Arrival/Rooms
My husband and two children ( 9 and 10) stayed at the Occidental for 7 days towards the end of June. We arrived at the hotel and were checked in and in our room within 30 minutes. The hotel grounds are huge and we were given escort to our room by hotel staff in a golf cart, luggage and all. They will also bring the golf cart if you when you are ready to check out, just give them ample time. The room was dated but clean. D.R. is very hot and humid in June,the A/C in the room kept the room nice and cold, but it was hard to escape the humidity, although the room was cold, everything in it was damp. The room had a mini fridge stocked with 2 - Liter bottles of water, 2 Pepsis, 2-7 ups and 2 bottles of Bohemian beer which was a nice change because the bars only serve one D.R. beer - Presidente. We used the bottled water to brush our teeth since the water is not safe to drink on the island.

Food
A lot of people are complaining about the food. I will try to be as fair as possible. The buffets had a large variety, mostly Dominican fare and Spanish inspired. So unless you have a diverse palate, you may have trouble finding something you are used to. We are Americans traveling with children and my children didn't have any trouble finding something they enjoyed. Personally, I don't have high expectations for buffets because it is always food that is in warming dishes for hours at a time. The best protein at the buffet was from the carving station, it was different every night. The pizza there is cooked in a fire burning brick oven and is delicious. Tacos are prepared authentically in flour tortillas and wonderful, not like the Taco Bell most Americans are used to. Table service was OK. Little things like missing place settings, needing extra napkins etc took some effort getting, however, tipping expedited service enormously.

Beach/Pools
The beaches were the most beautiful I had seen. Clear water and powdery soft sand. Although it the weather was hot, the sand stayed cool and was powdery soft. Bavaro Beach is topless, which didn't really bother me or the kids. Americans tend to cover up more than the European guests and locals. However I didn't see any sort of lewd behavior, although I have no issues with toplessness when sunning, it was a bit jarring to see women participating in morning yoga class without tops on.

Shopping
If you are facing the water and walk about a mile to the right, there is a beach mall with local vendors. You can get souvenirs for much cheaper than in the hotel gift shop. I got half a pound of Dominican coffee for 2/$5 and it was 3x that at the hotel.
It is safe to go shopping outside the hotel. However store owners put a lot of pressure on you to look inside their shops. All the stores have the same thing...same art, same rum, same everything. If you aren't into high pressured sales it is worth paying the extra money for items in the hotel shop. While we were there, vendors were also brought into the grounds and were setup poolside for a day. Again, all the same stuff. You can take a cab a little further out and there are plenty of higher end stores and shops to visit without people pressuring you to come look inside their stores.

Staff
Staff was mostly Spanish speaking. The four years of Spanish I studied in high school were very helpful. Despite the language barrier, which was frustrating at times,the staff was very helpful. When we walked by any staff on the grounds (groundskeepers, housekeepers...etc) we acknowledged with an 'hola' and a nod or a smile.

Overall
We had a nice week in the D.R. The island is beautiful and people are friendly. The Occidental was worth what we paid. It cost the same as a Disney vacation for us. I enjoy taking the kids to places in America, but it is good for them to experience other cultures. In the end, you get what you pay for and you get out of it what you put in.

This is resort is huge and because of its size it has its limitations. The rooms are nice, but tropical damp. Our A/C was very effect and because of the drastic temperature change condensation can be a problem on the floor.

We had a problem with our room lacking a bed and although 2 phone calls said it was going to be fixed, it wasn't until I walked to the front desk that a couple of cots were wheeled in.

The staff were polite but typically did not go out of their way to service you. Expect to ask for coffee and/or drinks at every meal, and expect to ask for refills. Service is minimal. One issue of confusion that I have is that coffee seemed to be treated like a commodity, which was strange to me because it is a major export for the country (I must be missing something). Also the coffee at the resort is not brewed, but like vending machine coffee. I haven't been able to figure this out.

The resort food is local food and not the greatest, e.g. meat was always over-cooked, and anything cold was just above room temperature, but the latter is a function of the climate. There is always somewhere to get food. I did get sick with some bowel/flu like bug, but I was able to still participate in beach napping and throw the kids around the ocean and pool. I however, do not know what made me sick as I was very careful with the water I drank and used for hygiene.

The alcohol is bottom-shelf. The beer is Presidente everywhere and Bohemia in the rooms. Bohemia is a better beer and I was unsuccessful getting the maid to stock our room with beer. I tried tipping and writing notes in Spanish with money attached, but no success. Others in the group did not have this problem, but did have musty odors in the room and another had a broken refrigerator that after 3 days of service requests, fixed himself. (breaker board had faulted and we discovered that leaving the light on in the closet seemed to influence power to the fridge, weird)

The beach is beautiful and kept meticulously clean. The pools area was also quite clean, but the main pool just looked gross. I never dared the main pool. The beach pool was much cleaner.

The kids had a great time. They bounced between the pool and the beach and had a fantastic time. The kids (9 & 10) liked the food and always found something to eat, even ice cream throughout the day. The staff were very kids and especially courteous to the children.

We have been to better, more expensive resorts and this was a value-oriented adventure. We have a party of 12 folks and this fit the bill. The local shopping was disappointing as all the goods repeated and outside of a few pieces of jewelry, a set made of the local stone, the rest less than souvenir status. The beech shops, a good walk away, were relentless, but not unlike other 3rd-world experiences; OK, maybe they were a bit more aggressive than other islands we have experience.

One contention I did have was with the oriental dinner which was touted as being the better scheduled dinner out of the 3 available. We made reservations and were discretely told that children were not allowed, consequently had to make arrangement within the family to accommodate caring for the kids which meant splitting the family and one couple not sharing dinner. When we arrived at the dinner children of multiple families were being served and when I queried the policy they looked at me with bewilderment. It is clearly written on the reservation desk that children were not allow at the oriental restaurant. I felt cheated, and cheated, but let it roll as we were on vacation and the damage was done.

We visited a neighboring resort to go to church, which seemed much nicer and with English speaking staff, but it was much more pricey and on the trip back to the airport, the feedback from a couple that stayed at that hotel for a week was similar to ours.

I never eagerly agree to go to any resort twice as I think the world is too big a place not to venture elsewhere and have new experiences, but this is base acceptable for the money. It would be better for us if even a couple staff spoke English (Americans were the minority tourist) and if they were more service oriented at meals, and less hustle for time-share and selling excursions.

I slept on the beach nearly everyday, breaking for meals and drinks. If I were a romance seeking couple, I would not have enjoyed the resort, but it did suit our needs and gave our large party/ family a venue to share space and relax together.

First the good things, Security all over the place, no bugs, great beach. Now the Bad. Salesmen everywhere, your are hounded. Nothing is cheap to do here, the cheapest round of golf is close to two bills. The food was not very good at all, the speacuality resturants were a joke. Your a VIP along with the other 1500 guests. The pool closes at 6 and the deepest part is waist deep. Avoid the VIP dinner, they played the same music for an hour before letting you eat, then they wanted to sell you a vacation. We had our fire alarm go off twice in one week once after midnite, no one from the hotel staff came to check, after 15 minutes it quite alarming, a little scary. We had a jr. suite which a a hotel room with a roll away bed, for three adults.The only thing their is the beach, if your not a huge beach lover it it not worth it.

First let me start by saying I did a month of reading reviews, and they had me scared to death . But I had already booked. My flight was good check in was good. Of course being polite and a good tip will get you excellent service. Please keep in mind people that this is a 3rd world country, the natives only make about 6US dollars a day,and they work really hard for the money. yes the shower wasnt the hottest ,usually around 3pm was good,people are still at beach and in the pool's.Lighten up people,and make the best of your vacation!