Ола,Доминикана!!! Ola, Dominican Republic!!!

OLA, Dominican Republic!!!
Hello everybody! My husband and I went to the Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe hotel from 27.08 to 10.09. 2010, we took a room with an ocean view. We bought tickets separately through Zurich (35 thousand rubles per person round-trip, Swiss-air company), from Natalie Tours we purchased the “Hotel Only” tour plus an individual transfer - 74.000 rubles. for two.
1. I liked the Swiss aivalins, very high-quality service, they constantly feed and water something. New planes. Caution: when transferring in Zurich, all liquids bought in duty free, even sealed, are taken away, with the exception of those bought in Zurich itself.

2. Hotel. Large-scale construction is underway on the territory, but it has already moved far to the side and does not interfere even with those who live in the fourth deluxe building, so do not worry about this. We were given a room in the first building on the fourth floor. Everything has already been written about the numbers, there is nothing to complain about. Huge bed, LCD TV, jacuzzi on the balcony, etc. Upon arrival in the room was a bottle of rum, champagne in an ice bucket and a plate of fruit. A trifle, but nice. The money was left in the safe, once they forgot to close the safe - nothing was missing. Of all the hotels in Barcelo, the deluxe is really the best. We talked with the guys who stayed in the palace - they had old furniture, dampness, cockroaches. The view from the balcony is just gorgeous. Imagine - lying at sunset in a jacuzzi with a glass of champagne and looking at the ocean - unforgettable! True, at first it was annoying that you were lying on display for everyone, because the buildings were built with the letter P, but then they gave up on it - we don’t know anyone here.
2. Nutrition. Enough restaurants. We most often went to La Briza, because it is next to our building, and indeed the most comfortable. The assortment for two weeks has not changed much, but the choice is very worthy. Here is an approximate menu: for breakfast - juices, champagne, tea, coffee. Many types of cold cuts, cheeses, red salted fish, smoked horse mackerel, several egg dishes, sausages, dried fruits, nuts, buns, croissants, yoghurts. For lunch and dinner: vegetable salads, green salad of various varieties, vegetables, fruits, two types of soup, several meat and fish dishes, several side dishes, desserts. A separate chef prepares pasta with fillers of your choice, a second chef prepares meat and fish on the grill. Drinks are poured by the waiters (any drinks). We tip $1 each for lunch and dinner. Guys serve faster than girls (weird pattern).
The main Caribbean restaurant has a larger selection, but the restaurant itself is very large and looks like a canteen. We also went to the Family restaurant, we didn’t like it, although there was black caviar (in my opinion, flying fish caviar). There are à la carte restaurants. We went to the Dominican - not bad. There is a paid French restaurant, deluxe guests are given one free visit - they cook deliciously, just do not forget about the dress code.
3. Beach and pool. During our holiday on the deluxe beach, all the sunbeds were replaced with new ones, and a new pool with a large jacuzzi was opened next to the deluxe. All animation takes place there. The sea is calm, a lot of algae. Free sunbeds are always and everywhere - both in the sun and in the shade.
4. Animation and entertainment. In the morning yoga is held on the beach, then water aerobics in the pool. After dinner they teach club dance and merengue. Also near the pool there is air hockey, table tennis, markings for playing boc. You can also take board games from the animators (sea battle, checkers, backgammon).

You can ride on a sailing catamaran or on a regular one. For $100, you can take a double motorboat to the reef, but there is nothing to see there, the underwater world is extremely poor.
In the evening, everyone gathers in the lobby of the Palace, there is live music, and at 22.00 there are various funny contests in Spanish and English, but, in principle, everything is clear. There is also a bar where you can order any drink. We most often ordered tequila with salt and lemon, they also make the famous B-52, I really liked how they make tequila-sunrise. The barmaids were given a dollar each. There is a small disco nearby, the music is not very good, mostly latin. The Casino Hotel hosts the Tropicalissimo show every evening. You can watch it once. We went to the casino, won five dollars on roulette  . You can play lawn tennis and mini golf for free.
5. Weather. On the third day of our arrival, Hurricane Earl passed by. It was raining very hard, and the wind was howling so that it seemed that it would break the windows in the room. To be honest, it was scary to go out for dinner. It lasted one evening. The next day was already calm, just overcast. There was no more bad weather, only short showers at night, but in the morning nothing reminded of this.
6. Money. They took $1.000 with them. Somewhere around 200 was spent on souvenirs, 400 on excursions, 100 dollars were given for 10 professional photographs (the quality is superb). About 50 bucks was spent on a tip.
In general, I really liked the rest in the Dominican Republic, but this is definitely a beach vegetable holiday, for those who really want to relax. There will be no such drive as in Thailand. Outside of hotels, there is nothing to do on your own, and all excursions are sucked out of your finger and not worth the money.