golf carts that are used as shuttles). Came in handy for everyone at the end of the day.
| Grand Playa Turquesa — Karyn |
The kids club was excellent. The ladies working there were absolutely incredible. The kids have their own clubhouse, with lots of activities, their own pool and it is gated in. The ladies would take the gang to the buffet for lunch, down to the beach snack hut for pizza and ice cream, I never once worried about them at the club. I felt guilty when my husband and I were eating lunch at the buffet and here come the kids club with our boys(it felt a little bit odd) but the boys had so much fun with the kids club they didnt want to spend the day with us( hey, I'm not complaining!) They had a mini disco every night and a fashion show once a week, it was really cute. We tipped these ladies huge, they were so deserving and one had a son a bit younger than mine so we left her a bunch of clothes for him(they have so little)
| Grand Playa Turquesa — Kathryn |
This is like a little resort for the kids. The staff there are wonderful and truly do enjoy kids. Kids Club has it’s own pool and exterior play area as well as several different rooms that offer play, sleep and dancing. Keep in mind that this is more for younger kids that are 7 and under. No worries in leaving your children there as they are very well supervised and you must sign in and sign out each time. Our daughter is 8 so she would only go to Kids Club for certain events such as Spanish Lesson or when they where preparing for the evenings stage event. Yes, your child gets to participate/perform nightly at the kids disco in the Theatre between 8:30 – 9:00 pm. Wednesday is always Birthday Party Day. They celebrate all the kids’ birthday and serve cake. The team at Kids Club do take the kids on mini excursions to the beach etc. etc.
| Iberostar Daiquiri — Andre and Wendy ~ Canada |
The kids club was a bit hit and miss. They advertise that they take kids from 4-10, but I certainly wouldn’t leave a 4 year old with them. We laughed one day because they had about 3 kids that were waiting for the kids entertainment to start and she told them to wait there while she went to find more kids, OK for the older kids, not so good for the young ones. The hardest part was for the kids to! try to plan their days, some days the siesta was from 1-3:30, you were just never sure when things would start. Worked fine for us because the 9 year old is very independent and knew where to find us, don’t know how wonderful it would be for a shy kid. When they did have things organized the kids had a great time, there was just lots of down time with nothing really going on.
| Melia Cayo Santa Maria —Jeff & Deby ~ Hamilton, Canada |
My kids just loved the staff at the mini-club. The first time they arrived they met Mila the mini-club staff person. She asked their names and remembered it for our entire stay. The kids just loved Mila and she treated them like her own brothers.
The mini-club had its own small wading pool, outdoor climbing structures, foosball table, mini-basketball net, toys, puzzles and games. The kids could do crafts alone or with the staff’s help. There was also a TV with a Playstation 2 for the kids to use, which mine only used once since there was so much else to do. There was lots of shaded area as well so that the children could stay out of the sun.
In the evening there was a mini-disco for the kids and it was always done whether there was 1 child or 20.
There was also baby-sitting, however we never used this service so I couldn’t give an opinion on it.
| Oasis Playa Coco — Ewa |
Kids club was located in a convenient spot, just outside the buffer restaurant. If you sat outside the buffet in the patio seating area you could watch the kids play in the playground while you lingered over lunch after they were all done. Worked great with our older son, but the 2.5 year old was too young to be there unsupervised. Besides, she was usually napping by lunch time. This is the one fault with lunch being at 12:30. By that time our younger daughter was falling asleep, so she ate at the snack bar around 11:30 for lunch. Often our older son joined here and he would simply sit with us for a bit on the patio area and enjoy ice cream from the buffet and then run off to play while we finished lunch.
The actual kids club was well supervised by a lovely lady named Alina. She took both kids in with no problems, although the official age is 3 to 12, our 2.5 year old is well adapted and independent, so she was fine to stay there for a couple of hours. There was not much in terms of organized activities for the kids, mostly because it was just the one lady so she just supervised the kids indoors while they played. There are no cribs in the kids club as some photos will show. Also the kids club is closed from 12 to 2, however, you can arrange Alina to take your kids to the buffet for lunch if they are older and you need the whole day away for some reason. There were toilets inside the kids club. Inside there was a ‘little tikes' play house and play structure with slides and all. Quite safe for 3 and up (guideline, as our daughter who is 2.5, very tall and independent was fine on them, but some 2 year olds would have trouble. There was a TV there, but I didn't see any of the kids watching it. I would say that the kids club was great from 3 to 8.
There was a kids show every evening at 8:30, and while our kids were too shy to participate, they really enjoyed watching. This was organized by the wonderful Alina.
| NH Krystal — Kate |
Kids’ club: My kids didn’t want to go, mostly because they go to daycare after school every day and it seemed like more of the same – crafts, games, Lego, drawing and painting, plus little excursions around the property, and swimming. The girls who ran it were nice, and seemed good with the kids. I feel for them though, having to entertain such a wide range of ages for long periods of time in a confined space, and with limited resources. I’d say from observing it briefly a few times that it’s probably best suited to 4-7 year-olds. The kids’ club has its own buildings, washrooms and shallow pool which is fun (kids can use it even if they’re not participating in the club, as long as a parent supervises). It’s in a little area at one side of the Laguna section, so it’s not super convenient if you want to drop in or check up on your kids often (on the other hand, if you really want uninterrupted time to yourself, it’s excellent, plus there’s little chance of a child wandering off and getting “lost in the crowd”).
| Playa Pesquero —Laura ~ Ottawa, Canada |
We are a family of four with two young children (ages 3 years and 21 months) from Ottawa, Canada. We traveled to Playa Pesquero from February 16-23, 2007 using Signature Vacations.
I booked the trip about five weeks ahead using canadatravels.com. I checked lots of other websites but theirs was user-friendly and seemed to match or beat the other prices and I’ve used them before with equal success (the other website I particularly liked was itravel2000.com). They phoned me the following day to confirm my internet reservation and answer my questions, and they forwarded our requests to the resort – we got a room with one king bed on the second floor, quite close to the lobby (although in building 27, not one of the specific buildings I’d requested). If you’re booking for a family, note that different tour operators – and sometimes even the same tour operator - charge different amounts for the kids’ fares. Of course I started off looking at the cheapest adult fares, but soon found that if I plugged our ages in on all the different options (even with more expensive adult fares) we could end up with a lower total price. We ended up getting a superior room for less than the cost of a standard room (also with Signature Vacations!) by using this tactic. Also, prices seem to change every day or two – if you see a price you like book it right away!
We chose this resort over any other because of the baby club. Most places only have a kids club for children aged 4 or 5 and older. Note also that the different tour operators may tell you different ages that the clubs are good for so you may need to do some separate research – the Signature Vacations brochure, available on their website, has a separate page at the back that lists resorts with a baby club. The club at Playa Pesquero is right by the main pool and is enclosed by a low fence. Inside are a little paddling pool, a couple of play houses, a couple of pedal cars, a shower in the shape of clown, a sand box, a decent sized climbing structure and two large roofed rooms with soft floors. The room for the older kids was closed for renovations when we were there but our two kids were in the baby room anyway, which had tables, chairs, a TV, a dark room for sleeping, a bathroom with child-sized toilet, bathtub and change table, a kitchenette, and various toys and activities. The little ones normally stay in the room most of the time because it has another fence to keep them out of harm’s way and of course it’s out of the sun. The group also left the club from time to time, especially to walk to the ice cream parlour which our kids loved! The caregivers were Yanet (who is pregnant!), Diana (has one daughter) and Reina (didn’t really get to know her at all). They were very friendly and patient, especially with our daughter who unfortunately was devastated to see us go and cried most of the time we were away (our son had a great time). That was very unfortunate because my husband and I ended up having much less “couple time” than we had hoped because we were too sad to leave our daughter at the baby club! We did however get out for a couple of a la carte dinners after the kids went to bed, while Yanet babysat for us.
We didn’t take any tours and the only adult activities we did were an hour of rather mediocre snorkeling using our own equipment, a couple of hours of moped rental, ten minutes in the hot tubs inside the gym and the Cuban show one evening (which we thoroughly enjoyed). We went jogging around the resort a couple of times too – it’s large enough that it’s easy to cover 5K! During the day we mostly hung out by the pool, which had a shallow area (ranging from about 2 cm to about 40 cm, then a line of little underwater seats that served as a barrier from the deeper part of the pool) where our children loved running back and forth and pouring water out of watering cans. The white tiles are very slippery – if you’re going to be running both adults and children should wear water shoes! We always managed to find lounge chairs by the pool, and almost always in the shade. The shallow part of the pool is also right by the washrooms and some smaller plastic climbing structures, and only a few steps from the 24-hour trattoria. We were a little paranoid about sand fleas so only spent a couple of mornings at the beach but the children loved playing in the sand and none of us got any bites, nor from mosquitoes. In the evenings, my husband and I brought back a couple of drinks to the room and sat out on the balcony sipping pina coladas and reading our novels. Not very exciting but a nice break from a Canadian winter!
We ate most of our meals at the buffet Latino. It was slightly further from our room than the buffet Criolo but had a better selection. We always found things that the children liked, and if we got a table right by the buffet we could leave them at the table while we went to get food. There are high chairs available. At breakfast we generally filled up two sippy cups with juice and picked up a couple of bananas, rolls or tubs of yogurt as snacks for the kids later in the day. My favourite meal was breakfast with chocolate croissants, made-to-order omelets, fresh orange juice and sometimes prosciutto (I must have eaten $30 of prosciutto in a week!). We had sparkling wine or beer with almost every lunch or dinner – we didn’t like the regular red and white wine at all. We all got a little bit of “traveller’s tummy” but I think it was just the change of food and nothing to do with hygiene. Our a la carte dinners at the Grill and Romantico were a nice change but small servings and nothing special.
Our flights were great. We didn’t pre-book our seats but the airline staff and other passengers traded seats until we all managed to sit together both ways. Our room was also very clean, comfortable and well-equipped and, in my opinion, qualified as “superior”. We brought inflatable Ready-Beds for our children (we bought them a year ago at Toys R Us and they are truly fabulous, allowing children to sleep in their “own” beds wherever you go), the only disadvantage being that they creak a bit when the children roll over and so my and my husband’s sleep was interrupted.
I don’t have much to compare with, only having taken one sun holiday in the past (at Sol Club Rio de Luna, also in the Holguin area, in 2002). We didn’t like the location as much as last time (Rio de Luna is on Playa Esmeralda where the snorkeling was better and there was also ample opportunity for birdwatching at the mangroves between Rio de Luna and Paradisus Rio de Oro). Otherwise Playa Pesquero was fantastic and we plan to go back in two years when hopefully my daughter will be happier about being at the baby club.
| Playa Pesquero — Andy ~ Canada |
The kids club was very nice. It has a little pool, playground structure, sand, toys etc. Our kids would go play there in the mornings. We never went too far though. I liked to keep the club in view, as sometimes, the workers were helping with coloring activities in the building and not really watching the kids that were out around the pool. My kids left a few times, the workers did follow them out till they saw us, but I would not have been comfortable leaving my 2 year old there without me being able to see the club. One really great thing was they lend out strollers for you to use while you are there. We thought we could do it without one so left ours at home. This resort is huge, and alot of walking for little ones. The tires on the strollers do need air, but they worked just great to haul my 2 year old and all of our towels and gear around.
| Sirenis Las Salina — Sue |
We would return in a heartbeat except that the kids program was horrible. There wasn't one. Travelling with 6 children ranging in age from infant to 10yrs, the kids club was to be an important part of our holiday. We wanted and the kids wanted to be able to have the option to go and have fun with other children. They did not have any daily activities planned and for the most part kept the kids inside the clubhouse. After last years vacation in Mexico where they had a fabulous program, we were very disappointed. My advise to parents if you are looking for a resort that offers these services do not book at Sirenis. As mentioned, we would return in a minute if it was not for that reason.
| Sirenis Las Salina — Art & Jeanne |
We phoned Selloff Vacations & Sunwing to check the hours of the kids club and were told it was 10 to 5. We also emailed the resort and were also told the hours were 10-5. When we got to the resort we were told they were from 10-12 and 2-6. We were very disappointed to not have the hours we were told available. We were told we could get the kids club from 12-2 but at the cost of $5 per child per hour. We would have had to spend another $20 a day to get what was supposed to be offered. Only after we talked to the Sunwing rep. did the hours change 11 days later.
When our kids did use the club they were usually the only ones over the age of 3. Sometimes there was only 1 lady to take care of them and the little ones that were there. Of course the lady had to take care of the babies so our sons were left to entertain themselves. There are 2 sides to the kids club; one has cribs and a little kid’s playroom which is very nice. The other side has older kid’s games. Unfortunately since there was only 1 caregiver they often had to stay on the baby side. Not to much fun for a 5 & 10 year old. They were usually the only ones there over 4. Other kids would check it out and see that they weren’t doing anything then would leave. They’ve been to 5 other resorts with kids club and said this was the worse one. They never had a schedule of activities and often they sat and watched tv. The club was fine for kids 3 & under. The activities around the pool & beach were also geared to get the adults involved and not the kids.
| Sirenis Las Salina — Nicole & Oscar ~ Edmonton Alberta |
This is a great resort for families, the kids pool has a huge water slide, kids club with park and baby pool, water volleyball and the animation team keeps things going all day at the pool. The adults can swim up to the pool bar which is inside a cave complete with waterfall at the entrance and there is a snack bar on site. Bring a stroller for the litte ones as there is a lot of walking at this resort.
| Sol Cayo Guillermo — Tim |
The Kids Club (4-12 years old, approx?) was *excellent* - better run and better facilities than Melia Caribe in the DR/PuntaCana we visited last year, and the MeliaCaribe makes a big deal about its kids club.
They have a good space (nice clean space, good AC, lots of toys, dress-up stuff, a good size small private kiddie-pool, good supervision, and once our nearly-5-year-old-daughter started going it was hard to get her to spend time with us on the beach :-)
| Sol Pelicano — Jeanette |
One of the main reasons I booked this resort was for the Kid's club. Our 3 year old speaks only English but speaks very well. The girls that work with kids speak fluent Itallian and Spanish with only a little English. All of the other children were Itallian so the staff spoke almost exclusively Itallian. Our 3 year old was confused by this and didn't enjoy the club very much. The toys were old, the crayons were stubs. We gave the staff a large bag full of crayons, markers, stickers etc. so that in the future I hope other kids can play.
| Sol Sirenis Coral — Mike |
BabyClub:
One of the reasons we chose this resort is that they had a babyclub (0-4) which was actually very good. It was in a large building and had a separate portion where kids could have their nap (other parents took advantage of this and dropped off their toddlers for a nap while they were at the pool/beach but it never worked with our son) and a playroom with toys. Most of the time there's 2 older ladies watching / playing with 2 or 3 kids. Our son loved it and we left him there for a while (30 minutes to 2 hours) on most of the days.
| Tryp Peninsula - Varadero — Robert ~ Alberta, Canada |
The kids area has a wading pool for toddlers in a small fenced area with sun chairs and palapas around it. Adjacent to it is a bit larger pool that goes up to about 3 feet deep, a whale shaped fountain in the middle, and more sun chairs and shade palapas around it. Between the 2 pools is a large Spanish style castle with a waterslide, it is a little short (15 feet long id say) and fast, but it is there and the kids enjoyed it. There is a building beside the pools which is the size of a 3 car garage, it contains the kids club, a washroom, little tables, play area, some games, and a little buffet of hamburgers and hot dogs. Outside the building there is a granita machine that they make slushie pina coladas in, and a table with a full bar service for the moms and dads. The service from the bartender here was excellent. The kids club offers babysitting service for little ones, activities and kids projects and events all day. It was phenomenal and our kids had a blast participating in the events that they did. The girls who run it really are great with the kids and seem to love it.
| Tryp Peninsula - Varadero — Paul ~ Montreal, Quebec |
BABY ROOM - we had mixed experiences. Some Staff (eg Enya) are clearly interested and capable in looking after your child whilst others are more mechanical. It's worth mentioning that the toys are not as numerous as in the brochure photos and have seen better days! They do have the only baby-change facilities in the complex and a nice sleeping room with cots.
CHILDREN'S MINI CLUB - this is fine if your child is a primadona. Delia is keen on doing her evening shows but made no effort to engage with the kids otherwise, and rather spent ther time playing dice with adults. She was in no way accomodating of children slightly younger than the stipulated age despite the fact that the Baby Room is not suitable for those aged over 3. Julia from the Kids club made a good effort with the 3 year olds. The lady who runs the kids pool snack bar is lovely (Sonya) and if you read this and are going to the Tryp please take copies of positive commmets with you, the staff realy appreciate the feedback
MINI-DISCO - this is fantastic....if you can keep your kids awake until 8:30pm. Lots of fun for all ages!
| Villa Cojimar - Cayo Guillermo — Kim |
I must mention the kids club!! Janette is the girl who is in charge of the mini club and we loved her so much!! Our boys had a great time with her the two weeks we were there. She took them bowling ate dinner with them sometimes and they also went to a park off the resort and went swimming at the next resort over. The boys were even in a play and I was amazed how well they could act. She also did a mini disco with them everynight with all the other kids and that was always fun to watch. So if you bring your kids to this resort I promise you they will love janette and the kids club.
| Bahia Principe - Punta Cana — The Sherry's ~ Ontario Canada |
| October 2005 The kids club was good. If you have kids over 10, it may not be for them. Our girls are 5 & 7. They met some friends and had a good time. They had mini-disco every night. It is the same routine every night, but the kids loved it. Stephanie and Isobel were the supervisors. They did a good job. The club had movies, Nintendo,an outside play area and play area inside. They would go to the beach sometimes, or the pool or play games (tennis, board games). Kids club was open from 9am to 6pm. The good thing is that if the adults wanted to do a day trip, they could go and do that. |
| Bavaro Princess - Punta Cana — Tara (Saultgirl) ~ Sault Ste Marie, Ontario |
This was our first time taking our 2 children. It was clear the Dominican people love children. They were acknowledged constantly. The staff would say “hola” or “high 5” just passing on the sidewalk, the tram driver mimicked birds and the kids would be looking around. The waitstaff would ask them if they wanted special things, like making hot chocolate at the table in the am, and when I went alone with them, they would tell me to go to buffet and hung out by table, keeping an eye on them. At dinner, my picky eaters often did not eat a la carte meals. No problem, they would get fries or pasta from the buffets ajoining without an issue. The suites accommodate 2 trundle beds no problem, but the sofa bed is a double and we used that.
The property:
It is huge, but try to take time to walk around, especially through the animal area and the mangrove. My children were fascinated to discover a peahen and her chicks walking beside us on the road, and the peacock showing his plumes at the buffet. You can take bread out of the buffet and hold it in the water in the lobby and the turtles and fish will eat from your hands. So will the ducks and flamingos. We had a visitor in our room – a baby gecko that kept the kids entertained for a couple days.
Food: OK, my children are very picky eaters. They don’t like to try new foods at all. They lived on fries, pasta with butter, and waffles pretty much. The 7 yr old ate hot dogs & pizza, and the 6 yr old bacon. However, they never starved. They loved the ice cream—the pink is bubblegum, not strawberry. My 2 never had any stomach problems at all Little boxes of Cheerios and Lucky Charms were always available at breakfast and staff didn’t mind us taking them out, so I stockpiled for snacks and the plane.
Kids Club:
This ended up being my 7 yr old daughter’s favorite spot. The staff – Primotivo “Master Ping Pong”, Nathalie and Ana Theresa were terrific. It was a little confusing at first as there is no schedule to speak of, so I didn’t know where the kids would be and that freaked me out a bit, but after checking regularly, I got to know the routine. A printed schedule would be very helpful as an improvement. The culture is a lot less rigid than we are used to with our day cares, but generally it went like this: Opened at about 9. Kids stayed in club area and did whatever they wanted ---nintendo, games, crafts, soccer, etc and then at about 11 there might be a structured activity, depending on number of kids ( a couple days, my daughter was the only one there as my son wanted to stay with me, on those days, she literally called the shots….pool, beach, walk, etc) There was archery, dressing up as pirates, ping pong, . At about 11:30 the kids went to the pool for an hour. After that they picked up food at the grill and went to club to eat. They stayed in club area until about 3 pm when they went to pool again. At pool kids would be rounded up for a game, little show, or other activity. At 5 you pick them up. We gave my daughter a radio to call us, but she just used it to play with. At 8 pm they go around the lobby buffet collecting kids and take them on the stage for ½ hr-45 min. They have games, a fashion show, etc. You can pick them up at stage at end. On Fridays they do The Lion King. They pick kids up from pool area about 3-3:30 for practice. You take them at 8 for makeup (they will get you about 9 to take pics). At 10 they are on stage and then sit to far right of stage to watch show and are on at end again.
Suggestions for taking kids here:
You don’t need much for clothing: a few evening outfits (kids can wear shorts & sandals), and bathing suits & coverups. Laundry service is very inexpensive (most items about $2 for kids). So is a Tide to go pen. Get a long sleeve 50 spf boarding shirt for each kid. My daughter wore hers almost the entire time. My son just in the pool. The problem with sunscreen is that when it is re-applied, you have to wait for it to absorb and the kids don’t wait so it washed off.
| Catalonia Bavaro - Punta Cana — Daryl |
The kid pool was where we spent most of our time. The kids LOVED the pool and it was not too deep. They would hang out there all day and play with the other kids. We brought water toys and beach toys that they all shared and had fun.
The resort has a kids club which was for 4 year olds and up. I was not expecting much and was slighlty impressed with the club. Are 2 year old also played and did crafts there. They had a decent swing set and some toys to play with. They had a room where you could do crafts, watch some TV or play some games. There was always a friendly staff there with the kids. The club was gated but most kids could come and go as they pleased. The staff was not really watching this so we did not leave the kids unattended. There was a small eating area across from the kids club where us parents could sit eat and drink if we wanted to. The kids enjoyed the club frequently. My only negative comment was when the staff was allowing my 2 year old to throw real darts at a dart board.
| Club Med - Punta Cana — Walden & Michelle --- Texas |
We have a 2-year-old and placed her in the petite club for four days. The Petit Club is closed on Saturdays, as that is the major check-in and check-out date for Club Med. The GO’s were wonderful with the kids and watched them closely. Every morning, they had arts & crafts, went to the baby pool, went to the beach, played under a covered awning on little cars, went to lunch around 12:00 at one of the restaurants and then went down for their nap from 1-3. Around 3:30, the GO’s herded the kids to one of the restaurants for a snack and then either let them play in the play room or had entertainment down at the beach where the parents picked up the kids. Overall, money well spent. We were able to relax or do water sports and we felt confident the children were being well watched.
| Dreams Punta Cana — Nancy ~ Toronto |
The Explorers Club for kids is also fabulous, my 7 and 4 year olds wanted to stay there for the entire duration of the trip. This is the first resort that I ever brought them to that I felt confident leaving the kids at the Kids Club. They assign you a cell phone when you check the kids in and contact you if your kids need you, or in my case if they just wanted to call you and see if they could do lunch with the Club Kids instead of having me pick them up.
| Fiesta Bavaro - Punta Cana — Doris |
Kids Club: Our two younger kids (4 & 6) stayed there for a part of most days. The older 2 girls (9 & 11) preferred to stay with us at the beach. The kids club looks like a western fort's stockade, with climbing areas, sand to dig in, craft room, Nintendo, ping pong, bathrooms with showers, small kitchen, and little soccer field. The staff are friendly and speak some English. Our kids really enjoyed making foreign friends! The staff has all sorts of planned activities, and most of the time sticks to a schedule posted at the gate. They took the kids on a Hobie cat one afternoon. They go mini-golfing, do archery (older kids), go to the pools and beach. They also take them to the lunch buffet at the beach restaurant, Arricefe. On most days, there were about 6 kids at the Mini Club at a time. You can leave your kids off at any time between 9am and 5pm. One of our kids started with the stomach probelm while ther, and the staff was very caring until we returned. They had a place for her to lay down, and made her an Alka Seltzer drink. When we got there, a staff member was reading a story to her. When we were saying our goodbyes on the last day, the director gave us a CD of the Dominican kids music to take home. Our kids loved that bouncy misuc, and still enjoy listening to that CD. She also gave us her email address, so the kids have enjoyed exchanging emails.
| Fiesta Palace - Punta Cana — Laurie |
| September 2002 One area I found little about in your reviews, was Fort Fiesta, the camp for kids. My sons and nephews went every day for at least a few hours. It was a great respite for us. The counselors were warm and fun for the kids, and had lots of activities, including a pizza party , and an ice cream party. This was all included in our package. I found the hotel was great with kids. |
| Fiesta Palace - Punta Cana — Sarah - Ontario, Canada |
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July 2002 Hello my name is Sarah. Im 15 years old and this is my first trip to a tropical place. My family and I went to Fiesta Palace, Punta Cana. I was Amazed with this resort. When we finally arrived at the airport in the Dominican Republic the were to girls in traditional outfits waiting at the entrance and then you get a picture with them. (Which you can pick up when you are leaving for 5 dollars) But sometimes they don't turn out so they are not there which happened to us. We went and went through secruity. Next we were going to get or luggage which we found took a while. I think we were one of the last people who actually got our luggage. When we got or bags we went and found the represenative for our hotel. They showed us where our bus was. We decided to sit near the front as we would get to the resort around 5 pm. We were the second ones to check in. When we were waiting a waiter came and served us drinks. I think it was a fruit punch but not quite sure. After we checked in the bell boy showed us to our rooms. Once we got to our rooms we were not satisfied with them as they were on the 1st floor and had a smell to it, and we were looking more for the second floor with a beach view but not necessary as all the view is gorgeous. We went back to the front next and asked if it was possible to get a room on the second floor. The lady was very nice and helpful and gave us a couple of keys to go check out the room and told us to tell her what room we decided on and to return the keys. We were in the 19 something i think can't remember as it was 2 months ago. It was on the second floor and was close to the beach pool and the main lobby. My sister and i got the better room as it was our first trip to a place like this. We had abit of an ocean view but not much which was ok because we had other very nice view and your not in the rooms alot anyways. The only time we were in the rooms was for showers before dinner and bed we found. I found the room very nice and the beds were comfortable as you have to remember they are not a wealthy as we are. In the washroom we had some ants which didn't really bug us because thats the only place we ever saw them. My sister and I each had our own bed which was a double. Tip: don't drink the tap water as you will get sick. When taking a shower keep your mouth close and brushing your teeth use bottle water they supply enough that you will never run out and there will be no need to use the tap water. When my parents did some research on the internet knowing that this was their first time going to this resort and some people complained that there were not enough towels. That was wrong when we went there was always plenty of towels (beach and shower). They were always clean. The rooms were always clean and if you leave your pjs on your bed which i forgot to take off one morning (oops). They maids will do them up all fancy looking. It was really cute. The food at the resort was not bad considering i am a extremly picky eater. You can always find something for anyone. For the a la cartes they say you can only have one for the week, which is not true. We tried almost every restuarant as possible. We really enjoyed the tex mex as we really enjoy mexican food. But friends of ours didn't care for it as they are not big on mexican food. I didn't like the sea food place because i don't like sea food but my parents and my sister really enjoyed it. For breakfast we always ate at the buffet which was right across the lobby over the bridge. We always ate there because it was easy, variety, and staff was very friendly. For lunch we ate at the restaurant by the pool. They would bbq fish, chicken, pork, beef, hotdogs, hamburgers, ect. I really enjoyed the chicken nuggets and french fries there. But also enjoyed other dishes. There is so much food you will never be dissatisfied. I found all the staff was very friendly as we became really close to alot of staff there. The beach was gorgeous and was always keep nice. The seawweed and other floating stuff that lands on shore was always raked up in the morning to be keep neat and tidy. The water was a blueish green. The sand was unbeleivable. It was white and powdery. There were always enough recliner chairs for every one so that you don't have to go and reserve them before. Just as we wanted. there were shacks about 5- 10 mins down the beach where you can get you hair braided and buy things. Tip: Bargin them down even if you feel really bad for them like me because they make there prices higher then normal because they know that people bargin them down. Try to get them to go atleast 50% as i was told from a worker at the resort. The pool was also very nice which we did not spend alot of time at because we have a pool at home and its not everyday that you can go to the beach. The pool had a swim up bar, kiddie pool and a jacuzzie. The only thing we found by the pool was that there were lots of chairs but all the ones under a umbrella were saved by the time we went for breakfast about 8. So if you want to spend the dasy by the pool and want shade be prepared to get up early and put your towel there to save your spot. There is alot of entertainment there and you will never get bored. Actually the first night we where there we were in the lobby listening to the live band and having a drink and the people who work there called the fiesta fun organizers came up to me and my sister and asked us to dance, they don't take no as an answer. We weren't really in the mood to as it was a long trip and we just got settled and we were tired but they didn't know that. I am glad they didn't take no as an answer because i really enjoyed the dancing, though i was embarrassed. But hey your not likely to see the people that are watching you ever again. TRY IT! You will have a blast. The evening shows were different some where good and some we didn't care for. Different taste for different people. We never did go to any of the discos at the other resorts but we did go and check them out and walked around with friends we met up there. The resort is always nicely kept and the paths were always washed and swept. The staff is very friendly, helpful, and organized. As for tipping we tipped every other day instead of leaving it to the last day. We left money (pesos) on our pillows for the maid and waiters ect. For money they will take Canadian, American or Pesos. They will not take coins though as it is no good for them. So you don't have to get your Canadian money switched to American like we did. Overall My family and I really enjoyed our trip and the resort for sure. We hope to go back next year to the same resort. |
| Grand Paradise Bavaro — Jennifer |
A great find for us this year as we didnt' take kids before was the Kids Club. They take kids from ages 4-12. You could drop them off at 9:30 and pick up at 12 for lunch. Then they opened again from 3 pm til 5:30. Also had nightime activites at 8:30 like bonfires and "mini fashion show". It was great for a little break from the 5 year old and gave her time to play with other kids. They did activites like face painting, sand castles on the beach, coloring, games and swimming. Ours seemed to have a great time. The staff spoke faily little English but didn't cause any problems. They seemed to really enjoy the kids and we were very impressed. The couple travelling with us arranged for a babysitter in their room for their 10 month old one night for 15/hour US and had a great experience as well.
| Gran Ventana — Rick, Caren and girls from Ontario |
Room location - We were first given a third floor room over looking the main pool in the Saona building. This is an awful location if you have kids. Due to the compact layout of this resort all of the entertainment (daily and nightly) can be heard loud and clear from these rooms. If you or your kids need an afternoon siesta or want to turn in earlier than 1 am in the morning do not stay in a room over looking the pool. We requested a move and they were very accommodating. We were moved to the Catalina building facing away from the pool (request 2nd or third floor) and it was much quieter.
Food - There was always something at the buffet for the girls to eat. They have good pizza’s and pasta everyday. I also saw hamburgers and hot dogs. The food was very good – roast turkey, beef, pork. For breakfast there was omelette and waffle stations and just plain cereal everyday. We tried the Italian restaurant and didn’t love our selection (lasagana) – we heard after that the chicken stuffed with parmesan and risotto is really good.
Pool/Resort layout – if you are pool dwellers like us, then this one is great for the kids. It has a gradual slope for the little ones and is quite large with the pool bar in the middle. The resort is compact, so you can always see where your kids are if they want a little freedom to roam around the pool area. Get out early to save a lounge chair – everyone does it.
Kids Club/Entertainment – The staff in the kids club is great – the kids can wander in and out as they please so if they just want to get out of the heat for an hour and then come out for a swim that’s ok. They can do crafts, play games, clay, video games, draw etc. I don’t think that it would appeal to children over 8 years old. For the older kids, there is a large room above the main lobby with ping pong and pool tables – I think the boys aged 10 – 14 hung out there. Every night they had a mini kids disco on stage at 8:30 (before adults show at 9:45) – my girls and all of the other kids loved it. On Wednesday they had a party in the kids club at 3pm in the afternoon and then they rehearsed for a fashion show that night on stage. Again, my girls loved it.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this resort with kids. We went March 24 – 31st, 2005 and there were lots of kids from the UK (their spring break is apparently around Easter every year). My kids met some good friends and had a great time. P.S. My girls got their hair braided on the beach for $25 US each and it takes along time, but was so convenient to just wash and go. If your daughter wants it done, you might want to consider just getting the front done for the sake of time.
| Holiday Village Golden Beach — Jacquie |
Rooms: We had two family rooms 13-2 & 13-3, great location, across from the water slides/wave pool and right beside the kid’s park. We could not have asked for a better location. (I did email the hotel and ask that our rooms be close together) Each room had a king size bed, TV, ceiling fan, air conditioning and a separate room with a set of bunk beds and a TV. Rooms were clean and very comfortable. Mini fridge was stocked everyday with 2 Pepsi’s, 2 7ups, 2 beers and 2 large bottles of water. Our maid kept our room spotless everyday.
Pools: This resort had a few pools, the wave pool with pirate ship. The water slide pool and the main pool. They also had a small pool at the kids club. The wave pool is where we spent most of our time. The waves came on every hour on the 15 minutes and lasted 20 to 30 minutes. The kids big and small enjoyed this pool and they would all run in when they heard the warning siren signaling the waves were about to start. My grandchildren spent a lot of time in this pool. The pool was built in the shape of an upside down capital T, one end of the T contained a large pirate ship which had water slides on it, this is where a lot of the smaller children played as the water was very shallow. The other end of the T was a little duck slide for the real little ones. The other pool in this area was the water slide pool which had two slides the “blue” one was at least 3 stories high straight down and the other “green” was a winding one which my grand kids loved. The adults had a great time on the large one.
Restaurants: (they enforced the dress code at all restaurant) We did the 3 a la cartes, Asian, Italian and Mexican, all have a children’s only menu also. We did not enjoy the Asian at all. The Italian was our favourite. Mexican was also good.
Buffet was good and had a good selection of foods most meals were geared towards the British and I found there were a lot of deep fried foods which we tried to avoid. They had a Pasta station every night. The kids had there own little buffet section with pizza, chicken nuggets, fries and ice cream that was built to their height so it was easy for them to help themselves. Breakfast they made Micky Mouse pancakes which all the kids were crazy for. Overall the food was good, you could always find something you liked. The snack bar at the wave pool served, hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken wings, chicken nuggets, salad bowl or fruit bowl. They had nachos and cheese on the bar which you could help yourself too.( a little to high for the kids to reach, they need to put this somewhere else) The Mexican a la carte was the Pizza place for lunch, they had a salad bar which you got yourself, pizza was good not great but good.
| Holiday Village Golden Beach — Ontario |
The kids club was the absolute best. Trevor is amazing with the kids and they always keep them busy with fun stuff to do. Our kids did the high ropes and absolutely loved it. Well worth the extra charge.
| Holiday Village Golden Beach — M and S |
The Kids' Club is AMAZING. The staff is just awesome with the kids and their "play and learn" sessions were really great. Our son loved going there.
The pools were very well-tended to, as were the grounds. The wave pool was very nice, but hard to get a lounger as it is a very popular spot. Our kids loved the water slides and pirate ship.
Our son took Swim Kids lessons with Lisa and she was fantastic.
| Holiday Village Golden Beach — Dave and Jo |
Well what can I say my kids loved the clubs they used wavelength and tried lots of new things .There are 3 or 4 sessions a day including one that runs from 8.30 – 10.30pm.
The in2action team work tirelessly andy and chris my kids are missing you .There is always something different happening 3 times a week that twilight session charges a fee but this is always for sweets and treats for your child at a price of 5 dollars, if you go in the shop and see the price of sweets you will soon see this is a bargain although we still heard many people moaning about it. In addition there is a cinema on site that shows 2 films daily one is always a children’s film.
| Holiday Village Golden Beach — David & Mary ~ Toronto, Canada |
Over all, it is a great resort for guests with young children. If you have children between ages 4 – 12, it is a great resort as there are dedicated “In2Action” coordinators that will keep them busy. Teens will find it boring with little to do.
| Holiday Village Golden Beach — Ottawa, Canada |
For activities for the kids you can't beat it! It was fabulous, they were occupied for the week! They had a blast at the waterslides, wave pool and kids' clubs, even the adults! With regards to the event schedules including the movie schedule, there is a complete list on a wall near the bar that is next to the main pool. Just ask an activity staff member, they can direct you. Kid's club activities are posted on their respective activity buildings.
Family Room - The family room accommodation was great! The kids loved the bunk beds. No problem with our room 27-2, A/C worked, it was clean, no bugs, no leaks, no problem with hot water or electricity, a little dark but we were only there in the evenings to go to bed so it wasn't really an issue for us. Our room was cleaned everyday but didn't need to be, empty water bottles were replaced (we left $2-3 US on the bed each day, maybe that helped). Yes, it was close to the wave pool machines which could be loud but it only ran during the day and we were rarely in our room then.
| Holiday Village Golden Beach — Amber ~ Canada |
The resort was totally family orientated, and a huge amount of fun for kids!!! The water park had a fantastic pirate ship, a large wave pool and water slides. Bring water shoes for the little one's, it can be pretty slippery.
The kid's club was a wild and creative experience for my son. He loved going, it was always a cool adventure. They played dress up, put on shows for the resort, went on treasure hunts, did a load of arts and crafts. They were always busy with something. My daughter enjoyed the nursery. The staff are amazing, most come from England and are highly trained. They play with the babies and do everything they can to make them comfortable. If you want babysitting in the evening, bring extra money. It costs about $46 US for 3hrs in the evening. It is worth it though, my husband and I enjoyed the time stress free.
In the evenings the children get up on stage and dance to some of the funniest music I have ever heard. We bought the CD for our son, it is hilarious.
We put our son in private swim lessons, worth the money. He is now a really good swimmer at the age of 4, no more water wings!!
They also offer soccer instruction, saw loads of kids having fun with that.
| Holiday Village Golden Beach — Hendem ~ Canada |
Kids programs - up to age 15. Kids enjoyed the soccer program. Swimming lessons are available. Daily activies are available for the kids in the morning, afternoon and nightly activies to keep them busy. Our kids were very happy.
| Iberostar Costa Dorada - Puerto Plata — Lesley and Sam ~ Whitby, Ontario |
| Iberostar Costa Dorada - Puerto Plata — Paul |
| Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus - Bayahibe — Jon |
The kids club was excellent … nice building, great play structure, nice staff, and a very small pool area to cool off in. Our kids wanted to hang out with us most of the time so spent very little time at the kids club, in total I think they probably spent 14-16 hours there over 2 weeks.
| Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus - Bayahibe — Jason and Beverley ~ England |
There is an excellent kids club at the hotel located adjacent to the Palapa grill restaurant. It has its own club house, adventure playground and also small splash pool, all enclosed by a perimeter hedgerow. The club operates between 10am and 5pm and has the following groups.
Lucy’s mini club 5 – 7 year olds
Lucy’s maxi club 8 – 12 year olds
Lucy’s teeny club 13 – 16 year olds ( this club runs between 1st July and 15th September)
| Iberostar Punta Cana — USA |
The workers at the MiniClub are fantastic (Lalli, Belkis, Rosa, and Bel) and this is the first resort where we truly felt comfortable leaving our child at the Mini Club. My 5 year old has a great time (scheduled activities during the day, kids mini disco at night, and special shows that the kids participate in (mini Grease, mini fashion show, etc). She literally talks about her vacation all year long.
| Iberostar Punta Cana — John & Ann - USA |
Just returned from a week at the Iberostar Punta Cana with my husband and 5 year old son. We have taken our son to the Mayan Riviera twice. This was our first trip to the Dominican Republic. Let me start by saying that the Dominican Republic is a great place for kids. The Dominican people really love kids and they treat them wonderfully.
We stayed in a Junior suite at the Iberostar Punta Cana. This room had 2 double beds and a seperate room with a King sized bed. This is perfect for families. The television has several English speaking channels as well as Cartoon network and Disney channel.
We didn't use the Kids Club that much. We like to spend time with our son while we are on vacation. The kids club opens at 10 and closes at 5pm. The mini club is actually located on the Dominicana side of the resort, find the casino and go straight. This is different than what is printed on the map. If you wanted to, you could drop them off in the morning and pick them up at 5pm. They also eat with the kids at 7pm at the Punta Cana buffet. There is a table by the kids buffet right by the Snow White picture where they meet. The kids have a "mini-disco" at 8pm in the theater. This consists of the kids dancing to some tunes and playing a game. Afterwards they met and played bingo or another game, complete with prizes for the winners. My son won a round of bingo and got a medal that he is very proud of. He wore it around the resort and the staff were calling him "el-champion". The ladies that run the kids club are Rosa and Lollie. They were very energetic and I felt safe leaving my son in their care. They also speak several languages.
The Iberostar is very kid friendly in the way of food also. They had pizza and french fries available every day for lunch and supper. Chicken nuggets were served every 3 days on the buffet. They had hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken breasts and popcorn available down by the pool. Be sure and try the ice cream bar. They have all kinds of flavors and make great milk shakes also. Cold cereal and fresh milk are available for breakfast-my son's favorite. I am happy to report that none of us got sick. We avoided the tap water. We drank only bottled water and brushed our teeth with it as well.
Be very very careful of the sun. It is extremely strong in Punta Cana. Take more sunscreen than you think you will need and apply it frequently. We have a "solar suit" for our sun. It is a pair of swim shorts, shirt and hat made of UV protected fabric. It works like a charm, we have avoided sunburns in Mexico and the DR now. I highly recommend it. After a couple of days we let him take the shirt off and we apply sunscreen to his other exposed parts. Spray sunscreen works wonderfully for the beach.
I took a bag of snacks to have in the room (fruit roll-ups, fruit snacks, cheese and crackers, etc.). This worked out great, I wish I had brought more! I ended up buying a 5.00 can of pringles in the hotel gift shop after my son plowed through the snacks from home! Any kind of snack is extremely expensive in the gift shop. Save some room in your luggage for some from home. Works great to tide little bellies over until dinner or to munch on after a day in the sun.
We took the Outback Jungle Safari tour-it was great! My son laughed so hard at our guide. It was a very enlightening experience for a spoiled little American boy to see where other kids live and go to school. Two little boys came running up rolling an old tire with sticks when we stopped at the Dominican home. He didn't know what to say when we explained that "yes, this is what they play with-they don't have what you have". We have already talked about sending clothes and toys to the kids for Christmas. I am very glad we did this tour. Do not hesitate.
The airport has a neat little playground to use while waiting for youre departing flight. It is between gates 2 and 3. What a great way to burn off some energy before a long flight home.
All in all, I think the DR is a great place to take your kids. We will definitely go back. Please e mail me if you have any specific questions. Hope this helps. johnandannb@aol.com.
| Melia Caribe Tropical — Inger |
We did not use the kids club but went in to check it out. A couple of the ladies were very nice and as the week went by I would have felt comfortable leaving my children with a few of them. We’re just paranoid parents and don’t feel comfortable at this point leaving them and enjoyed spending our week together as a family. One couple in RS seemed to have a private nanny provided which was a nice alternative if you have the $s. The resort has done a nice job with the Flinstones theme. This is definitely more of a family resort and for the most part all kids were well mannered and having a great time.
| Melia Caribe — Sarah ~ Toronto |
We used this for one hour one day. They allow infants, which was a nice surprise. It was our first time using a kids club and so we were quite nervous. We stayed at the pool directly in front of the kids club in case there was a problem. Our daughter had a blast there, and the girls who work there were great. Every day they came up to her in the buffet to say hello. The kids club has a Flintstones theme and one night we caught a big Fred Flintstone walking around the resort.
| Melia Caribe — Lisa - Canada |
Regarding children, the KidsClub for toddlers is TERRIBLE. The staff seem disinterested and poorly trained, security is non-existent (gates left open with no supervision, no kid/parent tagging on check-in or out!). Activities include crayons, paints and inappropriate television shows. The junglegym play area is not for kids under 5 unless parent supervised, which given the level of staff supervision is probably a good thing. They take the kids for walks off the daycare site, if your comfortable with that. Needless to say, if your planning to use this service in order to get some R&R away from your child, it would be hard to relax knowing where you're leaving them! We couldn't do it.
| Ocean Blue/Sand - Punta Cana — Kate |
My one daughter absolutely loved the kids club. The two women, Bela & Nersy were absolutely fantastic! The kids loved dancing every night at the mini disco.
| Riu Bachata - Puerto Plata — E & A ~ Canada |
Jan 2005 with our 16 month old son.
Firstly apologies to anyone on our Skyservice flight Jan 1st to Puerto Plata. There were many hung-over people on our plane that were not happy to hear our son crying for two hours. Note to self: do not fly on an early morning flight where you have to wake up at one year old at 3am next time…
We picked the Riu because it was family friendly and were not disappointed.
We packed all our sons food and snacks along with a Sunbeam “Hotshot” water dispenser for heating food and bottles. If you take any appliances you will need an additional adaptor available in the gift shops as the Riu outlets are recessed. We also packed antiseptic dish washing liquid and a large Tupperware container with a lid for me to wash all his bottles and bowls with bottled water. This worked out very well.
Dominican people love babies! We were told they view babies as “angels” and our son was continually being picked up and hugged!! Do not be afraid if this happens as is just their way! Our son actually enjoyed the attention and seemed fascinated by the Spanish language!
We requested a crib in advance and it was there on our arrival. It was a sturdy wooden crib with clean sheets. You might want to bring your own crib sheet if your baby is very small as they use a large sheet folded in two.
The restaurant has many high chairs. It is easy to use the hot water there for bottles and dried baby food. They have cheerios and raisins along with the breakfast cereal in the mornings which proved invaluable!
We looked at the Kids Club for future reference. It takes children from 4 years plus. The ladies seemed very nice but only one spoke English. I actually preferred the look of the Kids Club at the Riu Merengue as it was enclosed with a fence.
To sum up we had a great time but your expectations of travel with a small child have to be realistic. You are not going to have the relaxing vacation you may be dreaming of! I would recommend the Riu Complex to families but would probably wait until our son is a few years older before we return.
| Riu Bachata - Puerto Plata — Thomas Family - London, England |
| Riu Mambo - Puerto Plata — Melissa and Craig - Canada |
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December 2002 I have to mention the Kids Club as I have heard mixed reviews about it. Some have said it is not as advertised in the brochure (RIU LOVES KIDS etc...) but I have to say, it was better than I imagined. The young woman, Jahira, who looked after the Kids Club was amazing. As soon as they opened the door into the kids club, our children would jump out of the pool and run over to join the rest of the children. She took them to play ping pong, and had horseshoe tourney's and soccer games on the beach etc... They did crafts and just enjoyed meeting so many other children. Every night at 8 they would have a mini disco on the stage where they play about 5 songs and the children learn dance steps to them. SO by the end of the week our children could do almost the entire routine. Also, on the Saturday night they had a Caribbean street party, in Caribbean street. They had bands at both ends of the street and people were dancing and carrying on, it was great!!! Felt like we were in New Orleans during Mardi Gras or something. The children performed for everyone there, and then got all decked out in costumes and did a conga line through the street to music. It was amazing and the children just loved being on stage, and in front of an audience. We tipped Jahira $10 USD at the end of the week, and felt like total cheapskates. Even though the Kids Club is included, we felt we had to give something. We would have given much more if we could have. I don't know if many people tip them, but they look after the kids from 10-12 and then from 3-5 every day, not to mention the mini disco in the evening. Next year I plan on taking more money for tips. We got our 6 year old's hair braided for $20 USD which is cheap, cheap, cheap. If you've ever traveled to Barbados, St Lucia etc... you know it is much more expensive there. I paid $70 USD in Barbados years ago, so I can just imagine what it costs now. The lady was very nice who does the hair braiding and she does it right in front of the kids club on the walkway to the beach. She was very busy and had people all the time. I would recommend talking to her a day or two before you plan on having it done to discuss pricing etc... I would also suggest going to the bar and getting a drink for her when you are done, or if it's around lunch time, maybe getting her a plate of food. She seemed very thankful to anyone who did that. If you have children who have outgrown any summer clothes, please take an extra bag of clothing down with you. There are so many people you will meet that you can give them too. The lady who did the braids asked me if I had any clothes that I could leave for her granddaughters. I left two bathing suits and a pair of sandals my daughter wore while we were there. I wish I had more, as I have a ton of stuff at home. |
| Riu Merengue - Puerto Plata — Toni - Mississauga, Ontario |
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February 2002 Our only disappointment: |
| Riu Merengue - Puerto Plata — Liam - Vermont |
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We are family with 2 children (8 and 6) and live in Vermont but generally travel out of Montreal Children's Program Not as advertised. The kids club was only for babies and toddlers and didn't seem to have set hours The children' activities were terrible. They had one member of the staff come around the pool and beach each morning at 10.30 and each afternoon at 3 to collect the kids for an activity. Some days there were 10 kids and someday there were 20 --but still one staff member. The played bocci ball, beach ball, miniature golf--but had one putter and one ball for 15 kids. Needless to say the activities were totally boring for the kids and they never joined after the first day or two. Again, we could not leave the kids--even for the hour they were in the activities. Each evening before the adult show (at about 8) they had dancing on stage for the kids--but with the identical tmusic tape every night for a week and a few nights a game after the dancing. We were able to get a night babysitter for a few hours each evening--US$5 hour |
| Riu Taino - Punta Cana — Michelle --- Ontario, Canada |
| SuperClubs Breezes Puerto Plata — Jamie ~ Canada |
I just wanted to write a little something about Breezes Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. We travelled there in January 2005 and it was a great resort. The children never said they were bored once our entire stay. We have a girl 8 and a boy 6 and they said it was awesome. The pool area is set up really well so the kids could swim in the pool right in the centre. There were two slides and they spent the majority of our stay on them. They also were in and out of the hot tubs(which weren't hot) all day. There were plenty of kids games by the pool and a basketball net in the water. If you have small children there was a baby pool right close. The kids thought the swim up bar was fantastic as the juice was not stop whenever they were thirsty. We only spent one afternoon at the ocean as the kids enjoyed the pool so much. They had a rock climbing wall that seemed to be pretty busy but our kids didn't try it. They did however go on the trampoline and watch the trapeze in action. They had a good time playing pool in the lobby by the bar and thoroughly enjoyed the kids programs at night. This resort did a good job of keepig the children busy while they were in the same area of us as we had a bit of time to relax while still enjoying the company of our kids. I would have definately taken the kids to the kids club as it seemed well cared for and continually busy execpt for the fact that we were so busy ourselves we didn't get a chance to take them. The kids always found something to eat on the buffets and at night they had their own childrens buffet to choose from off to the side of the main buffet. Their favorite part of the meal was being able to make their own ice cream after their meal at the sundae station with soft serve ice cream. I rate this a 4.5 our of 5 for kids as we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and the kids had a good time too. I hope this review was helpful and surely you won't be dissapointed with your stay their. Good Luck!
| SuperClubs Breezes Puerto Plata — Montreal, Canada |
When searching for a resort we looked for one with a mini-club for the kids. We thought we might be able to convince the kids to go once or twice for a couple of hours. Boy were we wrong ... The kids loved it and asked us as soon as we got up to go the mini-club. We couldn't believe it. They wanted to go every day, so we had to limit their time there and the number of days in order to spend some time with them. Lola, Mimi and Maria did activities with the kids during the day (trampoline, painting, nintendo, beach games, swimming) and at night they would have a mini-disco or show with the kids participation. My kids loved it!!
| Tropical Princess - Punta Cana — Canada |
Only concern is the KidsClub staffing. Current Tropical Princess staff has no interest in the young ones not keen on water polo, volleyball etc. Take your younger ones next door to the more accommodating staff at Punta Cana Princess instead. Do not recommend the early afternoon hours for Kids Club. Overworked staff yell at, then shut all kids in the sleeping room with no supervision. Staff then have their own siesta in the main room. Hours the Kids club staff work are insane: 9 - 5:30 with the kids, then working in the shows, then dragging the old farts up to dance in the Lobby at Midnight. They work 9 days then get one "day" off, but still have to work in the show. Management needs to address this or lose the family element. Just the same, lots of fun had by the older kids throughout the rest of the day.
| FDR Pebbles — Amanda - Ottawa |
strong>Teens and Tweens Although there are lots of littler kids around, this place is a piece of heaven for the 11-16 set. Because the resort is so small, you can let them go anywhere on their own and find them in 2 minutes (if you really want to!). I didn't really believe I would be able to do that before I went because I am pretty protective, but they were basically gone after day one. Shane, the teen coordinator, is unbelievable at getting all these kids involved and doing stuff they would never normally think is cool'. As my 14 y.o. said, Shane would find us and say c'mon and we would just follow him without asking any questions. The games room is a great hang-out - very centrally located above the restaurant so parents can easily check in - and kids just love having a place of their own.
Nanny
We got a Nanny because my younger daughter is under the age limit, and at first we weren't sure why we would need her. But Sasha was terrific, and she was able to help us figure out what was going on, when it was happening, the smart times to do things, the fun things to participate in and just generally point us in the right direction. I thought it might be awkward because there wasn't a lot for her to do, but she was completely unobtrusive and very willing to chat or not chat, depending on our mood. I would highly recommend her to any family, especially one whose kids love soccer Sasha represented both her school and her parish (like a province/state) on their soccer teams and she loves the game.
| Beaches Ocho Rios — Wendy - Canada |
KIDS CLUB – My children didn’t really want to participate in the activities. They preferred to hang out with mom and dad. The one time they did want to participate was for the beach science. There were supposed to make a volcano. We went to bring them there and we were told it was cancelled because there were no other kids. Well, for $11,000, we expected them to accommodate. When we pushed the subject, we were then told they couldn’t do the volcano because they were out of vinegar. How can a resort with 4 restaurants be out of vinegar.
The kids also wanted to go on the glass-bottom boat ride. The day it was scheduled it was too windy so it was cancelled. I called to find out if it would be rescheduled on a better day and I was told no. They then said, why don’t you take them (there were others scheduled for all guests) yourself. So I told them that the one and only time I went on one of those boat, I threw up. That’s why I wanted my children to go with the Kids’ Club.
For a resort in Jamaica, I also expected more outdoor activities. A lot of times there were indoor activities scheduled. Like movies and parties.
One last note on the Kids’ Club. There was never enough kids to have an age appropriate group so they combined the age groups.
PETTING ZOO – One of the offered attractions is a petting zoo. Sounded good. Well, when we got there it was not so good. It was smelly and dirty. There were a few animals behind bars. The cages were empty of any kind of “habitat”. There was nothing for the animals but a dirt floor. Even if I wanted my kids to touch the animals, they couldn’t because they were all behind bars. The only animal that was in reach was a pig and it looked so diseased that I wouldn’t go near it.
| Beaches Sandy Bay Resort — Sherry |
Our family of 4, two girls ages 5 & 3 spent 2 weeks at Beaches Sandy Bay in Jamaica. We have travelled many times to the carribean. There were many positives and a few negatives about this resort.
Positives first.
1. Sesame street characters. There were 3-5 times a day a character would roam the resort and offer hugs and kisses to the children. The even had 3 shows a week in the evenings that were fabulous. This was a highlight for my kids. A character breakfast could be paid for but we found we saw enough of them for free. Be sure to get a picture with all the characters on Thursday.
2. Staff was very attentive and friendly. We loved the no tipping permitted badges they wore as then we didn't feel guilty. My husband even left a tip for the maid but she didn't take it.
3. Restaurants. the buffet was hit and miss and the selection smaller than and Beaches negril due to the size. The italian restaurant was fabulous. Best ceasar salad, bruschetta and salmon I have ever had! no reservations required either!
4. Beach. Negril is amazing. It is safe to walk outside the resort for miles if you wish.
5. Beaches Negril. The shuttle was 5 mins and ran every hour. The lazy river, pools and resaurants were great here.
We did like the quiet of our resort better and the fact that our rooms faced the ocean (very few of Negrils did)
Negatives.
1. This resort is only a 3 star resort as our Air Canada rep told us. I would rank it a 4 but it certainly did not meet our expectations of a "Beaches/Sandals" resort. It was nice but certainly not worth $3-4000 more than other resorts we have stayed at.
2. Rooms. All rooms do look onto the ocean which is nice but unless you get an oceanfront one bedroom the rooms are really small. Our room had 2 double beds and an entertainment cabinet that doubled as a dresser which we had to almost shimmy around. There was no table or chairs in our room and very little room at all. We had paid for the 3rd room up for an ocean view (which was nice) but the room size was very small. It also needed upgrades expecially in the bathroom - there was rust and mold around the tub.
3. Kids club. The staff was great and lots of activities but they don't advertise that a 5 and 3 year old are separate clubs, even in different buildings. That was not acceptable for us so we didn't make use of the clubs much.
4. Water slide. There is a strict 4 foot rule inforced for the water slide. This is not advertised anywhere. Also you cannot go with your child and you have to remove any jewelery, glasses or hairclips
I would recommend this resort for small children and if money is not an object. Overall be wary of all the advertising they do - you are paying for that and many pictures are not like it really is.
| Beaches Sandy Bay Resort — Michelle |
We chose Beaches as they have a kids club for 2 yr olds - the staff were friendly and our son's favourite was Kerri Ann - she was awesome! The Sesame Kids activities were awesome - the character parade with marching band, the stage shows, baking cookies with Cookie Monster, birthday party with Elmo....it was all awesome and our son was in heaven and we had fun too!
| Holiday Inn Sunspree — Brandy |
KIDS CLUB- Excellent! The staff geniunely care for the children and they do LOTS of activities. Our son loved going there, and we had no hestiation at all. The have a nursery for babies and a bigger playroom for the older kids (equipped with movies and toys) and a big playground. Face painting, crafts- they had a lot of fun. It was touching because the staff get teary when one of the kids are leaving to go home.
| Holiday Inn Sunspree — Daniel ~ Canada |
Kids/teenage clubs: three of them in total, one for babies, one for children (both opened 9am-9pm) and one for teenagers. The teenagers club has free air hockey and fusball (my 7 year old loved this), as well as the latest equipment in video games (nominal charge applies). The kids club is the one we used the most: the women there are amazing and the facility is very nice and seems new. Large playground in front. My daughter celebrated her birthday and what they’ve done