Viva Wyndham Playa Dorada All-Inclusive Puerto Plata

We stayed at the all inclusive Viva Wyndham Playa Dora, the pool was great, the employees all very friendly, and the food was very good. The two restaurants were excellent, make sure to make the reservations,as it is hard to get in to them. But well worth it, The Bamboo restaurant has the best spring rolls we have ever had. The beach restaurant is surprisingly spruced up very fancy for night dining, and the honey chicken entree was fabulous! This hotel is situated 4minutes (walk) from the casino, one way and also to the mall the other way and there is a golf course within veiw of the windows. The beach was wonderful, and I didn't see ANY mosquitoes. One surprise for me was the espresso machine behind the bar, I truly was in holiday heaven. They actually know how to make an excellent cappucinno, cinnamon shaker and all! The buffet was truly good the desserts were ....well let me say I had to try 6 different things every night and I gained 3 pounds, but it was worth it! The only thing about the hotel-no elevator and we were on the 4th floor, probably the reason I only gained3 pounds instead of 10! Well have fun if you are going here and say Hi to Franklin and Emelio for me. Kathie

Well we had a great time,really nothing to complain about. There is a walk to the beach,with a nice stroll 5 minutes. Sure you walk along a "swamp" to get there but if this is a swamp it is a well kept one! You walk along a newly poured concrete walkway. The food is better then in Cuba,but like both spots for many different reasons. Great staff here and very clean. No it is not a 5 star so do not go there thinking you are getting one. The beach was great as was the beach restaurant. I really have a hard time finding anything wrong with it,and no i did not see any mass "sickness" around just becareful with amounts of food,drinks etc. We will definetly consider going back..

This was our first time travelling as a family to a resort location. We have 2 boys, 17 and 14, who travelled with us to Viva Wyndham. Our trip was from Feb 11/05 to Feb 18/05. We had an excellent time. The DR people are very welcoming and friendly.

The food was great. Lots to choose from on a daily basis. The main buffet, "Las Palmas", always had very fresh and abundant food. The beach area food and bar, "Ibiza Beach" was equally satisfying. Because you need to walk about 3 minutes to the beach, we used this facility the most to eat and drink at. For you "all nighters", they have a midnight snack available in the Las Palmas buffet restaurant from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am. The a la carte offerings were excellent. The waiters and waitresses always did their best to serve drinks to you. They may have been a little understaffed in this area though. Most of the time you needed to serve yourself at the self service stations (beer, wine, coffee, soft drinks, etc).

We found most of the staff very friendly and tried to be helpful whenever possible. We found the language barrier a hurdle, but, eventually we were able to communicate our thoughts. Learn some Spanish before you go! The only staff we found unfriendly was the reception staff. They were not overly enthusiastic about helping out with anything after we had checked in. Our chambermaid was very sweet and helpful. We asked on our first day for extra bottled water and towels daily. A small USD $ tip (3) every day and we never needed to ask again for the rest of our stay. STAY AWAY from the orange shirted fellows. They hang out in the main buffet area and on the sidewalk leading from the main lobby back to the pool/buffet entrance. They are trying to sell you time share. A firm "NO" early in your visit will get them to leave you alone. We never waited at the bars longer than 2 minutes to get a drink. Most of the time it was less than 60 seconds. Very friendly service. Favourites: Rum Punch, Dominican Sunrise, Presidente beer & Grasshopper.

Depending on your expectations for the entertainment, you'll either like the "animatione" staff or dislike them. This is not Vegas! We found them very entertaining. Right from the outset we got involved with their activities (dance competitions, beach activities - horse shoe, volleyball tournaments, sea kayak races, etc., aerobics, bocci and more). They really appreciated our involvement. Kristina, Joanna, Mumbo, Edwin, Eduard, Anna, Franklin and the rest, work very hard to try and entertain the guests. To other writers, you must keep in mind, none of these individuals have had any formal training. They love to teach you their national dance - the Merengue! Be ready to dance. They will pick randomly out of the crowd. The nightly shows are not high budget. They had "70's and 80's night", "Cabaret", "dance competition", "DR folklore", "skits", "guest competitions", etc. We found them funny and enjoyable. Edwin and his co-worker were always available to help out with the non-motorized sports at the beach; wind surfing, boogie boarding, catamaran ride, beach volleyball, sea kayaking, etc. Edwin's english is very good. He and our boys got along very well. They really enjoyed visiting with him and he laughed alot while trying to teach them wind surfing!

Rooms were very spacious. Lighting is dull. Our boys' room had some issues with ants. We had brought along Off! insect repellant. So, I sprayed the floor at the doors and it seemed to stop them. No issues with A/C not working. Standard rooms- ask what you are getting! We did not have a fridge, blow drier nor any chairs. Our boys "standard" room had a fridge, blow drier and a chair. When we asked at the front desk (see 3rd paragraph), we were told that all "standard" rooms do not have a fridge, blow drier nor chairs. When we pressed and said our boys' room did and that we wanted the same amenities, they said the fridges and blow driers were being taken out of the standard rooms and that our boys' room should not have! End of discussion.

The beach area is small, although after walking up and down the beach, I have to say, it was the most active (music, activities, etc.) and had the best sand for that area. We went around a point to do some para-sailing, and the beach there was brutal. Seaweed, sticks, clutter and mucho water traffic with all the boats, jet skiis, water skiing, tour catamarans, etc. I wouldn't have liked it in that area at all. Everyday I would walk down and put our loungers aside. The pool area is sizeable and we never found it crowded.

Paradise Island tour was wonderful. It is an entire day trip. Swimming in and around the coral reef was breathtaking. Numerous types and sizes of fish eating bananas and buns out of your hands is an awesome experience. For the stronger swimmer, the tour guides (ours was "sexy black banana") will take you on a 300 to 400 metre swim out into the deeper ocean around the coral reef. Our boys went twice, enjoying it the first time so much. Our tour of Puerto Plata we arranged out front of the hotel, cheaper than inside. The taxi driver and his partner were excellent. Toured fortress, fire hall, central plaza, flee market, City Hall, Catholic church, Rum Factory, cigar factory, clothing store, affluent neighbourhood, etc. Safari trips are excellent. Be carefull on waterfall swim. Not for faint of heart.

Overall, a most enjoyable vacation. Would recommend to others and definitely would go back ourselves.

A group of six of us traveled from Feb 6- Feb 13 to the Viva Wyhdham Playa Dorada resort in Puerto Plata. Some of us had been to the DR before, but for me and my boyfriend it was our first time here. We had previously been to an all-inclusive in Cuba.



Getting there: We flew Skyservice and it was actually not as bad as we expected it to be. We got to the airport early to request the exit aisle (for extra leg room) and were told that yes we could have it! We were very excited until we realized that the agent made a mistake, and we were actually in the row before the exit aisle, which meant that not only did we have very little leg room but we could not recline our seats back. Luckily, it being a 6am flight, we were tired enough that we slept for most of the flight anyways, but we definitely weren't comfortable. Definitely bring water with you as beverages are only offered twice during the flight.



Check In: After we arrived we were greeted by a Signature rep and quickly got our luggage and were shown to our bus. The process was extremely quick compared to my previous experience in Cuba. It was about a 20 minute bus ride to the hotel during which the Signature rep told us useful info such as where to exchange money, etc. At the hotel, we were greeted with drink and check in took all of 5 minutes. Very speedy. Our rooms weren't ready (we had to wait an hour) and our luggage was stacked by the wall with everyone else's while we ate and wandered the resort. I was a bit nervous about leaving my luggage lying around in the open but it all turned out okay in the end.



Rooms: Our rooms were ready when they promised and the bellboy carried our luggage up for us. Our room was very spacious with a king size bed, mini-fridge, balcony, tv, bathroom with separate sink area and hairdryer. There was a large closet in the room, but very few hangers and no dresser to put your clothes. Most of my clothes stayed in my suitcase for the week as a result. We were in building five with a third floor room that overlooked the pool area. We didn't see any bugs (at least I didn't, perhaps my boyfriend just didn't tell me about them!) in the rooms and most of the time our balcony door was open. The pool area was kind of loud, and at night, you could hear the disco/piano bar until about 1230 or so. But it didn't interfere with our sleep at all.



Hotel: The resort itself is small, and not directly on the beach. It is about a 5 minute walk along a path which is beside a lagoon to get to the beach. I didn't find this to be any inconvienience at all. Once you get to the beach you really don't have to leave again as there is food/drink and bathrooms nearby. I found the resort to be very clean. The staff could always be seen working hard to keep things tidy. There is some landscaping that it still in the works, but nothing that was any inconvenience to us in any way. The hotel is in the Playa Dorada complex which consists of a group of resorts that are situated together on this fenced in complex. It is close to Puerto Plata (about 10 minutes) but further away from Sosua and Cabarete. The complex has its own little shopping centre called the Plaza where you can exchange money and buy rum, coffee, cigars, clothes and other souvnirs. This Plaza is right next door to the Viva Wyhdham.



Service: I found the service to be great. All the staff were very friendly and nice. The maids were nice but I think they had a large workload as sometimes your room would not get cleaned until 5 or 6 at night. Once it did get cleaned though, it was spotless. There seemed to be some issue with towels though, perhaps the resort does not have enough for everyone? Often our maid would come in to our room just to pick up one or two towels and then leave the rest. Once, when we asked her for another towel (we had only gotten one) she simply went to the room next door and took one from them. It was quite amusing. The entertainment staff were good, not too pushy. Edwin, the staff member at the beach where you get boogie boards, etc. was really great. He was very friendly and always provided a good laugh. The staff at the reception desk were great. Our airconditioning broke one night and within 3 minutes of calling the desk, we had four maintenance staff up in our room and they fixed it immediately. Staff at the buffet restaraunt were good, but very sporadic in offering drinks etc. Sometimes they ask you what you wanted, and other times you would never see them. Staff members would often sit and eat with the guests and chat with them during supper. I think I waited at the bar for a drink once my entire time there. I found the bar service to be very quick, and there was more than enough rum in the drinks!



Food: I found the food in the buffet to be excellent. I agree it could be a bit repetitive at times but I didn't mind because I thought it was great! Lots of potatoes, vegetables, pasta and pizza. The bread was always super fresh and the ice cream was really good. Lots of foods were deep fried though (including my hot dog one day!). I thought the breakfast was great..french toast, omeletes made fresh and pancakes. The coffee was amazing! Compared to the resort we stayed at in Cuba I would say the food here was 1000 times better! The snack bar at the beach was good too, lots of burgers, fries, and pizza. This turned into the Meditarranean a la carte restaraunt at night which was also good, but I still preferred the buffet. Although some in our group were sick of the food by the end of the week, I wasn't, I could have stayed another week and been fine with the buffet. One in our group got food posioning, possibly from oysters she ate....a couple others had minor tummy troubles but I think we all tolerated the food pretty well.



The Beach: I was dissapointed in the beach at first. It is quite small and crowded. Once everyone has their lounger pulled out and positioned, there isn't much room to move around or walk. There are some small palm trees here and there. The sand is fine and gold in color, not white. The water is a nice turqouise blue and very rough. Lots of waves all the time. Once I realized that the waves are great for boogie boarding the beach became my favorite place! Its much more fun to play in waves than swim in calm waters that you find at other places. After the first day you get used to the crowded conditions on the beach. There is a volleyball net set up and there are other activities such as aerobics, merengue lessons and horseshoes to keep you occupied if you want. You can walk for a long while in both directions down the beach and the view is very nice (lots of hills and greenery). We didn't have any problems getting loungers for the six of us but we were always there by 10 or 1030. It was also quite windy on the beach. If the sun was hidden behind the clouds it could actually get chilly.



The Pool: The pool area is also quite small but very nice. There is a bar with a waterfall and a hot tub on top. Lots of plants make it look really nice. We didn't spend much time here and it seemed to be a bit more difficult to get a lounger at the pool than on the beach.



Entertainment: The nighly show was only entertaining for a short period of time. The staff tried hard but the shows weren't very exciting. Lots of people always showed up to watch them though. The disco was very sparsely attended. Other discos on the complex were more popular. I personally think that karaoke would have livened things up a bit!

The Tours: We went on the Outback Safari tour which was excellent. I would highly recommend it to anyone. You tour a typical Dominican house, Dominican school, a fruit plantation, swim in a river, go for lunch, take a jungle boat tour and then finish with Boogie Boarding on Cabarete beach (really big waves!). You also stop at a market where you can buy coffee, rum and cigars and vanilla. It is very interesting and educational as well, Its really neat to see the "real" Dominican Republic as you tend to be quite secluded on your resort. Jesse was our tour guide and was great.



Overall I was very pleased with our trip and this resort. It is always difficult to avoid comparison with other places you have been before (ie: for us, Cuba) and for this resort I would say the beach was the biggest disapointment being that it didn't look as pretty and exotic as we expected. I can't really think of anything negative to say, we had a really good experience, and I would recommend this resort to others.

Just got back after 2 weeks at Viva Wyndham Playa Dorada. This resort scores very high points for some things, and lacking greatly in others.

First of all, Sunquest claims it as a 4* property. It is actually a 3* according to other ratings, and I agree with them. We have learned after several Sunquest vacations - to be realistic, always deduct a star or two from their rating.

It is NOT a brand new hotel, it is a renamed and somewhat renovated

old resort, Rumba Heavens. Dominican taxi drivers don't even know it as Viva Wyndham.

The hotel itself is NOT BEACHFRONT. It has its own beach area with a restaurant though, which is about 5-7 minute walk from the rooms (any rooms - they are all in 6 buildings clustered together around main lobby). But the beachfront restaurant and bar are great, the food there is excellent and always fresh, no lineups and always room at the tables.

The beach is small, but it is surely the cleanest beach in Playa Dorada.

Loungers are always available, if you are there by 10AM. Vendors are plentiful, but if You ignore them, they never persist and dont even come up to You after a couple of days. The water is always murky and waves are high, but Atlantic coast of DR is all like that.

The food is excellent to say the least. Dont miss the Italian, and, especially the French buffet. The food is fresh and always hot - they replentish it every 10 - 15 minutes - it doesn't sit there for hours like at some other resorts. Specialty restaurant at the beach, Ibiza, is very good. Oriental is average.

Staff, for most part, is very good and professional. And they are extremely polite and helpful. Entertainment is a lot of fun and varied - they really try very hard. They also have professional dancers and magicians performing there 2-3 times a week. The disco is not bad, but other than the staff and a few teenagers, it is pretty empty.

I definiitely agree that it is one of the cleanest and hygenic resorts anywhere, even in North America. The rooms are spotless, the grounds and facilities are immaculate.

The big dissappointment is the kids club. There is only one person there to look after the kids, and she mostly just sits there or paces the beach back and forth with kids in tow looking for parents. Then, when the kid spots a parent, she disappears. I don't really blame her, it is hard to look after a bunch of 4-to-8-year olds and have such a responsibility with no help. But they do need to organise a daytime program for the kids to be entertained. After a few days, most parents get the message and just keep the kids with them.

Recommend? It depends. If food, entertainment and activities a priority, than yes. If You are a surfer or windsurfer, two thumbs up.

But, if a nice clear beach, white sand, snorkeling are important, than it is not the place. If You expect to relax while Your kids are entertained, forget it. "The Room with a View" does not exist.

we where there from jan.24 to jan. 31

first off all our travel agent did not tel us we would be put up in a

standard room , so when we got there we where kind off disappointed

when we found out we would not get a balcony

then when we got to our room they told us standard rooms

don,t even get chairs in their rooms, but after two day,s we could

not stand it anymore , to lay or hang on the bed

and i went to the front desk , and they gave us two chairs

by that time my wife had a very bad back

otherwise the rooms where clean , lots off towels, everyday

and the food was lots off choice , and very good, with beer or wine

if you wanted it had a good time , even if the weather was not

always co-operating , with two rainy day,s in a week

i still would recommend it to my friends

We just came back and really enjoyed our stay. Day and night people were walking around with brooms, mops, buckets, and cleaning everywhere. The food was great - lots of selection and replenished regularly. The staff were warm, welcoming, friendly - and energetic.

Two pieces of constructive feedback that we offer to the hotel is....(1)please put a dresser and a couple of chairs in the rooms...or at least a suitcase stand..our room (superior) was very sparsely furnished - no place to sit, except on the bed and (2) the rap and sometimes offensive/vulgar music played was unsuitable - and I'm not a puritan when it comes to music...I like all kinds..but this was beyond ok.

We had bottled water in our rooms every day, and asked the friendly people in housekeeping to leave extra - which they did every day.

I agree with the other reviews about the viva vacation 'time share' pitch - don't bother - we thought it was them asking us to give our opinion about the hotel and our stay...after an hour and a half - we still couldn't get them to tell us 'how much'! I would politely decline to the people in the orange shirts outside the dining room...

We ate in both a la carte restaurants and both were good - and the service was very friendly. Ibiza was my favourite - only because it is on the beach. Wine selection (above the all inclusive options) was good - but a little more expensive then what I'd pay at home.

On a bright sunny day, get to the beach before 9:00 or so to ensure that you'll get a chair and a spot - but there seemed to always be room and chairs at the pool.

We'd go back in a minute..no hesitation at all...

my mother ,father , daughter and i just came back last week from 2 weeks stay. yes the hotel was under construction but did not incomodated our stay. i was very please with the service / food/ activities and night show. i thank maurizio , chocolate, franklin, edouardo, bomba,martin iris, annie, valentina and all others to encourage the guest to participate to all kind of activities and night show. my room was excellent . we didnt need to ask anything since everything was there the service was very great. and always someone asking if everything if fine if we needed anything. i will plan to go again next year. we feel like home and feel we where part of them. wheather was not that great but nobody could do anything about that. chocolate if you see this message please write to sadia she lost your email address. gracia

Don't know how the other reviewer didn't enjoy this place. We had a great time even though we had rain for two of the days during the week we were there.

Rooms: Spacious and very clean (there was our family of four in the Junior Suite - no problem). The fridge was filled daily with water, Coke and Sprite and the maid service was great and most friendly (as is almost everyone there). Small problem with patio door but fixed within minutes of asking at front desk. View was not much (looked across at rooms across the way).

Pool: Good size and not used much. Refreshing cool but comfortable with a very nice waterfall that cascades from the hot tub area above the pool bar. Brand new loungers and no problems finding one to use even though people were reserving theres with towels etc.

Beach: Four minute casual stroll along a tiled path. No problem for anyone. Beachfront is good - busy but lots of room and one could walk for miles either way. Water is warm, no rocks or coral and good wave action for body surfing but safe for kids. Sand is wonderful. Plenty of loungers again to choose from.

Food: Was worried after our first dinner there shortly after arriving but we were there just before the buffet closed. Never got tired of the huge selection of food offered during the week and the quality was excellent.

Didn't try either of the a la carte restaurants. Beach snack area was great as well.

Activities: Good fun - not exciting but staff had great energy and people were pleased with the simple activities such as Bingo, Foosball, Darts, Aerobics, Merengue lessons, Facials etc. Kids loved it while we enjoyed it.

Night Shows: Enjoyable and high energy with talented staff.

Staff were terrific (especially Juana, Augustin, Eduardo, Anny, Franklin and Elvis) and added to our enjoyment. Most thoughtful and pleasant.

Only drawbacks: 1) it was touted as being a brand new property when infact it is new to Viva (I think it was formerly called Rhumba Heavens - but I could have the name wrong) and 2) the hawks on the beach although they did go away if you said no. Also the time share salesmaen of the Viva Vacation Club (stand outside the buffet entrance in orange shirts at meal times) - don't get sucked into listening to the presentation to get your free t-shirt and bottle of rum. But all told, we all had a great time and were very sorry to have to leave. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me an e-mail and I will be glad to answer as honestly as I can.

I would just like to warn travellers about the conditions here after one week here.

Water: we had to constantly call the front desk to get water for our room.

Food: Average buffet is constantly changing. The beach restaurant is good excellent dessert.

Service: Well if you are looking for service this is not the place. At the buffet restaurant its like pulling teeth to get water. And the bar is severley underserviced only one bartender at a time long long line ups.. I waited 20 minutes for a glass of water more than once.. Even after tipping...

Entertainment: Well the daily entertainment staff where the best part of the resort. Very friendly and outgoing. Full of energy. The night life is dead or very close to it...

Rooms: Besides having all the paintings on the floor and a poor view and lack of water. They where clean.

Beach: Short walk is an understatement... You have a path next to a lagoon... Small and cramped packed full of vendors they get anoying... The music is always on.. Very live and enjoyable.. Dont expect to relax though... Had to get my own chair twice from the pool ... 10 minute walk..

Overall you get my impression.. Would not recommend to anyone.. Lots of construction also didnt really have much time to relax...