We stayed here from 9th – 16th June 2008 and we had an amazing holiday at this resort, even though there were a few negatives. We booked our holiday through Thomson and would recommend upgrading to premium seats on the flights.

The resort’s cleanliness is outstanding and our room as well as the communal areas were spotless, all the staff were friendly and did everything they could to make our stay as enjoyable as possible.

We were approached by members of staff who ask you to come along to a separate welcome meeting who are part of the vacation club. We had an idea that they were connected to trying to sell timeshares so didn’t go with them. I would advise to only go to your official welcome meeting organised by your travel rep and if approached, just say politely you’re not interested and no thanks. After that, we weren’t asked again.

The evening entertainment is low key and would have been good to have had live music around the bar area in the evenings. They had fireworks two evenings which we enjoyed.

The variety of buffet food is very disappointing, nearly the same every evening so this would be my main negative factor of this holiday especially as you pay all inclusive and I felt it wasn’t value for money regarding the food available.

Anyways, back to the good points. We went to Ocean World as a full day excursion and would highly recommend going there as we had a fantastic day and did the sea lion encounter which was very funny and an enjoyable experience. The sea lion and dolphin shows were also amazing.

As a whole this was a great holiday and we would think about going back again, even if it’s just so we could chill out by the pool and go back to Ocean World to do a different encounter.

What a lovely, relaxed hotel and resort to stay at. The all inclusive meals at the Casablanca restaurant on the site were great, with a fantastic selection. I can only eat a gluten free diet and not once did I struggle with any of the meals. The rooms, grounds and pools are constantly maintained and the standard of hygiene is extremely high. The beach is very close, with a wonderful, more secluded cove a few minutes walk away - check the part by the rocks for fish, crabs etc. The only slight criticism I would offer is that the rooms were not quite as beautiful as shown on the net, but still very well kept and immaculately clean. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly - unfortunately I had an accident two days before we were due to leave and they really did their best to help us. A word of caution, if you do have the misfortune to end up in a Dominican Hospital, do make sure you have your full insurance policy, your passport and your credit card with you. All these documents are absolutely essential before you can receive treatment. Apart from the accident, the holiday gave us exactly what we needed, sun, sea, sand etc and some wonderful memories. If you can, do take extra money with you for the excursions - they are fantastic! I can certainly recommend the Monster Truck Safari and the Swim with Dolphins at Ocean World - amazing! I am still recovering from the Saona Adventure.

I stayed in the 2 bedroom suite with a friend of mine. It was great, we were together, but still had our own rooms. If you stay at this resort, you must get the V.I.P. Bracelet. This gives you access to VIP World and the VIP Beach!! You also are served all top shelf alcohol, which is a big plus.

The rooms were kept very clean and our fridge was always stocked with soda, beer, and water. The first day the fridge was empty, but i immediately called the front desk and the fridge was stocked within 10 minutes!!

The beach beds are awesome and so is the food and bar service at any VIP location. They'll serve you drinks and food while you swim. The VIP staff was incredible and were always available for anything. The cigars and champagne served ath the VIP beach were pretty cool also!

We ate at two of the specialty restaurants and both were good. The Asian Restaurant was by far the best. The food was fabulous and so was the service. The Italian Restaurant was very slow, but the food was good. We had an 8:30 reservation for dinner and we weren't served our dinner until 9:30!! The restaurant closed at 10:00. We were not very excited about the slow service, but the food was good. The buffet had a large selection of different kinds of food, so there was definitely something for everyone.

Overall, my friend and I had a wonderful time at this resort. We are already planning our next trip down. Probably in February, when it's freezing in CT!

My husband and I spent our 25th anniversary at Lifestyle the week of May 3-10 and loved every minute of it! We booked through the TAN timeshare and stayed in bldg. 2. I was really leary after reading some bad reviews, but it was our best vacation ever! The resort is absolutely gorgeous, the staff is excellent. Check in was a breeze, complete with fruity rum drinks! After we settled in our room, we explored the property, and it started to rain. We were beat anyway, so we got a bite to eat at the buffet then sacked out for the night. I heard it raining through the night, but when we woke in the a.m., it was beautiful and sunny!We relaxed by the pool that day and went to the VIP party that night. It was very entertaining, great performers. Food wasn't that great though. We were not truely VIP- that is for people who actually buy into the resort membership, which I think is more than a standard timeshare situation.I think you can actually live there for months in a villa through various types of VIP memberships(?).We didn't sit through any presentations, though they did ask often. Just politely say no. We went to Paradise Island which was beautiful! , and snorkeled there. Ocean world had really cute animal shows, didn't do any encounters. We had comp. admission through TAN, don't know if I would've paid to get in. We also did the Zip Line through Yasika adventures (booked through people around the corner from the concierge, beyond the other end of the lobby bar. That was great!!!Riding up to the top of the mountain in a 'monster truck' was an experience in itself! My husband arranged for a beautiful vase of blush roses and lilies at our table at the Blue Lagoon for our anniversary, and our wonderful maid decorated our room with heart shaped towels and rose petals on our bed, flowers, balloons, a fruit tray and a bottle of rum!My husband did not know they were doing that! Our room was always clean with a stocked fridge, clean towels. and fresh bed linens. We did tip everyone well through the week and it was very much appreciated. Andrea (?) at the concierge desk was sooo sweet and helpful. Make sure to inquire about booking for dinner at the restaurants so you understand reserving the day before. Also, ask what restaurants are open on which nights. When we tried to reserve for the end of the week for the mexican and Italian, they weren't open. Don't know why! The Asian was wonderful.- Gina at the lobby bar was the greatest- a little firecracker! And 'Happy' at the beach bar was great! (Lobby and beach bars had the strongest Drinks!) Please let your tastebuds adapt to Dominican food- it is different than standard american fare, but delicious! As far as the shower situation, just put some towels on the floor!A poor shower design, but everything was fresh when we came back later anyway! Please just have respect and consideration for the staff that works so hard to make your room comfy. We did bring about
$200 in 10's, 5's and 1's and actually used a few 20's also for the staff, our excursion guides, etc. Money well spent! Check out the old stone steps down the right side of the beach by the old boat stuck in the sand. Follow them up to a field- that is where some horses are. If you go through an opening through the umbrella trees to the left, you will come out to a small 'cliff' where the ocean beats against the rocky coastline there. It's beautiful! also check out the Spa area- it's gorgeous back there! I was going to get a massage but got too sunburn! I know I am forgetting something, but I could go on and on about our wonderful stay! I hope we can go back very soon!!! I wish I could share our pics, but I'm not that tech savvy! Maybe my daughter can help me post some later! Please don't hesitate to contact me for more info!