We had an amazing time! For all those who are complaining about this resort ... they are just being extremely picky. They should just take a chill pill and relax ... after all you are on vacation! The staff was extremely nice and friendly. The resort was the most beautiful and clean! In a nut shell it was pure paradise! The beach was the most beautiful beach we have ever seen. The bars and drinks were amazing! The disco was the best, great music! We would go back in a heartbeat! Millie & Elaine

My fiance and I went to Punta Cana in November of 2001. This is a new review as I've only just found this site Feb.8,2003. All I can say is Wow! This resort was fantastic. Our room was clean, and kept stocked. It helps to bring small gifts for the cleaning people like candy, perfume samples, etc.The beach is clean, fine white sand with small waves. Gorgeous coconut palms everywhere. The food to me was decent, after two weeks it gets a little repetitive but you can't beat the value in an all-inclusive. Drinks were great and plentiful. There is no real policy on tipping but we found it helps to be nice to the staff, give a few bucks here or there and watch your bartender pick you out of a crowded drink line-up and serve you first. Cigars, pretty sketchy here, unless you really know your stuff, avoid the purchase. Rum and Vanilla are good deals though, barter, barter, barter. That gets a little old too but there are deals to be had. The paintings are quite nice too (some of them).The staff was courteous, helpful, and great fun to be around for the most part. Elvis was one that sticks in memory and a giant of a man ( forget his name) more of a manager who played beach volleyball regularily. There's an Atm just outside the front of the hotel and in the small market village down the road from the hotel. In my opinion, there is no need to bring much of any cash/traveller's cheques with you for that reason. They do exchange Canadian dollars readily at both the hotel and village mall.Safety, we always felt safe. The people were friendly, the beach is routinely patrolled, and your stuff is safe on the beach. The excursions ar pretty good too although sometimes seem pricey for what you get. Your travel rep at the hotel should be able to tell you all about them. Weather wise, damn near perfect. We were at the official end of hurricane season so we had a few storms roll through, but they lasted all of ten minutes. It was warm, + 28 or warmer and very humid. Overall, I don't know if we could have had a nicer vacation for the money we spent, roughly $1600/person for 2 weeks incl tax. Great value, beautiful resort and great people( hotel staff & guests).Try it out.Steve

This was my second trip to Punta Cana and my husband's first. We went the week of 1/27/03.

I would not recommend the Occidental Flamenco for many reasons:

It was not very clean. The room was nothing special, the bedspreads had to be 20 years old. The bathroom was dirty and had mold in the grout in the shower. There is no remote control, no iron avaialble and we had to ask for our room to be cleaned by the maid. I had to beg the conceirge to let me borrow an iron from an employee so I could iron my clothes - what hotel doesn't have irons?

The food is terrible and I am not exaggerating. The buffet had a lot of variety but it was gross. The service in the buffet is terrible as well. They seat you at dirty tables and you need to find your own clean silverware. Most of the food is geared toward a European palette and we found it unappealing. The other restaurants they have serve the same food as the buffet. They have no wine selection, one red and one white. Both were undrinkable. We were very disappointed in the food and skipped many meals.

The entertainment is BORING! What else can I say. Thank god there was something on HBO everynight.

If you stay here keep your expectations low and pray for perfect weather or you will be disappointed.

I've stayed in better places...

We honeymooned at the Flamenco from 1/12-1/19. It had a beautiful beach and the location was excellent. About 30 minutes from the airport. There are minibars in the room which are all included and the mexican restraunt was TO DIE FOR! The grill restraunt was also quite nice, I was not to impressed with the lasagna at the italian resturant but my husband had steak and it was quite good. My biggest complaint is that the king size beds are actually 2 doubles pushed together, not the most romantic for honeymooners...
There are quite a few french speaking tourists, it seemed difficult to find english speaking tourists. I recommend making reservations for the restraunts before you even go to your hotel room since they fill up so fast. there is a desk for reservations when leaving the lobby area walking toward the resort. Also, the pizza and taco place upstairs looked wonderful, we weren't really explained how it works, but apparently all you do it walk up to the counter and tell them what you want and they make it to order, then you can sit on the veranda and eat your meal. we only learned about that on our last night so we never tried it. The buffet is quite large, but it become monotinous after a while. When walking to the beach from the resort, if you take a left and feel like walking for a while there is a whole row of "stores' that you can wheel and deal and get some things, for pretty good prices, just keep saying to much and walking away, you'll get it for the price you want before long.
Overall we had a nice time, it's beautiful there and if you go on only 1 excursion during your stay do the Outback Safari. It was wonderful!

A side note- they look poorly on people giving money and candy to the children there, they do not want to turn them in to beggers, so I would abide by their law!

Our brother got married - what a day. The hotel does everything, from cold drinks while we waited for the bride to air conditioned lobby for the guests to cool down.

22 of us went as a group and had the best time ever. The activities are plentiful - although relaxing by the beach or pool was the best activity.

Food was great - especially the Italian.

A wonderful and perfect vacation (with a little problems here and there but nothing serious).

Date: Jan 11 2003 to Jan 18 2003
Hotel: O.G. Flamenco (Punta Cana)

My boyfriend (25yrs) and 2 female single friends (26 & 27 yrs) and myself (25yrs) all had an awesome vacation and would return to Punta Cana and even to this resort.

Here's our review and some tips:

1. $$US dollars is the way to go. Peso isn't needed b/c everything is converted into US$.

2. This resort is for couples and older people (30yrs and up). For those who are single, there may be a small number of girls and guys but it's nothing like Cancun Mexico. Basically, my single friends hung out with the people who worked at the hotel b/c they were young. If you're female and single and pretty, everything works in your favour.

3. Learn basic spanish words and french is good also. People speak spanish, french, german, and then english (in that order). Basic words such as: hello, please, thank you, how much, you're welcome, good morning/evening, water, and the numbers from 1-5. These will get you very far.

4. Going to Punta Cana. Have a change of summer clothes and sandles/flipflops ready to change into.

Airport:
-If leaving from Pearson (toronto), they suggest arriving 3 hrs before depature time. I would strongly suggest making it 2-3 hrs ahead because Skyservice had over 10 flights leaving that morning (all around 6-8am) and there were over 1000 people trying to check in. It was pretty fast service though (15min wait in line) and customs was about 15mins also.

-Punta Cana Airport: arrival was fine and customs was a breeze and no one lost their luggage (overall about 1 hour at the airport). They actually take a picture of you arriving and when you leave Punta Cana i.e. a week later, you can see the picture and buy it ($5US)

-there is also $10 airport fee that we have to pay before leaving Punta Cana. Cash only.

-Once you get your bags, look out for your Tour Operator (ie. Sunquest) and there's a shuttle bus waiting for you to drop you off at the hotel.

-time to hotel is 30mins on the shuttle bus (like a greyhound). and they pass out information that you need.

Hotel:**have the hotel voucher ready***
-check in is at 3pm and no ifs ends or buts. We arrived early at 1pm, so we were prepred. We changed into our bathing suits and sandles and had lunch and wander around. Do not have a heavy or huge carry on b/c you will be carrying it aorund everywhere. They also keep your lugguage outside with the other luggage (so have it locked). My friends fianlly got their keys at 3:30pm and me (5pm--i came back at that time).

-hotel itself is beautiful and clean. One cocroche in my friends room and we were on the 1st floor. We all stayed in Building 13 (closest on to the beach) but quiet. Building 26 is also the closest one to the beach but they were closer to the music, watersports etc.. Overall, the walk from our bulding to the lobby was 3-5mins. It was a pain walking back and forth at times.

-there's shops (market) walking distance (15 mins walk) Go on the beach and walk right. You can get your hair braided there for $25 (resort charges $50). Ask for "LOVE" booth #18. She's been doing this for 15yrs and did an amazing job. If shopping, be prepared to offer a price and negoiate and people will bother you until you look at their stuff (it was very annoying and we lefted annoyed). One of our problem is that we forgot to check the prices of cigars and alcohol in US$/Cdn$ before we left, so we weren't too sure if we got a good deal or not. So do this!!!!

-oh and the resort is huge.

Beach:
-this is the best thing and it will be hard to describe. Beautiful and soft sand, blue water, low waves, and it's super clean, no sea shells or rocks on the sand or even in the water. My friends have been to Cuba, Jamica, and Mexico and they say this is one of the best beaches.
-to get a hut (umbrella thingee) go there early in the morning before 8am. People reserve chairs with towels and no one steals anything there. Trust me because i've left towels, clothes and even my bag there for a good half a day and when i returned, it was still there. Bring your own beach towel if you want because the towles there are blue and everyone has a blue towel.
-you can walk to other hotels along the beach
-beach towel: you get it from a person & they give you a ticket. Return the towel and ticket or you will be charged. People suggest getting a new towel at the end of the day just in case they run out or if there's a line up. The line up was usually 5mins long the next day.

Room:
-Leave $1 or a small gift (that's what we did) with a note in spanish on what you want and when you return it is done. Eg. You only get 2 towels, we asked for 4 and got it. We asked for 2 1litre waters and got it etc.. Write it on a paper in spanish and leave it on your pillow. Anything on a pillow means it's for them.
-you have to pay to use the in-room safe (approx. $15 US) and you pay when you leave. You can either get the safe or lock up stuff in your luggage. We all had no problems b/c some stuff i left in the safe and others in my luggage.
-there's no carpet
-there's a mini bar and it is literally a mini bar (only 2 beers, 2 soft drinks and 1 1litre water).
-there an "A/C POWER CARD"....basically this
card acts like a key and turns on/off the air con & lights in the room. So if you want your room cool when you come back, leave that card thingee in the slot. Tip--just bring in an old library card or something the size and hardness of a credit card and you can use that instead to activate the lights and aircon and you can take the key everywhere instead. Weird eh?

Food:
-Main buffet place doesn't need reservations. They have theme nights. Tons and Tons of food and overall it is okay in taste. All of us ate and tried everything. Some people say avoid meat or fruits b/c of the way they may prepare it or wash it in....but we didn't do it. No one got sick sick, but 1 person had "bathroom" issues for a couple of days and a couple of us had stomach aches here and there. Basically, it was mainly our fault because we tried everything.
-A la Carte restaurants for dinners require reservations (there's Mexican,
pizza, Italian, steakhouse etc..). Book on your first day. We didn't and we tried mid-week and it was all booked. But if your pretty, just chat away and try convince them, we did and we ate at the steakhouse (wonderful!!!!!). Mexican and pizzeria does not need reservations and we didn't figure that out till our 2nd last day. People say the a la cartes are better then the main buffet. Oh and service is slow at the restaurants.

-overall, food is mixed reviews to good, decent, awful. Everyone has their preferences so I just want to say "watch what you eat".
-snacks are good and there's ice cream--woo-hoo. and the french fries at home rum are wonderful.

Drinks:
-must try their "banana mama" and rum and cokes. This countyr is know for their rum.
-specify w/alcohol b/c if you order a pina colada...they may give you a virgin pina colada.
-water comes in bottles there (wonderful eh)
-no complaints about the drinks and they make it strong.

Activities:
-windsurfing and catamaran lessons are at 9am. (you have to take a 9am lesson, pay an insurance
fee $3-5US, and then you can use it.)
-water activities run only till 5pm. we tried the kayaking (super fun)
-my boyfriend is a scuba diver so he was diving all week. My friends and me tried the in-pool (free)and i did one dive ($60). It was fun!!
-snokelling gear is free to use but there is nothing to see.
-Parasailing (45$ for one or $85 for two-cash only)
-snokelling at a site (20$ per person)
-banana boat ride ($7 per person)
-night shows at 9:30pm and they range from cheesy to good ones
-disco is salsa, merang, top 40s but only gets happening around mid night and my friends tried it 2 times (thursday & Fri) and i tried it once with my bf on Friday. Drinks aren't free.
-they offer tours there & it ranges from $60-90US. We did the Punta Cana Jeep runners and it was worth $70. We visted a cave, beach, plantation, school, typical dominican house, ate at a ranch and went horse back riding. Food and drinks (rum also) are all included. When doing any tours (if they are visiting a school--please bring things for the kids. Pencils, candy, shcool supplies etc...)
-there's also a shuttle bus to the casino (there's a cost i think)
-they have a beach party the day we arrive and that's the only one.

Other tips:

-the pace of life there is SLOW--so expect SLOW service (its vacation) and having to repeat oneself over and over again if they don't understand
English. They may also forget your order.

- there's a hand full of topless women walking around and sun bathing.

-not much night life and everyone hangs out at the lounge.


Overall, a wonderful vacation. and bring your camera because there's tons of places around the resot to take good pics.

Just came back from 2 weeks at the Gran Flamenco. a total delight from beginning to end. My Husband stayed with the luggage and I checked us in.. WE took the map we were given and walked to our room in Building 12.. by the time we had unpacked and changed clothes , the lobby was still full of people checking in. We chose to tote our bags rather than wait. A personal choice. 200 people checking in at the same time does tax the most efficient of front desks !

The food was above average everywhere. except the Mexican which was disgusting and slow service (nearly 2 hours for our order to arrive)

The property and grounds are gorgeous and meticulously maintained. There was not a speck of dirt anywhere. The staff with limited english try very hard to please. A smile and an attempt at spanish (and a dollar or 2) go a long way.
The hotel is on the widest part of this sensation beach.

We did eat at another restaurant 3 times.La Cava at the Hodelpa Caribe.. A wonderful dining experience with excellent choice of wines. We had lobster dinner complete with shrimp cocktail soup and dessert.. with a good bottle of wine 60.00 USD a true bargain.

DO NOT go to Captan Cook Restaurant. Our food arrived 1/2 hour after we did and it was so covered inflies we couldnt eat. It was 40.00 USD per person too much food and then not to be able eat it for the flies.. we were very disappointed.

In closing, we are going back to Punta Cana.. for 3 weeks next time. It is the most perfect beach holiday spot we have ever been too.. including the South Pacific, Caribbean Hawaii and Mexico..

Just returned from Punta Cana last night (delayed by the snow - yech). Family of 4. We all thoroughly enjoyed the Occidental. Grounds were very well kept. Pools were great. Rooms were clean, spacious and comfortable. Staff were friendly and helpful (just stay away from the Flea Market vendors down the beach !). Food and drinks were excellent, and plentiful, and the activities fun.
We'll be back !

I couldn't have had a better time anywhere else. We stayed there for two weeks for our honeymoon, and we both came away refreshed, and sorely missing the place. Where to start.

There are a lot of things to do there. Literally, from 10 till about 5, there is always something going on, whether it is volleyball (pool or beach), water polo, archery, target shooting (rifle or pistol), Boca ball, Spanish Lessons, dance classes, areobics (in the pool and out), PLUS, windsurfing, kayaking, snorkeling and catamarans (you had to pay for the insurance, but it was incredibly cheap). We also had some excursions with Snorkling, Scuba Diving, a sunset horseback ride, and a trip to a wildlife park. (the last ones had to be paid for, but they are worth it). We found that there was so much we wanted to do, we didn't have time for it all. MAybe next time.

The food had quite a variety, however, after about 4 days, it was affecting my system a little, but some immodium took care of that. There are 6 dinner restaurants to choose from, only one of them you have to pay for, and the food there was amazing. We went twice, and took pictures of the food the second time. Your dinner options include, Mexican, Italian, Pizzeria, A steakhouse, The Pay restaurant, and the Buffet (where there is a different theme every night with little repetition.) Foodwise, there is something for everyone, just as long as you remember, that if you are looking for food that you are familiar with at home, then you should have stayed at home. All the food here was either their interpretation of what they thought it should be, or something relatively close to it. I found all of it was good, and I liked almost everyone on the menu. During lunch there is a few other places to eat, and only one place for breakfast.

Our rooms were ok, but I miss carpet, though it is understandable why there isn't any down there. The weather was perfect, not too hot or humid. We had an ocean view room, and it was spectacular. They had satellite TV, and there was always something to watch when relaxing in the rooms. The Kings sized beds were comfortable, and the bathrooms large.

The activities staff were some of the friendliest people we met down there. Most of them also spoke 3 or more languages. I was incredibly impressed at this alone. One person spoke 5. I was saddened at leaving there, because we got to know a few of them quite well. They worked long days, for 11 days straight before getting 3 days off, but they were always happy to see us, and called us by name once we got to know one another. There are shows every night. Starting with a childrens show early in the evening, followed by a band playing, and some live singing. they would then invite people up to the stage to learn the "Dance of the day", and then play an icebreaker game, which was always fun to watch or be involved in. Then the show would last about 1 hour, ending at around 11:00.

Over all I would HIGHLY recommend going there. I have NO complaints about this resort at all. With 2 small pools, and one large pool, the ocean, the activities, I don't think I want to go anywhere else. I like this place immensely.

I am definitely going to go back.

David.

PS. We went from oct 14 to Oct 28, which was their slow season as well. I recommend traveling there during this time as well, because it is one of the largest resorts in Punta Cana.