-I hope you like cats because we had 3 STRAY CATS IN OUR ROOM!

- The food is unedible. Half of our party became sick. The cafeteria smelled like a hospital. There was absolutly no variation in meals day to day. There wasn't even peanut butter and jelly or bagels. No creative presentation of food.

-The rooms were fair HOWEVER...We visited the Paradisus the 2nd week ok Christmas Break and the resort was overbooked. There were not enough rooms for all of the guests (about 15% of the guests). Guests had to stay at other resorts (some resorts up to 20 minutes away by car). Some guests were so outraged that a fight broke out in the lobby and furniture was thrown. Some parties were bumped from the resort for an ENTIRE week.

- The pool is nice however it is not deep enough to swim in

- Do not get your hair braided. We witnessed the same man who braided someone's hair used the same comb to comb HIS EYEBROWS while we were sitting there!

- The only good part about the resort was the grounds. They were beautiful and well maintained.


The paradisus was overrated!!

We arrived, my wife, two children and I, at 4 in the morning on Christmas day after an exausting trip (including a five hour flight delay from Miami) to be told that our hotel reservation was not in the hotel's system (notwitstanding us showing a paper copy of our fully confirmed Cititravel reservation). We were asked to wait until things cleared up. By 9:30, the day manager arrived and told us it was the travel agency's fault that never "confirmed" the reservation. To make a long story short, we eventually managed to learn that the hotel was heavily overbooked and the manager had bet on us not showing up, arbitrarily canceling our well-confirmed reservation ahead of time. Upon threatening to call the police, a room became suddenly available ("I have great news for you"...), but at twice the rate we had booked for. We understood this was the "clean way to get rid of excess, recalcitrant customers" and finally left the Paradisus by noon after finding a room at the excellent next door Hodelpa Caribe Club where we were warmly welcomed and had a wonderful time. In the end things turned out much for the better!

Alain Ize

My husband and I spent our 2 week honeymoon at the Paradisus from December 5- December 20. All in all I thought it was a very nice vacation however I did not think it was worth the extra money. We have stayed in many 5*all inclusives in Mexico and have also done a fair amount of traveling in Canada, the US and Europe. The grounds indeed were beautifull and we have some excellent pictures. The tropical birds on the grounds were also nice ie parrots, flamingos, peacocks and finches.
We thought the food was quite good but we did not eat at all at the buffet restaurant and instead only ate at the a la carte restaurants. We both thought the Romantica and the Italian restaurants were the best. Neither of us cared for the Brazillian restaurant and the japanese restaurant and chinese restaurants were mediocre. The service we thought was excellent and it certainly did help if you could at least try to speak a little spanish and a few american $$$ went along way!! Room service was 24 hrs a day and was incredibly quick I don't think we ever waited longer than about 15 minutes for anything.
The Beaches are breathtaking but very similar to that in Cancun or Play del Carmen. The pool was also very nice. My husband seemed to have more difficulty in ordering from the bars than I did. He sometimes waited up to 10-15minutes for a drink however if I went up I never waited longer than a couple of minutes we figured this out in the first couple of days so it really was not a problem.
The rooms were okay they certainly weren't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination. We never had any problems with the air conditioning however we did have a couple of leaks under our bathroom sink and our shower acted up a couple of times. They were very good to come and fix things when you requested this. This hotel is approx 6 years old and I think that if left the way it is, in a few years this won't be a 5 * resort anymore. Things are just on the verge of needing upgrading.
If you do go on your honeymoon make certain to stress this to the front desk as you will receive a lovely gift on your nightstand each night you stay. Don't bother trying to book reservations for the restaurants through your travel agent before you go as if you do when you get to the restaurant they will want to see your reservation ticket and the only way to get one of these is to book the restaurants while you are there.
All in all a very nice vacation but certainly no nicer than what we have been to in mexico and unfortunately almost 2X the price.

We just returned from a week at Paradisus and we will never return. I understand that the two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year's is the busiest time but I found the lack of preparedness by the resort appalling. Several guests who did not book thru a major travel co (e.g. Apple) were left with no rooms with bogus offers to be tranported to other comparable resorts that d never materialized. There was the daily fight for poolside and beach lounges. The "survival of the fittest" mentality only grew worse as the week went on. Unless you staked out your lounge with a twel, book, sandal, or other object, you could not expect to find a lounge after 8:30 a.m. Beach towels were often not available for long periods during the day. We found ouselves raiding the maid carts for the room towels to take to the beach. Many, if not most, of the employees have limited, if any, understanding of English. I heard parents complaing that drinks ordered wihout alcohol for their children came more often with alcohol as the bartenders did not often seem to comprehend. Forget about the tram drivers or the maids understanding. Activities for the teens to college aged visitors were scarce. Other activities such as snorkeling were limited. As an example, we wanted to go snorkeling. There five in our group. We were told we had to sign up 24-48 hrs in advance and that the two trips ( one hour) were already filled. Each trip had only 8-10 people. It waasn't until we started complaing that all of the sudden another trip was added in the afternoon. Why should we have to grovel for towels, lounges, activities when we are paying very steep price? But still, what was most appalling was the fact that the management, after requiring 100% prepayment, overbooks rooms. To me this is outright dishonesty. I'm not going to get into the restaurant hassles. I will say the beach, pool, and grounds are beautiful (altho they could make the ramps in the lobby more wheelchair accessible--very steep). Our roo
aily (this, and my high school spanish and a pocket translator helped me get my needs met). In summary, our group of fifteen adults and kids were unanimous in agreeing we would never return. Management needs a complete overhaul.

We got married at the Paradisus in Dec. of 2002. We planned the entire wedding over the internet and were a bit nervous never having seen the resort. We had over 50 family members and friends join. All I can say is that it is truly paradise. Our wedding could not have been more perfect. After our wedding we decided to head up to Bayhiebe (s.p.) to check out some other resorts. We hated it. We immediately called our travel agent and came back to Punta Cana. This time to the Melia Caribe & Tropical which is run by the same company as Paradisus. We loved it there too.

I had better.

Spent 5 nights at this absolutely beautiful hotel. Everything was perfect. The staff is wonderful and really go out of their way to make your stay everything it should be. Although most staff speak very little english, if you try a couple of the spanish words provided in the book given to you at check-in they really respond. The restaurants are good, not great, but their is plenty of everything to please everyone. The pool is like none that I've ever seen and the sit around in water bar is fun, fun. The lobby bar is also great. A different show each night with same group of entertainers. They are fabulous dancers and the costumes are over the top. Audience participation is a real blast.

First the positives--gorgeous beach and wonderful surf. Restaurants were very good. Very nice pool.
However, we spent 12 days with no air=conditioning. Temps were 85-92 with high humidity. Our requests for help were conscientiously ignored. Communication among staff at various restaurants, lobby, customer service is very poor. We love the area and will go back, but probably not to the Paradisus.

The positives: beautiful resort, very clean grounds, great beach, and pool.
Negatives: coming from NY, maybe we're spoiled, but the food, while abundant, was lousy. Our room was nice, but the AC does not work...in most of the rooms. The refrigerator (for the mini bar), just made the beverages slightly below room temperature--not very refreshing. My wife is fluent in Spanish, but for travelers who do not speak Spanish---good luck. We witnessed several travelers who had problems communicating their needs due to the language barrier.
Overall, I think Punta Cana, and The Paradisus will develop in to a true 5 star resort, but it will take a few more years.

This was our second trip to Punta Cana and we loved it more than the first time. The beaches with the rows of palms trees and calm aquamarie waters are superior to many islands we have visisted. The restaurant selection at the Paradisus for an all inclusive are excellent as are the food selections in them.
The staff at the hotel are friendly and will try their hardest to please you.
This is a relaxing vacation spot. It is not Cancun with all the action there but it is a wonderul place to unwind and dine.
We will definitely go again.