Puerto Plata holiday villa: cofresi

First of all, Wendy is amazing to work with! I had sooo many questions for her throughout the booking process and she had quick responses which made her very easy to work with.

We flew into Santiago to try to save on the cost of flying into Puerto Plata. DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE!! We ended up paying an additional $115 each way to get to the resort and back to the airport. First thought to rent a car...glad we didn't do that!! The driving is crazy and chaotic...I would NOT recommend it! Pay the extra money to fly into Puerto Plata and take advantage of the FREE airport pickup.

Next, the food....not so good. We tried out all the restaurants...none were horrible, but none were real great. The best food we found was at the VIP pool bar...sandwiches and french fries were great...stay away from the overcooked hamburgers. Breakfast cooked daily in your room is the same thing day after day, so don't get too excited about that...omelets, danish, toast, fruit, pre-made pancakes and french toast on occasion. Bring your Immodium!!! There were 4 of us on this trip...3 got food poisoning! Not me, and I'm the only one who didn't eat the seafood. There were others we met who ate the seafood, though, and they didn't seem to get sick, but be prepared, just in case!

The villa: They first put us in a really small, cramped up villa with not much room to move. We went to the front desk and requested another, which they gave us. We ended up in a much bigger, nicer place...only complaint was the outdated plumbing...and no water pressure!! Also to note, it says there are 3 rooms all with King beds, but one of the rooms in our villa only had a queen. This didn't affect us because that room was unused, but keep in mind if this is a requirement of yours. Just remember that the pictures you see on this website and the Lifestyle Hacienda website are the newer, bigger, nicer villas...not what you get through here.

Beware the timeshare people. They will come to your villa to ask if you want a "tour" of the resort....this is their way of getting you suckered into a 4-hour presentation at the end of which the head honcho guy gets a little perturbed that you are rejecting his offer to buy in. And for this 4 hours all you get is 2 bottles of the start of Mamajuana (their famous drink) that you aren't even allowed to bring home on the plane with you!

All in all, an okay vacation, but will not go back.

P.S. Make sure a golf cart is included!!

4 adults just returned from this absolutely perfect vacation. We stayed in Wendy's villa from July 11th till July 18th. Allow me to give you a brief description:

I probably bombarded Wendy Williams with close to 50 emails prior to and after booking this resort. Each email was responded to within an average of 10 minutes. She was polite and courteous and her follow up skills were impecable. I would book again thru this wonderful lady in a second. Believe me, I was not an easy customer because I am extremely cautious and thorough. But Wendy made me feel 100% confident that everything she promised me in her advertisement here would be accurate. Guess what? It was. This vacation was everything she claimed it would be. So do not panic. Paradise awaits you.

We were picked up at the airport and taken to the check-in. A fresh fruit sangria was handed to us and we were in our amazing ocean view villa in 15 minutes. Easy!

The golf cart was delivered within 2 hours and the pool was sparkling clean as well as the Villa. It had just received a fresh coat of paint and the furniture was modern. Three employees stopped by within the first hour just to see if we needed anything. The refrigerator was well stocked with Presidente Beer as well as a variety of sodas and water. If there was something else needed it was just a phone call away to VIP Customer Service.

We mainly hung out at the VIP Beach and VIP Pool because of the views and the premium booze. The beds on the beach were extremely comfortable and the water was blue and clean. The VIP pool also had comfortable beds as well. Because of our VIP status, we were treated like Kings and Queens wherever we went. There were others that did not have VIP status who quite honestly could not even get a bottle of water delivered to their room.

We were asked to go on a brief tour of the property (sales pitch) and we agreed on one condition. They had to deliver us bottles of Vodka and Rum as well as all of the mixers to our villa. They were there within 30 minutes and we went on the no pressure tour the next day. We did not buy. Why? No need. Just rent from Wendy.

Breakfast was cooked every morning in the Villa and lunch was eaten poolside or beach side. Just order off the menu and it is delivered with a smile.

The Asian restaurant was bad but every other restaurant was great. If I could do it all over again, I would eat in the Gourmet Room every night. Best food with A/C!

Great holiday real VIP treatment definetly everything you could need lovely restaurants staff exellent and very helpful fridge filled every day with drinks ect went to Ocean World great day out Party on saturday night fantastic entertainment food drink and dancing. Had great night in casino won $250 dollars the show was briliant. The owner could not have been more helpful every thing
February 2009
Mags&Mick U.K