Reviews of Property: Large, Luxury Villa w/Pool, Fully Staffed, close to beach

Alan has done a very good job creating a perfect private villa vacation experience. He is easy to deal with, and take that from someone who isn't always easy to deal with myself. The house is new and beautiful with thoughtful touches to make it appropriate for people of all ages (ramps, gates, crib etc.).

We were 8 adults and 5 kids, and there was plenty of room for all of us to sleep, run around, and unwind.

I was not returning to the Dominican Republic for my love of the cuisine. After a week eating Lina and Francesca's cooking, I may have to amend my low opinion of the cuisine. We ate well, and they were lovely people who truly seemed to care about our experience. No hotel could provide warmer service and tastier food. We are going to miss them.

The villa is laid out on a private road which is a 5-10 minute walk to the beach. It's only an okay swimming beach, but our party stayed there for hours anyway. There is no traffic, but there are other villas right next door to you. Don't expect total seclusion.

We took advantage of the catamaran snorkeling trip and the waterfall safari. They were enjoyed by all, but we probably could have found better prices if we had bargained with other operators. We traded saving a few dollars with Gus coming right to the house and conveniently setting up the trips as well as the massages and beauty treatments.

It was a peaceful, beautiful setting for a large family vacation.

First I have to say Casa Cielo is true paradise! The pictures and descriptions of the villa did casa cielo no justice! The place was absolutely gorgeous and well kept. We loved the layout. This was our first time renting a villa and this is definitely the way to go especially if you are traveling with a large group. We never felt crowded and everyone had their own space. We were a party of 6 adults and a one year old. We stayed from October 3 - 10. We loved how each of the bedrooms had their own balcony over looking the pool and ocean in the background! The view was magnificent especially from the upper balcony while getting an hour message for $30 USD!! You definitely cannot beat that. It was well worth it. Lina and Francesca were awesome! We wanted to pack them up with us! My daughter fell in love with the both of them. Elios, was a great help as well and very friendly. The food was delicious, we are still talking about the homemade chicken salad and chicken soup. We already decided that we are definitely coming back with a bigger crowd around the same time next year! I highly recommend Casa Cielo to anyone considering renting a villa in Playa cofresi. We didn't get a chance to go to any local restaurants. However, we did go to Ocean world and swam with the dolphins and took a catamaran trip. The fellas did the ATV's. I wish to thank Alan for allowing us to have the best vacation yet. We'll be in touch real soon to lock in our dates for next October.

WOW! What a blissful vacation in paradise. Our family did not want to come home. The photos do not do it justice..much better then described. The Villa is very large. With 9 people there was more then enough space for privacy. The views are the best from every room. The pool was perfect with the waterfall. Swimming while watching the ocean with the trade winds constantly blowing was breathtaking. Our family could have spent everyday at the pool. Every need and concern was taken care of by the wonderful staff. Lina, Francesca and Elio were very attentive and truly a pleasure. Every meal was prepared for us and delicious. We were cleaned after constantly and our laundry was done on a daily bases. Believe me when I say we were truly pampered. Anything you would need, they would take care of it.

The beach and everything local was in easy walking distance from the Villa...and that included a 2 year old with a stroller. No need for a taxi unless you want to leave the Playa Cofresi area.

We arranged to have massages on the second story balcony. Imagine the view, the breeze, your favorite cocktail while having an hour long massage and it only cost 30.00 for the hour. The owner helped arrange for a local Dominican Band to come and play the evening of my birthday. It was so much fun.

The communication with the owner was excellent and any question was promptly and pleasantly responded to.

We made friends with locals and had great fun in the evenings. One of our favorite hangouts was at Ahoras. Loved drinking freshly made (real squeezed lime juice) margarita while just feet away from the waves of the ocean. Desperado's had very good drinks and Mexican food. Have kids? Do not miss Ocean World. The Casino was fun.
If you are concerned about safety, don't be. There are security guards everywhere. At nights there was a guard sitting right out on the road directly in front of the Villa. We took the catamaran trip and it was a blast. The white water rafting was also a hit.

If you plan to do any shopping exchange some of your cash for pesos. The exchange at the bank was 35 pesos to a dollar. If you want to pay in dollars, most places exchanged for 33 pesos per dollar.

Bring bug repellant spray. Early morning and evenings there are some mosquitos and some nosiums along the beach areas.
We have traveled to several areas of the Caribbean and this was one of our favorite vacations.

Thank you to the owner for sharing his home with our family.

We had a marvellous time at your super house. It was as good as your description and better than we had expected.

Thank you for all the little extra kindnesses, especially for letting my son and his family arrive early (when it cannot have been very convenient for you and your wife), and for doing a great shop for us. My daughter in law
said how warm your welcome was.

Of course your wonderful Lina, Francesca and Elios are 100% terrific, and Maria the nanny, who was very soon re-named Santa Maria, was a great success with everyone.

We hardly left the pool, spent most of our days just having fun together and we had a ball with the grandchildren and their friends.

Until now we have tried to go to a different rental house in a different place each year, but everyone agreed your house was absolutely the nicest so far, and we may well get back on your e mail in the not too distant future
to see if you have space for us again.

Our only very minor problem was with local restaurants, (maybe as we were out of season) lots of menu dishes were not available.

I have no problem at all recommending Casa Cielo to anyone and everyone........please feel free to use my comments on your website

With very best wishes from a three generation group from Cheshire UK and CT USA

Having just returned home from spending time at the VILLA CASI CIELO we had found the villa to be much more than the pictures give credit. With our party of seven the house is large enough that we all had our space. All of the bedrooms are very large with amazing views. So peaceful, relaxing and totally stress free. One of the most tastefully furnished rental villas we have stayed in. My husband and I enjoyed morning walks, everyone we meet were so friendly.
The staff are really amazing. After a few days they felt and treated us like family.A good grocery store is accessible.
We rented a taxi and took Lina / Cook and Francesa the maid shopping. I had Pesos and U.S. money. Use the pesos and was able to use a credit card to pay the balance owing instead of standing in line to change the U.S. funds into Pesos.
Found a little bar on the beach close to the "Ahora" that sold the best nachos and drinks.(They close early). Visited the "Ahora Beach Restaurant twice, both times not as satisfied as when we went to Chris and Mady's.
My family's saying every day when Lina wanted to know what we wanted for dinner that night was "Surprise Us". And that she did, never a complaint.
Gus arranged the White Water Rafting,the ride is long but well worth it. Transportation and meals included. Rented a vehicle and driver through Gabino (the Villa manager) one day. Spent the morning sight seeing and the afternoon doing the waterfalls. It's a very quick walk to the beach or casino. From the Villa we watched the fireworks one evening. Never felt the need for mosquitoe repellant, but did see some. We have a lot in the month of June and July so it was not a big issue for us. My family shared suitcases,allowing us baggage room to bring school supplies and clothing to the orphange. Brought lots of younger children clothing and upon my visit there realized the age group 7 - 14 were in greater need.
My husband had a small mishap when driving a rented motorcycle. It was night and the light failed on the bike.It resulted in stitches at a Private Clinic.Having out of the country insurance coverage and with Gabino's assistance we were able to ease through the situation.Experience as my husband is at driving a motorcycle having a bike in good running order is a must. There are taxi scooters all around. Very unexpensive to jump on one and have them scooter you around if you feel the need .Best to rent a vehicle and driver.We all had a great time that by far exceeded our expections.

We enjoyed the best 2 weeks imaginable with our 2 families from Canada. This property was everything stated and more. The information package that Alan had put together was very helpful and within one day we felt right at home in Cofresi. Casi Cielo was located perfectly with a beautiful view of the ocean, a gentle breeze, yet only a short walk to the beach. Our teenagers enjoyed the beach and we adults often lounged by the pool. Lina, Francesca, Judy and Elio were awesome and we were sorry to leave them at the end. We had lots of fun with Gus as he organized dune buggy rides, a private catamaran charter to Sosua, the unbelievable waterfall trek, and more dune buggying. This is a very beautiful place, highly recommended, and we hope to be back soon!!!

We had an absolutely wonderful time renting Casi Cielo from 12/23/08-12/28/08. We were a party of 13 (12 adults and one infant) and the house was so large that we never felt on top of each other. The villa is incredibly beautiful and we kept on discussing how we would not have changed anything ourselves if we had designed it on our own. Each of us were impressed by the views and loved how we each had some own privacy with our own balconies. We especially appreciated the crib in the room on the first floor and how there was a high chair set up for the infant.

Lina, Francesca and Elio were all extremely professional and we loved their cooking. I don't think I have ever been so pampered in my life. Lina took care of our dietary restrictions and we very much enjoyed the lunches (salads, bean dips, sandwiches), drinks and dinners (fish paella, fish in coconut curry sauce) she prepared for us. We went out one night to Chris and Maddy's and one night to Papillon. Alan and Susan did a remarkable job mapping out the area and making dinner suggestions for us. We spent most of the time just lounging by the pool but did make it to cofresi beach at least once per day (to do some swimming). The beach is extremely quiet but the water and sand were just beautiful. We never had a chance to make it over to Ocean World but would like to do so on our next trip.

Gus took care of us very well by organizing trips (ATV and waterfall tour were amazing) and massages for us and Gabino was extremely helpful, coming to the house on a regular basis to make sure everything was ok.

We flew into Puerto Plata (35 minutes away) and out of Santiago (about 1.5 hours away). We would not recommend renting a car as taxis are readily available

Overall our experience was amazing and we would love to return to your villa at some point in the future. Thank you so very much for sharing your house with us.