All-Inclusive Hotel Stay at the Casa Marina Beach & Reef Resort in Puerto Plata, DO from Travel by Jen.

A long, but honest review - what you need to know This is an honest review of Casa Marina Beach and Reef Resort. I travelled with my husband, 3 children (24, 23 and 19) and my father (89). I'll start by saying that 3 staff members completely stood out above everyone else. Alba - the hostess in El Batay was an absolute delight. Always smiling, positive and kind, and very efficient at her job. She was particularly good to my father, making him feel extra special. Luz and Nayeli from the animation team we full of energy, bubbly and worked hard to get people involved in activities, remembering people's names and calling them to join. They were fun, kind and always smiling! Chihuahua was also great with running games and competitions! He even remembered to bring my son his prize a day later without being asked! We have been travelling to the dominican yearly for over 30 years and have always had great trips and are generally easy to please. This one, not so much. The majority of the staff was not very friendly, and did not go out of their way to make things easy. The service in the restaurants was generally lacking. Most of the time just getting a glass of water was impossible and plates were often piled up on the table (especially being a table of 6). I felt they were very understaffed, but also observed that serving staff was often standing at the station chatting rather than tending to diners. This was also the case in the a la carte restaurants. We did tip, and that made no difference. We found the food to be pretty good despite other reviews. However, trays were often left empty for long periods of time, or just not refilled. I attribute this to poor management and understaffing. Take note that they adhere to time lines to the T, so if you want to eat, be sure to be there well before the closing time because they remove the food and close the doors to the food right on the dot, without exception. The grounds itself are quite nice. I would not recommend this resort for elderly people. The stone walkways are quite uneven and there is a fair amount of walking to be done if you want drinks/water throughout the day. There is a hill to the reception area, theater and two a la carte restaurants which we observed people in wheelchairs and with walkers struggling with. My able bodied dad found the hill difficult as well. Some things have definitely been neglected, but it didn't really affect us. The beach area is very small and was closed the majority of the time we were there due to unsafe water conditions. This meant you couldn't go on the beach at all, not even to sit and enjoy the sounds and sites of the ocean. We were only able to go to the beach once during our stay and loungers were very few. We paid someone to find us chairs, but within about 40 minutes, they closed the beach and made everyone leave. The public beach was open here and there, but workers on the beach were not thrilled to let resort guests use the chairs unless you paid. There is also a little outhouse type toilet which is pay per use. There are a lot of stairs down to the public beach, so if you got thirsty, it was up and down the stairs. A major issue we encountered right off the bat was that they would only issue one key per room - no exceptions, no discussion. We had three rooms, 3 keys. We went several times and begged for a second key to my father's room for safety reasons, but like I said, no exceptions. They claim it is for security reasons, but that made no sense because many people left their doors ajar so others in their room could get in - this seems like much more of a safety issue to me. In most rooms, your key also activates your electricity, which meant that while you were out of the room, the air conditioning, fridge and plugs did not work. At one point we attempted to contact reception, but found that our phone line had actually been cut. This also posed a problem for contacting my dad when he was in his room because he couldn't hear knocking on the door without his hearing aids. All of the phone lines in our 3 rooms had been cut, and many of the people we talked to said theirs had been cut as well. This is a serious safety issue should someone require immediate help. The lovely "hot tubs" on the rocks overlooking the ocean shown in pictures were empty when we arrived. After a couple of days, one was filled and opened. We didn't use it though because the patio area near the tubs was a complete disaster and very unsafe with large slabs broken and heaved. This area requires a major overhaul. The pools are lovely and kept pretty clean. I believe the resort was near max capacity during our stay, so finding a poolside chair was impossible - the fact that the beach was closed most of the time also contributed to this. One major bone of contention was that people would leave their towels out the night before to reserve their chairs. Despite the "no reserving chairs" policy, staff never removed their things even in the night. After day 2, we realized that if you didn't get a chair by 6am, you weren't going to get one at all. We have never "reserved chairs" in all the years we have travelled, but it became very apparent that if you didn't, you were S.O.L! We used our chairs all day, and removed our things when we were done, but there were countless chairs that were left from morning to night with a single flip flop, clips, bands, or towels that no one ever came to. Everyone we talked to had the same complaint and people were getting very frustrated and annoyed by this. Some people even started removing other's things. The rooms worked for us. They are a little on the small side, but had the essentials. You will not get any extra towels, so use them wisely! If you have two people in your room, you will get 2 bath towels, 1 hand towel and 1 bathmat. Don't expect any washcloths either. The fridge was usually restocked with 2 water bottles, one Sprite and one Coke although we did go two days without any restocking. We were in a deluxe poolview room. On your last day, if you are leaving past checkout and want to keep your pool towels, you will be required to leave a deposit for each towel. I believe it was 1000 pesos per towel. We are generally good at making the best of things, and we did, however, we will not return to this resort. A special thank you to Luz, Nayeli and Alba for their kindness and warmth. They made our day happier every day!

Very disappointed I arrived Tuesday. Terrible experience from the check-in throughout the stay until today. Arrogant fron desk personnel. In the first 6 hours of my stay, the key demagnitized 2 times (practically every 3 hours). They told me (with superiority) that I shouldn't keep the key next to the phone. I have been doing front desk in hotels throughout the world for 15 years. I know that way better than any of them. Also, every question about the amenities, they did not know the answers. I got to my room: the bathroom door did not close, the toilet was flushing continuously. I informed the front desk, without result. For 2 days I was not able to rest due to the noise from the toilet. I went back and insisted to speak to the duty manager. The front desk manager came, listened to my situation, and, on the spot, he came with me and solved the issues. A very good manager. Thank you, sir (I didn't get the name). At the restaurants, I was treated like I owed them money. At the first dinner time, the server asked if I wanted something to drink. I asked for a coffee. She wrote it, and left. Never returned. After about 20 minutes, I went to the restaurant bar and asked what happened. She was there. She literally told me: "you can go grab it yourself!" And she indicated "go there!" For the past 3 days, there was red flag, so no sea - understandable. However, the only hotel in the area who didn't even allow us to get on the beach for sunbathing. Obviously, the pool seats are limited, and blocked by guests all throughout the stay. Coffee? A miracle: no coffee in the room, only machines at the beach bars - with a terrible taste. No sweeteners available whatsoever. I don't even remember all the other "adventures". Cuba was much better in the past. Extremely disappointed.

Go Select if you can! We're just finishing our stay at Casa Marina. We were on the Select plan..adults only side and private pools, bars and lounge.(Highly recommend choosing this as you have access to the rest of the resort, too!)) First recommendation, tip generously in Dominican Pesos if possible..100 to 200 pesos is what we left. US $ as a second choice. They make the bulk of their money off tips from Nov-April. Gifts aren't needed like they are in Cuba. Money is better. Here's what we loved: great staff, very good food with wide and varied selections, fabulous air-conditioning, the grounds are pretty and well-maintained, nice rooms, excellent à la cartes, lots of small pools and one big pool with some activities. Huge umbrellas in the rooms in case it rains. I didnt't get a party resort vibe.. .everything seemed very relaxed and low-key, at least this week which was perfect for us. If you want a change, the town of Sosúa is just out the door with lots of restaurants, a large supermarket (the Playero) a drug store and more close by. Beautiful sunsets. The only down side at Casa was a very small and steep beach, and a strong surf.( The beach was closed three out of the 6 days!) We did get to swim a couple of times, but I stuck mostly to the pools as I was nervous in the surf. The next beach over, Playa Alicia, may be open when Casa's beach is closed. Note: on beach closure days, the pools get crowded and lounge chairs are in high demand. Reserve your favorite spots early before 7 a.m. with your towels on the chairs you want. I saw some had towels out at 9 p.m. the night before! _ We hired a local tour operator, Caroline Joanne Wilson De Rodriguez to take us around Puerto Plata and up the mountain one day. She was fabulous and her rates were more than reasonable! She's from England and has been here for 20 years. I just posted a review of that tour with pics in another post. Highly recommend. She'll design a tour for anything you want, or can just provide taxi service if you want to travel further afar. There are a couple of gift shops on the resort, but shop at the Playero first, especially for soft drinks, food souvenirs, vanilla and alcohol. I bought lots of vanilla, honey, Dominican coffee and chocolate there as gifts.

Next I stayed here last week with a family member. The rooms were extremely out dated. Rusty hardware in the washroom, stained bath tub and the ceiling in our room was leaking. The front desk staff was extremely hesitant to change us rooms, but finally did after I pushed. Also, we were only provided one key card and apparently this was the policy. There was no direct beach access and the beach was closed 3/7 days during our stay. Furthermore, there was locals constantly harassing you on the resort beach and the experience wasn’t peaceful at all. I would stay away and spend your money somewhere else.