Anyone ever been to the DR?

[Linux23]

Dominican Republic that is.

I went a few months back (Boca Chica), and while the girls are extremely HOT, the food really made me sick. I was praying to get back to the states and pump some fast food into me (and I hate fast food).

If any of you went, what part did you visit, and how was your experience?

 

[Stifko]

No but I wanna go. Dominican women are beautiful.

 

[Linux23]

Originally posted by: Stifko
No but I wanna go. Dominican women are beautiful.

:thumbsup::beer:

 

[BigToque]

I've been twice and had a fantastic time on each visit.

First time I stayed at the Gran Ventana Resort in Puerto Plata.

Second time I stayed at the Casa Marina Resort in Sosua.

 

[njswift10141980]

I would love to go there just based on someone I worked with who is beautiful

 

[5to1baby1in5]

No, but...

"I'm goin' to Miami"

Never seen so many Dominican women with cinnamon tans.

 

[Linux23]

Originally posted by: BigToque
I've been twice and had a fantastic time on each visit.

First time I stayed at the Gran Ventana Resort in Puerto Plata.

Second time I stayed at the Casa Marina Resort in Sosua.

Which place was better?

 

[meltdown75]

Oh wow... going back a bit

In 96 or 97 I stayed at the Paradise Hotel & Casino in Puerto Plata... 3 star resort

It was my first time outside of Canada or the US. The resort was clean but a lot of the other areas were ghetto-ish (tin shacks, etc which some of the resort staff lived in). It took me 3 days to start feeling right in terms of the food, which was good but my body wasn't used to it or something. Perhaps the spices in it or something.

I had a good time I guess... I have since been to the Mayan Riviera and had a better time there. I found there was more to do and see in the Mayan as opposed to the DR.

edit: the Paradise was a good resort for the $.

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Oh wow... going back a bit

In 96 or 97 I stayed at the Paradise Hotel & Casino in Puerto Plata... 3 star resort

It was my first time outside of Canada or the US. The resort was clean but a lot of the other areas were ghetto-ish (tin shacks, etc which some of the resort staff lived in). It took me 3 days to start feeling right in terms of the food, which was good but my body wasn't used to it or something. Perhaps the spices in it or something.

I had a good time I guess... I have since been to the Mayan Riviera and had a better time there. I found there was more to do and see in the Mayan as opposed to the DR.

edit: the Paradise was a good resort for the $.

When I went in 2000 I stayed at the Gran Ventana (right beside the Paradise). Maybe they made some changes, because the Paradise was a 5 star resort in April 2000.

Originally posted by: Linux23

Originally posted by: BigToque
I've been twice and had a fantastic time on each visit.

First time I stayed at the Gran Ventana Resort in Puerto Plata.

Second time I stayed at the Casa Marina Resort in Sosua.

Which place was better?

Gran Ventana was 4.5 star resort when I went in 2000. Casa Marina was a 3.5 star in 2007.

That said, the star ratings seem meaningless to me. I'm actually planning on going back to Casa Marina because I had such a good time.

It's strange how some people can have such different experiences in some of these places. Maybe some people expect too much, or just expect something different, or just flat out have bad service (which I've never experienced on any trip I've ever been on).

Then there are always the people who get sick. That really sucks. I seem to have a pretty good immune system, because not only did I not get sick either time in the Dominican, I didn't get sick while living in India for 3 months.

/knocks on wood

 

[akshatp]

Ahhh DR. Went to Punta Cana for a buddy's bachelor party a few years ago. Stayed at the all inclusive Melia Caribe, which was nice. Food wasnt a problem for us, no one got sick.

But the women! Ohhhh the women. Every night when we went out in the town we went to these "clubs" which were basically places to "pick up" women...

Never have I seen so many hot women all over the place on such a consistent basis!

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: BigToque

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Oh wow... going back a bit

In 96 or 97 I stayed at the Paradise Hotel & Casino in Puerto Plata... 3 star resort

It was my first time outside of Canada or the US. The resort was clean but a lot of the other areas were ghetto-ish (tin shacks, etc which some of the resort staff lived in). It took me 3 days to start feeling right in terms of the food, which was good but my body wasn't used to it or something. Perhaps the spices in it or something.

I had a good time I guess... I have since been to the Mayan Riviera and had a better time there. I found there was more to do and see in the Mayan as opposed to the DR.

edit: the Paradise was a good resort for the $.

When I went in 2000 I stayed at the Gran Ventana (right beside the Paradise). Maybe they made some changes, because the Paradise was a 5 star resort in April 2000.

hmm. might not be the same place.

 

[bctbct]

I stayed at Jack Tar Village (Puerto Plata)in the mid 90's. Resort was nice, city was third world

 

[FoBoT]

i know a guy that spent some time there in 1985

 

[Linux23]

I wanted to spend the New Years there, but I heard the crime rate skyrockets this time of year.

 

[fallenangel99]

I'm going there Jan 17 or 18th!!!
2 nights in Santo Domingo
3 nights in Caberete

I'm not staying in any resorts or anything, which could be a bad thing, but I'm sure I can handle the local villages..

Yeah DR women are nice, but I hear Columbian women are better?

 

[Uppsala9496]

Stayed at the RIU Palace Punta Cana in June 2006 with my wife for our anniversary. Beautiful resort. I would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[Linux23]

Originally posted by: fallenangel99
I'm going there Jan 17 or 18th!!!
2 nights in Santo Domingo
3 nights in Caberete

I'm not staying in any resorts or anything, which could be a bad thing, but I'm sure I can handle the local villages..

Yeah DR women are nice, but I hear Columbian women are better?

Lord I love Colombian women. I love them when they know broken english. So damn yummy.

 

[Linux23]

Where are you staying exactly? With friends?

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: fallenangel99
I'm going there Jan 17 or 18th!!!
2 nights in Santo Domingo
3 nights in Caberete

I'm not staying in any resorts or anything, which could be a bad thing, but I'm sure I can handle the local villages..

Yeah DR women are nice, but I hear Columbian women are better?

You are some sort of hispanic I take it?

 

[RightIsWrong]

I actually lived there (in Santo Domingo) for over a year many moons ago and loved it. I used to go to Boca Chica about once a month. I never had a problem with the food as long as you followed one simple rule for "gringos"....don't eat any fish purchased from street vendors!!

Crime wasn't a problem when I lived there. You just "donate" a couple hundred pesos to the cop and anything you do (short of murder or especially drugs) would go away. The biggest problem that I had was paying 5x what the locals paid for taxis and things like that. I guess they didn't think that a blond haired, blue eyed guy speaking Spanglish was native for some reason. Go figure.

Oh, and our live in maid was the hawtness!

 

[Linux23]

Originally posted by: RightIsWrong
I actually lived there (in Santo Domingo) for over a year many moons ago and loved it. I used to go to Boca Chica about once a month. I never had a problem with the food as long as you followed one simple rule for "gringos"....don't eat any fish purchased from street vendors!!

Crime wasn't a problem when I lived there. You just "donate" a couple hundred pesos to the cop and anything you do (short of murder or especially drugs) would go away. The biggest problem that I had was paying 5x what the locals paid for taxis and things like that. I guess they didn't think that a blond haired, blue eyed guy speaking Spanglish was native for some reason. Go figure.

Oh, and our live in maid was the hawtness!

I heard about the live in maids. You pay them very little, and get so much more out of their services.

Why did you travel to Boca Chica once a month? Is there anything of interest there. I mean, I stayed there and it wasn't a lot to do. What's the best way to travel outside of the resorts? Hotel taxi, bikes? Any specific tourist friendly spots?

 

[RightIsWrong]

Traveled to BC just to go to a beach that wasn't all rocks (like most of the shores around SD. The best way to travel around was always local taxi. You could flag one down pretty easy and always negotiate prices. They also knew places to hang out and party that weren't a part of a resort and were always packed with 2-1 ratio of F-to-M. I am pretty sure that they are closed down or renamed something else now (seeing that I lived there over 15 years ago) but two of my favorite clubs were Cafe Atlantico and another place that we called The Piano Bar (but I don't think that was its real name).

Oh, and the maid did provide many services and kept things spotless.