Лучше не экономьте, испортите себе отдых. Better not save, ruin your vacation.

Hello! I want to share my impressions about the Dominican Republic, or rather about the BARCELO DOMINICAN BEACH 4 * hotel. Let's start with the flight: we checked in for the flight ourselves 30 hours in advance, chose the seats at the very beginning, and miracle, we were lucky! Each flew in a two-seat row. It was possible to “raise my legs”, so I didn’t swell at all for such a long flight. We spent the entire flight watching movies and the time flew by. At the airport, everything was fast, they were seated on buses and taken to the hotel. We had JUNIOR SUITE vouchers (black bracelets), which allowed us to live in a superior room, use free Internet, and drink drinks not only of local production. When I was choosing a hotel, I paid attention to this, the difference was 1.5 thousand rubles per person, I decided that it was more profitable. At the front desk, check in was very quick with welcome drinks. We arrived at the room! The rooms are extremely damp and musty smell. All furniture is wooden, barely breathing. Humidity does not go anywhere even when the air conditioner is running 24 hours a day. Therefore, for me it was a 3 star level, on more. Do not think, I am not showing off, I am writing a review for people who choose between 5 and 4 stars, who often relax and are used to the service. I always rest in 5 *, but the first time I fell for 4 *. I regretted it a thousand times!
Okay, numbers, it's not to sit in the room, I arrived. The next day was a meeting with the guide. The girl is just “about nothing”, “Only today there is a discount on the purchase of excursions, ” she repeated. PEOPLE, do not buy excursions from Biblioglobus, some of them are just three times more expensive than Teza and Natalie. And half of the group immediately bought from us on the first day, which they were then very upset about. This is the first country I visited with such expensive excursions, Bibltoglobus does not have any excursions under $100. We went on excursions ourselves, buying them on the beach. I liked the only one, it's just SUPER - a tour of the Airborne Forces. It is not offered by any operator in the hotel, because. it consists of 3 excursions that they offer. It is simply unprofitable for them, it is better you buy 3 excursions for $ 100-130 than one. It is very easy to get on it. On TV there is always an advertisement for this excursion with a telephone, call the reception and order. Moreover, the girl taking orders is ready to pay for your conversation, if it is not more than $ 5. The layout is as follows: if you are up to 4 people, the cost of the tour is $ 120, if from 4 people, the cost is $ 110. People from another hotel rode in our bus, they paid $ 190 each. Excursion for the whole day, it includes: sculptures, Blue Lagoon lake, cave, observation deck, lunch with animation, extreme sports (rope bridge, bungee, rappelling), sugarcane plantations, coffee, cocoa. You will be taught how to properly prepare all drinks including mamajuana. You taste everything. Just don’t buy anything there (very expensive, I’ll tell you where to buy later). There will also be cockfights (we were lucky, cock Putin won! ). Next is the beach (I forgot what it is called, they take it there on almost all excursions), on the beach there is horseback riding -40 minutes, surfing. You can go by bus (I advise, because there is such courage !!! , rum and cola flows like water, funny dances, sang songs), you can go by jeeps (and the driver is also allowed to drink alcohol). We had friends in a jeep, they are also delighted. At the Airborne Forces (please don’t confuse, because the Dominicans came up with a DVD tour, but it sucks), there is a TWO-DAY excursion, with an overnight stay, tents, a fire, dancing, but we didn’t get on it, because. she, only once or twice a week, in short, we simply did not have time. Guides, just cuties - Russian handsome guys. Why am I doing this? Yes, this tour is the best impression of this country.
Let's continue about the hotel: Food, it's just awful! ! The same thing, day after day, they put cinnamon everywhere, which I just can’t stand. For two weeks I have never eaten porridge for breakfast, because. It has a HUGE content of cinnamon. They don’t know how to cook seafood at all, the choice of everything is just meager (again, I compare it with good hotels). You eat simply because you need to eat. Fruits are not tasty - watermelon is watery, melon is green and hard. Desserts are not tasty at all (compared to Turkey). it was swept away in 2 minutes. Restaurants: just write, do not go to Italian and Japanese. It is better to sign up 2 times for the one that you like the most from the rest. Let's talk about the beach: the territory is large, there are a lot of sunbeds. But algae are TOUGH!! ! True, they are cleaned on the beach, although not every day, but in the sea they swim with you. I came to the conclusion that it’s just not the season, I’ll be smarter choosing the next country.

The most offensive was that the hotel did not congratulate me on my birthday, although the day before we took a photocopy of the passport to the reception so that they would not forget (or rather, a friend took it, because she wanted to surprise me), but just NOTHING . As it turned out, not only did they not congratulate me. We were that day in a Dominican restaurant, where two Dominicans were congratulated. In the same restaurant, there was a Russian girl who also had a birthday, but we were simply ignored, although my friend went to the restaurant manager. Yes, and figs with them. It’s just that if you compare other countries and 5 * hotels, you don’t need to tell anyone anything, the hotel itself congratulates you.
Souvenirs: before the trip, I looked through a lot of reviews where and what to buy. I write my experience, I think it will be useful to many. Buy magnets in a Russian store on the beach. There is also a very good boy who will tell you in detail about cigars, write down all the names and nothing more. At the reception, take a free voucher for San Juan and go to this shopping center, there is a supermarket on the ground floor where you can find everything - rum, coffee, cocoa, cigars. Everything is in pesos, so it's more profitable to pay by card. If you have dollars with you, change them there as well. they have the best course. But in the supermarket itself, they will calculate the rate much higher for you, and they give change in pesos, you yourself will not immediately be able to calculate how much you owe, but it’s easier. I will give an example for prices; Dry Mamajuana in Russian. Store 4 $, in the supermarket about 1.5 $ (this is a large package). Take more of it, I came to the conclusion that it is better to bring more coffee and mamajuana. Coffee bought almost all types that were, to sample. I advise Induban in a black pack - 100% Arabica, it is the strongest. Santa Domingo is good too, especially with the brown "Tostado en Grano" stripe, it's a little flavored. But try to buy coffee only in beans. By the way, the guide Anya incorrectly tells how to cook mamajuana. Briefly - for the first time you fill it with the cheapest vodka, insist 2 weeks in a dark place. Drain, you can’t drink it, only as rubbing. Vodka draws out all the bitterness and dust. Then pour 70% rum, 30% dry red wine, a spoonful of honey, and another 2 weeks in a dark place. Valid for a year, no matter how many times you upload. I can’t say anything about rum, because. I don't drink hard drinks. We bought what the boy from the Russian store advised, everyone seems to be happy, but they bought everything in the supermarket. By the way, there are days of sales, we just got to the sale of rum, it came out 2 times cheaper than in Russian. Store. Also in the supermarket there are small coffee makers for stoves, from 139 pesos, a very good present. Stone Larimar. In the hotel in a day or two, sellers come and trade on the territory of the hotel. Buy in the evening before they start gathering. We decided to buy rings, asked how much it cost - $40, bargained, and eventually bought two for $10.
It seems like everything. I will never fly to the Dominican Republic for the second time, even to a 5 * hotel. Thailand - cheaper and cooler, more exotic, courage. DO NOT judge strictly my review, it's just not the season and the climate is not there for me. And yes, I love the service.