I'm going in late February. Now I have a few concerns. I hope they get resolved by then.

There are no doors on the bathrooms? If you're there with a family of 4 no one has privacy using the toilet?

If breakfast stops at 11am during the week, does lunch start at 11am?

I understand they have a free shuttle to the shops located nearby, but with the hotel so close to the airport why wouldn't they use a "Free shuttle from the airport" as a selling feature?

And would you say that most of the guests are European or is it a mix of different nationalities? Do a number of guest sunbathe topless?

Do the nearby shops have any good restaurants?

Btw...I'll be staying in an Ocean View Suite. Has anyone else stayed in a suite yet? It has about 780 sq. ft. with a separate living room. I'm hoping this bathroom has a door.

Oh...did they get the wireless access in the room fixed?

It is a mix and I would say more american than european. No topless sunbathing when I was there, not like Bali.

The wireless access at the hotel was another item that drove me crazy. Absolutely unusable for my first three days there. Didn't ever once get connected to the internet in the room or in the common areas. Staff said they are trying to work on it, etc. Last night it connected off and on. Overall wifi basically was unplugged for me.

Don't know about the suites at all as I had a standard room.

Thanks, will have spouse and two of the teenage kids there in April. Sure the kinks will be worked out by then.

Appreciate the first reviews.

I echo the earlier comments. Everyone's trying really hard, but it's just not what you would expect from a place like this.

A few additional comments:

The restaurants are a circus. Clearly there was no training. Wrong orders, forgotten requests, several servers checking on you every 2 minutes. No English. On the flip side, everyone tries hard and is super friendly. They just have never been told how to wait tables or run restaurants.

Taxi mafia is frustrating. You will have to pay a lot to leave the resort. There is no way we found around this. There is a shuttle that will take you to Punta Cana village (shops and a few restaurants- no nightlife) and to another stop at a restaurant called La Yola. I would not recommend any of that.

Concierge is completely in over their head. They have no connections, they can't consistently get you anything and when they can it takes forever and comes at a higher price than suggested. It would have been nice to take a golf cart or bikes around the area, but the golf cart guy (like the taxi guy, shuttle guy, etc.) wasn't available and they would have to call someone else who charged higher prices and maybe wasn't available right away. They ended up never getting back to us on that.

Just accept that you won't have internet while you're here. You might get a few pages to load but it's very very bad internet.

The beach is nice and there is ample seating. Same with pool.

The property is new and the facilities are nice (aside from the bathroom door thing, which is weird).

I did not get upgraded as a platinum. The room was fine, with a nice balcony with a few seats. Did not get a chance to see a suite.

Overall, the weather was beautiful (though a little windy), the beach nice and the price on points was not a bad value. There's just a lot of very small, easily fixable things that need to be addressed.

Both scheley and cmx didn't get an upgrade as Plat. Interesting, was it because X-mas/NY or prop is getting into a habit of non-upgrading from day one:rolleyes:. Considering poor level of training noted in both reviews, maybe the case. In my experience, new props are either very good or very bad in terms of upgrades in the beginning. Usually, it evens up in year or two.

Wow, to be honest, it sounds awful and I'm going to cancel my week starting January 27th and go somewhere else.

I want to echo the sentiments that the staff are very courteous and try to help but the training and lack of protocol is obvious. This will eventually be a nice property for the location and new hotel facility is very nice. The service should catch up.

The two biggest things that concern me are the lack of upgrades for Plats and the comment about no privacy for the toilet. I fail to believe they are are booked at high occupancy (their rates show they are not). I never share anything but am taking a friend on a much-needed vacation and we were going to share a room and having a small room that isn't an upgrade and no separation to the bathroom, much less toilet, sounds appalling—especially for a brand new property—what the heck were they thinking?

Everything else sounds typical of coutries and cultures where they make you feel like they really want to accommodate and are doing the best they can but they just don't get it—they say "Yes" no matter what.

I did some research before it opened, and my recollection is they only have a handful of suites.

Have to say I'm not feeling the love for this property; although I find DR to be a bit too grubby for my tastes in any event.

Cheers,

I am going in 2 weeks, hopefully they'll fix some of these issues. For those who have been, do you recommend trying to rent a car? We plan to spend all day on the beach but with the mentions of poor service at hotel restaurants and taxi gauging, would renting a car be worth it?

Also is there anything worth venturing off-property for? Other hotels? Restaurants?

I wish I would have rented a car, but I'm not sure if that would be any cheaper. The required insurance (which I'm not that familiar with) is pretty expensive. Roads are in great shape and driving isn't nearly as crazy as I anticipated. Gas is around $8 a gallon, so factor that in too.

I believe parking is free. There's only like 50 spots of unmonitored parking, which was more than ample when I was there.

I'm due to go in late February. I think I may cancel also. No bathroom door? And they can't get the wireless working? There are a lot of different hotels that have these and more.

Thanks for the reviews. I am going to go to Florida instead.

I just wanted to echo a few points about this property...

I went with my girlfriend from 12/26/-12/31, I tried to apply SNA to our stay well before checking in. A few days before we were supposed to leave I checked the reservation online and my SNA requests were mysteriously cancelled. I emailed my ambassador and she said for someone reason the SNAs could not be applied and she couldn't reach the hotel. When we checked in I mentioned that I had requested a suite, and was told I was upgraded to an "extended king" room. which turned out to be a normal standard room.

Like other comments made, the resort did not seem crowded at all. There were always chairs available by the pool/beach in the morning and there were only a couple days when every chair at the beach was taken. Also, many of the employees speak broken English but they try really hard, especially in the restaurants. Luckily, we found a couple of helpfully waiters (Skylarn, Luigi, and Robert) and they helped us out the entire week, but I could tell other guest were becoming frustrated with the service. We heard that the main cause of the issues is with the kitchen staff who are very inexperienced.

The property itself it really nice, the beach is awesome and very private. There is a kite surfing school right next to the property, which is fun to watch as you relax on the beach. But besides that there is really nothing else around. There is a restaurant "Playa Blanca" that is a short walk down the beach and a couple of golf courses, but that is it. We took the shuttle to the Punta Cana village and the place was empty, with exception of the Wendy's and the super market. The roads around are nice and you if you rent a car you can always drive up to the Hard Rock and Bavaro, where there are more restaurants and nightlife.

If you are looking for other things to do throughout the day, we booked private excursions we found on trip advisor. Both excursions picked us up from the resort and drove us to our destination.

Overall, it is an okay property and will get better over time.

What nationality were most of the guests at the hotel? Was it mostly families?

Yes, lots of families. They all seemed to be from the States or Canada. There were only a few younger couples there. There place was pretty quite at night, on our last night they were preparing the new year's party so the band/dj was preparing until 11 or 12.

They also had a kids play area with a jungle gym and swing set, as well as activities throughout the day for families by the pool.

Thanks for the reply. Just a few more questions please.
Did you have a door on your bathroom?
Did you happen to ask if this hotel gave the starpoints instant rewards where we could cash in points for vouchers to be used at the hotel?
Do they have restrictions on European style sunbathing?
Did you feel their prices for meals were within reason?
Did your room come with a small refrigerator?
Did you used any of the taxis to get around?
And...would you stay at this hotel again?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

-We did have a door between the bedroom/living room and the bathroom, and the bathroom itself had a divider between the toilet and the dual sinks/vanities.
-We did not ask about the instant rewards. They do the typical 500 points upon check in, and you can opt in for the green choice rewards (something I was unaware of until our last day there).
-Not sure on the sunbathing restrictions, did not see any topless sunbathers while we were there. Some male guest were in speedos but that's it.
-Prices were okay for food, we averaged about $100 a day for 2 people. For breakfast we "upgraded" the plat breakfast for $8 from continental to the buffet and had a couple of drinks each day. We went to the Anani restaurant for a majority of the meals and had the same waiter each time. Instead of tipping on the bill we gave him $20 cash and he made sure we were taken care of the entire time we were there.
-Our room had a mini bar fridge, it was not charged based on weight so we made room for the drinks and snacks we brought. I did not ask if an additional fridge was available.
-The only time we used a taxi was to get to and from the airport ($20 each time), there is a free shuttle that will take you to a few nearby places including a supermarket that sells Presidente and liquor. The only time we left the resort it was for an excursion and they all provided transportation.
-The property itself it awesome, it is close to the airport and is great if you are looking for a spot to relax on the beach for a couple of days. The staff just needs a little more experience and to work out a few kinks. If you can be patient and understanding they will make sure they do their best to help and you will have a great trip.

ENJOY!

I really appreciate the time you've taken to respond to my questions. I'm still debating whether I go to Punta Cana in Feb. or wait until Sept and go to the St Regis in Bora Bora. I'll have to spend a heck of a lot more for the latter though.
I think I'll try sending one more email to the hotel in Punta Cana to find out about cashing in starpoints for hotel vouchers.
Thanks again.

They also didn't post points for my spend.

From the resort's Facebook page


So can you (the resort) please address the issues shown in reviews of your facility, especially 1) non-existent internet, 2) no doors between bathroom and hotel room, and 3) poor service in the restaurant?

Please see here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...-dec-13-a.html

The Westin Puntacana Resort & Club:

1) Internet was fixed, no more problems with this.
2) Doors of the bathrooms: We are working on this, but we can give to you an upgrade to other room that does not have this problem
3) Food service: We made some changes and is much better, but please keep in mind that as soon as we opened we were filled almost to capacity.

We apologize for any inconvenience and value your input.
Like · Reply · January 7 at 3:26pm

We got back yesterday from our 5 night trip.

The WiFi issues previously reported were non-existent, worked perfectly fine in the room, by the pool and in the lobby. Doesn't reach the beach, but then that's probably for the better.

Rooms were very nice, we were upgraded (Gold) to a larger room which had a bathroom door, so I don't know how bad the issue is with other rooms that don't have one. There was a nice entryway area and large dressing room. My only 2 real design complaints were that there's only 1 bathroom light and it's very bright, so going to the restroom in the middle of the night will wake you up; the other issue was lack of a tub. The sound proofing wasn't perfect either and we could hear the people above us from time to time.

The staff is mostly overly nice/friendly and seemed like they genuinely want to make you happy. The general lack of English-language skills made some simple requests difficult for my wife who doesn't speak any Spanish, but I got by perfectly fine with what I'd call "decent" Spanish. My main issues were that half of the staff walks around chatting and texting on their cell phones right in front of you as you walk by them, even the Security workers (seriously).

On-site restaurants as well as others within the grounds just aren't good. It's really a shame because some of the settings are quite beautiful right on the beach like Playa Blanca the seafood restaurant, but the food just was disappointing. You should also know that you can't drink the local water, and so you have to buy bottles everywhere you go. The hotel gave us 6 bottles per day, but that was gone within 3 hours of laying on the beach. Go to the Nacional supermarket and stock up on a few gallons for $5, it's the smartest thing we did and probably saved us $100 over the course of the trip, no joke.

Lastly, I should say that the beach setting itself is absolutely beautiful. There's nothing really on either side of the resort, so it can feel quite private. We were there for 5 nights over a holiday weekend and the beach chairs were never more than half-full. Not sure if it was a slow weekend or if people were going on excursions a lot, but it often felt empty. Before noon we were the only people on the beach some days. As has been mentioned, there is a lot of seaweed in the water. The maintenance staff tries to pick up whatever washes ashore, but if you go in the water, half of the area is covered in seaweed. In regards to the pool, the lounge chairs were rarely half-full, and never more than maybe 10 people swimming, despite being rather large. It's a nice setting to lay out if it's too hot by the beach and we spent quite a lot of time there.

Overall I realize this review sounds rather negative, but looking back we really did enjoy ourselves. Starwood needs to bring in some corporate staff to get the local staff with the program of how to treat customers. We used points for our entire stay, I'm not quite sure what it would have cost had we paid for it, but this property really does have a lot of potential. Our room had a picture-perfect view of the beach and the perfect high 70s/low 80s weather couldn't be beat. If they can straighten out some of these issues, I'd definitely recommend it, but right now they've got some work to do with the food and getting the staff better trained in my opinion.

gald to hear the internet is fixed..... this is much easier to fix as opposed to training of staff or installing dozens of doors in the bathroom.

Electrical Outlets?
 

I just called the hotel with what I thought was a simple question...traveling from the US, do I need adapters to the use the electrical outlets in the hotel?

3 calls and I still am not sure if I do or don't...the googles gives me several different answers as well...so for those of you that have been, do we need electrical adapters traveling from the US?

We're here on our last night of a 4 night stay.
I'll post a detailed review when we check out, but most of it will be positive. There are still some construction kinks being worked out, but one thing that has been consistent is that the staff is VERY friendly and eager to help...English is spotty but when confused they find someone who can speak it pretty well to help out!

One final question I'm hoping someone can help with. When I check out tomorrow...what charges should I expect for my "free breakfast"? We have had only the continental breakfast...should it all be wiped out, or will the taxes and tip remain?

Any updates on The Westin Puntacana Resort & Club?

Got this recent offer in a seed email in case anyone would be interested...

DISCOVER THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC'S NEWEST RESORT
Experience the pristine beaches of Punta Cana with our grand opening offer


Fronting three miles of white-sand beaches along the Caribbean Sea, The Westin Puntacana Resort & Club offers endless opportunities for your next vacation. Ideally located inside the 15,000 acre Puntacana Resort & Club, guests have access to championship golf, a world-class spa, upscale dining, shopping, scuba diving and so much more. Book now and enjoy:
• 5th night free
• $50 food & beverage credit
• $100 credit applied at check-out
Book online or call 866-716-7108 and ask for promotion code P5N.

Book here.

T's & C's:

Terms & Conditions
•USD 100 credit will be applied to your folio upon checkout.
•5 night minimum length of stay required.
•1 day advance booking required.
•USD 50 food & beverage credit is per room, per stay.
•Offer available for booking through October 14, 2014.
•Offer valid for stays January 2 - October 15, 2014.
•Cancellation required 21 days prior to arrival in order to avoid a one-night penalty charge.
•5 night minimum length of stay required. Book online or call 866-716-8108 and mention promo code P5N.
•Offer is subject to availability at the time of reservation.
•A limited number of rooms may be available at these rates.
•Blackout dates and other restrictions may apply.
•Offer not applicable to groups.
•Not to be combined with other offers or promotions and subject to change.
•Not responsible for omissions or typographical errors.
•Void where prohibited by law.
•Starwood reserves the right to discontinue this offer at any time.
•Starpoints, SPG, Starwood Preferred Guest, Sheraton, Four Points, W, Aloft, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, Element, Westin, St. Regis and their respective logos are the trademarks of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., or its affiliates.

5 night minimum length of stay required. Book online or call 866-716-8108 and mention promo code P5N.

©2014 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

We are now finishing our four night two room stay here, I am posting some thoughts and answers to many of the questions in this thread.

1. Yes, the taxi from the airport to the hotel is 5 minutes and $20. But they have big vans and since we are four plus luggage, I was fine with the price.

2. There is an entry fee into the DR of $10 per person, cash. Be prepared. I believe there is also an exit fee of $20 per person, also cash. (EDIT: Our exit fee was included in our plane tickets, so we didn't have to pay that on the way out)

3. Check in was easy. I speak Spanish, but my spouse and kids don't and there's no problem here with English.

4. I am an SPG PLT, but had requested connecting rooms, which we got, so no upgrade, as I wanted the connectings.

5a. One bathroom has a sliding entry door, and then inside are a toilet and walk in shower. (Two queen beds) It's really a one person bathroom unless you don't mind seeing the other person doing their business.

5b. The other room (king) has no door to the entry of the bathroom, and then a frosted glass door that closes off the toilet and walk in shower. So one person could be at the sink on one side of the door, and the other at the toilet or shower. But same thing, the toilet and shower are together. Bring a small nightlight for the bathroom, because it's either VERY light or VERY dark in there at night.

5c. Everything here is 110 volt, plugs same as USA. No converters necessary.

5d. Both rooms are very large, with a seating area, outside patio, etc... I am not wishing for an upgrade at all. Four of us in two rooms is perfect.

6. As noted, you get four bottles of water per room per day. I brought $100 in USA $1 bills, and I suspect a $5 tip could yield more water easily.

7. Wifi is ok. Not great, but works. There are three networks that cover the resort, and most places most times you can find a network that works. The beach has no wifi, which for me was awesome.

8. The resort is a big U shape with the balconies overlooking the middle. One side gets morning sun, one side afternoon sun. The end rooms of the U overlook the beach, I am guessing those are the suites. Four floors, we are on the first floor, and I like that we can walk right out the sliders to the pool.

9. Lots of kids and families here. There is a playground/kids club, and lots of kiddie pools and shallow places. The beach itself is very kid friendly with almost no waves and a long walk out to water you can't stand up in. Huge hot tub off the pool. The pool technically closes at 6pm, but we visited the hot tub each night after dinner, and there were always other people there too. No towels that late, so save a fresh one from the day.

10. Tons of chairs and umbrellas everywhere, pool and beach. No need to get up early and stake out a place. There are two huge cabanas poolside, but I didn't inquire as to rental. Really had all the space we need, sun or shade. And this is school vacation week for us, I am guessing there are more kids here than normal.

10a. Towels. You give them your room number, they give you towels. End of the day you return the towels and they mark you off as returned. Very simple. I don't think their record keeping was the greatest, but at the end of the stay we were even, and there was no charge on the bill for towels, so that was good.

11. I did see a couple topless ladies at the beach, but it was not obvious and nobody seemed to stress about it either way. None at the pool, which is where most of the kids are.

12a. Continental breakfast as an SPG Platinum is included for two people per room IF that is what you choose as your amenity upon check in. For free, you get everything cold: fruit, bread, cereal, meats, cheese, jogurt. There is a hot bar with eggs, sausage, bacon and omelettes, the upgrade to that is $9/day/person. They do charge you for breakfast, and then supposedly take it off your bill upon checkout. I'll be looking to make sure that happens. (EDIT: no problem, all the breakfast charges were removed from the bill on checkout)

13. So far, I haven't seen any need for Dominican Pesos, but we haven't yet left the resort. There was NOT an ATM machine at the airport, but there was a big foreign exchange window with decent rates. (EDIT: left the resort, everywhere takes Amex or US Dollars. I would not bother to exchange one penny into pesos) (EDIT: Yes, there is an ATM by the check IN counter, nothing near arrivals.) (EDIT: Today's rate is 43.1, they buy and sell at the exchange counter are 40 and 49. So you're going to lose a lot at the window. And there is a limit to how much you can sell them back at the end, so be careful how much you buy.)

14. Small but decent health club. Free weights and treadmills, bikes and elliptical. 24 hours.

15. Plenty of waiters selling $9 fruity drinks on the beach and poolside. We had lunch at the beach one day, good food, fair price and came pretty fast.

16a. We had a very nice dinner on property. I was expecting expensive ok food (par for the course in the caribbean) and the food was surprisingly good and not super expensive. Beware the $9 bottles of Pellegrino or Acqua Panna however, and you can't drink the tap water.

16b. Next night we went to the barbecue at the Kite restaurant on the hotel property. US$30 per person, all you can eat. Good food, good value. That starts at 6pm and goes late.

17. We took the shuttle bus for the 10 minute ride into "town," right by the Sheraton Four Points. There is a supermarket, a pharmacy and a half a dozen shops and restaurants. Took 15 minutes to walk through everything. Unless you need oreos or bottled water, skip this.

18. We took the shuttle bus one night to La Yola retaurant. GREAT food, super atmosphere, prices fair enough. Really enjoyed it a lot.

All in all, we loved the resort. It was exactly what we were looking for in an April school vacation stay. Awesome beach, awesome pool, good food, great rooms. I liked it much better than the Four Points in Humacao Puerto Rico where we stayed a few years ago. I liked it better than Le Meridien Cancun, my spouse liked Cancun better, because we had a HUGE suite there, and there was a lot to do there. Punta Cana there is the beach and the pool. I guess there is golf, but I don't know. Four or five days is the perfect time for here if you want to relax and do nothing. You don't have much choice, though, because there is really nothing to do but beach and pool. Ahhhh....

Feel free to PM me with specific questions.

Eleanor

There is an ATM at the airport but is by the checkin actually. You have to walk all the way across the airport to find it. Not well marked and IMO a way to play into the exchange counter mafia.

You are correct, we found the ATM when we checked in to leave the island.

Returned from the Westin Punta Cana earlier this month after a 6 night stay. I’m a SPG Platinum Member and used Cash & Points. With two toddlers, I had called to confirm a suite upgrade and paid the extra $75/night. Despite multiple system generated reminder emails preparing us for our upcoming stay at our suite, there was no record of the confirmed upgrade upon our arrival. We were told that upgrades were subject to availability. After much discussion (in English and Spanish) and physical evidence of reservation confirmation and receipts, it escalated to a manager who got us into an accessible suite. We got the extra seating area, but it was interior with no windows. Clearly a disconnect between Starwood and this particular location.

Half-way through our stay, they added a layer of security to the wifi and required a login. While there appeared to be a strong signal in the lobby, guest rooms, pool, beach, etc. everyone seemed to have trouble with the registration and sign on. Half the guests stormed off to complain and the other half, just ordered more drinks.

In general, staff was as outstanding as prices were outrageous. As long as you resign yourself to overpaying for everything and just enjoying it … it’s a very relaxing and peaceful location and a brand new property.

Is La Yola restaurant located at the hotel?
Is this property connected to the Tortuga Bay resort?

La Yola is a mile or two south of the Westin, on the water at Tortuga Bay.

What is the 4points like? Seems like a great value as category 1.

I was looking at this hotel for a family stay coming up - I am an SPG Gold, almost at Platinum so are keen to stay with SPG properties where I can.

There seems to be no 'BreatheWestin' initiative here (I thought all US and Carribean properties were part of this) and I am not sure what the smoking policy is like? I know that islands have different cultures, but I won't stay with my family if it is a problem. Can anybody help?

It is in the middle of the "city" which is 10 shops, a grocery store and a pharmacy.

Shuttle bus to the beach.

There is a reason why it's Category 1.

As mentioned before, there is a Cigar Bar on property, and that is the only place smoking is allowed on the facility. We were there for four nights and I never smelled tobacco.

It looks like it is an option then - thank you ^

Just came back from 6 day stay at the Westin PC. It is a very nice right on the beach property. I was upgraded to a suite as a Plat and was 50 feet from the beach. The suites are not really 1 br, it is a large room with large bathroom, however they are still very nice and have two balconies.

All the rooms have balconies and some view of the ocean (perhaps except 1st floor rooms that are further back)

The bathroom had a door with a separate nook for the toilet (no door there) but not a big deal.

Food was hit or miss - the skirt steak was very good but the rib eye was steamed. They do lack local options and the menu reminds me of the usual Westin food anywhere. It gets boring fast. Walk over to the Playa blanca restaurant at least there they have very nice dominican goat stew.
Be aware that food is not that cheap and you can easily spend $100pp/day for very modest, no wine experience (srv. charge is included at 10% and 18% sales tax)

There is not much to do on the resort besides the pool and the beach. It is enclosed into a very nice private area with two security entry gates so there is not much you can do around. The beach was enough for us though.

As for the Four points, we never went to that area but it looks brand new, it is close to a small shopping center so probably has some more affordable dining options. there is a shuttle that goes to the same beach as the Westin every hour so overall if you want to have vacation on the cheap it is a really good option.